Binance is accelerating a move away from its exchange-branded stablecoin by offering incentives for customers of the world’s

Much of Europe and the northeast US are in store for sweltering summer temperatures well above historical norms,

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Three quarters of the Irish data watchdog’s GDPR decisions were overruled by European regulators, a report has found. The report indicates that 75% of the Data Protection Commission’s decisions in EU cases over a five-year period were overruled by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). The EDPB had demanded tougher enforcement action in these cases, the report by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said, with only one other country in one other case overruled in such a manner. The figures include final decisions from January 2023 that are not yet included in the EDPB register of final decisions, from which the figures are based. If these three cases are not included, the figure is 88% of DPC decisions overruled. The report said that the DPC tends to use its discretion under Irish law to choose “amicable resolution” to conclude 83% of the cross-border complaints it receives, instead of using enforcement measures. The ICCL report claims that Ireland remains “the bottleneck of enforcement” for major cross-border cases in Europe. “When it does eventually do so, other European enforcers then routinely vote by majority to force it to take tougher enforcement action,” it said. As Google, Meta, Apple, TikTok and Microsoft have headquarters in Ireland, the Data Protection Commission is the lead authority investigating data privacy complaints about tech giants in Europe. Some 87% of cross-border GDPR complaints to Ireland’s DPC also involve the same eight companies: Meta, Google, Airbnb, Yahoo!, Twitter, Microsoft, Apple, and Tinder. On EU-wide cases, the ICCL report found that since May 2018 – when GDPR laws came into effect – and late 2022, 64% of the 159 enforcement measures were reprimands, stating that enforcement against tech giants in Europe “remains largely paralysed”. The EDPB register of EU-level decisions shows there were 49 compliance orders issued over four and a half year years. The report called on the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders to “take serious action” to enforce GDPR laws across Europe. Last summer, the Irish Government announced that two additional data protection commissioners would be hired, and that Helen Dixon would be promoted to chairwoman of the DPC – in an attempt to better resource the watchdog in recognition of its growing workload. The DPC has been carrying out a review of its governance structures, staffing arrangements and processes since last summer. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kate Winslet calls on Government to ‘criminalise harmful content’ Humans could be controlled by robots, AI firm’s founder warns AI pioneer warns UK is failing to protect against ‘existential threat’ of machines

A bride has gone viral after sharing a TikTok showing what she ate at her wedding, and it left viewers shocked. Sam Cutler, a fitness influencer with over 100,000 followers on TikTok, got married last week. To share the moment with her followers, she posted a ‘what I eat in a day’ video, in line with her regular content, but this time it was ‘what I ate on my wedding day’. However, viewers were shocked to see how much restriction and ‘clean eating’ habits were at the forefront of the wedding. The video, which now has over 4 million views, starts off with Cutler having a protein smoothie and some salad whilst getting her hair and makeup done, nothing too out of the ordinary. She also showed a veggie platter that was in the bridal suite for herself and her bridesmaids to snack on whilst getting ready. Whilst it’s quite unlike a lot of other TikToks that show the food at weddings, often with bridal suites having brunches and an array of snacks, viewers weren’t upset yet. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter However, viewers took issue when Cutler revealed that she had placed ‘bloat pills’ on every table, and shows herself taking one during the main course. The wedding cake was also gluten, dairy, and sugar free, and the bride only drank Cote de Rose because she knew ‘it’s less than 2g/L of sugar.’ People were quick to question the bride’s choice of food and drink for the day, with some saying ‘girl it’s one day you can have sugar’, ‘my jaw dropped’, ‘I would have been starving afterwards’, ‘I thought it wasn’t that bad and then I got to bloat pills part’, ‘diet culture is crazy’. Cutler responded to the backlash she faced, by saying "as women, we should be empowering each other to make the choice that works for our own individual body, without judgement." But many were still critical of Cutler, saying that when you’re giving your guests bloat pills, it’s no longer about individual choice, it’s about you’re making others feel, and the perpetuating of diet culture. Others came from a place of concern, with one user commenting: "not understanding one day of “bad” eating is not going to undo all the work you’ve put in is where things get scary." The video also gained a lot of attention on Twitter with people sharing similar views: Cutler reiterated that she enjoyed her wedding and no one was forced to take the bloat pills, but they were simply there for people who wanted them, or were interested in knowing more. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Sam Altman, the CEO of the artificial intelligence company OpenAI, testified before Congress about the “urgent” need for the government to create regulations surrounding AI. “I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong,” Mr Altman told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law on 16 May. Mr Altman, who has helped create OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4 and DALL-E 2, testified on the dangers AI could pose in the future without a regulatory committee or agency creating rules and holding companies accountable. Some of these dangers include spreading election misinformation, replacing jobs or manipulating people’s views. “We want to be vocal about that,” Mr Altman said. “We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening.” The OpenAI CEO was joined by IBM’s chief of privacy and trust Christina Montgomery, as well as Dr Gary Marcus, a professor at New York University and expert on AI. All three witnesses agreed that there needs to be new legislation that regulates AI. Mr Altman and Mr Marcus suggested there be a new kind of agency, either on a national or global level, that would issue licenses to AI technologies and revoke them should they not comply with safety standards. Unlike previous congressional hearings about technology and safety standards, Tuesday’s hearing was a clear bipartisan effort on all sides to understand the technology and find solutions. Lawmakers asked thoughtful questions and Mr Altman, Mr Marcus and Ms Montgomery gave in-depth answers as the group tried to find ethical solutions to regulating the powerful new technology. When asked by senators about ChatGPT’s effect on elections by spreading misinformation, Mr Altman said he is “quite concerned” about the impact AI can have on the democratic process. Mr Altman said a combination of companies abiding by ethical codes as well as keeping the public well-informed were two ways to combat election misinformation. But despite the frightening and real risks of AI, Mr Altman remained positive about the future of the technology. “We believe that the benefits of the tools we have deployed so far vastly outweigh the risks, but ensuring their safety is vital to our work,” Mr Altman said. Often, AI can be perceived as a negative thing that can take over the world and harm humans – a hypothetical situation that Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) offered during questioning. The OpenAI CEO encouraged people to look at ChatGPT as a “tool” not a “creature” when thinking about AI regulations. “It’s a tool that people have great control over,” Mr Altman said. But all three witnesses seemed confident about a regulatory agency or set of rules reducing the potential harm of AI and their willingness to be a part of it. “My worst fears are that we cause significant harms to the world,” Mr Altman said. Read More Regulation ‘critical’ to curb risk posed by AI, boss of ChatGPT tells Congress AI Congress hearing: Sam Altman testifies before Congress saying there is ‘urgent’ need for regulation Watch as OpenAI CEO faces questions from Congress on potential AI regulation Regulation ‘critical’ to curb risk posed by AI, boss of ChatGPT tells Congress Watch as OpenAI CEO faces questions from Congress on potential AI regulation Sam Altman testifies before Congress saying there is ‘urgent’ need for regulation

Equifax Inc. said a key financial regulator is investigating how the company handles disputes and data accuracy within

A natural phenomenon consisting of polka-dot-style formations has been cropping up around the world, and scientists are baffled as to why. The circular-shaped patches of ground have been seen in deserts in Australia and Namibia but now experts believe they are more widespread than originally thought. Known as “fairy circles”, there are now 263 known sites across the globe where they can be found, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). They have been documented in 15 countries, across three continents, including the Sahel region of Africa, Madagascar, and in Middle-West Asia. And yet, despite the spread of these anomalies, scientists are still none the wiser about how they actually form. A team led by environmental scientist Emilio Guirado, of the University of Alicante in Spain, explained in their paper on the "intriguing" phenomenon: “We conducted a global and systematic assessment of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and discovered hundreds of [fairy-circle]-like locations on three continents. “Our study provides insights into the ecology and biogeography of these fascinating vegetation patterns and the first atlas of their global distribution.” The mysterious circles appear in desert regions and can be as wide as 12 metres (39 feet) in diameter. They are almost always spaced out and rarely connect or overlap with one another. Several theories have been put forward as to what causes them, including, tiny insects, termites, and plant toxins. But, none have been accompanied by any significant evidence and some have been debunked completely. One significant factor limiting their study is they are often found in places that are difficult to access and are inhospitable. Locating the 263 different sites of “fairy circles” involved analysing high-resolution satellite imagery. Guirado and his team wrote in their paper: “[The sites] include those already identified in Namibia and Western Australia, as well as areas never described before, including the Sahel, Western Sahara, Horn of Africa, Madagascar, Southwest Asia, or Central and Southwest Australia. “By doing so, our study provides a global atlas of areas showing FC-like vegetation patterns and expands the known existence of this vegetation type to new countries and continents.” The team hopes that locating new sites will enable them to find common traits that may point towards their cause. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.