Technology - Daily Politics

OpenAI has launched a search for a senior executive to lead its AI preparedness and safety efforts, an initiative seen as part of the organization’s broader commitment to addressing potential societal risks from advanced artificial intelligence. The role is intended to oversee work on anticipating and mitigating harms that could arise as AI systems grow more capable.

According to job listings and company statements, OpenAI is seeking an experienced leader to head this new preparedness function, which will involve collaborating with internal teams and external partners on policy, safety research and risk assessment frameworks. The position reflects increasing industry attention to ...

VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest financial institution by assets, experienced a significant digital services outage on December 29, 2025, disrupting access to its website, mobile app, and card payments. The failure occurred during peak hours of pre-New Year activity, leaving thousands of customers unable to complete transactions or access their accounts.

According to customer reports, the outage began around 12:30 PM Moscow time, with complaints peaking during lunchtime. Downdetector data indicated over 8,000 complaints within a short span, primarily involving login issues, failed transfers, and declined card payments in stores and public eateries.

The most affected regions included Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Yamal-Nenets ...

SpaceX has delayed a planned Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, postponing the mission to allow for additional technical and operational checks. The launch had been scheduled as the company’s final Falcon 9 mission of the year.

The rocket is set to carry an Earth observation satellite designed to support environmental monitoring, mapping, and data collection. Officials said the delay was precautionary and related to standard launch readiness procedures rather than any major anomaly.

Once cleared, the Falcon 9 is expected to lift off from the California coast, placing the satellite into orbit over the poles. Launches from Vandenberg ...

New research indicates that many people struggle to accurately identify whether a face is generated by artificial intelligence or belongs to a real person. In controlled tests, participants frequently mistook synthetic faces for real ones, often expressing high confidence in incorrect answers.

Researchers found that AI-generated faces are becoming increasingly realistic due to improvements in training data, image resolution, and facial symmetry. In some cases, participants were more likely to trust AI-generated faces because they appeared more “average” or visually consistent than real photographs.

The findings raise concerns about the potential misuse of synthetic images, including misinformation, identity fraud, and social engineering. ...

Nvidia has entered into a major strategic deal with Groq, underscoring its growing focus on the rapidly expanding market for artificial intelligence inference. The agreement includes a significant financial investment and commercial collaboration aimed at accelerating deployment of AI inference systems.

Groq specialises in high-speed inference processors designed to run trained AI models efficiently, a segment seen as a key growth area as demand rises for real-time AI applications. Nvidia, already dominant in AI training hardware, is positioning itself to maintain influence as inference workloads scale across data centres and cloud services.

The structure of the deal allows Groq to operate as ...

TOKYO — Japan’s flagship H3 rocket failed to deliver a navigation satellite into its planned orbit on December 22, 2025, marking a major setback for the country’s space ambitions.

The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-built vehicle lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 10:51 a.m. JST carrying the Michibiki 5 satellite — part of Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), intended to enhance regional navigation precision.

Although first-stage flight performance appeared nominal, the rocket’s second-stage engine failed to reignite as planned, shutting down prematurely. As a result, the satellite could not reach the targeted orbit and the mission was declared a failure ...

After years of negotiations and political pressure, TikTok has finalized a major agreement to restructure its U.S. operations, with Oracle playing a central role in data management and infrastructure.

Under the deal, Oracle will host and secure U.S. user data, addressing longstanding concerns from lawmakers that sensitive information could be accessed by foreign entities. TikTok’s leadership said the agreement strengthens safeguards while allowing the company to continue operating its popular video platform in the United States.

The agreement follows years of scrutiny from U.S. officials, who have warned that TikTok’s ownership structure posed potential national security risks. Previous efforts to force a ...

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed it was targeted by a cyberattack, prompting an urgent investigation and renewed concerns over government cyber security. Officials said the breach was detected quickly and that systems were secured, with ministers stressing they are “fairly confident” that individual or sensitive personal data has not been compromised.

According to government sources, the attack affected parts of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s IT infrastructure rather than frontline diplomatic operations. While the full scope of the intrusion is still being assessed, officials said there is no evidence at this stage of classified material being accessed.

The Cabinet Office ...