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China previews a world where the algorithm is switched off

16 October 2026 at 07:34

The Australian government has introduced its digital duty of care legislation to parliament today. The bill includes an “off switch” to allow social media users to opt out of recommender algorithms. If passed, Australians could choose to switch off their algorithmic recommendation and consume a news feed populated by the accounts they subscribe to. It’s […]

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Can AI be conscious? Ask the Indian sages

14 October 2026 at 05:50

The debate over artificial intelligence has settled into a familiar rhythm. Will large language models eventually wake up? Do they possess an inner life, or are they merely sophisticated mimics of human output? Researchers disagree, and so do philosophers. A 2025 survey of 582 AI researchers asked how likely it is that AI systems with […]

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US-China race is on for the Gulf’s AI future

12 October 2026 at 04:58

China’s artificial intelligence and digital-infrastructure investments in the Gulf Arab states are increasingly colliding with a far larger and more strategically privileged American technology presence, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While Beijing offers Gulf governments cloud platforms, 5G networks, smart-city systems, surveillance technologies and lower-cost digital infrastructure, Washington offers the […]

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Mind games: AI behaves more like a brain than a database

9 October 2026 at 07:31

When people think about what ChatGPT or other large language models are doing behind the scenes, it’s common to reach for the language of computing. You might assume there is a database, or a logical series of steps being executed, in order to provide a response to your query. Picturing AI responses as akin to […]

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A tech glossary to thrive and survive in the AI era

4 October 2026 at 22:04

Certain ideas define us. Some earned names of our own along the way. Others have run through nearly 240 pieces without ever being formally christened. Put together, they amount to a worldview. That worldview has been assembled one essay at a time since 2023. Many readers have walked in mid-conversation. Mention the hardware/software flip, super […]

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The real loops of innovation

28 September 2026 at 22:45

A note before we start. What follows works through the innovation loops of the semiconductor world, sub-sector by sub-sector, with eight diagrams along the way. They are complicated, despite a fair amount of effort to make them otherwise. Anyone who wants to skip the loops and the slides can find the conclusions in two places: […]

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So where’s the ‘intelligence explosion?’

28 September 2026 at 10:39

One of my fundamental beliefs about the world is that Ramez Naam ought to blog more. Ramez is one of the world’s greatest futurists — he predicted the solar and battery revolutions long before these were widely understood. If you were reading Ramez in 2011, you were able to understand the future of both energy technology and climate change, […]

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