Commerce Department announces nearly $1 billion in grants for 'middle mile' internet access
The federal effort to expand internet access to every U.S. home has taken a major step forward with the announcement of $930 million in grants to shore up connections in dozens of places where significant connectivity gaps persist
2023-06-16 17:45
AI-generated Family Guy stream banned after making a bomb threat
The Family Guy TV series has always had a reputation for walking a tightrope between being satirical and downright offensive. Now, an AI-generated version of the show has been banned from one of its main platforms, the streaming site Twitch, after it seemingly made a bomb threat in one of its sequences. The parody was being hosted on the channel ai_peter, when one of the characters started talking about how best to plant a bomb in an indoor arena venue in Washington DC. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter A Twitter user who was tuned into the show when it happened said the account was disabled within minutes. The show was also later removed from YouTube, and the show is no longer streaming on Kick. Now, users trying to visit the channel on Twitch see the message: “This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.” The parody also featured a sequence in which the AI-generated protagonist Peter Griffin announced the death of Brian, the family's dog, who was a hugely popular character in the original show. AI parody streams court controversy The ai_peter account is the latest in a string of live streamers who have used the technology to mimic scenes from a popular TV show and beam it to users on platforms like Twitch, YouTube and Kick. Another earlier parody is AI Seinfeld, which started generating mocked-up scenes from the hit 1990s sitcom. However, that too was banned after it made an anti-LGBT+ joke. Despite the repeated controversies, AI-generated Twitch streamers have attracted thousands of viewers to their regular streams in recent months, with viewers enjoying the novelty of seeing how powerful the technology can be. The shows typically generate parody scenes from the original shows, while also taking suggestions and interacting with viewers. The AI Family Guy uses OpenAI DaVinci, a writing assistant and content creation platform. It uses audio generated using FakeYou.com, with the stream running 24/7. 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.
2023-06-16 17:24
BOE a Step Closer to Launching Digital Pound After Project Rosalind Study
The Bank of England is a step closer to launching its own digital currency after a yearlong project
2023-06-16 17:18
EU Takes Tougher Stance on Huawei as China Tensions Rise
The European Commission is increasing the pressure on member-nations to stop using Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp.
2023-06-16 15:57
Northvolt Founder Expands Green Empire Into Heat Pumps
The private equity founder of unicorn green ventures like Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB is targeting residential homes
2023-06-16 14:50
AGL Will Spend A$10 billion in Shift to Renewables From Coal
AGL Energy Ltd. said it would massively expand its production of clean energy as it abandons coal-fired power
2023-06-16 14:27
Europe’s Gas Prices Show Market Fears Plunging Back Into Crisis
The gas market is flashing warning signs that Europe could easily plunge back into crisis. Huge price swings
2023-06-16 13:52
Micron Vows $600 Million China Investment Weeks After Chip Ban
Micron Technology Inc. promised to invest another 4.3 billion yuan ($602 million) in its Chinese chip-packaging plant, a
2023-06-16 11:58
US Agencies Are Latest Victims in Expanding MOVEit Hacking Spree
About a week ago, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI sent out a joint
2023-06-16 10:27
Reddit Says 80% of Top Forums Online After Days of API Protest
Reddit Inc. said that most of the company’s communities were operating as normal — four days after a
2023-06-16 08:57
Toyota Had a Great Week. The Company’s Chairman Did Not
The biggest rally in three years for Toyota Motor Corp. shows how a well-timed campaign to promote the
2023-06-16 08:48
Energy Department among federal agencies breached by Russian ransomware gang
U.S. officials say the Department of Energy is among a small number of federal agencies compromised in a Russian cyber-extortion gang’s global hack of a file-transfer program popular with corporations and governments
2023-06-16 06:56