Technology

Palliser Capital recently sent a letter to Toto, the $7 billion Japanese toilet maker. They called the company "the most undervalued and overlooked AI memory beneficiary." That might seem strange at first, but the connection is in materials science.

Toto is famous for its bidet toilets, but its deep expertise is in advanced ceramics. According to the FT, Toto's chuck technology uses ceramics engineered to remain perfectly stable at extremely low temperatures. This turns out to be really handy for holding silicon wafers firmly in place during cryogenic etching, which is becoming more important as memory chips get more layered and complex. Palliser believes Toto has about a five-year lead in this specific technology and should expand this side of its business.

Their advanced ceramics division already contributes 40% of the company's operating profit, despite making up less than 10% of its revenue.

Toto isn't even the most extreme example. Another company called Ajinomoto is known MSG, leveraged decades of amino acid research to development insulating film, called Ajinomoto Build-up Film (ABF), that is used in virtually every high-end GPU. They hold an estimated 95% global monopoly on this material. During the 2021 chip shortage, a major bottleneck was the supply of Ajinomoto's film.

It turns out that Japanese companies hold a majority global share in at least 14 critical semiconductor materials, showing how industrial processes are deeply connected. The sintering technique used to create a non-porous ceramic toilet is the same one used to create a contamination-free wafer chuck. The most foundational layer of computing hardware relies on companies whose public identity is built on consumer goods like toilets, food seasoning, and window glass. It's a good reminder that physical material science underpins digital advancement.

https://archive.ph/LhvNo

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7691747

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/29115

Big Tech firms are coming under greater scrutiny for the proliferation of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence-powered chatbots on their social media platforms.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced on Tuesday that it was invoking the European Union's data privacy regulations to open an investigation into Grok, the AI chatbot featured on Elon Musk's X platform, after it was used to generate nonconsensual deepfake images, including sexualized images of children.

In announcing the investigation, DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said that the commission has been in contact with X for weeks after reports first emerged of Grok being used to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Doyle said DPC has since decided to launch "a large-scale inquiry which will examine [X's] compliance with some of their fundamental obligations" under European privacy laws.

Spanish President Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday that his government would ask Spain's Public Prosecution Service to "investigate the crimes that X, Meta, and TikTok may be committing through the creation and dissemination of child pornography by means of their AI."

"These platforms are attacking the mental health, dignity, and rights of our sons and daughters," Sánchez emphasized. "The state cannot allow it. The impunity of the giants must end."

The probes announced by Ireland and Spain mark just the latest actions by European governments against US-based tech giants. Earlier in February, law enforcement authorities in France raided the office of X in Paris, which the Paris prosecutor’s office said was part of an investigation aimed at "ensuring that the X platform complies with French laws, insofar as it operates on national territory."

The UK government's Information Commissioner's Office has also announced an investigation into X that the agency said encompasses "their processing of personal data in relation to the Grok artificial intelligence system and its potential to produce harmful sexualized image and video content."

From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

ICE more than tripled the amount of data it holds on Microsoft servers between July 2025 and January 2026, at the same time as the agency’s crackdown on migrants broke new records and sparked mass protests across the United States. Whereas last July the agency was storing around 400 terabytes of data in Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure, by the end of January that had risen to almost 1,400 terabytes — equivalent to approximately 490 million images.

ICE employs a powerful arsenal of surveillance technology, reportedly using facial recognition software, drones, phone location tracking, mobile spyware, and even tapping school cameras. The leaked documents show ICE is using Microsoft’s AI video analysis tools including Azure AI Video Indexer and Azure Vision, which enable customers to analyze images, read text, and detect certain words, faces, emotions, and objects in audio and video files.

The agency is also understood to have significantly expanded its access to Microsoft’s suite of productivity apps, which include document management tools and an AI chatbot. However, the files do not specify whether ICE’s vast surveillance trove is being stored on Azure, or whether the agency is using the cloud platform for other operations instead, such as running detention centers or coordinating deportation flights.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/43288310

In KDE Plasma 6.6 Spectacle can read texts from screenshots, a new on-screen keybord is available for testing, a first-time wizard was added, current theme can be saved as a new global theme, emoji selector got a new easier skin tone selection, you can now connect to a Wi-Fi network via a QR code, application sound volume can be changed by scrolling over a taskbar button via mouse, and there is much more.

Apple on Thursday confirmed acquiring the Israeli startup Q.ai, in what appeared to be part of the tech giant’s efforts to make inroads into the wearables market, with the aid of artificial intelligence.

The purchase cost Apple almost $2 billion, people familiar with the terms told the Financial Times. Industry press said it was the second-largest acquisition in the company’s history, after its purchase of the Beats music giant in 2014.

Q.ai is tight-lipped in public about its technology, but patents it filed show tech being used in headphones or glasses using “facial skin micro movements” for nonverbal communication, according to the FT.

The move may be a component of Apple’s strategy for “wearable” products, such as smart glasses. Software that reads facial expressions could potentially make way for a hands-free user interface that doesn’t require talking out loud, reports noted.

More context: https://www.yourfavoriteguy.com/p/urgent-my-voice-is-being-wiped-out

Google Play has delisted UpScrolled, the "censorship-resistant" social media app founded by Issam Hijazi, following its rapid growth to over 2.5 million users and its brief stint as a top-ranked alternative to TikTok.

While the app remains available for existing users, Google has not provided a specific reason for the removal; UpScrolled's team confirmed they are working with the Play Store for reinstatement while maintaining their commitment to unfiltered content.

This development follows the app's rapid ascent in popularity, particularly amid concerns over content moderation on competing platforms like TikTok.

Definition of can dish it but can't take it