Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, known as the EU AI Act, has been described by the European Commission as “the world’s first comprehensive AI law.” After years in the making, it is progressively becoming a part of reality for the 450 million people living in the 27 countries that comprise the EU. The EU AI Act, however, is more than a European affair. It applies to companies both local and foreign, and it can affect both providers and deployers of AI systems; the European Commission cites examples of how it would apply to a developer of a CV screening…

Google’s AI note-taking app is now open to younger users, having previously been limited to users 18 and older. The tech giant announced that NotebookLM is available to Google Workspace for Education users of any age and for consumers ages 13 and up. The removal of age restrictions is intended to provide younger students with access to the AI research tool, allowing them to better understand their class materials. Now, students can access features such as the ability to convert notes into podcast-like Audio Overviews, visually summarize ideas with interactive Mind Maps, and more. NotebookLM recently released Video Overviews to…

Florida health officials are issuing a warning about the dangers of consuming raw milk after 21 people in the northeast and central parts of the state drank raw milk from the same farm and fell ill.The Florida Department of Health issued the warning on Monday, Aug. 4, noting that due to sanitation practices and raw milk consumption, 21 people became sick, including six children under the age of 10. Among the patients, at least two have suffered “severe complications,” the announcement read.The illnesses were linked to one farm.”Sanitation practices in this farm are of particular concern due to the number of…

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City has killed two people and sickened 58 since late July.City health officials link the Central Harlem outbreak to cooling towers, structures containing water and a fan that are used to cool buildings. They said 11 of these towers initially tested positive for a type of bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, but the problem has been remedied.They urged people in the area with flu-like symptoms to contact a health care provider as soon as possible, especially if they are 50 or older, smoke or have chronic lung conditions.Here’s what to know.What is…

A group of Tesla shareholders sued the company and CEO Elon Musk, alleging they weren’t forthcoming about problems with its robotaxi.The proposed class action lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court Monday, says Tesla misled investors, failed to disclose problems with its long-in-the-works robotaxi service, and “overstated the effectiveness of its autonomous driving technology.””There was thus a significant risk that the Company’s autonomous driving vehicles, including the Robotaxi, would operate dangerously and/or in violation of traffic laws,” the lawsuit said.Tesla debuted a test of its robotaxis — fully autonomous cars available through a ride-hailing service — on June 22.There were…

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Maybe the Home Run Derby doesn’t have to be limited to All-Star weekend.The Milwaukee Brewers had Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and several other former players competing in an alumni home run derby that followed a game with the Miami Marlins last month. The promotion helped draw a sellout crowd of 41,944 fans, with nearly all of them sticking around to watch the postgame event.Other clubs noticed, too.“I thought it was a great idea and applaud them,” Arizona Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said. “I believe all of us will be considering something similar.” Brewers manager Pat…

Cognition, the AI coding startup that acquired rival company Windsurf three weeks ago, laid off 30 employees last week and is offering buyouts to the roughly 200 remaining employees on the team, reports The Information. This is the latest bout of whiplash that Windsurf employees have faced after a tumultuous stretch for the company. The startup was initially almost acquired by OpenAI, then lost its CEO, co-founder, and research leads to Google in a $2.4 billion deal known as a reverse-acquihire (where Google hired the key talent rather than buying the company), before ultimately getting acquired by Cognition.   At the…

The Florida Department of Health is investigating an outbreak of infections linked to drinking unpasteurized milk, officials said this week.The health department issued a bulletin Monday, reporting that 21 people who consumed raw milk from the same farm had been infected with campylobacter and E. coli, with seven of those patients requiring hospitalization.Of the 21 cases, six were children under the age of 10.”Severe complications have been reported for at least two cases,” officials said.The health department did not name the farm that produced the raw milk but confirmed the milk was linked to the cases.It is illegal to sell…

The AI audio-generation unicorn ElevenLabs announced a new model on Tuesday that allows users to generate music, which it claims is cleared for commercial use. This move marks ElevenLabs’ expansion beyond its main focus thus far in its three years of existence, which has been building AI audio tools. ElevenLabs is a leader among companies making text-to-speech AI products, and it has expanded into conversational bots and tools that translate speech into other languages. Alongside the launch, Eleven Labs shared samples of its AI-generated music. One features a synthetic voice rapping about how it “came up through the cracks with…

A Purdue University student from South Korea has been freed from federal detention, tearfully reuniting with her family and religious community in Manhattan following days of outcry from faith leaders in New York and abroad.Yeonsoo Go, 20, was taken into custody on Thursday during a routine immigration hearing in Manhattan, according to her attorneys and family. She was then transferred to a federal detention facility in Monroe, Louisiana, where she was held for three nights before being released without bail on Monday.Mary Rothwell Davis, an attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, where Go’s mother works as a priest,…