Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

A 3-year-old girl who underwent a breakthrough gene therapy treatment to treat profound hearing loss can hear on her own, two years after the treatment.Opal Sandy made history in 2023 when at 11 months old, she became the youngest patient in the world to have a gene therapy injection to her right ear, a breakthrough treatment for the deafness she was born with due to mutations of the OTOF gene, an inherited condition.Baby hears mom’s voice for the 1st time in emotional videoThe gene therapy treatment — a 15-minute procedure during which Opal was under general anesthesia — delivered a…

South Korean telco giant SK Telecom is making big changes at its new AI division, AI CIC, just weeks after it was launched. Staff employed by the unit are being offered a voluntary retirement program as part of a broader effort to bring together the company’s various AI-related divisions, SK Telecom confirmed to TechCrunch. “In late September, SK Telecom announced the launch of the AI CIC (Company-in-Company) unit and confirmed that detailed organizational restructuring would be specified by the end of October,” a spokesperson at SK Telecom told TechCrunch. “This special retirement program is entirely a supportive measure and is…

(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)By Nancy Lapid(Reuters) -Researchers appear to have found a solution for breast cancer patients who do not respond well enough to the common treatment tamoxifen, according to results from a German study.Tamoxifen works by preventing the hormone estrogen from binding to proteins on cancer cell surfaces, keeping the cancer from growing.To work well, tamoxifen must be converted by the enzyme CYP2D6 into a form called (Z)-endoxifen. But in about a third of patients, levels of that enzyme are genetically low. As a…

OpenAI is tightening up how its AI video generator, Sora, handles the likenesses of historical figures after users created “disrespectful depictions” of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.In a joint statement with the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. on Friday, OpenAI said it has paused AI video generations depicting King at the estate’s request while it “strengthens guardrails for historical figures.”Since the launch of Sora 2 last month, social media platforms have been flooded with short, realistic AI-generated clips created from user text prompts. Often, these involve historical figures, and in some instances, they have involved depictions of…

2025-10-17T10:35:01Z Share Facebook Email X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky WhatsApp Copy link lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. There are over a thousand planned or existing data centers across the US, according to a BI investigation. Major tech companies are racing to construct even more as the AI boom continues. But at what cost? Satellite images show where these facilities are cropping up and why they’re a…

Meta on Friday previewed its upcoming parental control features for teens’ conversations with AI characters on its platforms. The features, which will be rolled out next year, include the ability to block certain characters and monitor conversation topics. Starting in the coming months, parents will be able to turn off chats with AI characters entirely for teens. This action won’t block access to the Meta AI chatbot — the company’s general-purpose AI chatbot — which will only discuss age-appropriate content. Parents will also be able to turn off chats with individual characters if they prefer more selective control. Plus, they…

PARIS (Reuters) -More outbreaks of the highly contagious lumpy skin disease have been detected in cattle in southwestern France near the Spanish border, the agriculture ministry said ahead of a ministerial visit to one of the latest affected regions on Friday.France is struggling to contain a surge in cases of lumpy skin disease, a virus spread by insects that causes blisters and reduces milk production in cattle.The disease, which is sweeping across Western Europe for the first time, does not pose a risk to humans but often leads to trade restrictions and severe economic losses.REBOUND IN OUTBREAKSFarms in three communes…

Spotify isn’t betting on Big Tech to protect artists and their copyrighted work during the AI boom, so it’s making its own plans.In a press release on Thursday announcing a new partnership to develop AI tools for musicians, Spotify said the music industry must protect creatives as the AI industry marches ahead.”Stamping out the worst outcomes of Gen AI is an essential piece of the puzzle,” the company said.Spotify took a swipe at the AI industry in its press release, criticizing those who “believe copyright should be abolished.””Musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential. If the music industry doesn’t lead in…

Take a breath. Figma CEO Dylan Field, at least, doesn’t think AI is coming for anyone’s job.”I think it’s pretty encouraging that folks understand, viscerally, that this is not coming for you,” he said Thursday on Lenny’s podcast.He pointed to a survey Figma published in September that surveyed 1,199 participants, including designers, product managers, developers, researchers, data specialists, and marketers. Almost 60% of product builders said they spend more time on high-value work as a result of AI. Almost 70% said they’re “more productive or efficient overall.”Instead of worrying, Field said workers should focus on how they’ll adapt as AI…

Education is the civil rights issue of our time. That’s what Leslie Cornfeld decided after a decade advising New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama’s two education secretaries — and seeing how few low-income students went to the universities that lead to high-paying jobs.Cornfeld said she spent part of her time in the Obama administration visiting the nation’s Title I high schools, those with a high percentage of low-income students. She recalled: “We heard the same themes over and over again from principals, district leaders and students. That even the most talented, hard-working scholars — in rural communities,…