Information Communication Technology

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X or Grok among its top apps

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Billionaire SpaceX, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk says he plans to sue Apple for not featuring X and its Grok artificial intelligence chatbot app in its top recommended apps in its App Store.

Musk posted the comments on X late Monday, saying, “Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either X or Grok in your ‘Must Have’ section when X is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps? Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know.”

Grok is owned by Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI.

Musk went on to say that “Apple is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation. xAI will take immediate legal action.”

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

FILE - The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

‘No safety rules’: Concerns grow as AI-generated videos spread hate online

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘No safety rules’: Concerns grow as AI-generated videos spread hate online

Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

At first it appears to be a quirky video clip generated by artificial intelligence to make people laugh.

In it, a hairy Bigfoot wearing a cowboy hat and a vest emblazoned with the American flag sits behind the wheel of a pickup truck.

“We are going today to the LGBT parade,” the apelike creature says with a laugh. “You are going to love it.”

Things then take a violent and disturbing turn as Bigfoot drives through a crowd of screaming people, some of them holding rainbow flags.

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Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Imagining that the machine is human

David Nutbean 5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025

When I taught computer science, often on the first day of class, once my excited nerdlings had sat themselves down in front of a computer to begin their quest to become the next Bill Gates and conquer the world, I would flick the classroom lights off and on several times.

Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts

Audrey Mcavoy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts

Audrey Mcavoy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and television stations as well as programs like “Sesame Street” and “Finding Your Roots,” said Friday that it would close after the U.S. government withdrew funding.

The organization told employees that most staff positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small transition team will stay until January to finish any remaining work.

The private, nonprofit corporation was founded in 1968 shortly after Congress authorized its formation. It now ends nearly six decades of fueling the production of renowned educational programming, cultural content and emergency alerts about natural disasters.

Here's what to know:

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - One of the control rooms at the Arizona PBS offices at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix is seen Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Katie Oyan, File)

FILE - One of the control rooms at the Arizona PBS offices at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix is seen Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Katie Oyan, File)

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down after being defunded by Congress, targeted by Trump

Ted Anthony And Kevin Freking, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down after being defunded by Congress, targeted by Trump

Ted Anthony And Kevin Freking, The Associated Press 5 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a cornerstone of American culture for three generations, announced Friday it would take steps toward its own closure after being defunded by Congress — marking the end of a nearly six-decade era in which it fueled the production of renowned educational programming, cultural content and even emergency alerts.

The demise of the corporation, known as CPB, is a direct result of President Donald Trump's targeting of public media, which he has repeatedly said is spreading political and cultural views antithetical to those the United States should be espousing. The closure is expected to have a profound impact on the journalistic and cultural landscape — in particular, public radio and TV stations in small communities across the United States.

CPB helps fund both PBS and NPR, but most of its funding is distributed to more than 1,500 local public radio and television stations around the country.

The corporation also has deep ties to much of the nation’s most familiar programming, from NPR’s “All Things Considered” to, historically, “Sesame Street,” “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” and the documentaries of Ken Burns.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

The U.S. Capitol building stands as people wait to watch fireworks near the Washington Monument during Fourth of July celebrations, in Washington, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The U.S. Capitol building stands as people wait to watch fireworks near the Washington Monument during Fourth of July celebrations, in Washington, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

Google loses appeal in antitrust battle with Fortnite maker

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Google loses appeal in antitrust battle with Fortnite maker

Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a jury verdict condemning Google's Android app store as an illegal monopoly, clearing the way for a federal judge to enforce a potentially disruptive shakeup that's designed to give consumers more choices.

The unanimous ruling issued Thursday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivers a double-barreled legal blow for Google, which has been waylaid in three separate antitrust trials that resulted in different pillars of its internet empire being declared as domineering scofflaws monopolies since late 2023.

The unsuccessful appeal represents a major victory for video game maker Epic Games, which launched a legal crusade targeting Google’s Play Store for Android apps and Apple’s iPhone app store nearly five years ago in an attempt to bypass exclusive payment processing systems that charged 15% to 30% commissions on in-app transactions.

The jury's December 2023 rebuke of Google's app store for Android-powered smartphones began a cascade of setbacks that includes monopoly judgements against the company's ubiquitous search engine last year and the technology underlying its digital ad network earlier this year.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - Audience members gather at Made By Google for new product announcements at Google on Aug. 13, 2024, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File)

FILE - Audience members gather at Made By Google for new product announcements at Google on Aug. 13, 2024, in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada, File)

Key things to know about how Elon Musk has boosted hard-right figures in Europe

Erika Kinetz And Aaron Kessler, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Key things to know about how Elon Musk has boosted hard-right figures in Europe

Erika Kinetz And Aaron Kessler, The Associated Press 6 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

ROME (AP) — Elon Musk may have tumbled from political grace in Washington, D.C., but as he seeks to build a new political party, his power on X — where he commands the most popular account — remains unchecked.

Musk is a kingmaker on the platform he acquired in 2022 for $44 billion. He has used his influence to cultivate hard-right politicians and insurgent activists across Europe. A retweet or reply from Musk can lead to millions of views and tens of thousands of new followers, according to an Associated Press analysis of public data.

That fact has not been lost on influencers who have tagged Musk persistently, seeking a reply or a retweet. It has also fueled concerns in Europe about foreign meddling -- not from Russia or China, but from the United States.

“Every alarm bell needs to ring,” Christel Schaldemose, a vice president of the European Parliament who works on electoral interference and digital regulation, told AP.

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Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

FILE - Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Musk, a social media powerhouse, boosts fortunes of hard-right figures in Europe

Erika Kinetz And Aaron Kessler, The Associated Press 14 minute read Preview

Musk, a social media powerhouse, boosts fortunes of hard-right figures in Europe

Erika Kinetz And Aaron Kessler, The Associated Press 14 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

ROME (AP) — Hard-right commentators, politicians and activists in Europe have uncovered a secret to expanding their influence: engaging with Elon Musk.

Take the German politician from a party whose own domestic intelligence agency has designated as extremist. Her daily audience on X surged from 230,000 to 2.2 million on days Musk interacted with her posts. She went on to lead her party to its best-ever electoral showing.

Or the anti-immigration activist in Britain, who was banned from Twitter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for contempt of court. Since Musk let him back on the platform in late 2023, he’s mentioned, reposted or replied to the billionaire more than 120 times on X — and gained nearly a million followers.

Even a little-known social-media influencer turned politician from Cyprus has benefited from the Musk effect. Before winning a surprise seat in the European Parliament, where he’s advocated for Musk, the influencer seemed to have one ambition: to hug the world’s richest man. He got his hug — and political endorsements. On days Musk has interacted with his account on X, the man’s audience exploded from just over 300,000 to nearly 10 million views.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

AP Illustration / Marshall Ritzel

AP Illustration / Marshall Ritzel

Winnipeg-based TV ad delivery firm Taiv switches on at home

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Preview

Winnipeg-based TV ad delivery firm Taiv switches on at home

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2025

A small gong sits in the middle of Taiv Inc.’s headquarters in Winnipeg’s Exchange District office. Whenever there’s an achievement to celebrate at the advertising technology company, staff pick up a mallet and strike it.

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Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2025

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS TAIV’s Noah Palansky, Co-Founder, CEO, left, and Jordan Davis, Co-Founder, CTO, are photographed in their Winnipeg office Monday, March 24, 2025. TAIV uses AI to customize in-house advertising on televisions in sports bars or restaurants. Reporter: aaron

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS TAIV’s Noah Palansky, Co-Founder, CEO, left, and Jordan Davis, Co-Founder, CTO, are photographed in their Winnipeg office Monday, March 24, 2025. TAIV uses AI to customize in-house advertising on televisions in sports bars or restaurants. Reporter: aaron

McGill University team develops AI that can detect infection before symptoms appear

Jean-Benoit Legault, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

McGill University team develops AI that can detect infection before symptoms appear

Jean-Benoit Legault, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 6:13 PM CDT

MONTRÉAL - Researchers at McGill University say they developed an artificial intelligence platform that can predict when someone is about to come down with a respiratory tract infection before they start to feel sick.

In what researchers are calling a "world first," the study involved participants who wore a ring, a watch and a T-shirt, all of which were equipped with censors that recorded their biometric data. By analyzing the data, researchers were able to accurately predict acute systemic inflammation — an early sign of a respiratory infection such as COVID-19.

Published in The Lancet Digital Health, the study says the AI platform can one day help doctors address health problems much earlier than they normally would, particularly in patients who are fragile and for whom a new infection could have serious consequences. It could also potentially reduce costs for the health-care system by preventing complications and hospitalizations.

"We were very interested to see if physiological data measured using wearable sensors … could be used to train an artificial intelligence system capable of detecting an infection or disease resulting from inflammation," explained the study's lead author, Prof. Dennis Jensen of McGill University's department of kinesiology and physical education.

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Updated: 6:13 PM CDT

Participants wore a smart ring, a smart watch, and a smart T-shirt that monitored multiple physiological parameters and activities. In the photo, an Apple Watch in 2015 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

Participants wore a smart ring, a smart watch, and a smart T-shirt that monitored multiple physiological parameters and activities. In the photo, an Apple Watch in 2015 in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

Creating realistic deepfakes is getting easier than ever. Fighting back may take even more AI

David Klepper, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Creating realistic deepfakes is getting easier than ever. Fighting back may take even more AI

David Klepper, The Associated Press 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — The phone rings. It's the secretary of state calling. Or is it?

For Washington insiders, seeing and hearing is no longer believing, thanks to a spate of recent incidents involving deepfakes impersonating top officials in President Donald Trump's administration.

Digital fakes are coming for corporate America, too, as criminal gangs and hackers associated with adversaries including North Korea use synthetic video and audio to impersonate CEOs and low-level job candidates to gain access to critical systems or business secrets.

Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, creating realistic deepfakes is easier than ever, causing security problems for governments, businesses and private individuals and making trust the most valuable currency of the digital age.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

FILE - A person working on a laptop in North Andover, Mass., June 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

FILE - A person working on a laptop in North Andover, Mass., June 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Canadian researchers create tool to remove anti-deepfake watermarks from AI content

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Canadian researchers create tool to remove anti-deepfake watermarks from AI content

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

OTTAWA - University of Waterloo researchers have built a tool that can quickly remove watermarks identifying content as artificially generated — and they say it proves that global efforts to combat deepfakes are most likely on the wrong track.

Academia and industry have focused on watermarking as the best way to fight deepfakes and "basically abandoned all other approaches," said Andre Kassis, a PhD candidate in computer science who led the research.

At a White House event in 2023, the leading AI companies — including OpenAI, Meta, Google and Amazon — pledged to implement mechanisms such as watermarking to clearly identify AI-generated content.

AI companies’ systems embed a watermark, which is a hidden signature or pattern that isn’t visible to a person but can be identified by another system, Kassis explained.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman participates in a panel discussion during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. OpenAI was one of the major tech firms that promised to pursue watermarking technology. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman participates in a panel discussion during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. OpenAI was one of the major tech firms that promised to pursue watermarking technology. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Book Review: ‘Algospeak’ shows just how much social media is changing us

Rachel S. Hunt, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Book Review: ‘Algospeak’ shows just how much social media is changing us

Rachel S. Hunt, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 6:06 PM CDT

How much has social media changed the way we talk and behave?

That’s the question linguist and content creator Adam Aleksic sets out to answer in his debut book “Algospeak.”

If you already know what words like “yeet,” “rizz,” “brainrot” or “blackpilled” mean, some of this information might not come as a surprise to you. Still, Aleksic’s analysis reaffirms how this language came about and why it continues to proliferate. For those unfamiliar, it acts as an accessible entry point into social media slang and its evolution.

“Algospeak” touches on a wide array of topics, including in-groups and out-groups, censorship, language appropriation, extremism online, microtrends, clickbait and generational divides. The chapters build on each other with a textbook-level attention to vocabulary.

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Updated: 6:06 PM CDT

This book cover image released by Knopf shows "Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language" by Adam Aleksic. (Knopf via AP)

This book cover image released by Knopf shows

Musk’s xAI scrubs inappropriate posts after Grok chatbot makes antisemitic comments

The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Musk’s xAI scrubs inappropriate posts after Grok chatbot makes antisemitic comments

The Associated Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it's taking down “inappropriate posts" made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Musk said Friday that Grok has been improved significantly, and users “should notice a difference.”

Since then, Grok has shared several antisemitic posts, including the trope that Jews run Hollywood, and denied that such a stance could be described as Nazism.

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Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk attends the first plenary session on of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 in Bletchley, England. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk attends the first plenary session on of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 in Bletchley, England. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)

What to know about a potential deal to keep TikTok running in US

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

What to know about a potential deal to keep TikTok running in US

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Less than a month after extending a deadline to ban TikTok for the third time, President Donald Trump told reporters late Friday night that, “We pretty much have a deal,” on TikTok — but he did not offer details.

The details and timing of a potential deal are not clear. TikTok did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Monday.

Emarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman said while TikTok is “reportedly planning” a U.S. version of its app to comply with legal restrictions, the platform — if it launches without the original TikTok algorithm — “risks losing the very personalization that drives user engagement.”

In other words, TikTok just isn't TikTok without its algorithm.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

FILE - The TikTok app logo is shown on an iPhone on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

First school year of cellphone ban well-received: minister

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

First school year of cellphone ban well-received: minister

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Monday, Jun. 30, 2025

Sweeping restrictions on cellphone use in schools are here to stay, despite frustrations related to inconsistent enforcement and student workarounds during the 2024-25 rollout.

Manitoba banned phones in elementary classrooms last summer and introduced new rules to silence devices and keep them out of sight during Grade 9 to 12 lessons.

“How practical is that going to be in the real world? AI exists. Cellphones exist. Banning them is only going to make us sneakier,” said Diana Bonakdar, who just finished Grade 11 in Winnipeg.

Diana and Nadia Lovallo, the new co-presidents of the student council at St. Mary’s Academy, question the effectiveness of the policy and its long-term impact.

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Monday, Jun. 30, 2025

A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Sean Kilpatrick

A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Sean Kilpatrick

China’s humanoid robots generate more soccer excitement than their human counterparts

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

China’s humanoid robots generate more soccer excitement than their human counterparts

The Associated Press 3 minute read Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

BEIJING (AP) — While China's men's soccer team hasn't generated much excitement in recent years, humanoid robot teams have won over fans in Beijing based more on the AI technology involved than any athletic prowess shown.

Four teams of humanoid robots faced off in fully autonomous 3-on-3 soccer matches powered entirely by artificial intelligence on Saturday night in China's capital in what was touted as a first in China and a preview for the upcoming World Humanoid Robot Games, set to take place in Beijing.

According to the organizers, a key aspect of the match was that all the participating robots operated fully autonomously using AI-driven strategies without any human intervention or supervision.

Equipped with advanced visual sensors, the robots were able to identify the ball and navigate the field with agility

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Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

Teams compete using the T1 robots from Booster Robotics during the inaugural RoBoLeague robot soccer competition held in Beijing, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Teams compete using the T1 robots from Booster Robotics during the inaugural RoBoLeague robot soccer competition held in Beijing, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms.

The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year.

“Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court’s decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,” NetChoice said in its lawsuit.

Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children's mental health. NetChoice — whose members include Facebook parent Meta and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas' 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March.

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs a bill requiring age verification before creating a new social media account as Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, looks on during a signing ceremony, Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. (Thomas Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)

FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs a bill requiring age verification before creating a new social media account as Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, looks on during a signing ceremony, Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. (Thomas Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)

Hackathon teams race to solve defense tech challenges as Europe boosts military capabilities

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Hackathon teams race to solve defense tech challenges as Europe boosts military capabilities

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 7 minute read Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

SANDHURST, England (AP) — Hunched over laptops, the team of four raced to solve a challenge: how to get a set of drones to fly themselves from one place to another when GPS and other signals are jammed by an enemy.

Elsewhere around the hall, groups of people — engineering students, tech workers and hobbyists — gathered around long tables to brainstorm, write computer code or tinker with more drones and other hardware.

Most of them were strangers when they first gathered last month at Britain's Sandhurst Military Academy to compete in a 24-hour “hackathon" focused on defense technology. Many were drawn to the event because they wanted to use their technical skills to work on one of the biggest challenges confronting Europe: the continent's race to beef up its military capabilities as Russia's war in Ukraine threatens to widen global instability.

“Given the geopolitical climate, defense tech is relevant now more than ever,” said Aniketh Ramesh, a startup founder with a Ph.D. in robotics in extreme environments and one of the drone team members. The hackathon, he said, “is a good place to sort of go and contribute your ideas.”

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Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

Participants gather for the London Defence Tech Hackathon, a weekend brainstorming solution for technical challenges, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, England, May 10, 2025. (AP Photos/Kelvin Chan)

Participants gather for the London Defence Tech Hackathon, a weekend brainstorming solution for technical challenges, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, England, May 10, 2025. (AP Photos/Kelvin Chan)

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Student Winner Nnah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Student Winner Ninah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

Graphic novelist to lead free workshop for aspiring artists

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Preview

Graphic novelist to lead free workshop for aspiring artists

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Jonathan Dyck’s most monumental piece of advice? Start small.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Supplied

Jonathan Dyck’s self-portrait

Supplied
                                Jonathan Dyck’s self-portrait

Music streaming service Deezer adds AI song tags in fight against fraud

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Music streaming service Deezer adds AI song tags in fight against fraud

Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

LONDON (AP) — Music streaming service Deezer said Friday that it will start flagging albums with AI-generated songs, part of its fight against streaming fraudsters.

Deezer, based in Paris, is grappling with a surge in music on its platform created using artificial intelligence tools it says are being wielded to earn royalties fraudulently.

The app will display an on-screen label warning about “AI-generated content" and notify listeners that some tracks on an album were created with song generators.

Deezer is a small player in music streaming, which is dominated by Spotify, Amazon and Apple, but the company said AI-generated music is an “industry-wide issue.” It's committed to “safeguarding the rights of artists and songwriters at a time where copyright law is being put into question in favor of training AI models," CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a press release.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

FILE - The music streaming services Deezer's logo is pictured at the company headquarters, in Paris, France, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

FILE - The music streaming services Deezer's logo is pictured at the company headquarters, in Paris, France, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

‘Elio’ is an intergalactic tale — but for Toronto’s Domee Shi, it hits close to home

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘Elio’ is an intergalactic tale — but for Toronto’s Domee Shi, it hits close to home

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

TORONTO - For Domee Shi, making a movie about an introverted kid getting abducted by aliens felt oddly familiar.

Not because she’s had any close encounters, but because she remembers being a teenager longing to be taken away to a world where her weirdness was understood.

The Toronto native co-directs “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador.

“He's this lonely artsy kid who just wants to belong somewhere. I definitely felt that way growing up,” says the Oscar-winning animator behind 2022’s coming-of-age Toronto-set hit “Turning Red.”

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

A scene from “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Disney/Pixar *MANDATORY CREDIT*

A scene from “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Disney/Pixar *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Toronto school board, firefighters warn of ‘dangerous’ social-media trends

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Toronto school board, firefighters warn of ‘dangerous’ social-media trends

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 7:25 PM CDT

TORONTO - The Toronto Catholic District School Board, along with some emergency responders, are warning parents about "dangerous" social-media challenges that are trending among students in Ontario schools.

The board said the challenges are recorded on video and shared online to encourage others to participate, but they can pose serious risks to students and the entire school community.

Among them is the so-called "paper clip challenge" that involves students inserting metal objects such as a paper clip into an electrical outlet and dropping a coin onto the prongs to cause electrical sparks.

The board said the "Chromebook challenge" involves placing paper clips, pencils or other objects into Chromebook USB ports to deliberately cause them to short-circuit, which can lead to overheating, burns or fire.

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Updated: 7:25 PM CDT

An empty classroom is shown at a school in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

An empty classroom is shown at a school in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette