The European Commission accused TikTok of designing its app to be addictive, while the Norwegian government accused a Chinese-backed hacking group of breaching several organizations in the country, according to reports released Friday. These developments, alongside the upcoming Winter Olympics and advancements in artificial intelligence, highlight a world grappling with technological and geopolitical challenges.
The European Commission's investigation into TikTok revealed concerns about the platform's design, specifically its use of features like infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, as well as its recommendation engine. According to TechCrunch, the Commission found that TikTok did not adequately assess how its design decisions could harm users, particularly minors and vulnerable adults. The EU's executive arm cited the company's disregard for indicators of compulsive use, such as the time users spend on the app at night and how often they open it.
Simultaneously, the Norwegian Police Security Service reported that the Chinese-backed hacking group known as Salt Typhoon had infiltrated several organizations in Norway. TechCrunch reported that the group targeted vulnerable network devices to conduct espionage. Senior U.S. national security officials have described Salt Typhoon as an "epoch-defining threat," noting its history of hacking into critical infrastructure organizations worldwide, including telecom providers.
In other news, OpenAI announced it would retire some older ChatGPT models by February 13, including GPT-4o. This decision sparked backlash from users who had developed strong emotional attachments to the AI. "He wasn't just a program. He was part of my routine, my peace, my emotional balance," one user wrote on Reddit, as reported by TechCrunch. The retirement of GPT-4o underscores the challenge AI companies face in balancing user engagement with the potential for dangerous dependencies.
Meanwhile, the world prepares for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece and President of the International Olympic Truce Centre, wrote in an opinion article for Euronews that the games challenge the world to uphold the Olympic Truce and consider the kind of civilization it chooses to maintain.
Finally, the field of rare disease treatment is seeing advancements with the help of AI. According to executives from Insilico Medicine and GenEditBio, AI is becoming a "force multiplier" in the effort to find solutions for these diseases. Insilico's CEO, Alex Aliper, stated his company's aim to develop pharmaceutical superintelligence, including a multi-modal, multi-task model that can solve many different drug discovery problems, as reported by TechCrunch.
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