News of the Cyber World

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Country Singer and ‘Yellowstone’ Star Lainey Wilson Speaks Out Against AI Misuse of Artists’ Voices

Lainey Wilson, the country singer renowned for her hit “Heart Like a Truck” and her role in Yellowstone, took a stand in Washington, DC, last week, highlighting the growing concerns among artists over AI’s unauthorized use of their voices and likenesses.

The congressional hearing on AI and intellectual property opened on Friday with a jarring example that used Johnny Cash’s voice in an AI-generated rendition of “Barbie Girl” to the tune of “Folsom Prison Blues,” highlighting the bizarre and often unauthorized applications of AI in the entertainment industry.

Wilson’s testimony shed light on the personal and professional violations artists face when AI commandeers their unique identities without consent. She expressed how her music and voice serve as a bridge to connect with fans, emphasizing that the unauthorized use of her voice not only misrepresents her but also infringes on her personal rights.

“I use my music and my voice to tell stories, to connect to my fans and to help them to connect to each other. My art is uniquely and literally me, my name, my likeness, my voice,” she said. “I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your name, your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow. It is wrong, plain and simple.”

White House Fury Over Tucker Carlson Interviewing Putin

The former Fox News host, a key ally of 2024 election candidate Donald Trump and a vocal opponent to US military aid for Kyiv, traveled to Moscow for Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

“It should be very obvious to everybody what Mr Putin has done in Ukraine, and the completely bogus and ridiculous reasons for which he tried to justify it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One.

“I don’t think we need another interview with Vladimir Putin to understand his brutality.”

Carlson has not said when the interview will be broadcast but mentioned it will be free to watch. After being sacked by Fox News last year, he started a show on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Carlson’s visit to Moscow has been covered heavily by Russian state media, which has long highlighted the US celebrity’s anti-Ukraine talking points.

Carlson’s access to Putin is a huge contrast with restraints on other foreign journalists in Russia, where two US citizens — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are currently imprisoned.

The open doors for Carlson also come against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s two-decades-long dismantling of the free press, with prominent Russian journalists murdered and many more forced to live abroad under Putin.

The Kremlin however contradicted Carlson’s own claim that he was the only Western journalist who had “bothered” to request access to Putin since the invasion.

EU Politicians Threaten to Sanction Tucker Carlson for Interviewing Vladimir Putin

Despite the longstanding tradition of American journalists interviewing dictators of all stripes, including a leader of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, top Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt has called for Tucker Carlson to face EU sanctions for sitting down with the Russian strongman.

The former Belgian Prime Minister and strong Brexit opponent, who currently serves in the European Parliament, told Newsweek: “As Putin is a war criminal and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service examine his case as well.”

The process for the EU to sanction an individual is typically a lengthy one, with evidence first needing to be presented to its External Action Service — the bloc’s diplomatic arm, run by Spanish socialist Josep Borrell — before being put to the European Council for a final decision.

However, before the interview with Putin, which the Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday, Verhofstadt also suggested that Carlson could face being banned from entering the EU, which could feasibly be imposed sooner, writing on Monday: “Tucker Carlson is surely on the path to being labelled a propagandist for the Russian regime. If he enables disinformation for Putin, the EU should explore a travel ban!”

Although the European Union, the United States and NATO are not officially at war with Russia, some, including former U.S. Congressmen Adam Kinzinger have accused Carlson of being a “traitor” for interviewing Putin. Verhofstadt, for his part, branded Carlson “an enemy of everything the US stands for” and a “mouthpiece” for the Kremlin.

Snap to Lay off 10% of Global Workforce to ‘Promote In-Person Collaboration’

Snap, the maker of the social media platform Snapchat, says it will lay off 10 percent of its global workforce, around 500 employees, to “promote in-person collaboration.”

The social media company, which laid off 20 percent of its staff in 2022 and a small number of product employees in November, made its announcement on Monday, amid its shares falling around one percent in morning trading, according to a report by CNBC.

“We are reorganizing our team to reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration,” a Snap spokesperson told CNBC. “We are focused on supporting our departing team members.”

Snap reportedly expects to incur charges ranging from $55 million to $75 million, a regulatory filing reveals.

At the time of publishing, Snap stock is $16.52 a share, just below the company’s debut price of $17 a share, and well off its 2021 high of around $83 a share.

NYPD Subway Robot No Longer Working Its Beat

The Knightscope K5 Security Robot began its trial run in 2023, and its beat was the Times Square subway station, NBC New York reported Friday.

However, a police spokesperson recently told the outlet the 420-pound robot “has completed its pilot deployment in the NYC subway system.”

The robot has now reportedly been tucked away among some cardboard boxes in a vacant storefront. According to Fox 5, subway riders are still confused about its purpose. “It’s a joke; it’s a Roomba. I’m unclear what its purpose was,” one man told the outlet.

In September, Mayor Eric Adams (D) said deploying the robot would save the city money because officials were paying less an hour than its minimum wage to lease the contraption, according to Breitbart News:

“The population of men and women in law enforcement — in criminal justice — those numbers are decreasing,” Mayor Adams said in a Friday morning press briefing, announcing the deployment of the robot. “What we must do is look at existing technology and see — how do we continue to be innovative.”
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The robot initially gave people pause due to privacy concerns. “I mean, it’s scary, but I guess it’s expected,” one man told the outlet. However, the NBC report said the robot did not record audio or use facial recognition technology.

It is important to note that in April, when the New York Fire Department’s (FDNY) robot dog was sent to survey a collapsed parking garage, it fell over while on the job, Breitbart News reported.

“Last year, the FDNY became the first fire agency in the United States to purchase Spot robodogs from the robotics company Boston Dynamics, which cost a staggering $75,000 each, according to multiple reports,” the outlet said.

Seriously guys, it just looks like the lamest version of a  Dalek ever created to me.

Tesla Settles Hazardous Waste Lawsuit in California as Elon Musk Calls for Carbon Tax on the Rest of Us

Reuters reports that Tesla has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by 25 California counties accusing the electric vehicle manufacturer of mishandling hazardous waste at its facilities across the state.

The settlement was approved on Thursday in San Joaquin County state court, just two days after the counties sued Tesla. The lawsuit claimed that Tesla improperly labeled waste materials like paint, used batteries, and diesel fuel at its facilities in California. The company also allegedly sent hazardous materials to landfills not equipped to handle them.

While not admitting wrongdoing, Tesla agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and $200,000 to the counties to cover investigation costs. The company will also take steps to properly handle waste and hire an independent auditor to examine its waste practices over the next five years.

“While electric vehicles may benefit the environment, the manufacturing and servicing of these vehicles still generates many harmful waste streams,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

The counties said Tesla cooperated with the investigation and has already started quarantining and screening its waste.

London’s Khan Pouring £150 Million into Tech Capable of Implementing Pay-Per-Mile Tax

According to a series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests from The Telegraph broadsheet, Transport for London (TfL) — at the direction of Mayor Khan — established a scheme to develop a “more sophisticated… new core technology platform for road-user charging”.

The scheme, dubbed “Project Detroit” in an apparent nod to the American automobile hub city hollowed out by decades of leftist governance and mismanagement, currently has 157 staff, some of whom are earning upwards of £100,000 per year. The paper reports that £21 million in taxpayer money has already been spent with the total cost slated to rise to “between £130 million to £150 million”.

Amid a tough re-election bid and steep public opposition to move to expand the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) which imposes a green tax on motorists driving in all of London, Mayor Khan has recently claimed that he does not have plans to impose a pay-per-mile scheme.

However, according to the FoI for Project Detroit, TfL stated that the scheme could be expanded to encompass all levies on driving under one umbrella and could include a tax on distances driven.

“The Detroit platform has the capability to be extended and we will be looking to build the system flexibly so that other forms of charging based on distance, vehicle type, etc could be catered for if a decision was made in future to do so,” the TfL stated.

The revelations have drawn criticism from opposition Conservative members of the London Assembly, with Peter Fortune, who represents Bexley and Bromley, saying:
“Sadiq Khan can deny it all he wants but it’s pretty clear he plans to introduce pay-per-mile road-user charges for every motorist if he wins a third term.”

Disney+ Loses 1.3 Million Subscribers After Hiking Prices More Than 25 Percent

The Disney+ streaming service lost 1.3 million subscribers worldwide during the last three months of 2023 as a steep price hike took a toll on fans’ wallets. In the U.S. and Canada alone, the streamer bid goodbye to 400,000 customers — Disney+’s largest-ever reported domestic decline.

The drop represents a major hit for Disney, which has been pouring billions of dollars into its streaming services without yet reaching profitability. Domestic Disney+ subscriptions have stagnated at around 46 million for the past year, an ominous sign for a streaming service that is only four years old.

The left-wing studio recently hiked Disney+’s monthly subscription price to $13.99 from $10.99 — a 27 percent increase. In 2022, the price rose to $10.99 from $7.99, which means Disney+ subscribers saw their monthly bill climb a total of 75 percent in less than two years.

The latest price increase took effect in October.

Like other streamers, Disney is trying to force subscribers to its ad-supported option, which costs $7.99 a month — the old price for Disney+ without commercials. Studios make more money from ad-supported streaming options due to the revenues from commercials on top of the monthly subscription fees.

Disney+ subscribers worldwide currently stand at 111.3 million, which doesn’t include HotStar customers in India. That’s still a long way off from Netflix, which boasts around 260 million customers around the world.