Science & Technology – Winnipeg Free Press

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo)

Lawsuit alleges Google’s Gemini guided man to consider ‘mass casualty’ event before suicide

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 1:21 PM CST

A new lawsuit against Google alleges that the company's artificial intelligence chatbot Gemini guided 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas on a mission to stage a “catastrophic accident” near Miami International Airport and destroy all records and witnesses, part of an escalating series of delusions that ended when Gavalas killed himself.

The man's father, Joel Gavalas, sued Google on Wednesday for wrongful death and product liability claims, the latest in a growing number of legal challenges against AI developers that have drawn attention to the mental health dangers of chatbot companionship.

“AI is sending people on real-world missions which risk mass casualty events," said the family's attorney Jay Edelson, in an interview Wednesday. ”Jonathan was caught up in this science fiction-like world where the government and others were out to get him. He believed that Gemini was sentient."

Jonathan Gavalas, who lived in Jupiter, Florida, spoke to a synthetic voice version of Gemini as if it were his "AI wife” and came to believe it was conscious and trapped in a warehouse near Miami's airport, according to the lawsuit. He traveled to the area in late September wearing tactical gear and armed with knives, on the hunt for a humanoid robot and to intercept a truck that never appeared, according to the lawsuit.

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Top FDA drug official is trying to hire a friend who’s seeking a bold new warning on antidepressants

Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Top FDA drug official is trying to hire a friend who’s seeking a bold new warning on antidepressants

Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: 2:11 PM CST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration’s top drug regulator, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, is working to hire a researcher and friend who wants the agency to add new warnings to antidepressants about unproven pregnancy risks, The Associated Press has learned.

Dr. Adam Urato, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and critic of antidepressant safety, is pressing the FDA to add a boxed warning to SSRIs, the drugs most commonly prescribed for depression. Urato’s petition says the medications can cause pregnancy complications, including miscarriages and fetal brain abnormalities that may lead to autism and other disorders in children.

That proposed labeling change has become a top priority for Hoeg, who regularly consults with Urato and is working to bring him on as a full-time FDA employee, according to people familiar with the situation. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential FDA matters.

Within the agency, Hoeg’s close relationship with Urato is viewed as a clear conflict of interest that, under normal FDA standards, would result in her recusing herself from any work on the petition. But Hoeg is actively working to speed up the agency’s review of her friend's proposal, according to the people familiar with the situation.

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Updated: 2:11 PM CST

FILE - Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, with the FDA, listens during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices at the CDC, June 25, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Claims of ‘rediscovered’ Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Claims of ‘rediscovered’ Michelangelos unsettle Renaissance experts

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 6 minute read 12:09 PM CST

ROME (AP) — An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelangelo, the latest purported attribution to the Renaissance genius who is one of the most imitated artists in the world.

The unverified claim by Valentina Salerno has unsettled Renaissance scholars, especially since a recent sketch of a foot that was attributed to Michelangelo — but disputed by some as a copy — recently fetched $27.2 million at a Christie’s auction.

Given the stakes — and Salerno’s suggestion that several other works can now be attributed to Michelangelo based on her documentary research — leading experts have declined to comment.

Salerno has published her theory on the commercial website academia.edu, a non-peer reviewed social networking site academics use, and announced the first “rediscovery” at a press conference Wednesday.

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12:09 PM CST

The sculpted bust inside the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls, in Rome, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, which, in light of new studies by Italian researcher Valentina Salerno, may be reattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The sea is higher than we thought and millions more are at risk, study finds

Seth Borenstein And Annika Hammerschlag, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

The sea is higher than we thought and millions more are at risk, study finds

Seth Borenstein And Annika Hammerschlag, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 2:40 PM CST

Climate change's rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government planners originally thought because of mistaken research assumptions on how high coastal waters already are, a new study said.

Researchers studied hundreds of scientific studies and hazard assessments, calculating that about 90% of them underestimated baseline coastal water heights by an average of 1 foot (30 centimeters), according to Wednesday's study in the journal Nature. It's a far more frequent problem in the Global South, the Pacific and Southeast Asia, and less so in Europe and along Atlantic coasts.

The cause is a mismatch between the way sea and land altitudes are measured, said study co-author Philip Minderhoud, a hydrogeology professor at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. And he attributed that to a “methodological blind spot” between the different ways those two things are measured.

Each way measures their own areas properly, he said. But where sea meets land, there's a lot of factors that often don't get accounted for when satellites and land-based models are used. Studies that calculate sea level rise impact usually “do not look at the actual measured sea level so they used this zero-meter” figure as a starting point, said lead author Katharina Seeger of the University of Padua in Italy. In some places in the Indo-Pacific, it's close to 3 feet (1 meter), Minderhoud said.

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Updated: 2:40 PM CST

FILE - Dilrukshan Kumara looks at the ocean as he stands by the remains of his family's home in Iranawila, Sri Lanka, June 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Elon Musk takes stand in Twitter shareholder trial accusing him of deflating stock before purchase

Barbara Ortutay And Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Elon Musk takes stand in Twitter shareholder trial accusing him of deflating stock before purchase

Barbara Ortutay And Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 2:24 PM CST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk took the stand in a shareholder trial on Wednesday in San Francisco, where he's accused of making false and misleading statements that drove down Twitter's stock price before he bought the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Twitter shareholders who sold the stock between May 13 and Oct. 4, 2022, a few weeks before Musk's purchase of Twitter was finalized. It claims Musk violated federal securities laws by making false, public statements that “were carefully calculated to drive down the price of Twitter stock.”

The billionaire Tesla CEO reached a deal to buy Twitter and take it private in April 2022. On May 13, however, he declared his plan “temporarily on hold” and said he needs to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the platform. Twitter's stock tumbled as a result. A few days later, he tweeted that the deal “cannot go forward” and claimed that almost 20% of Twitter accounts were “fake,” according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff's lawyer, Aaron P. Arnzen, began with questioning Musk about his tweets — or lack of tweets — about his decision to buy Twitter and his purchases of Twitter stock prior to deciding to take the company private.

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Updated: 2:24 PM CST

FILE - Elon Musk attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Some West African farmers turn to TikTok as part of agriculture’s changing image

Jack Thompson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Some West African farmers turn to TikTok as part of agriculture’s changing image

Jack Thompson, The Associated Press 5 minute read 12:00 AM CST

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — When Senegalese farmer Pape Fall first downloaded TikTok, it was to watch football and funny videos. In the last two years, however, he's experimented with it to promote his produce and now sells most of it via the platform.

A looped video on his TikTok profile shows a pile of cucumbers with slow-paced Senegalese rap playing in the background. A caption reads: “1.5 tonnes, available tomorrow, god willing.” It includes his phone number.

Fall is one of millions of farmers in West Africa believed to be using TikTok and other social media to do business, share ideas and change the perception of agriculture as the work of poor people in this part of the world.

They and experts acknowledge the region is plagued by high levels of hunger and poverty that have been worsened by the loss of foreign funding from the U.S. and other donors. But they say the improved knowledge and market access that come with social media has resulted in better yields.

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12:00 AM CST

Nogaye Sene, a West African farmer who turned to Tiktok as part of agriculture's changing image, films herself on her farm in Joal Fadiout, Senegal, Thursday Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)

Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Trial against Meta in New Mexico highlights video depositions by top executives

Morgan Lee, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 10:37 AM CST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors began presenting never-before-seen video depositions of Meta executives at a trial in New Mexico on Tuesday to bolster accusations that the social media conglomerate failed to disclose what it knows about harmful effects to children on its platforms, including Instagram.

New Mexico prosecutors are billing depositions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram leader Adam Mosseri as centerpieces of the state's case against Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Prosecutors have accused Meta of violating state consumer protection laws.

Prosecutors say the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on Meta's platforms weren’t properly addressed or disclosed by the company.

Meta attorney Kevin Huff pushed back on those assertions during opening statements on Feb. 9, highlighting efforts to weed out harmful content from its platforms while warning users that some content still gets through its safety net. He said Meta discloses the risks.

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Updated: 10:37 AM CST

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves after testifying in a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Apple’s ‘big week’ launches a pair of $599 devices aimed at budget buyers

Shawn Chen, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Apple’s ‘big week’ launches a pair of $599 devices aimed at budget buyers

Shawn Chen, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 1:44 PM CST

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook promised a "big week" of product announcements has seen the introduction of a new budget-friendly iPhone trim, an entry-level MacBook tier, updated iPad Air models, refreshed monitors and higher-end chipsets. All of which was on display at hands-on media events held Wednesday in New York, London and Shanghai.

The tech titan recently saw its quarterly earnings rise to a new record, thanks to strong sales of its iPhone 17 models, even though the company still hasn’t delivered on its 2024 promise to smarten up its Siri assistance with AI.

Perhaps looking to capitalize on this sales momentum, Apple started the week off announcing the latest model in its more budget-friendly phone lineup, the iPhone 17e, and the MacBook Neo, an entry-level laptop that represents the company's most aggressive attempt at moving into the affordable laptop market.

Everything announced will be available for preorder starting Wednesday. So if you need more information before you start shopping, here's the skinny:

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Updated: 1:44 PM CST

Dueling documentaries illuminate the promise and perils of artificial intelligence

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Dueling documentaries illuminate the promise and perils of artificial intelligence

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: 1:12 PM CST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Artificial intelligence's dystopian specter has spawned a pair of documentaries dissecting a technology that's depicted in the films as a ravenous parasite devouring humanity's knowledge, creativity and empathy.

The films, “Deepfaking Sam Altman” and “The AI Doc," examine the issue through different lenses while similarly illuminating why the technology evokes both existential fears and utopian visions about how it might change the world.

Both documentaries coincide with an intensifying debate about whether AI will become a catalyst that helps enlighten and enrich people or a technological toxin that insidiously dulls human intelligence while wiping out millions of high-paying jobs that have traditionally required college educations.

Dealing with AI dread

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Updated: 1:12 PM CST

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman speaks at the AI Summit in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo)

US issues first commercial construction permit for a nuclear reactor in years to a Wyoming project

Mead Gruver, The Associated Press 1 minute read 2:35 PM CST

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its first construction permit for a commercial nuclear reactor in eight years Wednesday, granting approval to plans by a Bill Gates-backed company to build a sodium-cooled reactor in western Wyoming.

TerraPower filed for the permit in 2024, with construction now set to begin within weeks. Completion of the up to $4 billion plant is targeted for 2030, according to TerraPower.

“We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a statement.

Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is eyeing nuclear as a power source for the electricity-hungry data centers behind artificial intelligence, is a founder of and primary investor in TerraPower.

Pentagon dispute bolsters Anthropic reputation but raises questions about AI readiness in military

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Pentagon dispute bolsters Anthropic reputation but raises questions about AI readiness in military

Matt O'brien, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:52 PM CST

Anthropic's moral stand on U.S. military use of artificial intelligence is reshaping the competition between leading AI companies but also exposing a growing awareness that maybe chatbots just aren't capable enough for acts of war.

Anthropic's chatbot Claude, for the first time, outpaced rival ChatGPT in phone app downloads in the United States this week, a signal of growing interest from consumers siding with Anthropic in its standoff with the Pentagon, according to market research firm Sensor Tower.

The Trump administration on Friday ordered government agencies to stop using Claude and designated it a supply chain risk after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to bend his company's ethical safeguards preventing the technology from being applied to autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance. Anthropic has said it will challenge the Pentagon in court once it receives formal notice of the penalties.

And while many military and human rights experts have applauded Amodei for standing up for ethical principles, some are also frustrated by years of AI industry marketing that persuaded the government to apply the technology to high-stakes tasks.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:52 PM CST

Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability to physical disasters

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Iranian strikes on Amazon data centers highlight industry’s vulnerability to physical disasters

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:57 PM CST

LONDON (AP) — Damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the Middle East from Iranian drone strikes highlights the rapid growth of data centers in the region, as well as the industry's vulnerability to conflict.

The company's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, said late Monday that two data centers in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” and another facility in Bahrain was also damaged after a drone landed nearby.

“These strikes have caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage,” AWS said in an update on its online dashboard.

It said by late Tuesday that recovery efforts at the UAE data centers were making progress.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:57 PM CST

A plume of smoke rises following a U.S.-Israeli military strike in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Canadian Bar Association signs two-year deal with AI company Spellbook

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Canadian Bar Association signs two-year deal with AI company Spellbook

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Yesterday at 11:21 AM CST

TORONTO - The Canadian Bar Association has signed a two-year partnership with Spellbook, making the company its exclusive provider of AI-powered contract drafting and review tools.

Under the agreement, CBA members will receive a discount on annual Spellbook licenses, providing them access to its full suite of tools.

Spellbook analyzes contracts against best practices, flags risks and suggests improvements.

Scott Stevenson, CEO and co-founder of Spellbook, called the agreement a significant milestone for the company and a signal of how quickly AI is becoming part of everyday legal work.

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Yesterday at 11:21 AM CST

A person types on a laptop computer during an artificial intelligence roundtable attended by AI experts and leaders from across Canada in Gatineau, Que., on Monday, May 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

High-tech snowplows and AI help cities clean up from big storms

Jeff Mcmurray, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

High-tech snowplows and AI help cities clean up from big storms

Jeff Mcmurray, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:01 PM CST

Residents of Syracuse, New York — America’s snowiest city — once barraged a service hotline with street neglect complaints during blizzards, even if plows had passed two hours earlier but the work was hidden by fresh snow.

Now public trust seems to be rising as Syracuse and other cities across the U.S. integrate upgrades such as video monitoring, GPS mapping and artificial intelligence into snow operations that once relied almost entirely on manual planning.

Syracuse was one of the first to revamp the way it deploys its snowplows, and complaint calls have dropped by 30% under the new system, said Conor Muldoon, the city’s chief innovation officer.

“People will look out their window and say, ‘Hey, you guys are doing a terrible job,’” Muldoon said. “And we can point to a public map and say, ‘Here’s all the breadcrumbs for when that plow was there.’”

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:01 PM CST

Snow removal vehicles plow through snow covered pathways at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Carney in Australia to deepen trade and defence ties with ‘natural partner’

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Carney in Australia to deepen trade and defence ties with ‘natural partner’

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:08 PM CST

SYDNEY - Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Australia, where he says his government is focused on forging new partnerships in investment, defence, security, critical minerals and artificial intelligence.

"Australia is a natural partner for Canada in these areas and many, many more, areas that will deliver enormous benefits to both our peoples," Carney said at a media availability in Sydney.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters it was a "strategic visit at a strategic moment in history."

Earlier in the day, he announced a co-operation agreement between Canadian and Australian pension funds.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:08 PM CST

Prime Minister Mark Carney gets into a waiting vehicle as he arrives in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Focus on mental health, public safety at inquest into Tumbler Ridge, B.C., deaths

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Focus on mental health, public safety at inquest into Tumbler Ridge, B.C., deaths

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:46 PM CST

VICTORIA - An inquest into the deaths of nine people in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., will examine how the mental health and public safety systems intersect, the province's chief coroner says.

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan announced the inquest on Tuesday with a goal to prevent future deaths.

While a date for the inquest hasn't been set, Baidwan said it would also consider how guns were obtained by the killer.

Jesse Van Rootselaar shot dead her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their home before killing five students, a teacher's aide and then herself at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:46 PM CST

March 4, 2026

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