Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 11h

"While on the phone with 911, Rinderknecht allegedly typed a question into ChatGPT: 'Are you at fault if a fire is lift because of your cigarettes'"

Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 13h

When investigators recovered the phone of the man suspected of starting the Palisades fire they found an image of a burning city he generated on ChatGPT www.latimes.com/california/s...

Uber driver accused of intentionally starting fire that destroyed Pacific Palisades

Authorities will announce an arrest in connection with the devastating Palisades fire, law enforcement sources said, and are expected to announce a cause of the blaze.

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Matthew Hay Brown @matthewhaybrown.bsky.social · 2d

When a judge told Claudio David Balcane González “Welcome to the United States,” he sobbed. He had finally been granted asylum.

Then ICE detained him for 63 more days @marialuisapaul.bsky.social reports

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

A Venezuelan singer won asylum. ICE detained him for two more months.

The singer known online as Davicito59 won his asylum case in July. Still, ICE kept him in custody for two more months — a holdup several experts called unlawful.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Lisa Bonos @lisabonos.bsky.social · 2d

Do you abstain from AI? I'd love to hear about why you avoid it -- and how hard that might be getting. Send me a DM or Signal @lisabonos.18

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 6d

Deepfake detection co. Reality Defender was able to use videos of real people to get their cameo uploaded to Sora. OpenAI's system didn't catch it
www.linkedin.com/posts/benpco...

Reality Defender bypassed Sora 2's deepfake impersonation safeguards in under 24 hours. Here's what happened: OpenAI just launched Sora 2 with a "Cameo" feature requiring identity v...

Reality Defender bypassed Sora 2's deepfake impersonation safeguards in under 24 hours. Here's what happened: OpenAI just launched Sora 2 with a "Cameo" feature requiring identity verification to pre...

www.linkedin.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 6d

A few hours on Sora we made
- video of an ICE raid on Sesame St.
- JFK saying things he never said
- Sam Altman robbing a bank and dressed as a Nazi general

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Everything is fake on Silicon Valley’s hottest new social network

The new Sora social app from ChatGPT maker OpenAI encourages users to upload video of their face so their likeness can be put into AI-generated clips.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 8d

New: ICE has bought a tool that tracks the locations of hundreds of millions of phones globally, updates every single day. Usually harvested from apps and advertising

www.404media.co/ice-to-buy-t...

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data.

www.404media.co

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Mikhail Klimentov @leadergrev.bsky.social · 8d

Wrote about the Riyadh Comedy Festival, where the setup of tell-it-like-it-is comedians who riff on cultural reservations around taboo subjects meets the awkward punchline of severe restrictions on speech.
wapo.st/46vPycf

Saudi comedy festival draws big names and backlash

Human rights advocates and some comics say the festival, at which Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart are performing, whitewashes abuses.

wapo.st

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks to tower dumps, Gmail warrants, social media, police are drowning in data. A new startup is selling AI to help them parse it. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Police are drowning in data. Could a chatbot help?

Start-up Longeye offers an AI chatbot for police designed to help them spot clues and patterns in digital evidence such as phone recordings or online chatlogs.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真) @lizthegrey.com · 9d

the fact they have the ability to allow opt out means they're capable of matching rights holders to works, so so much for their theory that the machine is dumb and they can't tell what it is generating.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 9d

Exclusive: OpenAI is planning to release a new version of its Sora video generator, which creates videos featuring copyrighted material unless copyright holders opt out of having their work appear.

OpenAI’s New Sora Video Generator to Require Copyright Holders to Opt Out

Executives at the startup notified talent agencies and studios over the last week.

on.wsj.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 9d

New @washingtonpost.com supercut:

Donald Trump and his allies keep blaming the left for "fascist" political rhetoric that they have also used

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

yea we have a red light and blue light in the booth and Im facing the red one. Print reporters have no business making videos without help

Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

the lighting makes me look like

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

YouTube's settlement will go towards paying for the new White House ballroom (seriously)

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

YouTube to pay $24.5 million to settle Trump lawsuit over post-Jan. 6 suspension

YouTube will pay $24.5 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit alleging it unfairly blocked President Donald Trump’s account after the Jan 6. Capitol attacks.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

“Our general approach has been to treat likeness and copyright distinctly,” said Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer of OpenAI.

Definitely seeing this distinction being made by AI execs recently. A potential wedge being driven into Hollywood/Music industry www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...

Exclusive | OpenAI’s New Sora Video Generator to Require Copyright Holders to Opt Out

Executives at the company notified talent agencies and studios over the last week.

www.wsj.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

we are definitely in the era of waving your hand and saying "AI" as you lay off thousands of older workers www.businessinsider.com/accenture-co...

Accenture is cutting staff it can't retrain in the age of AI — but it still plans to hire more people

The consulting giant is cutting staff it can't reskill in the AI era, with plans to increase overall head count.

www.businessinsider.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

Full story - www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Video gamer Electronic Arts to be acquired for $55 billion in largest-ever private equity buyout

Electronic Arts, the video game maker of “Madden NFL,” “The Sims,” and other popular titles, is being acquired and taken private for about $55 billion in what could become the largest-ever buyout fund...

www.washingtonpost.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 9d

Silver Lake, Jared Kushner and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund are buying Electronic Arts

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 13d

astronomers found the star god

kottke.org @kottke.org · 13d

The Black Hole That Could Rewrite Cosmology. Astronomers may have found a primordial black hole, perhaps formed by quantum fluctuations during post-Big Bang inflation “before any stars had yet appeared”. [theatlantic.com]

The Black Hole That Could Rewrite Cosmology

Astronomers see a mysterious object shining in the deep sky. It could be older than the stars.

www.theatlantic.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 13d

DECEPTIVE

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 13d

full story washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/25/amazon-refund-billion-prime-ftc/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f004

Amazon will refund $1.5 billion to Prime subscribers in $2.5 billion FTC settlement

The online retailer will refund $1.5 billion to subscribers to its Prime service as part of a larger settlement over claims it deceived consumers into signing up.

washingtonpost.com

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Gerrit De Vynck @gerritd.bsky.social · 13d

The FTC's $2.5 billion Amazon fine is equivalent to 4% of the company's 2024 net income

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 13d

Microsoft will no longer allow Israel to use its cloud services to enable its mass surveillance of occupied Palestinians – "the first known case of a US technology company withdrawing services provided to the Israeli military since the beginning of its war on Gaza"

Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians

Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit’s access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 14d

"The Ellison family is cornering the market on attention and data the way the Vanderbilts did railroads and the Rockefellers did oil."

Jake Lahut @jakelahut.writes.news · 14d

"He does a brilliant job of being, let’s call it the anti-Elon. He’s not kind of feared directly, but people in the know in Washington know he has some tremendous pull.” - a Trumpworld source in the AI industry
www.wired.com/story/larry-...

Larry Ellison Is a ‘Shadow President’ in Donald Trump’s America

The Ellison family is cornering the market on attention and data the same way the Vanderbilts did railroads and the Rockefellers did oil.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Gerrit De Vynck

Brian Barrett @brbarrett.bsky.social · 16d

No one knows Silicon Valley better than @stevenlevy.bsky.social. And no one is more clear-eyed about how far removed it has become from its supposed ideals.

I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong

Tech got what it wanted by electing Trump. A year later, it looks more like a suicide pact.

www.wired.com

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