Air Canada Has to Honor a Refund Policy Its Chatbot Made Up

After months of resisting, Air Canada was forced to give a partial refund to a grieving passenger who was misled by an airline chatbot inaccurately explaining the airline’s bereavement travel policy. On the day Jake Moffatt’s grandmother died, Moffat immediately visited Air Canada’s website to book a flight from Vancouver to Toronto. Unsure of how … Read more

Women In AI: Irene Solaiman, head of global policy at Hugging Face

To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews focusing on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. We’ll publish several pieces throughout the year as the AI boom continues, highlighting key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more … Read more

Leak of Russian ‘Threat’ Part of a Bid to Kill US Surveillance Reform, Sources Say

While redirecting blame away from Turner and his cohorts, the claim is both false and deceptive, relying on assertions that, while farcical perhaps to legal experts, would be impossible for the public at large (and most of the press) to parse alone. The text that Fox News’ intelligence sources are referring to—which can be read … Read more

Section 702 Surveillance Fight Pits the White House Opposite Reproductive Rights

As a result, most House members remain confused as to when 702 surveillance would actually end if Congress fails to take action. Reformers say fomenting a sense of urgency to salvage the spy program—ultimately deemed vital even by many of its loudest critics—mostly plays into the administration’s hand, as it serves up “what-if” scenarios concerning … Read more

Finns vote for a new president who will guide policy for the new NATO member and neighbor of Russia

HELSINKI — Voters in Finland are choosing Sunday between two experienced politicians to be their next president, whose main task will be to steer the Nordic country’s foreign and security policy now that it is a member of NATO, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Former prime minister Alexander Stubb, 55, on the center right, and … Read more

Anthony Cordesman, security analyst who questioned U.S. policy, dies at 84

Anthony Cordesman, a former intelligence analyst who became a prominent commentator — as well as frequent critic — regarding U.S. policies in the Middle East and beyond during decades of war and upheaval, died Jan. 29 at a hospital in Alexandria, Va. He was 84. Dr. Cordesman had health problems following intestinal surgery, said his … Read more

USAID’s Samantha Power confronted by staff over Biden’s Gaza policy

Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a world-renowned scholar on genocide, was pointedly challenged by current and former USAID employees who during a public event Tuesday questioned her stance on the war in Gaza and complicity in the divisive U.S. policy. “You wrote a book on genocide and you’re still … Read more

US Lawmakers Tell DOJ to Quit Blindly Funding ‘Predictive’ Police Tools

The United States Department of Justice has failed to convince a group of US lawmakers that state and local police agencies aren’t awarded federal grants to buy AI-based “policing” tools known to be inaccurate, if not prone to exacerbating biases long observed in US police forces. Seven members of Congress wrote in a letter to … Read more

Singapore’s central bank leaves policy unchanged in first quarterly meeting of 2024

The Merlion statue in Singapore, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Photographer: Lionel Ng/Bloomberg via Getty Images Lionel Ng | Bloomberg | Getty Images Singapore’s central bank left its policy unchanged on Monday in its first quarterly monetary policy decision of 2024, as expected. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it will also maintain its exchange … Read more