Italy Temporarily Blocks ChatGPT Over Data Privacy Concerns

Italy said on Friday it was temporarily blocking ChatGPT over data privacy concerns, becoming the first western country to take such action against the popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot.

The country's Data Protection Authority said US firm OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, had no legal basis to justify "the mass collection and storage of personal data for the purpose of 'training' the algorithms underlying the operation of the platform".

ChatGPT caused a global sensation when it was released last year for its ability to generate essays, songs, exams and even news articles from brief prompts.

But critics have long fretted that it was unclear where ChatGPT and its competitors got their data or how they processed it.

Universities and some education authorities have banned the chatbot over fears that students could use it to write essays or cheat in exams.

And hundreds of experts and industry figures signed an open letter this week calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI systems, arguing they posed "profound risks to society and humanity".

The letter was prompted by OpenAI's release earlier this month of GPT-4, a more powerful version of its chatbot, with even less transparency about its data sources.

OpenAI said Friday that it has "disabled ChatGPT for users in Italy".

"We are committed to protecting people's privacy and we believe we comply with... privacy laws. We actively work to reduce personal data in training our AI systems like ChatGPT because we want our AI to learn about the world, not about private individuals," an OpenAI spokesperson said.

"We also believe that AI regulation is necessary - so we look forward to working closely with (authorities in Italy) and educating them on how our systems are built and used," the spokesperson said.

"Our users in Italy have told us they find ChatGPT helpful for everyday tasks and we look forward to making it available again soon."

- 'Unsuitable answers' -

The Italian authority imposed a "temporary limitation of the processing of Italian user data" by OpenAI and said it had launched an investigation.

As well as a lack of legal basis for data collection, the authority also highlighted a lack of clarity over whose data was being collected.

It said wrong answers given by the chatbot suggested data was not being handled properly, and accused the firm of exposing children to "absolutely unsuitable answers".

The watchdog further referenced a data breach on March 20 where user conversations and payment information were compromised -- a problem the firm blamed on a bug.

Nello Cristianini, an AI academic from Bath university in Britain, said securing user data and enforcing age limits were easy to fix.

But the other two accusations were more problematic -- that the model is trained on personal data that is gathered without consent and then not treated properly.

"It is not clear how these can be fixed anytime soon," he said.

The company has been given 20 days to respond and could face a fine of 20 million euros ($21.7 million) or up to 4 percent of annual revenue.

The runaway success of ChatGPT garnered OpenAI a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft, which uses the technology in its Bing search engine and other programs.

It also sparked a gold rush among other tech firms and venture capitalists, with Google hurrying out its own chatbot and investors pouring cash into all manner of AI projects.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/F2rYku5

"PIL Shouldn't Be Used For Products Of Mischief": Delhi High Court

Cautioning against frivolous PILs which promote personal, business or political agenda, the Delhi High Court has said courts must carefully weigh if the person before it has any personal motive or oblique consideration.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said motivated public interest litigations (PILs) not only pose a grave danger to the credibility of judicial process and consume precious judicial time but also have the propensity of endangering the credibility of other institutions and undermining public faith in democracy and the rule of law.

The "attractive brand name of PIL should not be used for suspicious products of mischief" and should be aimed at genuine public wrong, it said.

"It will be travesty of justice for the resources of the legal system to be consumed by misdirected petitions purportedly filed in the public interest which upon due scrutiny are found to promote a personal, business or political agenda.

"In fact, Public Interest Litigations which have been filed with oblique motive seriously denude the efficacy of the judicial system by detracting from the ability of the Court to devote its time and resources to cases which legitimately require attention," said the bench, also comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad, in a recent order.

The court remarked that while PIL was conceptualised as a weapon to secure justice for the voiceless, it was being plagued by frivolous PILs which are consuming considerable and precious time.

"The Court said that Public Interest Litigation has to be used with great care and circumspection and the judiciary has to be extremely careful to see that behind the beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest and/or publicity-seeking is not lurking... Courts must be careful to see that a member of public who approaches the Court is acting bona fide and not for personal gain or private motive or political motivation or other oblique consideration," said the court.

The court made the observations while hearing a PIL by a woman, who claimed to be a social worker, against an alleged unauthorised construction in the city.

The court noted in spite of the stand of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that the construction was as per its permission and that it was "keeping a vigil", the petitioner, for "reasons not known", continued to press her plea.

The court said there was no reason to doubt the stand taken by the MCD and questioned the bonafides of the petitioner.

"The Petitioner for reasons best known to her has chosen to disbelieve the MCD without any valid reason. This gives a strong suspicion that the submission made by Respondent No.4 (property owner) that certain individuals are trying to extort money from the owners of the subject property might be true," it said.

"The present writ petition though styled as a PIL is, in fact, the second petition filed by the Petitioner complaining about the unauthorized construction over the subject property," added the court.

The court remarked although the present PIL was not in public interest, it was desisting from imposing costs on the petitioner, who is a lady.

"This court is being plagued by frivolous PILs which are consuming considerable and precious time of this Court and instead of concentrating on issues which are of vital importance this Court has to spend valuable time in deciding such frivolous petitions," stated the court.

"Public Interest Litigations which are motivated pose a grave danger to the credibility of the judicial process and also have the propensity of endangering the credibility of other institutions and undermining public faith in democracy and the rule of law," it said.

The court said if there are deviations from the sanctioned plan, the municipal corporation must proceed in accordance with law and shall not treat its order as a licence for the property owner to carry out construction in violation of the plan.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/cjnx6kK

Over 4,200 Criminals Arrested In Single-Day Operation In Rajasthan: Police

More than 4,200 criminals were arrested in 10 districts of Ajmer and Udaipur division in Rajasthan on Sunday, an official said.

A campaign on direction by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is being run to catch criminals, Director General of Police Umesh Mishra said. Under this, as many as 4,255 criminals were arrested in districts under Ajmer and Udaipur range on Sunday, he added.

In total, 2,111 criminals were arrested in the Ajmer range and 2,144 were arrested in the Udaipur range. Inspector General (IG) Ajmer Rupinder Singh and IG Udaipur Ajaypal Lamba monitored the raids.

Ajmer division has four districts -- Ajmer, Tonk, Bhilwara and Tonk while six districts of Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Dungarpur, Banswara and Pratapgarh are under the Udaipur range.

According to officials, 1,068 teams comprising more than 6,000 policemen conducted raids in the ranges and caught the accused involved in organised crime, arms and drug smuggling and other criminal activities.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/yRnXsU6

Man Allegedly Sets Co-Passenger On Fire In Kerala Train After Fight: Report

Three people were injured after a man allegedly set on fire one of them following an argument on board an express train on Sunday, railway sources said.

It is suspected that the man, who is yet to be identified, escaped when the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express slowed down after passengers pulled the emergency chain, they said.

According to sources, the incident took place around 9.45 pm when the train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city. The fire was extinguished by the passengers who alerted the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

"As per the preliminary information, the person who allegedly caused the fire escaped after the incident. Three persons with burn injuries have been shifted to hospital by the RPF and after necessary inspection, the train continued its journey," a senior Railway official told PTI.

As per the initial reports, the incident took place after a suspected argument between two persons.

Kozhikode city police and the Railway Protection Force have initiated probes into the matter.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/tXa6g1p

Prominent Russian Military Blogger Killed In St Petersburg Cafe Blast

A prominent Russian military blogger was killed Sunday and 25 others injured in an explosion at a cafe in Russia's second-largest city of Saint Petersburg, the interior ministry said.

"One person was killed in the incident. He was military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky," the ministry said on Telegram.

Investigators later said they had confirmed "an unidentified explosive device exploded in a cafe in central St Petersburg", and had opened a murder inquiry.

The health ministry said that a total of 25 people were injured in the blast, 24 of whom were taken to hospital.

Six of the injured were said to be in serious condition.

The explosion occurred at "Street Food Bar No. 1", located along the Neva river not far from the historic city centre, with the interior ministry saying police had been called to the scene at 6:13 pm (1513 GMT).

Officers cordoned off the street outside the building with around 20 police cars, alongside six ambulances as well as fire trucks, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The TASS news agency quoted a law enforcement source as saying the blast was "caused by an improvised explosive device hidden inside a statue given to Tatarsky as a gift".

The Ria Novosti agency, quoting a source close to the inquiry, said "a girl" had supposedly dropped off a package with a "figurine" inside intended for the blogger.

"She gave it to him... and all of a sudden there was an explosion," Alissa Smotrova, a woman who was at the cafe, told AFP.

"There was blood and pieces of glass..."

Another source told Ria Novosti that Tatarsky "knew" the suspected deliverer of the package, and that they had crossed paths at other "events", without giving further details.

Terrorism?

Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, has more than 500,000 followers on Telegram and is in favour of Russia's campaign in Ukraine.

He made his name early in the operation by publishing videos analysing the military situation on the ground and offering advice for mobilised troops, according to TASS.

A group called Cyber Front Z, which refers to itself on social media as "Russia's information troops", said it had hired out the cafe for the evening.

A local media outlet, Fontanka, said there were at least 100 people at the event.

"There was a terrorist attack. We took certain security measures but unfortunately they were not enough," the group said on Telegram.

"Condolences to everyone who knew the excellent war correspondent and our friend Vladlen Tatarsky," it said.

The 40-year-old Tatarsky came from the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which Russia claims to have annexed and which is currently mostly held by Russian troops.

Reacting to the attack, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter the "question of when domestic terrorism would become an instrument of internal political fight was a matter of time".

In August 2022, Russia's FSB security services accused Ukraine of being behind a car bombing outside Moscow that killed the daughter of hard-line Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin -- charges denied by Kyiv.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said bloggers like Tatarsky "are defenders of the truth", and lashed out at Western governments for not reacting quickly to the bombing.

A failure to comment "despite their concerns for the welfare of journalists and the free press speaks for itself", she said, an apparent reference to widespread condemnation of the arrest of US reporter Evan Gershkovich.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/3cF4ilT

29-Year-Old Indian-Origin Man Arrested For Firebombing US Building In 2022

An Indian-origin man has been arrested for firebombing a Madison office building in the US state of Wisconsin in May 2022, the Justice Department said.

Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 29, of Madison, who was arrested from Boston's International Airport last week is charged with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive, the department said in a statement.

If convicted, Roychowdhury faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

“According to the complaint, Roychowdhury used an incendiary device in violation of federal law in connection with his efforts to terrorise and intimidate a private organisation,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

“I commend the commitment and professionalism of law enforcement personnel who worked exhaustively to ensure that justice is served.” On Mother's Day on May 8, 2022, at approximately 6.06 am, law enforcement responded to an active fire at an office building located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Outside of the building, someone spray-painted on one wall, “If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either” and, on another wall, a large “A” with a circle around it and the number “1312.” During the investigation, law enforcement collected DNA from the scene of the attack.

In March 2023, law enforcement identified Roychowdhury as a possible suspect and collected his DNA from the food he threw in the trash can.

Law enforcement officers advised that a forensic biologist, who examined the DNA evidence recovered from the attack scene and compared it to the DNA collected from the food contents, found the two samples matched and likely were the same individual.

Law enforcement arrested Roychowdhury at Boston Logan International Airport last week. A date for his appearance in federal court in Madison has not been set.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/Y0Firyf

Fire Breaks Out At Chennai's Iconic LIC Building, Doused Within Minutes

A fire broke out at the terrace of the iconic LIC building in Chennai's Anna Salai on Sunday evening. Fire officials say the blaze, which started at 6 pm, was doused within five minutes and no major losses were reported.

Videos recorded by commuters on the road show the top of the 14-storey building engulfed in massive flames as thick plumes of smoke rose from it.

“Four fire tenders and two sky lifts were deployed to control the blaze. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire in five minutes," a fire official told NDTV.

"The fire started near the LIC name board on the terrace of the 14-storey building and spread from there. Fortunately, firefighters acted swiftly and averted a major disaster, “ another fire official said.

Investigations are underway but officials suspect an electrical short circuit to be the cause of the fire. Maintaining that such incidents occur during summer season, officials said the fire department conducts fire audits regularly in high-rise buildings.

The building, which serves as the southern headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, was the first skyscraper to be built in India. An important landmark, it was the tallest building in the country when it was completed in 1959.

from NDTV News Search Records Found 1000 https://ift.tt/mZo0wer