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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28980041

Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over what it says is the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses.

...

Growing - and familiar - concerns

Western countries have a track record of being suspicious of Chinese tech - notably telecoms firm Huawei and the social media platform, TikTok - both of which have been restricted on national security grounds.

...

An Australian science minister previously said in January that countries needed to be "very careful" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns.

The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian goverment previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns in March 2023.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China.

...

Generally, AI tools will analyse the prompts sent to them to improve their product.

This is true of apps such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as much as it is DeepSeek.

All of them gather and keep information, including email addresses and dates of birth.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28980151

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28980041

Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over what it says is the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses.

...

Growing - and familiar - concerns

Western countries have a track record of being suspicious of Chinese tech - notably telecoms firm Huawei and the social media platform, TikTok - both of which have been restricted on national security grounds.

...

An Australian science minister previously said in January that countries needed to be "very careful" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns.

The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian goverment previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns in March 2023.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China.

...

Generally, AI tools will analyse the prompts sent to them to improve their product.

This is true of apps such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as much as it is DeepSeek.

All of them gather and keep information, including email addresses and dates of birth.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28980041

Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over what it says is the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses.

...

Growing - and familiar - concerns

Western countries have a track record of being suspicious of Chinese tech - notably telecoms firm Huawei and the social media platform, TikTok - both of which have been restricted on national security grounds.

...

An Australian science minister previously said in January that countries needed to be "very careful" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns.

The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian goverment previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns in March 2023.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China.

...

Generally, AI tools will analyse the prompts sent to them to improve their product.

This is true of apps such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as much as it is DeepSeek.

All of them gather and keep information, including email addresses and dates of birth.

...

Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices and systems over what it says is the security risk the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup poses.

...

Growing - and familiar - concerns

Western countries have a track record of being suspicious of Chinese tech - notably telecoms firm Huawei and the social media platform, TikTok - both of which have been restricted on national security grounds.

...

An Australian science minister previously said in January that countries needed to be "very careful" about DeepSeek, citing "data and privacy" concerns.

The chatbot was removed from app stores after its privacy policy was questioned in Italy. The Italian goverment previously temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns in March 2023.

Regulators in South Korea, Ireland and France have all begun investigations into how DeepSeek handles user data, which it stores in servers in China.

...

Generally, AI tools will analyse the prompts sent to them to improve their product.

This is true of apps such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini as much as it is DeepSeek.

All of them gather and keep information, including email addresses and dates of birth.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28978937

There’s an idea floating around that DeepSeek’s well-documented censorship only exists at its application layer but goes away if you run it locally (that means downloading its AI model to your computer).

But DeepSeek’s censorship is baked-in, according to a Wired investigation which found that the model is censored on both the application and training levels.

For example, a locally run version of DeepSeek revealed to Wired thanks to its reasoning feature that it should “avoid mentioning” events like the Cultural Revolution and focus only on the “positive” aspects of the Chinese Communist Party.

A quick check by TechCrunch of a locally run version of DeepSeek available via Groq also showed clear censorship: DeepSeek happily answered a question about the Kent State shootings in the U.S., but replied “I cannot answer” when asked about what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28978937

There’s an idea floating around that DeepSeek’s well-documented censorship only exists at its application layer but goes away if you run it locally (that means downloading its AI model to your computer).

But DeepSeek’s censorship is baked-in, according to a Wired investigation which found that the model is censored on both the application and training levels.

For example, a locally run version of DeepSeek revealed to Wired thanks to its reasoning feature that it should “avoid mentioning” events like the Cultural Revolution and focus only on the “positive” aspects of the Chinese Communist Party.

A quick check by TechCrunch of a locally run version of DeepSeek available via Groq also showed clear censorship: DeepSeek happily answered a question about the Kent State shootings in the U.S., but replied “I cannot answer” when asked about what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

There’s an idea floating around that DeepSeek’s well-documented censorship only exists at its application layer but goes away if you run it locally (that means downloading its AI model to your computer).

But DeepSeek’s censorship is baked-in, according to a Wired investigation which found that the model is censored on both the application and training levels.

For example, a locally run version of DeepSeek revealed to Wired thanks to its reasoning feature that it should “avoid mentioning” events like the Cultural Revolution and focus only on the “positive” aspects of the Chinese Communist Party.

A quick check by TechCrunch of a locally run version of DeepSeek available via Groq also showed clear censorship: DeepSeek happily answered a question about the Kent State shootings in the U.S., but replied “I cannot answer” when asked about what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28977775

In the European Union (EU), 47% of electricity now comes from renewable sources like wind and solar, a new record according to a report from the think tank Ember. This is a far higher percentage than in other countries, including the United States and China, where about two-thirds of energy comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas.

For the first time in 2024, solar energy surpassed coal in generating electricity across all 27 EU member states, while natural gas production of electricity fell for the fifth year running.

Climate change experts are encouraged by Europe’s continued push toward cleaner energy, especially as the new U.S. administration pushes for increased fossil fuel use.

“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Chris Rosslowe, the lead author of Ember’s ‘European Electricity Review’. “Back in 2019, at the start of the European Green Deal, few believed the energy transition would be where it is today: wind and solar are replacing coal and driving gas into a structural decline.”

The share of electricity produced by renewables jumped to 47% last year compared to 34% in 2019, in large part due to strong growth in solar and wind energy. In 2024, 11% of the EU’s electricity came from solar power, 17% from wind, and 24% from nuclear. The share produced by traditional fossil fuels dropped from 39% in 2019 to 29% in 2024.

...

[Edit typo.]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28977775

In the European Union (EU), 47% of electricity now comes from renewable sources like wind and solar, a new record according to a report from the think tank Ember. This is a far higher percentage than in other countries, including the United States and China, where about two-thirds of energy comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas.

For the first time in 2024, solar energy surpassed coal in generating electricity across all 27 EU member states, while natural gas production of electricity fell for the fifth year running.

Climate change experts are encouraged by Europe’s continued push toward cleaner energy, especially as the new U.S. administration pushes for increased fossil fuel use.

“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Chris Rosslowe, the lead author of Ember’s ‘European Electricity Review’. “Back in 2019, at the start of the European Green Deal, few believed the energy transition would be where it is today: wind and solar are replacing coal and driving gas into a structural decline.”

The share of electricity produced by renewables jumped to 47% last year compared to 34% in 2019, in large part due to strong growth in solar and wind energy. In 2024, 11% of the EU’s electricity came from solar power, 17% from wind, and 24% from nuclear. The share produced by traditional fossil fuels dropped from 39% in 2019 to 29% in 2024.

...

[Edit typo.]

In the European Union (EU), 47% of electricity now comes from renewable sources like wind and solar, a new record according to a report from the think tank Ember. This is a far higher percentage than in other countries, including the United States and China, where about two-thirds of energy comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas.

For the first time in 2024, solar energy surpassed coal in generating electricity across all 27 EU member states, while natural gas production of electricity fell for the fifth year running.

Climate change experts are encouraged by Europe’s continued push toward cleaner energy, especially as the new U.S. administration pushes for increased fossil fuel use.

“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Chris Rosslowe, the lead author of Ember’s ‘European Electricity Review’. “Back in 2019, at the start of the European Green Deal, few believed the energy transition would be where it is today: wind and solar are replacing coal and driving gas into a structural decline.”

The share of electricity produced by renewables jumped to 47% last year compared to 34% in 2019, in large part due to strong growth in solar and wind energy. In 2024, 11% of the EU’s electricity came from solar power, 17% from wind, and 24% from nuclear. The share produced by traditional fossil fuels dropped from 39% in 2019 to 29% in 2024.

...

[Edit typo.]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/28973386

Archived

An Australian economist has argued China has “hoodwinked” the world on net zero in what he acknowledges could be seen as a “controversial” take.

Leith Van Onselen, chief economist at the MB Fund and MB Super and co-founder of MacroBusiness, told 4BC host Mike Jeffreys that while Australia and other countries are making sacrifices for the good of the planet, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter is not, and therefore “we’re basically shooting ourselves in the foot”.

“I’d argue China is the largest beneficiary of the West’s net zero policies,” Mr Van Onselen said on the radio show.

“It’s not abiding by the same rules and what we’re effectively doing is, while we’re reducing our carbon footprints through these sorts of policies and giving us expensive energy and shutting down manufacturing and becoming less diversified economies, China is simply expanding its carbon output and expanding its manufacturing sector at our expense.

“The world’s not getting cleaner. We’re just shifting the pollution away from us, to China, and it’s actually less regulated in China.”

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He referred to a Reuters report from August that found China had boosted domestic coal production and imports to record highs.

It said production from China’s mines hit a seasonal record of 390 million tonnes in July 2024, up from 378 million in the same month a year earlier, and imports surged to a seasonal record of 296 million tonnes in the first seven months from 261 million tonnes in 2023.

Mr Van Onselen concluded: “I think we can all agree we’d like to have a cleaner planet but the whole idea of net zero is completely impossible or ridiculous if China is not involved.

“If we’re going to make sacrifices, China has to make sacrifices.”

As the European Union suspended visa-free travel to the Schengen area for Georgian travelers with diplomatic and official passports, “Norway will consider taking parallel steps,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in its February 3 statement.

The statement recalls the October 26 elections that were marred by “widespread irregularities,” then mentions the November 28 decision by the Georgian Dream government to abandon EU accession efforts, followed by non-stop protests. It highlights the authorities’ “brutal violence” against demonstrators, including at the recent February 2 protest at the entrance to Tbilisi. ...

The EU suspended visa-free regime for Georgian diplomatic and service passport holders on January 27. This “will be followed up by parallel steps by Norway,” the statement says.

Although the authorities can no longer enter the Schengen area without a visa with diplomatic passports, they can do so with ordinary passports, which they also possess. There have been calls for the EU not to leave this loophole to the authorities and to draw up a list of individuals who should be individually banned from entering the EU without a visa, even with ordinary passports.