Gavin Finch / Reuters: The US sanctions Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, accusing it of helping Iran's government and blacklisted state institutions evade Western sanctions  —  The United States announced sanctions on Iran's biggest cryptocurrency exchange on Tuesday, accusing it of enabling the Iranian government …

Zoom CISO Sandra McLeod discusses the challenges of securing a global communication platform, the promise of AI-driven security workflows, and her advice for aspiring cybersecurity leaders.

Once targeting just Microsoft 365, the phishing-as-a-service platform now aims at AWS, Okta, and Russian platforms, while relying on device code phishing.

President Donald Trump's Education Department is planning to streamline the process for defaulted student-loan borrowers. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The Education Department is streamlining the repayment process for defaulted student-loan borrowers. It will transition the debt resolution website into Federal Student Aid's main website. It's intended to make the repayment process for millions of defaulted borrowers easier to navigate. President Donald Trump's administration is preparing to streamline the repayment process for defaulted student-loan borrowers. The Department of Education is moving the platform for managing defaulted student loans from myeddebt.ed.gov to studentaid.gov, Federal Student Aid's main website, a department spokesperson confirmed. An internal document reviewed by Business Insider said that the transition is intended to improve the user experience of defaulted student-loan borrowers by housing all student-loan operations under Federal Student Aid's main website. The old platform, MyEdDebt, will remain operational until the transition is complete, the document said. "ED, in partnership with Treasury, continues to make significant investments to improve borrower experience," the Education Department spokesperson told Business Insider. While all non-defaulted federal student-loan operations are facilitated through Federal Student Aid's main website — from enrolling in new repayment plans to getting updates on coming changes — defaulted student-loan borrowers are required to go to a separate platform to seek assistance on repayment. That extra step can be confusing because, even if a borrower has an account with Federal Student Aid, they would have to create a new account with MyEdDebt to resolve their defaulted student loans. Failure to take action could lead to wage garnishment, the seizure of federal benefits and tax refunds, and a hit to their credit score. This transition comes while student-loan defaults are at a record high. Recent data from the Department of Education said that 7.7 million borrowers were in default by the end of 2025 — which happens after more than 270 days of missed federal payments — with another 3 million borrowers in delinquency. The Department of Education paused wage garnishments and tax refund seizures in January, which it said was intended to give the administration more time to implement the coming federal student-loan repayment changes, including new repayment plans and borrowing caps, that will go into effect on July 1. The department is also planning on transferring defaulted student-loan accounts to the Treasury Department, but the timeline for that shift has not yet been announced. Read the original article on Business Insider

Microsoft missed the boat on apps, so get ready for agents.

Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. Chad Salvador/Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo demonstrated mutual respect and support as Rodrigo rose to fame. Their dynamic seemed to shift after Rodrigo gave Swift a retroactive writing credit on "Deja Vu." Rodrigo has denied rumors of a feud, and recently said she doesn't have time to dwell on it. For a while, it appeared there was no bigger Swiftie than Olivia Rodrigo. Like many singer-songwriters of her generation, Rodrigo grew up admiring Taylor Swift. As she navigated teen stardom in the early stages of her pop career, Rodrigo frequen tly cited Swift as one of her biggest inspirations. Initially, Swift-Rodrigo relations were peachy. Swift welcomed the up-and-coming star and seemed to take her under her wing, celebrating her early wins as Rodrigo rose to fame. Rodrigo, in turn, was ecstatic to have captured her idol's attention. They finally met — and even took cuddly photos together — at the 2021 Brit Awards. Their dynamic seemed to shift after the release of "Sour," Rodrigo's debut album, which catapulted Rodrigo to the center of the mainstream pop conversation. Rodrigo started avoiding the topic of Swift in interviews, and, as far as we know, she didn't attend the Eras Tour. Keep reading for a complete timeline of the twists and turns in Swift and Rodrigo's relationship. April 2020: Rodrigo covers Swift's song, earning Swift's praise Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift in 2019. Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media/Christopher Polk/NBCUniversal via Getty Images In the throes of the pandemic, Rodrigo shared a video of herself on Instagram singing Swift's "Cruel Summer" as part of the MTV Alone Together Jam Session. Swift reposted the video on her Instagram Story and wrote, "THE TALENT. Love This!!! Thanks for this beautiful performance @olivia.rodrigo @mtv." Rodrigo, then 17, gushed about being noticed by her idol on social media, writing in all caps, "TAYLOR SWIFT IS THE REASON I WRITE SONGS" and "I AM GONNA FRAME THIS SCREENSHOT AND HANG IT ABOVE MY FIRSTBORN'S CRIB." At the time, Rodrigo hadn't released any of her own music yet and was mostly known for starring in the Disney+ series, "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series." Swift had released her sixth album, "Lover," to massive commercial success but mixed critical response, and had to cancel her planned "Lover Fest" tour dates because of the pandemic. January 2021: Rodrigo celebrates her breakthrough single, and Swift congratulates her Olivia Rodrigo in the "Drivers License" music video. Olivia Rodrigo/YouTube Rodrigo's debut single, "Drivers License," was a surprise overnight sensation, rising to No. 2 on the US iTunes chart, just below Swift at No. 1. Rodrigo shared a now-deleted screenshot on Instagram, captioned, "Next to Taylor on the US iTunes chart. I'm in a puddle of tears." Swift commented, "I say that's my baby and I'm proud." Fans ate up the mentor-mentee moment, and Swift's comment quickly became an internet meme used to express pride for an artist's achievement. Rodrigo gushed about the interaction with Swift, telling Apple Music's Zane Lowe that she'd looked up to Swift for a long time and "just about died" when she got a response from her. "Drivers License" went on to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for eight weeks. March 2021: Swift gifts Rodrigo a $3,200 ring that doubles as Swiftlore Taylor Swift performs during the 2013 Red Tour, left, and Olivia Rodrigo performs at the 2021 Glastonbury Festival. Kevin Mazur/TAS/WireImage; Jim Dyson/Getty Images Rodrigo revealed in an interview with SiriusXM that Swift had sent her a package with a gold ring, similar to the one Swift wore during a photo shoot for her 2012 album "Red." "She is absolutely the kindest individual in the whole world. Actually, last night — like literally 12 hours ago — I got a package from her with this handwritten note. And she gave me this ring because she said she wore one just like it when she wrote 'Red' and she wanted me to have one like it," Rodrigo said. At the time, Swift was preparing for the release of "Red (Taylor's Version)," which would drop in November 2021. April 2021: Rodrigo releases her second hit single, helps Swift promote her new album — and makes a critical PR mistake Olivia Rodrigo in the "Deja Vu" music video. Olivia Rodrigo/YouTube Pay attention to this song, because it will become a recurring motif in the Rodrigo-Swift saga. On April 1, Rodrigo released "Deja Vu," which was praised by critics and became a top-three hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The same week as the song's release, Rodrigo and her best friend Conan Gray helped promote Swift's first rerecorded album, "Fearless (Taylor's Version)," with a post on X. Swift also posted on X to promote the re-recording, referring to Gray and Rodrigo as her "two kids." Also that week, Rodrigo told Rolling Stone that she drew inspiration from Swift's song "Cruel Summer" for the bridge of "Deja Vu." "I love the yell-y vocals in it," Rodrigo said, "so I wanted to do something like that." May 7, 2021: Rodrigo credits Swift with helping her navigate the music industry Olivia Rodrigo won best new artist at the 2022 Grammys. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy In an interview with The Guardian, Rodrigo revealed that she retained control of her master recordings when she signed her contract with Interscope/Geffen the previous year. She said she was inspired by Swift's public fight to own her music, which kicked off the "Taylor's Version" project. "I want to be a songwriter," Rodrigo explained. "I don't want to be the biggest pop star that ever lived." May 11, 2021: Rodrigo and Swift meet for the first time Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift at the 2021 Brit Awards. Olivia Rodrigo/Instagram Swift and Rodrigo finally met backstage at the 2021 Brit Awards, where Swift received the Brits Icon Award, and Rodrigo performed "Drivers License." They posed for photos together, one of which Rodrigo shared on Instagram (captioned "🥺🥺🥺🥺"), but it has since been deleted. Shortly after their fateful meeting, Rodrigo gushed about Swift to NME. "I've always looked up to Taylor since I was literally five years old," Rodrigo said. "Obviously, I think she's the best songwriter of all time, but she's so business-savvy, and she really cares about her career in that regard too — that's been really inspiring for me to watch somebody take control of their career and their life like that." Rodrigo also revealed that her favorite album of Swift's is 2010's "Speak Now," adding that she would love to be featured on the rerecorded version. Alas, "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" would eventually be released in July 2023, featuring duets with Hayley Williams and Fall Out Boy, but no Rodrigo. May 21, 2021: Rodrigo releases 'Sour,' with Swift credited as a cowriter on the album's fourth track Olivia Rodrigo released "Sour" in 2021. Interscope/Geffen Rodrigo originally intended to release an EP called "Sour," but following the positive response to "Drivers License," she was eager to stretch her creative muscles and convinced her label to let her make a full-length album. She told The Guardian that she worked 13-hour days, seven days a week, to finish it. "Sour," which also included the hit single "Good 4 U," received positive reviews and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Notably, the album's fourth track, an anxious ballad called "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back," interpolates the piano riff from Swift's 2017 song "New Year's Day." Both Swift and her producer, Jack Antonoff, were credited as cowriters alongside Rodrigo and her producer, Dan Nigro. On the album's remaining 10 songs, only Rodrigo and Nigro were credited upon release. (Casey Smith is also credited as a cowriter on track nine, "Jealousy, Jealousy.") July 2021: The 'Deja Vu' credits are updated to include Swift as a cowriter Olivia Rodrigo and Talia Ryder in the "Deja Vu" music video. Olivia Rodrigo/YouTube Months after the release of "Sour," the "Deja Vu" production credits were retroactively updated to list Swift, Antonoff, and Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), who all worked on "Cruel Summer," as cowriters alongside Rodrigo and Nigro. This means that Rodrigo and Nigro split the song's royalties with the "Cruel Summer" trio. To be clear: Swift did not sue for credit, as some fans have claimed online. There is no evidence that Swift took legal action against Rodrigo. It's more likely their teams came to an agreement behind the scenes after Rodrigo publicly cited Swift's song as inspiration for "Deja Vu." The following month, Rodrigo continued sharing the wealth: She gave Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Josh Farro writing credits on "Good 4 U." Sources told Variety the revision was made to reflect an interpolation of the band's 2007 pop-punk hit "Misery Business." The retroactive credit is an increasingly common move in the music industry, now that plagiarism lawsuits have become commonplace, pricey, and unpredictable. (See: Robin Thicke and Ed Sheeran, who were both sued over comparisons to Marvin Gaye's music. Thicke lost, while Sheeran won.) Williams, however, seemed to disagree with this tack. She reacted to the news on her Instagram Story, writing, "Our publisher is wildin [right now]" — implying that Paramore's publisher pushed for credit in order to capitalize on Rodrigo's success. Billboard reported that between "Deja Vu" and "Good 4 U," Rodrigo gave up millions in publishing royalties. "It's not something that I was super involved in," Rodrigo later told Rolling Stone. "It was more team-on-team." Meanwhile, amid comparisons between Rodrigo's song "Brutal" and Elvis Costello's 1978 hit "Pump It Up," the British rocker praised Rodrigo. "It's how rock and roll works," Costello wrote on X. "You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That's what I did." August 2023: Rodrigo confirms that she hasn't attended the Eras Tour Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour. Kate Green/Getty Images Swift's Eras Tour dominated pop culture in 2023, drawing a wide array of celebrity guests, from Shania Twain and Lupita Nyong'o to Flavor Flav and Karlie Kloss. Many were spotted trading friendship bracelets with fans and singing along to Swift's hit songs. Rodrigo, however, was never spotted in the VIP tent at the Eras Tour, raising eyebrows among fans. She told The New York Times that her schedule was too booked to attend while promoting her sophomore album, "Guts." "I haven't yet," she said, days before the tour's first US leg ended. "I'm going to Europe this week." September 2023: Rodrigo addresses speculation that her song 'Vampire' was inspired by Swift, and denies rumors of a feud Olivia Rodrigo in the "Vampire" music video. Olivia Rodrigo/YouTube During the promo campaign for "Guts," Rodrigo was repeatedly asked about her relationship with Swift. Amid rumors of a feud, Rodrigo told Rolling Stone, "I don't have beef with anyone." "I'm very chill. I keep to myself. I have my four friends and my mom, and that's really the only people I talk to, ever. There's nothing to say," she added. Rodrigo was also asked to address speculation about the "Guts" lead single, "Vampire," whose lyrics seem to condemn a certain "blood sucker, fame-fucker" for taking advantage of her. Some fans interpreted the song as about an ex-boyfriend, namely Zack Bia, while others believed it was inspired by the "Deja Vu" credit dispute. Rodrigo said she was "very surprised" people thought "Vampire" could be about Swift. "I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about," Rodrigo told The Guardian. "I've never done that before in my career and probably won't. I think it's better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing." The 10th track on "Guts," titled "The Grudge," also sparked theories that Rodrigo could be singing about Swift: "You built me up to watch me fall," Rodrigo sings in the bridge. "You have everything, and you still want more." February 2024: Swift gives Rodrigo a standing ovation at the Grammys Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift at the 2024 Grammys. Valerie Macon/John Shearer/Getty Images During Rodrigo's performance of "Vampire" — yes, the same song that some fans believed to be about Swift — at the 2024 Grammys, Swift was seen singing along from the crowd. She stood during the entire performance, while most of the room remained seated, and gave Rodrigo a standing ovation at the end. Rodrigo later applauded Swift when she took home the Grammy for best pop vocal album, a category in which Rodrigo was also nominated. April 2024: Swift releases a song about the music industry pitting women against each other Taylor Swift in a promo photo for "The Tortured Poets Department." Beth Garrabrant Swift's 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," ends with a track called "Clara Bow." The song's perspective switches between a powerful Hollywood executive and a hopeful ingenue. Swift told Amazon Music the lyrics were inspired by real conversations she had with label execs as a child. "They'd say, 'You know, you remind us of,' and then they'd name an artist, and then they'd kind of say something disparaging about her," Swift said. "That's how we teach women to see themselves, as like, 'You could be the new replacement for this woman who's done something great before you.'" At the end of the song, Swift imagines herself as the woman being replaced by a new artist: "You look like Taylor Swift / In this light / We're loving it / You've got edge / She never did." Swift has explored this fear before, namely in "Nothing New," a song she wrote in 2012, when she was 22. ("I know someday I'm gonna meet her, it's a fever dream / The kind of radiance you only have at 17 / She'll know the way, and then she'll say she got the map from me / I'll say I'm happy for her, then I'll cry myself to sleep.") "You learn that like, you're in this machine and they're trying to make you into a woman that they just idealized and then discarded," Swift recently told The New York Times. "The entertainment industry love-bombs women." Many fans have noted the parallels between Swift's imagined usurper and Rodrigo, a young songwriter and critical darling who studied Swift's craft and business savvy. May 2026: Rodrigo half-answers a question about her relationship with Swift Olivia Rodrigo performs in 2026. Michael Le Brecht II/Disney via Getty Images While promoting her third album, "You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So in Love," Rodrigo was again asked about the feud rumors. She told Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times' "Popcast" podcast that she found the online speculation exhausting. "I really don't read too far into it," Rodrigo said. "I think if I dove into every internet detective sleuth that got things right or wrong about my life or any of my relationships, I think I would just go crazy. There's just not enough time in the day." When directly asked by Caramanica if there was a "frost" between her and Swift, Rodrigo seemed eager to move on from the whole ordeal. "I don't know, I think I try to not let it get to me or upset me," Rodrigo said. "It was so long ago, there's no use in harping on it," she continued. "I just try to make songs that I love and try to be kind and good to other people and supportive of other people. And at the end of the day, I think that's all you can do." Read the original article on Business Insider

David and Larry Ellison have bought Paramount and are now waiting for regulators to sign off on their plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter The Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery deal still needs approval from regulators around the world. Which is why it's so striking to read Paramount's chief lawyer say that some opponents of the deal are antisemitic. What does he mean by that, and why would he say that? Lots of people have objected to Paramount's planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Some of those people are antisemitic, says Paramount's top lawyer. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Makan Delrahim, Paramount's chief legal officer, said that some opposition to the Paramount/WBD deal is coming from people with "antisemitic views." "Let's be honest," he told the Times. "There's a lot of fear-mongering, particularly from people in Washington, D.C. They are running a political campaign. Some of these people are trying to inflict harm on this transaction, really because of their own antisemitic views. Regulators and law enforcement officials will see right through that." What does Delrahim mean by that? Paramount declined to comment. I've also asked Delrahim to expand on his remarks. In the absence of an explanation, the only plausible answer I can think of is that Paramount owners Larry and David Ellison are active supporters of Israel, and Delrahim is suggesting that some people who are critical of the Ellisons' pro-Israel stance are also antisemitic. This isn't the first time the issue of Israel has come up since the Ellisons bought Paramount: Last fall, Paramount denounced a campaign, signed by some high-profile actors and filmmakers, not to work with some Israeli film organizations. Paramount said the campaign amounted to "silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality." Paramount's statement generated a response from a group of anonymous Paramount employees, who said the company was siding with "systems of apartheid, occupation, and … a genocide in Gaza and of the Palestinian people." Debates over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and whether criticizing Israel's actions in that conflict equates to antisemitism — are long-standing and highly charged. Which is why it's so striking to see Delrahim, who is meant to shepherd the Paramount/WBD through a thicket of regulators around the world, seemingly connect it to his proposed deal. Maybe there's some 4-D chess I'm missing here. But it looks like Delrahim — who has spent a lot of time working in Washington, most recently as head of antitrust enforcement at the Department of Justice during Donald Trump's first term — may be making his would-be deal that much harder to get over the line. Let's say you're a regulator who questions the wisdom of that combination —perhaps you're worried about what it means for the theatrical movie business, or what it might mean for journalism if CBS and CNN are combined. But now Paramount's lawyer is suggesting that your concerns are really a cover for your theoretical antisemitism. That may not matter when it comes to the Trump administration, which is widely expected to sign off on the transaction. But it's hard to see how this is helpful anywhere else. Read the original article on Business Insider

Over the last few months, these DIY hardware communities have exploded in popularity as people on social media show off their solar-powered game emulators, pocket-sized ereaders, and clamshell purse computers.

Lawsuit: Ring cameras scan guests and passersby and use AI to identify faces.

ZoomMate aims to turn meeting conversations into AI-powered workflows, giving IT leaders new questions around governance, automation, and ROI. The post Zoom Introduces ‘ZoomMate,’ an AI Teammate for Post-Meeting Work appeared first on TechRepublic.

A sneaky, wide-scale IAB operation uses a malicious traffic distribution system (TDS) to redirect visitors of trusted websites to ones that deliver malware.

Miguelangel Perez/Unsplash News on AI and audiobooks is coming thick and fast. Australia-based audiobook producer Bolinda recently announced it will create a “bespoke” AI clone of romance bestseller Barbara Cartland’s voice, in partnership with her estate. (She died in 2000.) Two days later, Spotify announced a tool (created by synthetic voice company ElevenLabs) that will allow self-published authors to create audiobooks voiced by AI on its platform, and publish them anywhere. Meanwhile, a recent New York Times exposé revealed AI-enabled audiobook piracy on a massive scale on YouTube, with versions appearing of everything from literary fiction to Harry Potter, business bestsellers to John Grisham. A pirated version of his latest legal thriller, The Widow, accompanied by an “AI slop” video, has over 80,000 views. Listeners called the voice “boring” and “awful”. “If you look up any best seller, you find a free audiobook on YouTube,” said the chief executive of the United States Authors Guild. A 2025 survey found that 35% of audiobook consumers had listened to a YouTube audiobook – and that AI-narrated audiobooks now account for 23% of new releases. Around 17% of Australian audiobook listeners have (knowingly) listened to an AI audiobook, according to my own recent survey of over 500 Australian audiobook listeners. This rate is higher among listeners with vision impairments and other disabilities, who have long used AI for accessibility reasons – and should be centred in these discussions. How have AI voices in audiobook listening evolved? And where is it heading? The evolution of AI voices The large language models behind ChatGPT and Claude map the relationship between words across billions of pieces of text. Similar models map sound patterns across recorded speech to produce contemporary “AI voices”. AI voices were originally used for accessibility. The first automated text-to-speech system was created in 1968 by a Japanese research laboratory. The first screen reader technology was developed by IBM in the early 1980s. In 1986, it introduced its first screen reader for general use on personal computers. This text-to-speech technology was originally for vision-impaired readers, who were the first to embrace it. But as AI voices became more convincing, concern about their impact on human-narrated audiobooks grew. In 2009, the US Authors Guild blocked implementation of the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech function, claiming it infringed their audiobook rights. Many high profile authors argued against the decision and its impact on accessibility. “The day that artificial intelligence gives us perfect Kindle readings, we’ll have bigger fish to fry than audiobook rights,” science fiction and tech author Cory Doctorow wrote in the Guardian. He called the idea that computer narration might ever seriously rival human narration “nonsensical”. Voice clones and pirates Swedish Storytel, the largest streaming platform in Nordic markets, reported in 2024 that nine out of ten listeners “could not tell which narration was human” when it tested the AI-generated voices in its Voice Switcher program. Like Spotify, Storytel uses ElevenLabs AI technology. With Voice Switcher, listeners can choose between the original human narrator, three different AI-generated voices, or an AI version of popular Swedish actor and narrator Stefan Sauk, who has licensed his voice to Storytel. Only a handful of Barbara Cartland’s 723 novels were available as audiobooks before her estate signed an exclusive agreement with Bolinda, the leading producer of Australian audiobooks. Bolinda started by distributing accessibility materials, such as large print and talking books, in 1986, and moved to audiobooks in 1995. Cartland’s voice clone will be used to frame the beginning and end of her audiobooks, while human narrators will continue to narrate the books themselves. Even for this limited use, Cartland fans have described the announcement as “creepy”, “haunting”, “gross” and “disappointing” on social media. Voice clones are being put to worrying uses. Along with other “deepfakes”, this led to the UN publishing a “wake-up call” to organised fraud in March. Audiobook publishing is not immune to these deepfakes, or artificially generated imitations of real people. Recordings of Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter series were used to generate an illegal clone of his voice in 2023. And this year, author Shaun Rein discovered deepfakes of himself on YouTube, reading chapters of his book. “The voice clone was probably created from the author’s publicly available interviews,” wrote publishing commentator Jane Friedman. Piracy is a problem for digital content in general – including audiobooks. YouTube addresses piracy by automatically scanning uploads to see if they match with material in their massive database of copyright content. Pirates alter or add bracketing material to try to circumvent it. Publishers told the New York Times that the program, built for music, is “less effective” with audiobooks, where “even slight changes – like shifts in speed, pitch or voice, or added background noise or music – can prevent a match”. Audible, Spotify and Project Gutenberg Audible, owned by Amazon, began implementing AI-voiced audiobooks in late 2023. A year later, it added a service that lets select narrators create and monetise replicas of their own voices. The other major global player in audiobooks, Spotify, first offered AI-narrated audiobooks in 2023, the year it launched its audiobook business. Last year, it began accepting audiobooks narrated using ElevenLabs’ AI voice technology, which lets self-publishers create an audiobook with a voice from a catalogue, or create their own voice clone. The catalogue includes trademarked clones of actors like Michael Caine. And now, self-publishers can create AI-voiced audiobooks on Spotify itself. Commercial and pirate audiobooks sit alongside projects like public domain repository Project Gutenberg’s free catalogue of 5,000 AI-narrated audiobooks of out-of-copyright books, created by Microsoft and MIT. It was named one of the best inventions of 2023 by TIME magazine. The future of audiobooks Voice actors are concerned about the erosion of skilled jobs and the use of cloning technologies to infringe on their vocal rights. Unions and advocacy groups are actively campaigning for tighter regulatory controls. And authors and publishers want action on YouTube piracy. These issues are intensified by the important ethical and environmental questions raised by AI use. Legislators, technology companies and major commercial players have a responsibility to ensure AI narration technologies are made and used transparently and ethically. But there is no one way to read a book. Only a fraction of books published will ever be available as human-narrated audiobooks, due to the significant time and expense of making them. And for many readers – those with vision impairments or some forms of neurodivergence, for instance – audiobooks are an essential resource. Human performance offers a gold standard listening experience: expressive, immersive and authentic. But AI narration has a growing role in the audiobook’s future. Millicent Weber received funding for this research from Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award DE240100466, 'Audiobooks and Digital Book Culture'.

Discussion | Link

Neanderthals had some wild stuff in their toolkits.

Simone Steele is the founder of Simply Shady and Queen Aesthetics Wellness and Beauty Clinic. Danielle Villasana for BI Simone Steele started her beauty clinic by throwing Botox and filler parties in customers' homes. Once she grew her clinic, she used her existing customer base to help launch a sunscreen line. Great customer service and on-the-ground marketing have been key to making both successful. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Simone Steele, founder of Queen Aesthetics Wellness and Beauty Clinic and inclusive sunscreen company Simply Shady. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I decided to start my own business after getting burned — literally. I was a board-certified physician's assistant at a plastic surgery office in Houston, and I went to another clinic looking for laser treatment for my own skin concerns. What could've been a confidence-boosting procedure in the right hands left me with burns and pigmentation problems for years. I don't want anybody else to feel like I did. Steele started her business with in-home Botox and filler parties. Danielle Villasana for BI After that experience, I decided to create my own business in Houston called Queen Aesthetics Wellness and Beauty Clinic. The concept would be more of a haven, where I could take the time to sit down and talk to my clients the way I wanted to, and where I could make sure the practitioners felt confident treating all skin types. It would be a place where I could generally make women feel better about themselves. I started with grit and on-the-ground growth I started my business in 2019 by doing in-home Botox and filler parties. I wasn't able to get traditional financing at first, so this allowed me to launch without needing the money to rent a space and helped me test pricing and build customer relationships. Queen Aesthetics grew into a six-figure business with a 62% rebooking rate. Danielle Villasana for BI From the start, my biggest growth strategy was making sure we delivered great customer service at parties, so people would go out of their way to see me when we opened a brick-and-mortar in 2021. Focusing on customer service also increased our word-of-mouth marketing, which is important because people don't always trust online reviews. Building a personal connection with people has been the biggest driver for the business, helping us grow into a six-figure clinic with a 62% rebooking rate. Our customer service includes a personal follow-up call within the following week, not just texts and emails. I used to make every call, but as we've grown, that hasn't been sustainable. Now, I have an assistant make those same follow-up calls. Focusing on customer service played a big role in Queen Aesthetics' word-of-mouth marketing. Danielle Villasana for BI We also offer memberships that give customers benefits such as a free facial. These monthly offerings offer us steady revenue, even during an uncertain economic climate. I used one business to start another Eventually, I noticed a gap in the market. We always tell our clients to protect their skin, but they told us they were unhappy with the sunscreen options available to them, especially for people of color, who often have to deal with a white cast from sunscreen. Queen Aesthetics' clients inspired Steele's next venture. Danielle Villasana for BI I have a degree in biochemistry, so I started testing some formulations at home to create inclusive, mineral sun care that corrects and protects. I ended up working with a cosmetic chemist to finalize my idea and, in 2024, launched Simply Shady. Queen Aesthetics was the foundation for Simply Shady because, without it, I wouldn't have had the beta testers I needed: About 200 of our customers tested the products over 45 days and gave feedback. My customer base allowed me to have a successful product launch and consistent sales from people already coming into the office. We sold over 1,000 units and generated more than $50,000 in revenue within the first year without any outside capital. Simply Shady relied on over 200 existing customers to test the products for over 45 days. Danielle Villasana for BI Now, we can pair marketing for both businesses. Many of our estheticians recommend the product during treatment. And we have a small store attached to our clinic, which gives us a two-for-one use of our space. A client can walk into our office, see that we added a new product, and we can take them over to the store to try it and do some shade matching. When we attend community events, we can spread the word about the sunscreen, but also offer a paired service, like a facial. Steele hopes to boost Simply Shady's sales via e-commerce. Danielle Villasana for BI One day, I want Simply Shady to be like Supergoop, where everyone knows us for sunscreen. Right now, I'm still working on the back-end tasks, making sure the formula is really good, and figuring out how to translate our in-person brand experience to e-commerce to get a good conversion. Sometimes, I feel like I should be further along, but I know I need to make sure the base framework is good to propel the business to the next level. Read the original article on Business Insider

China is stealing data from high-value targets via a sneaky, double-layer spear-phishing campaign that includes the Azureveil malware.

Jyoti Mann / The Information: Internal memo: Meta is scaling back elements of its employee tracking tool, launched in April to help train its AI models, after staff raised concerns  —  Meta Platforms is scaling back elements of its employee tracking tool after staff raised concerns about the tool, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Information.

Discussion | Link

Cisco unveiled Cloud Control, Live Protect, and Hybrid Mesh Firewall at Cisco Live to help enterprises manage AI-era IT and security operations. The post Cisco Live 2026: New Security Tools Target AI Threats appeared first on TechRepublic.

It’s Monday at 8 AM. A medical biller opens her queue.Over the weekend, Friday’s...