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Colorado governor vetoes block on surveillance pricing as other states push for bans

3 June 2026 at 20:12

Consumer advocates decry Democrat Jared Polis for ‘choosing to side with dominant corporations’ over workers

Colorado’s governor vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have banned companies from using surveillance pricing to set workers’ wages and prices for consumer goods.

The measure would have been the strongest in the nation against algorithmic pricing. While Maryland became the first state to approve a law banning surveillance pricing in grocery stores in April, Colorado’s proposed measure was more expansive.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

HIV and Ebola viruses were created in a lab

3 June 2026 at 14:31

In a 1997 lecture, Dr. Leonard Horowitz provided evidence that HIV, Ebola and other “emerging viruses” were created in a laboratory.  People were then infected through hepatitis B and smallpox vaccines. Earlier […]

The post HIV and Ebola viruses were created in a lab first appeared on The Expose.

Can autonomous AI-powered killer drones take morality onboard?

While the technology is set to play a growing role in modern warfare, there remains an unresolved ethical challenge

Should the AI-powered drones of the future have a licence to kill? The question is becoming ever more pressing as governments and the defence industry acknowledge that drone systems will play an increasingly crucial role in future warfare.

With drones being deployed in huge numbers in the Ukraine war and AI being used to assist bombing missions in the Iran conflict, there is an expectation among some observers that weapons will have to operate with increased operational autonomy, which means they will need something approximating a moral framework.

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© Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

© Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

© Photograph: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

‘The CGI would have cost millions. I spent $2,000.’ Is Dreams of Violets AI slop – or the future of film-making?

3 June 2026 at 05:00

It should have taken years, but Ash Koosha made a drama about Iran’s anti-government protests in weeks – and now it’s the first AI-made movie to screen at a major film festival. It could transform indie film-making, claims the director

Next week a breakthrough 75-minute drama about the brutal crackdown in Iran on anti-government protesters in January will premiere at the Tribeca film festival in New York. It is called Dreams of Violets and is based on journalism, video footage and eyewitness accounts. “I would say 80% of it is a recreation of events that actually happened,” says its Iranian-British director Ash Koosha. But Dreams of Violets is a work of fiction, not a documentary: a drama following a group of strangers caught up in the protests, who meet by chance in an alleyway. How on earth has Koosha managed to pull together a drama about the killings in less than six months?

The answer, it turns out, is by using artificial intelligence. Every image and character in Dreams of Violets is AI-generated. Koosha says he created the characters by describing their physical appearances, using people he has known in the past as references. It would be too dangerous to base characters on living people in Iran, he says. “Because of the security issue, it would not be safe for the characters to even remotely resemble someone.”

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© Illustration: Courtesy of Ash Koosha

© Illustration: Courtesy of Ash Koosha

© Illustration: Courtesy of Ash Koosha

The human mind is being diminished by the use of AI

1 June 2026 at 12:46

The human mind has a long history of innovative achievements.  But its potential is being neglected in the age of technology, with luxury beliefs and AI being forced upon society by elites. […]

The post The human mind is being diminished by the use of AI first appeared on The Expose.

Nvidia launches ‘superchip’ putting AI power into laptops and PCs

1 June 2026 at 12:01

Firm says its RTX Spark PC chip for Microsoft Windows will let AI agents replace the mouse and keyboard

A new front has opened up in the battle for dominance in AI chips, as Nvidia said its latest development could replace the mouse and keyboard in how people use computers.

The $5tn (£3.7tn) US semiconductor company has launched a “superchip” that puts AI capabilities into laptops and desktop computers, a move that will pit it against Intel, Apple, Qualcomm and AMD.

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© Photograph: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images

Abortion Activists Supply Illegal Drugs in Malta, Violating National Law

31 May 2026 at 07:00

A Dutch pro-abortion organisation has placed lockboxes containing abortion pills across Malta and Gozo, directly challenging one of Europe’s last remaining pro-life countries. The campaign is being presented as a humanitarian intervention […]

The post Abortion Activists Supply Illegal Drugs in Malta, Violating National Law first appeared on The Expose.

The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies

The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves pummelled Europe and Asia, and oil markets around the world leapt and sputtered, the two big chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were being demolished. Meanwhile, the Australian energy minister was holding a media conference to hail a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country.

Quietly, and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar power, with panels on one in three homes. It also remains, however, a major contributor to the climate crisis through its vast fossil fuel exports. But it is batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed.

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© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

© Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

Anthropic’s alliance with pope on AI harms: all in good faith or ‘Vatican-washing?’

30 May 2026 at 14:00

Experts say AI firm’s engagement with Vatican risks creating ‘feelgood’ discourse that lacks critical examination

Why did Anthropic’s founder sit beside the pope during a warning about AI?

In the first major written teaching of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV took artificial intelligence to task. The pontiff delineated the technology’s most concerning threats to humanity: replacing workers, accelerating war and exploiting the environment. At a ceremony honoring the holy teaching the day of its release at the Vatican, the pope was flanked by an unusual guest speaker: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, one of the people behind the AI boom so worrying Leo.

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© Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

Why $1bn in Balkans energy contracts are going to an obscure company connected to Donald Trump

Guardian investigation shows how US presidency blurs line between policy and enrichment of American ruling family and those around it

On a graffitied Sarajevo backstreet, a path leads past an overgrown patch of garden to a white door. Beyond is the registered office of a company that is on the brink of winning contracts worth more than $1bn.

AAFS Infrastructure and Energy is close to securing a concession to build and operate a pipeline across the Balkans to allow fossil gas shipped from the US to replace supplies that come from Russia. “This could be the most important infrastructure project ever in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” says one of the country’s top officials, who, like others, asks to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive negotiations.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Mobile phones are addictive; why do we get such a kick out of using our phones?

30 May 2026 at 11:31

A 72-hour break from cell phones (aka mobile phones) triggered increased cravings in study participants; brain scans showed heightened activity in reward centres when shown phone images. Cell phones stimulate your brain’s […]

The post Mobile phones are addictive; why do we get such a kick out of using our phones? first appeared on The Expose.

Bill Gates-funded project in Colombia releases 30 million bacteria-infected mosquitoes per week

29 May 2026 at 15:54

Last year, the government of Burkina Faso terminated the Target Malaria project, a research initiative funded by the Gates Foundation and Open Philanthropy, due to biosafety risks, low impact and scientific sovereignty […]

The post Bill Gates-funded project in Colombia releases 30 million bacteria-infected mosquitoes per week first appeared on The Expose.

‘Like a billionaire on acid’: Star Wars director Gareth Edwards comes out in favour of AI

29 May 2026 at 11:55

Speaking at Amazon’s AI on the Lot event, the Rogue One film-maker Gareth Edwards said ‘it’ll do anything you ask’ and ‘it’s going to be better than CGI’

Jurassic World Rebirth and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards has enthusiastically endorsed the use of generative AI in film-making, saying “it is a fucking genius at helping you” and “it’s going to be better than CGI”.

Edwards was speaking at AI on the Lot, an event in Culver City, California, organised by Amazon, and in remarks reported by the Hollywood Reporter said: “I can’t see a reason why you wouldn’t become interested in this stuff as a film-maker. It’s so clearly a tool that might be up there with the camera. It’s going to be better than CGI.”

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© Photograph: Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

© Photograph: Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

© Photograph: Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Why I’m grateful to the Pope for his encyclical on AI | Francine Prose

29 May 2026 at 11:00

The intelligent and thoughtful encyclical is an important warning of the uses and misuses of a rapidly developing technology. Silicon Valley is wrong to dismiss it

Often I’m asked if I think that the novels of the future will all be written by AI. It’s not so much a question as a provocation. Do I worry that a machine can do what I do, only better? I usually say something like: “No algorithm is going to write Anna Karenina!” which is also not a real answer.

So I’m grateful to Pope Leo XIV, the American pope, for his recently issued letter to the world, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. It’s a long (more than 40,00 words), intelligent and thoughtful encyclical in which the pope addresses the uses and misuses of a rapidly developing technology. Now when someone asks my opinion of AI, I can refer them to the pope’s letter, or at least chapter three.

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© Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters

© Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters

© Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters

Image of Thai police in sparkly dresses with handcuffed suspect turns out to be AI fake

Picture was created by administrator in charge of station’s Facebook account who wanted to create ‘friendlier image’

It was an arresting image and an irresistible story. A group of tough Thai police officers – five men and one woman – all wearing elaborate festival-style dresses, surrounding a drug dealer they had caught while undercover.

The image, released by local police, was so compelling that it found its way on to the front page of the UK’s Daily Star, as well as in picture stories in the Telegraph, the Sun and the New York Post.

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© Photograph: Tha Luang provincial police station/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tha Luang provincial police station/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tha Luang provincial police station/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. David Martin: The evidence for a planned covid pandemic starts in the UK in 1966

28 May 2026 at 16:04

In 2023, Dr. David Martin presented evidence to UK Parliamentarians that the covid pandemic was a 56-year plan in development, starting in the UK in 1966 when the Wellcome Trust decided to […]

The post Dr. David Martin: The evidence for a planned covid pandemic starts in the UK in 1966 first appeared on The Expose.

‘Hidden datacentre tax’ costing Irish households millions, report says

Datacentres used 22% of country’s electricity last year, pushing up household bills, study suggests

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

Ireland’s growing number of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricity, more than all urban homes combined, according to the Central Statistics Office. The equivalent figure in the US and UK is 6%.

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© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

‘Hidden datacentre tax’ costing Irish households millions, report says

Datacentres used 22% of country’s electricity last year, pushing up household bills, study suggests

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

Ireland’s growing number of datacentres last year used 22% of the country’s electricity, more than all urban homes combined, according to the Central Statistics Office. The equivalent figure in the US and UK is 6%.

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© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

© Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?

28 May 2026 at 13:00

With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producer

Jamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.

Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024.

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© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare

© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare

© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare

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