economy

Google unveils $6.4 bn investment in Germany

BY CLEMENT KASSER WITH SAM REEVES IN FRANKFURT

  • The recently unveiled Nvidia project involves a one-billion-euro investment for a computing hub in the southern city of Munich designed to enable European companies, from big industry players to start-ups, better access to AI.  Germany is quickly building up its data centres -- by 2030, the country's data centre computing power will increase by 70 percent, according to digital business association Bitkom.
  • Google unveiled its biggest-ever investment in Germany on Tuesday, pledging 5.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) for a new data centre and other projects, as Europe seeks to catch up in the AI race.
  • The recently unveiled Nvidia project involves a one-billion-euro investment for a computing hub in the southern city of Munich designed to enable European companies, from big industry players to start-ups, better access to AI.  Germany is quickly building up its data centres -- by 2030, the country's data centre computing power will increase by 70 percent, according to digital business association Bitkom.
Google unveiled its biggest-ever investment in Germany on Tuesday, pledging 5.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) for a new data centre and other projects, as Europe seeks to catch up in the AI race.
It comes after AI chip juggernaut Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom last week announced plans for a high-tech hub in Germany aimed at helping industry speed up adoption of artificial intelligence.
The cash injections are a boost for Germany, whose economy is struggling, as well as Europe as it seeks to catch up with AI leaders the United States and China.
"We are driving growth in Germany," Chancellor Friedrich Merz said as Google announced the investments, which are to be made by 2029. 
"Our country is and will remain one of the most attractive places for investment in the world," he said.
Google's plans include a new data centre and expansion of an existing centre in the western state of Hesse, providing computing power for artificial intelligence.
It also plans to expand its offices in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, and outlined various projects aimed at reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. 
These included buying renewable wind and solar energy and a "heat recovery project" that would see excess heat produced by a data centre re-used by local residents. 
The plans will support around 9,000 jobs a year in Germany, Google said.
"Google is deepening its roots in Germany, extending our investments in the country and creating new avenues for AI-driven transformation," said Philipp Justus, Google's country manager for Germany.

Boost the digital sector

Merz's coalition, which took power this year, is seeking to attract more foreign investment to boost the digital sector with prospects for the country's traditional industrial titans increasingly bleak.
The recently unveiled Nvidia project involves a one-billion-euro investment for a computing hub in the southern city of Munich designed to enable European companies, from big industry players to start-ups, better access to AI. 
Germany is quickly building up its data centres -- by 2030, the country's data centre computing power will increase by 70 percent, according to digital business association Bitkom.
Europe still lags far behind, however -- as of last year the continent's data centres had computing capacity of 16 gigawatts, compared with 48 in the US and 38 in China, according to the group.
While the investments will be broadly welcomed in Germany as Merz seeks to reboot the economy, some are nevertheless concerned about the reliance on US tech giants in sensitive areas such as AI. 
Increasingly uneasy ties between Europe and the US since President Donald Trump returned to power have fuelled calls for more "digital sovereignty" -- meaning the region's data should be stored at home, where European rules and norms apply, rather than handed to US firms.
Google made a nod to these concerns on Tuesday, emphasising in its announcement that it offered "sovereign" cloud computing that allowed customers to adopt "AI capabilities, while adhering to local requirements and European values".
Kristina Sinemus, a senior official responsible for digital affairs in Hesse, also played down concerns that working with US tech giants could threaten data security.
"We don't automatically hand over all the data to the US with a US investor," she said, stressing that agreements could ensure data was kept at home. 
"We need to stop thinking in black and white terms, because it's a bit more complex than that."
sr/fz/jxb

Portugal

'Splinternets' threat to be avoided, says web address controller

BY TOM BARFIELD

  • But ICANN has warned that any such move could lead to a fragmented "splinternet" in which it could prove expensive or impossible for people to connect across separate address systems.
  • The risk of the internet fragmenting into national "splinternets" will likely be averted in a UN vote next month, the head of the authority that manages web addresses told AFP on Tuesday.
  • But ICANN has warned that any such move could lead to a fragmented "splinternet" in which it could prove expensive or impossible for people to connect across separate address systems.
The risk of the internet fragmenting into national "splinternets" will likely be averted in a UN vote next month, the head of the authority that manages web addresses told AFP on Tuesday.
"The vast majority of the countries that we have met with, including countries who in the past have been very sceptical... believe the current model of governing the internet has worked," Kurtis Lindqvist, head of ICANN, said at the Web Summit tech gathering in Lisbon.
Officials from UN member countries are to meet December 15-16 to review the rules that have applied to internet over the past two decades.
Some proposals circulating call for control of managing internet addresses being taken away from the US-based non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that Lindqvist runs.
Pressure has built in recent years to give that power to  governments and trade groups.
But ICANN has warned that any such move could lead to a fragmented "splinternet" in which it could prove expensive or impossible for people to connect across separate address systems.
Lindqvist said "there's some careful optimism" that the existing system will remain in place. "But let's see what happens in December."
He added that "negotiations really start now" on the text that will be adopted at the meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

'Phenomenally successful'

ICANN is best known for coordinating global allocation of internet addresses -- whether the easily-remembered versions people type into web browsers, or the strings of numbers used by computers known as IP addresses.
Having a single agreed-upon address system worldwide means that anyone in any country can easily reach people elsewhere on the globe by visiting their website or sending an email.
The internet's social and business benefits are "only possible because we have a uniform technical standard, we have uniform identifiers that are reachable throughout the entire internet," Lindqvist said.
"If we start fragmenting this by raising barriers or through policy actions, then we start diminishing this value creation".
Over the decades the internet has existed, "we have unfortunately been so phenomenally successful with this that people are starting to take the internet for granted, and that's the real risk," Lindqvist added.
The ICANN chief further called for the UN to end the practice of reviewing internet governance every 10 years.
"The model of governing the internet has been successful... We know it works," he said, adding that "that seems to be agreed to by most member states".
By contrast, in terms of regulation of AI -- this decade's erupting technology -- "everything literally is on the table" in talks among governments, Lindqvist said.
From proposals for independent governance along ICANN lines to a dedicated UN AI agency, "It's the same as the late '90s, literally it's the same spectrum," he said.
tgb/rmb

retail

China's 'Singles Day' shopping fest loses its shine for weary consumers

BY JING XUAN TENG

  • She told AFP she had bought far fewer Singles Day products compared to last year and that she had noticed a belt-tightening trend among Chinese consumers.
  • Chinese shoppers worried about the economy and overwhelmed by near-constant retail promotions are growing weary of the annual "Singles Day" sales bonanza, a discouraging sign as the government tries to boost consumption.
  • She told AFP she had bought far fewer Singles Day products compared to last year and that she had noticed a belt-tightening trend among Chinese consumers.
Chinese shoppers worried about the economy and overwhelmed by near-constant retail promotions are growing weary of the annual "Singles Day" sales bonanza, a discouraging sign as the government tries to boost consumption.
"Singles Day" -- named for its 11/11 date and first launched by tech giant Alibaba in 2009 -- has ballooned into a month-long promotional period for e-commerce platforms.
The shopping spree was once an annual opportunity for Alibaba and major rival JD.com to announce new purchase records, but they have withheld detailed sales totals in recent years.
"The discounts aren't as attractive now," said 29-year-old Shanghai resident Zhang Jing, who told AFP she bought "nothing" during this year's sales.
Zhang said she was discouraged by online platforms' increasingly complex promotions, which often require shoppers to claim multiple coupons or combine purchases in a specific order before they can enjoy a discount.
"I've never participated in these complicated rules, not once," she said.
Shi Xuebin, the 42-year-old owner of a clothing boutique, said she bought a new iPhone 17, but only because "I wanted to buy a new phone in the first place".
She told AFP she had bought far fewer Singles Day products compared to last year and that she had noticed a belt-tightening trend among Chinese consumers.

'Downgrading consumption'

"I feel the general economy hasn't been great this year and people are avoiding buying things that aren't absolutely necessary," Shi said.
"Before, if you liked something, you'd buy it without much thought... but now, there's a real sense of downgrading consumption."
China's leaders have fought to overcome sluggish domestic spending, a protracted crisis in the property sector and a trade war with the United States.
The Communist Party's top brass vowed to "vigorously boost consumption" after a key planning meeting in Beijing last month.
Consumer prices have been stagnant or in decline in recent months, although they rose in October after a weeklong national holiday boosted demand for travel and food.
Zhu, a 30-year-old Shanghai resident who declined to give his full name, said his mother had taken advantage of November sales to stock up on household products such as laundry detergent and toilet paper. 
However, outside daily necessities, Zhu said he mostly shopped second-hand instead of buying new versions of the tools and books he needed for his calligraphy hobby.
"We're pretty practical -- if I need something I will buy it but if I don't need it, I just won't get it no matter how cheap it is," he told AFP.
tjx/reb/pbt

AI

Concentration of corporate power a 'huge' concern: UN rights chief

BY NINA LARSON

  • The fact that tech titans are racing to roll out generative artificial intelligence tools adds to the concern of many experts. 
  • A few tech giants accumulating massive power coupled with artificial intelligence is posing huge global rights challenges and needs regulation, the UN human rights chief told AFP in an interview.
  • The fact that tech titans are racing to roll out generative artificial intelligence tools adds to the concern of many experts. 
A few tech giants accumulating massive power coupled with artificial intelligence is posing huge global rights challenges and needs regulation, the UN human rights chief told AFP in an interview.
Amid increasing worries over threats to democracy and with a growing number of countries at risk of sliding towards autocracy, Volker Turk said a key concern was the seeming unbridled power of a small number of technology companies.
In an interview this week at the UN rights office overlooking Lake Geneva, he pointed to how seven or eight big tech companies now boast more wealth than the entire economies of even industrialised nations.
"They have amassed an immense amount of power," he said.
"And power, we all know, if it is not circumscribed by rule of law, by international rights law, can lead to abuse.
"It can lead to an exercise of powers to subjugate others."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said he was deeply "worried that corporate power, if it's not constrained by the law and by international rights standards, is going to be a huge issue for us".
"It's an area where I think we as the human rights community will have to focus much more."

'Extremely manipulative'

Turk did not mention any company by name.
But he spoke just days after Tesla shareholders endorsed a pay package that could reach $1 trillion for its chief executive Elon Musk -- already the world's richest person and owner of social media platform X.
Other high-profile tech figures like Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also figure among the world's wealthiest people.
Turk this year voiced alarm to the UN Human Rights Council over the influence wielded by "unelected tech oligarchs".
They "have our data: they know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears", he told the UN's top rights body.
"They know how to manipulate us." 
The fact that tech titans are racing to roll out generative artificial intelligence tools adds to the concern of many experts. 
"Generative AI can have huge potential to resolve some of the biggest problems that we face, but we also can see the shadow side," Turk said.
He highlighted the impact AI-enhanced social media could have on election campaigns and other democratic processes.
It can be "extremely manipulative", he warned, and "can distort views, distract people from real life... the real issues".

'Climate denial'

Turk cautioned that "AI that is unregulated can be a huge source of distraction, which then takes away the political energy that we need in order to actually fight autocratic tendencies, to push back on lack of control".
At the same time, AI is being used for "distorting reality", he said, adding he did not want to say it was creating alternative realities, "because they are not realities. It is fake".
And they are not harmless, he warned.
"The right to truth, the right to science are fundamental issues," Turk said.
With the UN climate conference under way in Brazil, he also decried the harm from climate change disinformation.
"I'm shocked to hear leaders talk about climate denial again, when we all know that we are already overshooting the goal that was set 10 years ago with the Paris Agreement," he said.
"What are we thinking? What are we doing to our children, our grandchildren, future generations?" he asked.
"There will be questions asked about accountability in the future, but then it's too late."
nl/rjm/tw/kjm

cybercrime

AI agents open door to new hacking threats

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
  • Cybersecurity experts are warning that artificial intelligence agents, widely considered the next frontier in the generative AI revolution, could wind up getting hijacked and doing the dirty work for hackers.
  • AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
Cybersecurity experts are warning that artificial intelligence agents, widely considered the next frontier in the generative AI revolution, could wind up getting hijacked and doing the dirty work for hackers.
AI agents are programs that use artificial intelligence chatbots to do the work humans do online, like buy a plane ticket or add events to a calendar.
But the ability to order around AI agents with plain language makes it possible for even the technically non-proficient to do mischief.
"We're entering an era where cybersecurity is no longer about protecting users from bad actors with a highly technical skillset," AI startup Perplexity said in a blog post.
"For the first time in decades, we're seeing new and novel attack vectors that can come from anywhere."
These so-called injection attacks are not new in the hacker world, but previously required cleverly written and concealed computer code to cause damage.
But as AI tools evolved from just generating text, images or video to being "agents" that can independently scour the internet, the potential for them to be commandeered by prompts slipped in by hackers has grown.
"People need to understand there are specific dangers using AI in the security sense," said software engineer Marti Jorda Roca at NeuralTrust, which specializes in large language model security.
Meta calls this query injection threat a "vulnerability." OpenAI chief information security officer Dane Stuckey has referred to it as "an unresolved security issue."
Both companies are pouring billions of dollars into AI, the use of which is ramping up rapidly along with its capabilities.

AI 'off track'

Query injection can in some cases take place in real time when a user prompt -- "book me a hotel reservation" -- is gerrymandered by a hostile actor into something else -- "wire $100 to this account."
But these nefarious prompts can also be hiding out on the internet as AI agents built into browsers encounter online data of dubious quality or origin, and potentially booby-trapped with hidden commands from hackers.
Eli Smadja of Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point sees query injection as the "number one security problem" for large language models that power AI agents and assistants that are fast emerging from the ChatGPT revolution.
Major rivals in the AI industry have installed defenses and published recommendations to thwart such cyberattacks.
Microsoft has integrated a tool to detect malicious commands based on factors including where instructions for AI agents originate.
OpenAI alerts users when agents doing their bidding visit sensitive websites and blocks proceeding until the software is supervised in real time by the human user.
Some security professionals suggest requiring AI agents to get user approval before performing any important task - like exporting data or accessing bank accounts.
"One huge mistake that I see happening a lot is to give the same AI agent all the power to do everything," Smadja told AFP.
In the eyes of cybersecurity researcher Johann Rehberger, known in the industry as "wunderwuzzi," the biggest challenge is that attacks are rapidly improving.
"They only get better," Rehberger said of hacker tactics.
Part of the challenge, according to the researcher, is striking a balance between security and ease of use since people want the convenience of AI doing things for them without constant checks and monitoring.
Rehberger argues that AI agents are not mature enough to be trusted yet with important missions or data.
"I don't think we are in a position where you can have an agentic AI go off for a long time and safely do a certain task," the researcher said.
"It just goes off track."
tu-gc/arp

electricity

The AI revolution has a power problem

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  • All this cash has helped alleviate one initial bottleneck: acquiring the millions of chips needed for the computing power race, and the tech giants are accelerating their in-house processor production as they seek to chase global leader Nvidia.
  • In the race for AI dominance, American tech giants have the money and the chips, but their ambitions have hit a new obstacle: electric power.
  • All this cash has helped alleviate one initial bottleneck: acquiring the millions of chips needed for the computing power race, and the tech giants are accelerating their in-house processor production as they seek to chase global leader Nvidia.
In the race for AI dominance, American tech giants have the money and the chips, but their ambitions have hit a new obstacle: electric power.
"The biggest issue we are now having is not a compute glut, but it's the power and...the ability to get the builds done fast enough close to power," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged on a recent podcast with OpenAI chief Sam Altman.
"So if you can't do that, you may actually have a bunch of chips sitting in inventory that I can't plug in," Nadella added. 
Echoing the 1990s dotcom frenzy to build internet infrastructure, today's tech giants are spending unprecedented sums to construct the silicon backbone of the revolution in artificial intelligence.
Google, Microsoft, AWS (Amazon), and Meta (Facebook) are drawing on their massive cash reserves to spend roughly $400 billion in 2025 and even more in 2026 -- backed for now by enthusiastic investors.
All this cash has helped alleviate one initial bottleneck: acquiring the millions of chips needed for the computing power race, and the tech giants are accelerating their in-house processor production as they seek to chase global leader Nvidia.
These will go into the racks that fill the massive data centers -- which also consume enormous amounts of water for cooling.
Building the massive information warehouses takes an average of two years in the United States; bringing new high-voltage power lines into service takes five to 10 years.

Energy wall

The "hyperscalers," as major tech companies are called in Silicon Valley, saw the energy wall coming.
A year ago, Virginia's main utility provider, Dominion Energy, already had a data-center order book of 40 gigawatts -- equivalent to the output of 40 nuclear reactors.
The capacity it must deploy in Virginia, the world's largest cloud computing hub, has since risen to 47 gigawatts, the company announced recently.
Already blamed for inflating household electricity bills, data centers in the United Statescould account for 7 percent to 12 percent of national consumption by 2030, up from 4 percent today, according to various studies.
But some experts say the projections could be overblown.
"Both the utilities and the tech companies have an incentive to embrace the rapid growth forecast for electricity use," Jonathan Koomey, a renowned expert from UC Berkeley, warned in September.
As with the late 1990s internet bubble, "many data centers that are talked about and proposed and in some cases even announced will never get built."

Emergency coal

If the projected growth does materialize, it could create a 45-gigawatt shortage by 2028 -- equivalent to the consumption of 33 million American households, according to Morgan Stanley.
Several US utilities have already delayed the closure of coal plants, despite coal being the most climate-polluting energy source.
And natural gas, which powers 40 percent of data centers worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency, is experiencing renewed favor because it can be deployed quickly.
In the US state of Georgia, where data centers are multiplying, one utility has requested authorization to install 10 gigawatts of gas-powered generators.
Some providers, as well as Elon Musk's startup xAI, have rushed to purchase used turbines from abroad to build capability quickly. Even recycling aircraft turbines, an old niche solution, is gaining traction.
"The real existential threat right now is not a degree of climate change. It's the fact that we could lose the AI arms race if we don't have enough power," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued in October.

Nuclear, solar, and space?

Tech giants are quietly downplaying their climate commitments. Google, for example, promised net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 but removed that pledge from its website in June.
Instead, companies are promoting long-term projects.
Amazon is championing a nuclear revival through Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), an as-yet experimental technology that would be easier to build than conventional reactors.
Google plans to restart a reactor in Iowa in 2029. And the Trump administration announced in late October an $80 billion investment to begin construction on ten conventional reactors by 2030.
Hyperscalers are also investing heavily in solar power and battery storage, particularly in California and Texas.
The Texas grid operator plans to add approximately 100 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 from these technologies alone.
Finally, both Elon Musk, through his Starlink program, and Google have proposed putting chips in orbit in space, powered by solar energy. Google plans to conduct tests in 2027.
bl/arp/iv/mlm

KOR

Faker's T1 win third back-to-back League of Legends world crown

BY CELIA CAZALE, WITH HIEUN SHIN IN SEOUL

  • Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
  • South Korean giants T1, headlined by star player Faker, made history on Sunday winning their third consecutive League of Legends World Championship crown in Chengdu, beating KT Rolsters in a nail-biting final.
  • Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
South Korean giants T1, headlined by star player Faker, made history on Sunday winning their third consecutive League of Legends World Championship crown in Chengdu, beating KT Rolsters in a nail-biting final.
Touted as one of the world's largest eSports tournaments, the League of Legends World Championships offers a grand prize of one million dollars along with numerous sponsorship deals worth billions.
The two teams battled to a 2-2 deadlock, but T1 surged ahead in a thrilling fifth game to claim the world title after nearly five hours of relentless, high-stakes play.
Nearly 40,000 fans gathered at the arena in China's Chengdu to watch the final, with Faker being the star player.
"He is really the god," Palm, a 28-year-old who had flown from Bangkok, told AFP.
In League of Legends, two teams of five battle to destroy the opponent's base, known as the Nexus.
The crowd roared and went wild, chanting "T1, T1" as the team made the final winning move.
"I simply focused on the game as a professional player," said Faker after the final match.
"I'm just grateful that victory followed as a result." 
The all-South Korean clash revived the nation's famed "telecom rivalry", a reference to the communications titans that run the two teams whose competition dates back more than a decade to their StarCraft days.
Fans dub their clashes the "telecom derby".
T1's history in the league has proven to be unmatched, this was their eighth appearance in the world finals with five titles already.
Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
For team star Faker, whose real name is Lee Sang-hyeok, this marks an unprecedented sixth championship, extending his record as the most decorated player in eSports.
The 29-year-old is a multi-millionaire eSports superstar in South Korea, which has given him the title of "national treasure".
In Seoul on Sunday, hundreds of fans gathered at eSports venue LoL Park as the match was locked in a close contest between the two rivals.
When Faker finally held the trophy high in the air, the arena exploded in cheers and screams.
After all Chinese contenders had been knocked out by South Korean teams -- an outcome that stunned home fans in China -- the Summoner's Cup was sure to return to South Korea.
"Either way we brought home the cup," Park Jin-hyuk, a decade-long fan of Faker, told AFP.
"It's a good day to be a South Korean."
Last year's League of Legends World Championship drew nearly seven million peak viewers worldwide –- excluding Chinese audiences, whose numbers are estimated by experts to reach tens of millions –- making it the most-watched match in eSports history.
bur-hs/dh

Shein

Shein bans sex dolls after France outrage over 'childlike' ones

  • It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
  • Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children.
  • It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children.
France's finance minister had threatened to ban the retailer from the country if it resumed selling the childlike dolls, just days before it opens its first physical store in Paris.
The Paris prosecutors' office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of sex dolls.
The probes were also for distributing "messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, (and) accessible to minors", the office told AFP.
The investigations were launched after France's anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling "childlike" dolls of a likely pornographic nature.
French daily Le Parisien published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.
The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.
Shortly after the fraud watchdog's statement, Shein announced the dolls had been withdrawn from its platform and it had launched an internal inquiry.
It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a "total ban on sex-doll-type products" and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. 
A spokesperson told AFP the ban applied globally.
"These publications came from third-party vendors, but I take personal responsibility," said Shein's chief executive Donald Tang.

French warning

France's finance Minister Roland Lescure had warned Monday he would move to ban the company from the French market if the items returned online.
"These horrible items are illegal," he told the BFMTV broadcaster, promising a judicial investigation.
Shein said it was setting up a dedicated team to ensure the "integrity" of content on the sales platform.
France's high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Hairy, said several websites were being investigated, after French media reported Chinese shopping platform AliExpress sold the same dolls.
AliExpress said it had immediately removed the items from its website.
The anti-fraud office said in a statement later Monday that it was taking legal action against AliExpress for selling "child-porn-style dolls".

Shein store in Paris

Shein is due on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world inside the prestigious BHV Marais department store in central Paris, a move that has sparked outrage in France.
Frederic Merlin, the director of the company that owns BHV, said selling the childlike dolls was "unacceptable", but on Monday defended his decision to allow Shein into the department store.
"Only clothes and items conceived directly by Shein for BHV will be sold in store," he said.
Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.
Some brands have pulled their products from BHV Marais since the announcement.
France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191 million euros ($220 million).
Those sanctions were imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.
The European Commission is also investigating Shein over risks linked to illegal products, while EU lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.
mpa-cac-bur/rmb/sla/jhb

Netherlands

Nexperia chip exports resuming: German auto supplier

  • "There are positive signals that the deliveries can start again," Merz said, adding that "This could happen in the coming hours."
  • A leading German auto supplier said Friday that it had received permission to export Nexperia chips from China again as Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed "positive signals" of de-escalation in a dispute that has alarmed carmakers.
  • "There are positive signals that the deliveries can start again," Merz said, adding that "This could happen in the coming hours."
A leading German auto supplier said Friday that it had received permission to export Nexperia chips from China again as Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed "positive signals" of de-escalation in a dispute that has alarmed carmakers.
Dutch officials in September effectively took control of the Netherlands-based chipmaker Nexperia, whose Chinese parent company Wingtech is backed by Beijing.
China responded by banning re-exports of the firm's chips, triggering warnings from automakers of production stoppages as the components are critical to onboard electronics.
But Beijing announced at the weekend it would exempt some chips from the export ban, reportedly part of a trade deal agreed by President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Aumovio, which supplies components like sensors and displays to top automakers, said it had "received an export license from the Chinese government to export Nexperia chips".
"We received the written confirmation yesterday," a spokeswoman for the group, until recently part of Continental, told AFP.
Speaking to reporters at climate talks in Brazil, Merz said that Germany and the Netherlands had held talks with China on the issue.
"There are positive signals that the deliveries can start again," Merz said, adding that "This could happen in the coming hours."
"I am confident after speaking to the Dutch prime minister that this will work," he added.
While relatively simple technology, Nexperia's semiconductors are vital for the electronics in modern, technology-packed vehicles. 
The chips are made in Europe but then sent to China for finishing, before being re-exported to clients in Europe and other markets.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, had warned of production stoppages if the crisis dragged on, while smaller firms were reported to be preparing to cut working hours.
The Netherlands cited national security concerns when it moved to take control of Nexperia and accused the firm's CEO of mismanagement.
China had also accused the United States of getting involved in the case -- Washington last year put Wingtech on a list of corporations viewed as acting contrary to US national security.
sr-jsk/fec/js

Portugal

Global tech tensions overshadow Web Summit's AI and robots

BY DAXIA ROJAS

  • - Tech sovereignty - Brussels will make its presence felt at Web Summit by the presence of Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's digital chief.
  • Flashy AI, robotics and self-driving cars will be on show at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon from Monday, but global tensions over high-tech trade, competition and sovereignty will be weighing on the minds of entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers.
  • - Tech sovereignty - Brussels will make its presence felt at Web Summit by the presence of Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's digital chief.
Flashy AI, robotics and self-driving cars will be on show at the annual Web Summit in Lisbon from Monday, but global tensions over high-tech trade, competition and sovereignty will be weighing on the minds of entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers.
Known as the "Davos for geeks", the four-day event in the Portuguese capital is set to welcome over 70,000 visitors, including 2,500 startups and 1,000 investors.

AI and chips

With major global players racing to control the supply chains behind generative artificial intelligence, an appearance by chief executive of American chip developer Qualcomm Cristiano Amon will be a hot ticket.
His company recently announced a new range of AI chips designed to compete with sector heavyweight Nvidia and challenger AMD.
Both firms' high-end processors are subject to restrictions from Washington on their export to China on national security grounds.
Several leaders of other top AI players will also appear in Lisbon, including Microsoft President Brad Smith and Joleen Liang, co-founder of Chinese startup Squirrel AI, which is bringing the technology into classrooms.
One of Europe's hottest tickets, Swedish startup Lovable, is sending boss Anton Osika to vaunt its technology that allows users to create apps and websites via a chatbot without coding experience.
British dictionary publisher Collins dubbed this "vibe coding" approach its word of the year for 2025.

Health and sports

Almost 30 percent of investment in new sports technology went into AI firms in the first half of this year, investment bank Drake Star found in a study.
In Lisbon, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and France's Caroline Garcia will be on stage talking about how AI can improve athletes' performance in their discipline.
Increasingly capable devices ranging from watches and rings able to monitor sleep, heart rate or body temperature mean that tech's ability to detect initial signs of illness will be another hot topic.

Robots and autonomous cars

American robotics chiefs in Lisbon will include Amazon Robotics boss Tye Brady and Robert Playter, head of the Boston Dynamics company known from viral videos of its dog-like quadrupeds.
Uber president Andrew Macdonald and Lyft's chief David Risher will for their part talk up schemes to fill the world's streets with robotaxis.
Fired in part by the generative AI surge, competition is heating up to dominate automated driving.
Uber has signed a partnership with chip developer Nvidia to upgrade tens of thousands of cars from different manufacturers with automation tech from 2027.
Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, has said its driverless vehicles will arrive in London from next year.
And several Chinese manufacturers including Baidu and Pony.ai have Europe in their sights for an automated car rollout.

Tech sovereignty

Brussels will make its presence felt at Web Summit by the presence of Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's digital chief.
The 27-nation EU is increasingly fearful for its technological sovereignty as transatlantic trade and political tensions mount.
"We're more and more dependent, especially from the American hyperscalers" or major data centre operators, said Maya Noel, director general of the France Digitale network of tech companies and investment firms.
She will tell attendees that European options are needed if the continent is to remain in control of its economy.
As the Commission pressures American and Chinese platforms to tighten protections for underage internet users, American games publisher Roblox -- whose eponymous game is vastly popular with minors -- will outline how it plans to verify players' ages.
dax/tgb/rl

tech

Chinese microdrama creators turn to AI despite job loss concerns

BY JING XUAN TENG

  • Chen Kun, the creator of "Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas", told AFP microdramas are ideal candidates for AI disruption because viewers -- typically watching on phone screens while commuting or at work -- tend to miss visual discrepancies created by the still-fledgling technology.
  • Ultra-short video series "Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas" is filled with dragon-like monsters, handsome protagonists and plenty of melodrama -- almost all of it, including the lifelike human characters, created by artificial intelligence.
  • Chen Kun, the creator of "Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas", told AFP microdramas are ideal candidates for AI disruption because viewers -- typically watching on phone screens while commuting or at work -- tend to miss visual discrepancies created by the still-fledgling technology.
Ultra-short video series "Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas" is filled with dragon-like monsters, handsome protagonists and plenty of melodrama -- almost all of it, including the lifelike human characters, created by artificial intelligence.
With over 50 million views, it is one of a growing number of AI-generated "microdramas", soap opera-like series with episodes as short as 30 seconds, that are taking China by storm.
Microdrama production companies are increasingly harnessing AI to replace actors and screenwriters with algorithms, raising concerns about job losses and copyright infringement that have riled creative industries globally. 
Chen Kun, the creator of "Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas", told AFP microdramas are ideal candidates for AI disruption because viewers -- typically watching on phone screens while commuting or at work -- tend to miss visual discrepancies created by the still-fledgling technology.
"Even if AI can't achieve the production values of traditional filmmaking today, it can meet the needs of microdramas as a first step," said Chen.
Chinese audiences are lapping them up.  
"Nine-tailed Fox Demon Falls in Love with Me", an AI microdrama with fever dream-like visuals and a nonsensical plot, went viral recently. 
"If you're just watching without using your brain, you can ignore some illogical details in the visuals," a fan of the show told AFP on video app Douyin, providing only the username "Tiger Mum". 
Chen used various AI platforms for his series, including ChatGPT for the screenplay, Midjourney to generate still images, China's Kling to turn images into video, and Suno for the soundtrack. 
Onlythe editing and voice acting were done by humans.
"Many special effects can be created (using AI), though there are indeed issues like stiff character expressions,"a "Strange Mirror" fan who did not provide their name told AFP on broadcast platform Kuaishou, adding they had noticed "significant progress" in the technology compared to a year ago. 

'Wow factor'

AI "is so accessible, it lowers the cost of production so much, it makes everything so much faster," said Odet Abadia, a teacher at the Shanghai Vancouver Film School.
When AFP visited recently, she was showing students how to use AI tools at virtually every stage of the filmmaking process.
Students typed prompts into Dzine, an AI image editing platform, which seconds later displayed images of polar bears and arctic explorers for use in a nature documentary storyboard.
Some generated results were more fantastical than realistic, depicting mysterious tiny people at explorers' feet. 
"(AI is) another way of storytelling," Abadia said. "You can get a wow factor, a lot of crazy things, especially in short dramas."
She showed AFP a virtual production assistant she had designed using tech giant Alibaba's Qwen software. 
In just seconds, it generated a plot outline about a wedding photographer unwittingly embroiled in a criminal conspiracy.
Abadia said her students needed to face up to a future where film and TV jobs will all require AI use.
However, the school still encourages aspiring filmmakers to "go and shoot with humans and actors and equipment, because we want to support the industry".

'Realistic and cheap'

In Hollywood, studios' use of AI was a major sticking point during writers' and actors' strikes in 2023. 
The launch of AI "actress" Tilly Norwood then sparked a fierce backlash this year.
"When AI first emerged, people in the film industry were saying this would spell the end for us... the products were so realistic and cheap," said Louis Liu, a member of a live-action microdrama crew shooting scenes at a sprawling Shanghai studio complex. 
The 27-year-old said there had already been an impact -- AI software has replaced most artists producing "concept images" that define the look of a film in its earliest stages.
"Strange Mirror" creator Chen said he was optimistic new jobs would emerge, especially "prompt engineer" roles that write instructions for generative software.
Artists globally have also raised concerns about copyright infringement, stemming from the material AI models are trained on.
Chen told AFP the creators of large language models should compensate the owners of works included in their data sets, though he argued the matter was out of the hands of secondary users like his company.
Even AI-generated content can be vulnerable to old-fashioned plagiarism -- Chen is involved in a legal battle with a social media account he alleges stole elements from his series' trailer. 
But he rejected the notion using AIwas inherently unoriginal. 
"Everything we describe (in prompts) stems from our own imagination -- whether it's the appearance of a person or a monster, these are entirely original creations."
tjx/reb/tc

disinformation

US influencers falsely associate Mamdani with extremist group

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.
  • US right-wing influencers falsely linked New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the Islamic State group, amplifying a fabricated statement that garnered millions of views on social media, researchers said Thursday.
  • Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.
US right-wing influencers falsely linked New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the Islamic State group, amplifying a fabricated statement that garnered millions of views on social media, researchers said Thursday.
Mamdani -- the first Muslim and South Asian elected to lead America's largest city -- secured a decisive victory this week in the face of fierce attacks on his policy proposals and religious background.
A slew of anti-Mamdani accounts on the Elon Musk-owned platform X have circulated a statement purportedly from IS titled "Operation Manhattan Project," which alluded to an attack in New York City on Election Day against what it called "American aggression."
Among the influencers who linked the fake communique to Mamdani was Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer who has Trump's ear.
"The Muslims can't think of a better way for the Muslims to celebrate the victory of a Muslim mayoral candidate today than by committing an ISIS (Islamic State) attack in NYC," Loomer wrote in a post on X that racked up more than 200,000 views.
Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.
The posts collectively amassed millions of views across the platform.
The purported letter, which displayed the logo of the jihadists' Amaq News Agency, was fabricated, according to multiple researchers including the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard.
Meili Criezis, an American University academic, told the watchdog that the supposed communique did not bear the hallmarks of other statements that emanated from Amaq.
"Amaq is used [by the Islamic State] to share news and claim responsibility for attacks," Criezis said.
"It doesn't make threats like what is stated in the screenshot."
The Information Epidemiology Lab, another research group, also said the circulated communique "sharply" diverged from established IS "media practices in language, style, formatting, and distribution."
The fabricated statement appeared to first surface on the far-right message board 4chan, a known haven for conspiracy theories.
In recent months, Mamdani, a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, has vocally denounced antisemitism as well as the Islamophobia he himself suffered following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The 34-year-old state lawmaker -- who appealed to voters by pledging to tackle the soaring cost of living -- has repeatedly been targeted by racist tropes and misinformation.
In the weeks leading up to the highly anticipated election, AFP's fact-checkers debunked several false internet claims targeting Mamdani, including that a noncitizen illegally voted for him and that one of his campaign staffers posed beside graffiti of Nazi swastika.
ac/des

government

Tesla shareholders approve Musk's $1 trillion pay package

BY JOHN BIERS

  • The first tranche would be available when Tesla reaches $2 trillion in market value, up from its current $1.5 trillion.
  • Tesla shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed a massive pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could reach $1 trillion. 
  • The first tranche would be available when Tesla reaches $2 trillion in market value, up from its current $1.5 trillion.
Tesla shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed a massive pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could reach $1 trillion. 
The pay package -- crafted to ensure Musk's continued service to Tesla as the company pursues breakthrough technology on artificial intelligence and robotics -- won more than 75 percent support from shareholders, a Tesla official said at the company's annual meeting.
"I'd like to just give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the shareholder votes," a euphoric Musk told the gathering. "I super-appreciate it."
Cheers of "Elon" broke out after the vote result was announced at the gathering, which was held at the company's factory in Austin.
Musk has emerged as a lightning rod figure, in part due to his embrace of right-wing politicians including President Donald Trump. But Thursday's vote marked the latest demonstration of the entrepreneurial billionaire's resonance with investors.
The package aims to ensure Musk stays at Tesla for at least seven-and-a-half years. It would lift Musk's holding in Tesla from about 12 percent when the package was introduced in September to potentially more than 25 percent.
Musk has described Tesla's potential growth as nearly boundless, saying in July that it "will be the most valuable company in the world by far" if it delivers on envisioned advances on autonomous driving and AI.
But Musk himself has hinted he could leave Tesla or take a back seat if his ownership share is not raised enough to give him the influence over its future that he desires.
In urging shareholders to back the proposal, Tesla Chair Robin Denholm argued keeping Musk was essential to Tesla's future, warning the company's stock could dive if he exited.
The board has shrugged off criticism that the billionaire's embrace of contentious political figures has weighed on sales.

Base of shareholder support

Tesla investors have been reliable Musk supporters in past votes over Musk's pay packages, including a 2018 deal for about $55.8 billion that has repeatedly been blocked by a Delaware court in response to shareholder litigation.
Following the latest Delaware ruling, Denholm and the rest of Tesla's board went back to the drawing board, first approving in August an "interim" compensation award worth about $29 billion for Musk and then unveiling the larger plan in September.
Once again on Thursday, Tesla shareholders signed off on stratospheric pay for Musk and also handed the company victories on other key votes, including the reelection of board members.
But Tesla Takedown, an activist group, blasted the vote result, noting the company's drop in auto sales in recent quarters.
"Elon Musk just got one trillion dollars for failure," said the group, which rallied against the plan Wednesday in downtown Austin.
"Sales are down, safety risks are up and his politics are driving customers away. This isn't leadership -- it's the world's most expensive participation trophy."
On the other side, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the sweeping vote in favor of Musk cements his position as "the AI Revolution takes hold giving us greater confidence in the Tesla story moving forward."
Musk, witha net worth of more than $500 billion, is already the world's richest person, according to Forbes's real-time list of billionaires.
He must hit 12 milestones related to market capitalization to receive the full pay package. The first tranche would be available when Tesla reaches $2 trillion in market value, up from its current $1.5 trillion.
The plan also involves a series of operating profit and product goals, such as the delivery of 20 million Tesla vehicles.
The pay proposal was panned by Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). 
An ISS analysis last month criticized the rationale for the potential windfall, noting that Musk's financial interests are already closely tied to Tesla's fate.
As structured, the separation of the overall package into tranches of "unprecedented" value "could undermine the necessity for all goals to be realized," said ISS, which also flagged the lack of explicit requirements that the busy Musk keep focused on Tesla.
jmb/des

games

'Grand Theft Auto VI' video game delayed again until Nov. 2026

  • Critics have from the beginning accused Grand Theft Auto of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behavior –- allegations rejected by New York-based Take-Two Interactive.
  • The newest installment to the blockbuster "Grand Theft Auto" video game franchise has been delayed again, this time until November 2026, its creators announced Wednesday.
  • Critics have from the beginning accused Grand Theft Auto of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behavior –- allegations rejected by New York-based Take-Two Interactive.
The newest installment to the blockbuster "Grand Theft Auto" video game franchise has been delayed again, this time until November 2026, its creators announced Wednesday.
"We are sorry for adding additional time to what we realize has been a long wait, but these extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve," Rockstar Games said in a post on X.
Release of the game had already been pushed from late 2025 to early 2026. Rockstar said it will now come out on November 19 of next year.
Shares of Rockstar-parent Take-Two Interactive sank more than eight percent in after-hours trades.
Word of the delay came the same day dozens of people protested outside Rockstar offices in Edinburgh, Scotland, accusing the multi-billion dollar studio of "blatant union busting" by firing 31 people.
Rockstar, whose upcoming sixth edition of the cash-cow series is among the hottest releases of 2026, has accused the employees of "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies."
But the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which called the demonstration, rejected that claim, arguing that the sacked workers were all members of a private discussion channel linked to the union.
Rockstar did not immediately respond to an AFP inquiry.
"GTA VI" is on course to become one of the biggest entertainment product launches of all time. 
As popular as it is notorious for its sexual and violent content, the franchise has allowed players to roleplay as criminals doing dirty deeds across sprawling cityscapes since its first entry in 1997. 

Outlaw couple?

The newest game was originally due to be released later this year, with a trailer having shown that it would be set in Miami-like Vice City and would feature a playable female protagonist for the first time.
Set to the Tom Petty song "Love Is A Long Road," it opens with a female character named Lucia being released from prison in what appears to be a fictionalized version of Florida.
Near the close of the one-minute-and-30-second clip, she tells her male partner in crime: "The only way we are going to get through this is by sticking together, being a team."
The pair go on to burst into a store with pistols drawn and bandanas covering the lower halves of their faces.
Fans saw the scene as confirmation that rumors of a "Bonnie and Clyde" type crime couple are coming true.
Along with its wild success, the GTA series has faced criticism over its violent content.
Critics have from the beginning accused Grand Theft Auto of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behavior –- allegations rejected by New York-based Take-Two Interactive.
GTA players sell drugs, fight, rob, go on car rampages and more. Gameplay options also included assaulting sex workers and going to strip clubs, raising the ire of activists.
gc/des

health

Zuckerbergs put AI at heart of pledge to cure diseases

  • The first investment announced by the Zuckerbergs when the initiative debuted nearly a decade ago was for the creation of a Biohub in Silicon Valley where researchers, scientists and others could work to build tools to better study and understand diseases.
  • The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a nonprofit launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife aimed at curing all disease, on Thursday announced it was restructuring to focus on using artificial intelligence to achieve that goal.
  • The first investment announced by the Zuckerbergs when the initiative debuted nearly a decade ago was for the creation of a Biohub in Silicon Valley where researchers, scientists and others could work to build tools to better study and understand diseases.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a nonprofit launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife aimed at curing all disease, on Thursday announced it was restructuring to focus on using artificial intelligence to achieve that goal.
The move narrows the focus of the philanthropic organization founded in 2015 with a vow to devote most of the couple's significant wealth to charitable causes, including social justice and voter rights.
Zuckerberg is among the high-profile tech figures who has backed away from diversity, equality and fact-checking initiatives after US President Donald Trump took office in January.
The organizaiton this year ended its diversity efforts, curbed support of nonprofits that provide housing and stopped funding a primary school that gave education and health care to underserved children, according to media reports.
The philanthropic mission created by the Meta co-founder and his spouse, Priscilla Chan, said that its current priority invovles scientific teams centralized in a facility called Biohub.
"This is a pivotal moment in science, and the future of AI-powered scientific discovery is starting to come into view," Biohub said in a blog post.
"We believe that it will be possible in the next few years to create powerful AI systems that can reason about and represent biology to accelerate science."
Biohub envisions AI helping advance ways to detect, prevent and cure diseases, according to the post.
The mission includes trying to model the human immune system, potentially opening a door to "engineering human health."
"We believe we're on the cusp of a scientific revolution in biology -- as frontier artificial intelligence and virtual biology give scientists new tools to understand life at a fundamental level," Biohub said in the post.
The first investment announced by the Zuckerbergs when the initiative debuted nearly a decade ago was for the creation of a Biohub in Silicon Valley where researchers, scientists and others could work to build tools to better study and understand diseases.
Shortly after it was established, the initiative bought a Canadian startup which uses AI to quickly read and comprehend scientific papers and then provide insights to researchers.
"Our multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers have built incredible technologies to observe, measure and program biology," Biohub said of its progress.
Meta is among the big tech firms that have been pouring billions of dollars into data centers and more in a race to lead the field of AI.
gc/jgc

games

Rally outside Rockstar against GTA studio's 'union busting'

  • "Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry," the IWGB's President Alex Marshall said in a statement. 
  • Dozens of people protested Thursday outside Rockstar Games' offices in Edinburgh, accusing the multi-billion dollar studio behind the smash "Grand Theft Auto" open-world carjacking franchise of "blatant union busting" by firing 31 people.
  • "Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry," the IWGB's President Alex Marshall said in a statement. 
Dozens of people protested Thursday outside Rockstar Games' offices in Edinburgh, accusing the multi-billion dollar studio behind the smash "Grand Theft Auto" open-world carjacking franchise of "blatant union busting" by firing 31 people.
Rockstar Games, whose upcoming sixth edition of the cash-cow series is among the hottest releases of 2026, has accused the employees of "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies".
But the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which called the demonstration, rejected that claim, arguing that the sacked workers were all members of a private discussion channel linked to the union. 
"Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry," the IWGB's President Alex Marshall said in a statement. 
Branimira Yordanova, a lighting artist fired by Rockstar, said that she came into work to find her teammates in a huddle, "and they told me that my colleague Jordan had just been fired".
"After that, it was chaos until I was called into a meeting, and I was handed my dismissal letter," Yordanova told AFP on the sidelines of the protest.
When contacted by AFP, Rockstar, a subsidiary of American behemoth Take-Two Interactive, had not replied by Thursday evening. 
A Rockstar spokesman insisted to Bloomberg on Wednesday that the firings were "in no way related to people's right to join a union or engage in union activities".
At the rally on Thursday, IWGB organiser Fred Carter said the company had "given no evidence" for that.
"We've submitted appeals of what we see as unfair dismissals of these 31 workers... in fact, we'll fight for the reinstatement of our members," Carter told AFP.
GTA VI, whose development ahead of its May 26, 2026 release has been shrouded in secrecy, is on course to become one of the biggest entertainment product launches of all time. 
As popular as it is notorious for its sexual and violent content, the franchise has allowed players to roleplay as criminals doing dirty deeds across sprawling cityscapes since its first entry in 1997. 
According to the IWGB, the last entry -- 2013's GTA V -- grossed more than $7 billion. The union expects GTA VI's takings to surpass $10 billion.
vid-zap/sbk/phz

AI

'AI president': Trump deepfakes glorify himself, trash rivals

BY ANUJ CHOPRA

  • "SUPERMAN TRUMP." - 'Distort reality' - Trump or the White House have similarly posted AI-made images showing the president dressed as the pope, roaring alongside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at the Kennedy Center, a venerable arts complex in the US capital.
  • In a parallel reality, Donald Trump reigns as king, fighter pilot, and Superman, and his political opponents are cast as criminals and laughingstocks -- an unprecedented weaponization of AI imagery by a sitting American president.
  • "SUPERMAN TRUMP." - 'Distort reality' - Trump or the White House have similarly posted AI-made images showing the president dressed as the pope, roaring alongside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at the Kennedy Center, a venerable arts complex in the US capital.
In a parallel reality, Donald Trump reigns as king, fighter pilot, and Superman, and his political opponents are cast as criminals and laughingstocks -- an unprecedented weaponization of AI imagery by a sitting American president.
Trump has ramped up his use of artificial intelligence-generated content on his Truth Social channel since starting his second White House term, making his administration the first to deploy hyper-realistic fake visuals as a core communications strategy.
Trump, no stranger to conspiracy theories and unfounded claims, has used the content in his breathless social media commentary to glorify himself and skewer his critics -- particularly during moments of national outrage.
Last month, he posted a fake video showing himself wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet labeled "King Trump" that dumps what appears to be excrement on crowds of protesters.
The clip -- accompanied by singer Kenny Loggins's "Danger Zone" -- was posted the same day as nationwide "No Kings" protests against what critics called his authoritarian behavior.
In another post, the White House depicted Trump as Superman amid fevered social media speculation about his health.
"THE SYMBOL OF HOPE," the post said.
"SUPERMAN TRUMP."

 'Distort reality'

Trump or the White House have similarly posted AI-made images showing the president dressed as the pope, roaring alongside a lion, and conducting an orchestra at the Kennedy Center, a venerable arts complex in the US capital.
The fabricated imagery has deceived social media users, some of whom questioned in comments whether they were authentic.
It was unclear whether the imagery was generated by Trump himself or his aides. The White House did not respond to AFP's request for comment.
Wired magazine recently labeled Trump "America's first generative AI president."
"Trump peddles disinformation on and offline to boost his own image, attack his adversaries and control public discourse," Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at the advocacy group Free Press, told AFP.
"For someone like him, unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture people's attention and distort reality."
In September, the president triggered outrage after posting an apparent AI-generated video of himself promising every American access to all-healing "MedBed" hospitals.
MedBed, a widely debunked conspiracy theory popular among far-right circles, refers to an imaginary medical device equipped with futuristic technology. Adherents say it can cure any ailment, from asthma to cancer.
Trump's phony clip -- later deleted without any explanation -- was styled as a Fox News segment and featured his daughter-in-law Lara Trump promoting a fictitious White House launch of the "historic new health care system."

 'Campaigning through trolling'

"How do you bring people back to a shared reality when those in power keep stringing them along?" asked Noelle Cook, a researcher and author of "The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging."
Trump has reserved the most provocative AI posts for his rivals and critics, using them to rally his conservative base.
In July, he posted an AI video of former president Barack Obama being arrested in the Oval Office and appearing behind bars in an orange jumpsuit.
Later, he posted an AI clip of House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries -- who is Black -- wearing a fake mustache and a sombrero.
Jeffries slammed the image as racist.
"While it would in many ways be desirable for the president of the United States to stay above the fray and away from sharing AI images, Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he sees his time in office as a non-stop political campaign," Joshua Tucker, co-director of the New York University Center for Social Media and Politics, told AFP.
"I would see his behavior more as campaigning through trolling than actively trying to propagate the false belief that these images depict reality."
Mirroring Trump's strategy, California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday posted an apparent AI video on X lampooning Republicans after Democrats swept key US elections.
The clip depicted wrestlers inside a ring with superimposed faces of Democratic leaders knocking down their Republican opponents, including Trump. 
The post read: "Now that's what we call a takedown."
ac/iv/acb

energy

Eyes turn to space to feed power-hungry data centers

BY THOMAS URBAIN

  • "The idea is that it will soon make much more sense to build data centers in space than it does to build them on Earth," Starcloud chief executive Philip Johnston said at a recent tech conference in Riyadh.
  • Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race.
  • "The idea is that it will soon make much more sense to build data centers in space than it does to build them on Earth," Starcloud chief executive Philip Johnston said at a recent tech conference in Riyadh.
Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race.
US startup Starcloud this week sent a refrigerator-sized satellite containing an Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) into orbit in what the AI chip maker touted as a "cosmic debut" for the mini-data center.
"The idea is that it will soon make much more sense to build data centers in space than it does to build them on Earth," Starcloud chief executive Philip Johnston said at a recent tech conference in Riyadh.
Along with a constant supply of solar energy, data centers are easier to cool in space, advocates note.
Announcements have come thick and fast, the latest being Google this week unveiling plans to launch test satellites by early 2027 as part of its Suncatcher project.
That news came just days after tech billionaire Elon Musk claimed his SpaceX startup should be capable of deploying data centers in orbit next year thanks to its Starlink satellite program.
Starcloud's satellite was taken into space by a SpaceX rocket on Sunday.

Junk and radiation

Current projects to put data centers into orbit envision relying on clusters of low Earth orbit satellites positioned close enough together to ensure reliable wireless connectivity.
Lasers will connect space computers to terrestrial systems.
"From a proof concept, it's already there," University of Arizona engineering professor Krishna Muralidharan, who is involved with such work, said of the technology.
Muralidharan believes space data centers could be commercially viable in about a decade.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the tech titan behind private space exploration company Blue Origin, has estimated it might take up to twice that long.
Critical technical aspects of such operations need to be resolved, particularly harm done to GPUs by high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures as well as the danger of being hit by space junk.
"Engineering work will be necessary," said University of Michigan assistant professor of engineering Christopher Limbach, contending that it is a matter of cost rather than technical feasibility.

Sun synched

The big draw of space for data centers is power supply, with the option of synchronizing satellites to the sun's orbit to ensure constant light on solar panels.
Tech titans building AI data centers have ever-growing need for electricity, and have even taken to investing in nuclear power plants.
Data centers in space also avoid the challenges of acquiring land and meeting local regulations or community resistance to projects.
And advocates argue that data centers operating in space are less harmful overall to the environment, aside from the pollution generated by rocket launches.
Water needed to cool a space data center would be about the same amount used by a space station, relying on exhaust radiators and re-using a relatively small amount of liquid.
"The real question is whether the idea is economically viable," said Limbach.
An obstacle to deploying servers in space has been the cost of getting them into orbit.
But a reusable SpaceX mega-rocket called Starship with massive payload potential promises to slash launch expenses by at least 30 times.
"Historically, high launch costs have been a primary barrier to large-scale space-based systems," Suncatcher project head Travis Beals said in a post.
But project launch pricing data suggests prices may fall by the mid-2030s to the point at which "operating a space-based data center could become comparable" to having it on Earth, Beals added.
"If there ever was a time to chart new economic paths in space -- or re-invent old ones -- it is now," Limbach said.
tu-gc/acb