A partner at KPMG Australia has been fined $7,000 by the Big Four firm after using AI tools to cheat on an internal training course about using AI. From a report: The unnamed partner was forced to redo the test after uploading training materials into an AI platform to help answer questions on the use of the fast-evolving technology.
More than two dozen staff have been caught over this financial year using AI tools for internal exams, according to KPMG. The incident is the latest example of a professional services company struggling with staff using artificial intelligence to cheat on exams or when producing work for clients. “Like most organisations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing,” said Andrew Yates, chief executive of KPMG Australia. “It’s a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
ByteDance says that it’s rushing to add safeguards to block Seedance 2.0 from generating iconic characters and deepfaking celebrities, after substantial Hollywood backlash after launching the latest version of its AI video tool.
The changes come after Disney and Paramount Skydance sent cease-and-desist letters to ByteDance urging the Chinese company to promptly end the allegedly vast and blatant infringement.
Studios claimed the infringement was widescale and immediate, with Seedance 2.0 users across social media sharing AI videos featuring copyrighted characters like Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and SpongeBob Square Pants. In its letter, Disney fumed that Seedance was “hijacking” its characters, accusing ByteDance of treating Disney characters like they were “free public domain clip art,” Axios reported.
Merged a few days ago for the Linux 7.0 kernel were all of the driver core enhancements. As has been the common theme in recent kernel releases, a lot of the driver core code churn revolves around additions for allowing more Rust kernel driver usage…
Heating accounts for nearly half of the global energy demand, and two-thirds of that is met by burning fossil fuels like natural gas, oil, and coal. Solar energy is a possible alternative, but while we have become reasonably good at storing solar electricity in lithium-ion batteries, we’re not nearly as good at storing heat.
To store heat for days, weeks, or months, you need to trap the energy in the bonds of a molecule that can later release heat on demand. The approach to this particular chemistry problem is called molecular solar thermal (MOST) energy storage. While it has been the next big thing for decades, it never really took off.
In a recent Science paper, a team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and UCLA demonstrate a breakthrough that might finally make MOST energy storage effective.
Ireland has announced what it says is the world’s first permanent basic income program for artists, a scheme that will pay 2,000 selected artists $385 per week for three years, funded by an $21.66 million allocation from Budget 2026. The program follows a 2022 pilot — the Irish government’s first large-scale randomized control trial — that found participants had greater professional autonomy, less anxiety, and higher life satisfaction.
An external cost-benefit analysis of the pilot calculated a return of $1.65 to society for every $1.2 invested. The new scheme will operate in three-year cycles, and artists who receive the payment in one cycle cannot reapply until the cycle after next. A three-month tapering-off period will follow each cycle. The government plans to publish eligibility guidelines in April and open applications in May, and payments to selected artists are expected to begin before the end of 2026.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
For those preferring to wait for the first point release of a new Linux kernel version before upgrading, Linux 6.19.1 is out today to address some early bugs that made it into the Linux 6.19 kernel stable release one week ago…
The Vatican is leaning into AI. AI-assisted live translations are being introduced for Holy Mass attendees — the holy masses if you will. The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican has teamed up with Translated, a language service provider, to create live translations in 60 languages.
“Saint Peter’s Basilica has, for centuries, welcomed the faithful from every nation and tongue. In making available a tool that helps many to understand the words of the liturgy, we wish to serve the mission that defines the centre of the Catholic Church, universal by its very vocation,” Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, O.F.M. Conv., Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, said in a statement. “I am very happy with the collaboration with Translated. In this centenary year, we look to the future with prudence and discernment, confident that human ingenuity, when guided by faith, may become an instrument of communion.”
Visitors to the Vatican will have the option to scan a QR code. They will then have access to live audio and text translations of the liturgy. It doesn’t require an app and should work right on a web page.
The technology stems from Lara, a translation AI tool Translated launched in 2024. Translated claims that Lara works with the “sensitivity of over 500,000 native-speaking professional translators.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-vatican-introduces-an-ai-assisted-live-translation-service-163014907.html?src=rss
Linux 6.19.1 was released earlier today while it’s since been replaced by Linux 6.19.2 to address fallout from that first point release with some systems not booting. This also resulted in new LTS kernel releases too due to the problematic code being picked up there too…
The European Commission has adopted new measures under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) to prevent the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing, accessories and footwear. From a report: The rules will help cut waste, reduce environmental damage and create a level playing field for companies embracing sustainable business models, allowing them to reap the benefits of a more circular economy. Every year in Europe, an estimated 4-9% of unsold textiles are destroyed before ever being worn. This waste generates around 5.6 million tons of CO2 emissions — almost equal to Sweden’s total net emissions in 2021. To help reduce this wasteful practice, the ESPR requires companies to disclose information on the unsold consumer products they discard as waste. It also introduces a ban on the destruction of unsold apparel, clothing accessories and footwear.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
This month I have been doing a lot of Panther Lake benchmarking under Linux with the Core Ultra X7 358H. One of the areas of much interest has been the Arc B390 Xe3 graphics that have been working nicely out-of-the-box with the Intel open-source driver stack on Linux although there still are some gaps to fill against Windows. Those Intel Arc B390 Linux benchmarks so far have been focused on OpenGL and Vulkan graphics, but what about OpenCL and GPU compute with the open-source Intel Compute Runtime? Today’s article is looking at the performance of the Xe3 Panther Lake graphics on the newest Compute Runtime release compared to prior Intel graphics generations and the AMD Ryzen AI competition.
Bloober Team has revealed Layer of Fear 3 following a Valentine’s Day countdown that started at the beginning of 2026. The new chapter will include not only a game but a novel and music, the company said in a press release.
The developer revealed the new IP via a live-action teaser, with an actor reading lines from William Blake’s poem, The Sick Rose. A painting then fell from the wall, and the actor then turned over an hourglass with red sand, with a tagline stating “The door won’t stay closed.” No gameplay or other information like the release date was revealed.
What Bloober did say, though, is that it would launch new Layer of Fear non-game content, including a novel by horror writer, poet and vocalist Marta Bijan. The company also announced that it would release the soundtracks for Layer of Fear, The Medium and Cronos both in digital and physical (CD and vinyl) editions.
The new title is likely to be eagerly anticipated given Bloober’s form of late. The company recently released its Silent Hill 2 remake, Cronos: The New Dawn and a new Switch 2 Layers of Fear 2 version called Layers of Fear: The Final Masterpiece Edition. The original Layers of Fear came out back in 2016 and is considered one of the better horror titles of recent years, thanks to an expertly crafted narrative and psychedelic thrills and chills. The sequel moved to a creepy ocean liner and was equally well-received.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/layers-of-3-revealed-via-a-mysterious-trailer-and-poem-153021903.html?src=rss
Catch up on the latest Linux news: Linux Kernel 6.19, COSMIC Desktop 1.0.6, Mesa 26, Vim 9.2, OpenVPN 2.7, Podman 5.8, XFS could gain a self-healing feature, and more.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is “close” to cutting business ties with Anthropic and designating the AI company a “supply chain risk” — meaning anyone who wants to do business with the U.S. military has to cut ties with the company, a senior Pentagon official told Axios.
The senior official said: “It will be an enormous pain in the ass to disentangle, and we are going to make sure they pay a price for forcing our hand like this.”
That kind of penalty is usually reserved for foreign adversaries. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told Axios: “The Department of War’s relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed. Our nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight. Ultimately, this is about our troops and the safety of the American people.”
Anthropic’s Claude is the only AI model currently available in the military’s classified systems, and is the world leader for many business applications. Pentagon officials heartily praise Claude’s capabilities.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple has lined up its first event of the year. The company has invited members of the press to an “Apple Experience” that’s taking place in New York City on March 4 at 9AM ET. It hasn’t yet confirmed whether it will stream the event publicly. According to MacRumors, versions of this Apple Experience will also take place simultaneously in London and Shanghai.
It seems likely that Apple will take this opportunity to unveil its latest slate of iPads and MacBooks. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this month that Apple was planning to make a number of hardware announcements “as early as the week of March 2.”
This is expected to include a new MacBook Air and refreshed 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, with the M5 Pro and M5 Max making their debuts (a MacBook Pro with the base M5 chip arrived in October). There’s also speculation that Apple will announce a new entry-level MacBook that will be available in light yellow, light green, blue and pink colorways.
In addition, we may see new iPads here (or perhaps a little farther down the line), including an entry-level model with an A18 chip that’s capable of supporting Apple Intelligence features. The iPad Air could be in line for an upgrade as well with the introduction of the M4 chip to that line. Apple is also expected to roll out updated versions of the Mac Studio, Studio Display and Mac mini later this year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apples-next-event-is-set-for-march-4-145931890.html?src=rss
Michigan is taking on major oil and gas companies in court, joining nearly a dozen other states that have brought climate-related lawsuits against ExxonMobil and its industry peers. But Michigan’s approach is different: accusing Big Oil not of deceiving consumers or misrepresenting climate change risks, but of driving up energy costs by colluding to suppress competition from cleaner and cheaper technologies like solar power and electric vehicles.
The strategy is risky and might run into challenges, but it could potentially be a game changer if the state can overcome initial dismissal attempts by the industry defendants, legal experts say.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed the lawsuit last month in federal District Court against BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute. The suit, brought under federal and state antitrust laws, alleges a conspiracy to delay the transition to renewable energy and EVs and maintain market dominance of fossil fuels.
