Mentioned in today’s edition: Google, Kash Patel, Oppo Find N6, Meta, Sam Bankman-Fried, Wikipedia and cyber cockroaches. Plus, deals on Bose headphones, Dell Latitude laptops and Alienware gaming monitors

Hello all, the Sizzle is all about accountability so I have to fess up. It turns out yesterday's feature image was AI SLOP. I had pulled it from Wikimedia under its Creative Commons license, and I foolishly believed that it was a real image. 

Only one person emailed n to alert me — thank you Zac — but I know that I let you all down. I let myself down. As punishment, I will be docking my pay this week, demoting myself to Australia's second favourite tech journalist (friend of the Sizzle Josh Taylor has taken the throne for now) and I pledge to make sure this never happens again. 

OK, have a great day!

The News

UK has backed down on letting AI train on copyright data. In Australia, turns out that might be a live issue

The UK government has walked back its proposal to let AI companies train their models on copyright material after a fierce campaign by creatives (BBC). A report published by its government politely concedes that there is "no consensus" around its original plan to make AI training allowed as the default with an option for copyright holders to opt out (Gov dot uk). Now, creative industries are pushing for AI companies to pay them through formalised "collective licensing schemes". 

The Sizzle: It's a big backflip from the UK. It’s particularly significant and timelly given what's happening in Australia.

As a refresher, the Albanese government ruled out a "text and data mining exemption" in copyright law late last year. I reported last week that Australia's business lobby had drafted a plan to redefine copyright to let AI companies train without paying (Crikey, $). Now here's the new bit: it hasn't been reported but I've heard whispers that there is currently a push from some high up in the government to change the law to find a way to allow AI to train on Australian copyrighted material. Suddenly, that push gets a little bit harder if it's not in line with what the UK is doing. 

Discuss in Slack or Forum.

Governments are using our adtech panopticon to get around laws against surveilling citizens

The FBI has admitted that it is circumventing legal protections against surveilling Americans without a warrant by buying location data from commercial brokers — and it has no plans to stop (The Verge). I've included reporting suggesting that this was the case in the Sizzle before, but this time it's director Kash Patel officially admitting it in front of a Senate hearing. America actually has stronger protections against this stuff because of their Fourth Amendment, and in 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that it was unlawful for the government to get data from telcos directly for this purpose. So, now the FBI is just getting it from middlemen and doing it anyway! It's almost like all of our laws aren't fit for the digital advertising panopticon that we all exist within. 

Discuss in Slack or Forum.

I am so excited to tell you about "cyber cockroaches"

Singaporean researchers are decking out Madagascan hissing cockroaches with robotic backpacks to help find people in disaster zones (FT, $). Apparently Singapore's Nanyang Technological University has spent a decade figuring out the best way to train and control cyborg cockroaches going through pipes and other tight spaces using a handheld device that "looks as if it should be attached to a 1990s game console". The device jammed into the cockroach's nervous system also includes a battery and torch. 

On one hand, this is metal as hell. On the other hand, it does sound a little bit like the start of a horror movie. 

Discuss in Slack or Forum.

Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of World:

Discuss in Slack or Forum.

Oh, Also

What if Wikipedia were a trading card game?

The official Wikipedia Bluesky account shared Wikigacha, an online trading card game based on Wikipedia. Japanese developer Haruka Sugiyama made the platform, which doles out "cards" based on articles that are given attack and defence stats based on how popular and how long the articles are. For example, I just opened up a pack with cards for the 1990 Serbian general election (ATK: 4843 DEF: 12558). You can just collect these or even battle others? Anyway, check it out and tell me what you think! 

Discuss in Slack or Forum.

Bargains

Electronics

Computing

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.