Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
MALAKOFF, Texas (AP) — Some school districts in the U.S. dropped plans for class pictures after widespread social media posts linked a billionaire with ties to Jeffrey Epstein to the photography giant Lifetouch, which on Friday called the claims “completely false.”The disruption to school picture plans in Texas and elsewhere began after online posts linked Lifetouch, which photographs millions of students each year, to the investment fund manager Apollo Global Management. Apollo’s former CEO is billionaire investor Leon Black, who met regularly with Epstein and was advised by Epstein on financial matters.Black led the company in 2019, when funds managed…
PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) – The Paris public prosecutor has opened five investigations into milk brands distributed by Nestle, Lactalis, Danone, Babybio and La Marque en moins after contamination with toxin cereulide, it said on Friday.Nestle, Danone and Lactalis have recalled batches of infant formula sold in dozens of countries, including France, due to possible contamination with cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting.”The Paris prosecutor’s office decided to take up the case due to the large number of complaints filed nationwide and the technical nature of the investigations,” it said in a statement.It also received a complaint…
By Jonathan StempelFeb 13 (Reuters) – Costco is facing a new lawsuit over its rotisserie chicken, after an animal rights nonprofit claimed that the retailer’s chicken processing plant in Nebraska suffers from salmonella contamination.The proposed class action lawsuit filed on Thursday cited a December study by Farm Forward that criticized safety conditions at Costco’s Lincoln Premium Poultry plant, which opened in 2019 and can process more than 100 million chickens a year.According to the complaint, the Fremont, Nebraska plant “consistently” fails U.S. Department of Agriculture safety standards, with more than 9.8% of whole chickens and 15.4% of chicken parts testing…
If that viral essay about AI had been printed on paper, there’s a good chance AI researcher Gary Marcus would’ve ripped it up in disgust.Marcus acknowledges something is happening in AI — just nowhere near the scale described in the recently viral essay, which predicted a looming disruption “worse than COVID.”Marcus, who on X criticized the essay written by entrepreneur and investor Matt Shumer as having “not a shred of actual data,” dismissed its contents as alarmist in an interview with Business Insider.”Hyped-up views have gotten us into a bad place, possibly one that’s going to lead to a serious…
Feb 13 (Reuters) – South Carolina reported 950 measles cases on Friday, including 17 new infections since Tuesday, though officials said it is still too early to know whether the recent dip in daily cases signals a slowdown.Of those infected, 883 were unvaccinated, 19 were partially vaccinated with one of the recommended two-dose measles-mumps-rubella vaccines, 26 were fully vaccinated and 22 had unknown vaccination status.”We have had lower day-by-day counts of reported measles cases recently. That is potentially an indication that this could be slowing, but really, it is still too early to tell,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said during…
In a new viral AI video, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise pummel each other on a rooftop in a cinematic action sequence.It’s not a trailer for a new blockbuster, and it’s not actually Pitt and Cruise, though it looks a lot like them. The video is so realistic, in fact, that the clearest sign it’s made with AI is the dialogue.”You killed Jeffrey Epstein, you animal! He was a good man!” Pitt says as he punches Cruise.”He knew too much…” Cruise replies.You can see why Hollywood’s most prominent trade organization is not happy about it. Every time Lakshmi publishes a…
Starting Friday, OpenAI will cease providing access to five legacy ChatGPT models, including the popular but controversial GPT-4o model. The 4o model has been at the center of a number of lawsuits concerning user self-harm, delusional behavior, and AI psychosis. It remains OpenAI’s highest scoring model for sycophancy. In addition to GPT-4o, the GPT-5, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-mini models have also been deprecated. OpenAI intended to retire GPT-4o in August, when it unveiled the GPT-5 model. But at the time, there was enough backlash for OpenAI to keep the legacy model available for paid subscribers, who could manually…
At least 21 U.S. states have confirmed cases of measles as outbreaks continue spread across the country.At Ave Maria University near Naples, Florida, measles cases have soared to nearly 60. A sophomore at the school, who is unvaccinated, told CBS News he developed symptoms before he tested positive.”Honestly, at first, it … kind of felt like a head cold,” the student said. “I started to get a little rash and then like I started to get a sore throat, a cough.”At a clinic across the street from campus, Dr. Raul Enad said he’s treated two measles patients – a student…
Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads — which feature darkly comedic scenarios of people seeking advice from chatbots, only to be steered to “cougar” dating sites and height-boosting insoles — have been paying off. In the days since, Anthropic’s AI chatbot Claude has climbed from No. 41 on the U.S. App Store to become a top 10 app. As of Friday, Claude sits at No. 7 — its highest rank to date — suggesting its “no ads” pitch resonates strongly with users. According to new data from market intelligence provider Appfigures, Claude’s U.S. downloads across both iOS and Android totaled an estimated…
After suffering a seizure inside a Texas immigration detention center, Leqaa Kordia said, she was kept in chains that weighed down her hands and legs in a hospital room, while barred from contacting her family or attorneys.The Paterson, New Jersey, resident described the “terrifying” ordeal in a statement shared days after she was released from a hospital and sent back to the Prairieland Detention Facility.Kordia, 33, has been held there for nearly a year, even though an immigration judge twice ordered her released, in what her attorneys say is retaliation for pro-Palestinian advocacy.Protesters rally against ICE in Los Angeles, clash…