All posts tagged: Clones

Devious New AI Tool “Clones” Software So That the Original Creator Doesn’t Hold a Copyright Over the New Version

Devious New AI Tool “Clones” Software So That the Original Creator Doesn’t Hold a Copyright Over the New Version

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech The advent of generative AI continues to undermine the very concept of copyright, from entire books shamelessly ripping off authors to tasteless AI slop depicting beloved characters going viral on social media. The sin is foundational: all today’s popular AI tools were built by pillaging copyrighted material without permission. Even software isn’t safe. As 404 Media reports, a new tool dubbed Malus.sh — pronounced “malice,” to give a subtle clue where this is headed — uses AI to “liberate” a piece of software from existing copyright licenses, essentially creating a “clean room” clone that technically doesn’t infringe on the original code’s copyright. The project is a tongue-in-cheek jab at tensions in the open source community. But it’s also a real product being developed by an LLC with real paying customers. “It works,” cofounder and United Nations political economy of open source software researcher Mike Nolan told 404. He argued that if it were “just satire,” it would largely …

Mega Influencers Are Replacing Themselves With AI Clones

Mega Influencers Are Replacing Themselves With AI Clones

Published by Sam Flores

Already, AI clones have been used to cut down on production time, allowing talent more bandwidth to pursue other opportunities. “Instead of five service days in-person,” Shannon said, “It’s three service days, [plus] the right to digital assets to do post-production fixes, or [for] their avatar to do things around the edges.” “Everyone says YouTube is all about authenticity, and they assume that it has to be the real ‘you.’ But authenticity can come from a lot of different areas.” Every deal is unique, so there are no set rates related to these AI deals. The structure depends on myriad factors and is constantly shifting based on the nature of a partnership. “I don’t think the market dollars have been determined yet. It’s still relatively early days, and the business models are being formed in real time,” Shannon said. “Frankly, I think it’s going to come down to what consumers want.” Eric Wei, cofounder of Karat, a financial firm for creators, told me that AI cloning won’t work for all influencers or celebrities. The effects …

The Download: brainless human clones and the first uterus kept alive outside a body

The Download: brainless human clones and the first uterus kept alive outside a body

Published by skeptic

2 Elon Musk reportedly joined Trump’s call with Modi about the Iran War It remains unclear what Musk was doing during the conversation. (NYT $)  + India has disputed the report. (Independent) + The war poses a grave threat to the EV market. (Rest of World)  3 Eli Lilly has struck a deal to bring AI-developed drugs to the market It’s secured a $2.75 billion drug collaboration with Insilico Medicine. (Reuters $) + A I-designed compounds can kill drug-resistant bacteria. (MIT Technology Review)  4 More and more countries are curbing children’s social media access Austria is the latest to pursue a ban. (Engadget) + Indonesia has rolled out the first one in Southeast Asia. (DW) + UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he will also “have to act.” (Guardian)   5 Tech stocks just had their worst week in nearly a year Thanks to a combination of the Iran war and legal disputes. (CNBC) + Tech insiders are split over the AI bubble. (MIT Technology Review)  6 Meta is launching new smart glasses for prescription wearers It plans to debut them next week. (Bloomberg $)  7 Taiwan is probing 11 Chinese firms for illegal poaching of tech talent Its semiconductors are entangled in the tensions with Beijing. (Reuters)  8 Bluesky …

The Download: brainless human clones and the first uterus kept alive outside a body

Inside the stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clones

Published by skeptic

Last Monday, the same day it announced itself to the world in Wired, R3 sent us a sweeping disavowal of our findings. It said Schloendorn “never made any statement regarding hypothetical ‘non-sentient human clones’ [that] would be carried by surrogates.” The most overarching of these challenges was its insistence that “any allegations of intent or conspiracy to create human clones or humans with brain damage are categorically false.” But even Schloendorn and his cofounder, Alice Gilman, can’t seem to keep away from the topic. Just last September, the pair presented at Abundance Longevity, a $70,000-per-ticket event in Boston organized by the anti-aging promoter Peter Diamandis. Although the presentation to about 40 people was not recorded and was meant to be confidential, a copy of the agenda for the event shows that Schloendorn was there to outline his “final bid to defeat aging” in a session called “Full Body Replacement.” According to a person who was there, both animal research and personal clones for spare organs were discussed. During the presentation, Gilman and Schloendorn even stood …

‘She’s Never Going to Age’: Porn Stars Are Embracing AI Clones to Stay Forever Young

‘She’s Never Going to Age’: Porn Stars Are Embracing AI Clones to Stay Forever Young

Published by skeptic

Lisa Ann technically quit the porn business in 2019, but for $30 a month you can now dream up any X-rated scenario of her on your computer. Ann, 53, was an adult performer for three decades starting in the mid 1990s and retired because she had reached her savings goal. But last year she had a change of heart. Ann, who considers herself an AI fanatic, signed a contract with OhChat, a London-based AI companion company, to license her likeness on its platform, essentially creating an AI version of her in every way that can be used to make sex scenes for paying customers: same voice, same physique, and same pillowy brown hair. As issues around deepfakes intensify and questions about the future of the adult industry become more dire with the passing of age-verification laws, several AI companion platforms want to create a new standard for consent-driven AI porn. More than sexting a faceless chatbot, digital twins—also called duplicates, doubles, clones, or replicas—draw on the exact likeness, including speech and mannerisms, of your favorite …

Clones of Stumpy, Washington, D.C.’s beloved cherry blossom tree, have flowered for the first time

Clones of Stumpy, Washington, D.C.’s beloved cherry blossom tree, have flowered for the first time

Published by Sam Flores

Stumpy lives again. Clones of the scraggly, beloved cherry blossom tree felled two years ago in the nation’s capital have flowered for the first time this spring, reaching what federal officials described Wednesday as a “pinnacle achievement.” The National Arboretum said in a statement that the plant material used to propagate the Yoshino cherry clones was collected in the summer of 2024. It was one of thousands that line the banks of the Tidal Basin reservoir between the Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials. Clones of Stumpy are flowering for the first time this spring. National Arboretum The new trees are healthy and have put on substantial growth since they formed their own root systems, according to the statement. They will remain at a nonpublic research area until the National Park Service can replant them, perhaps as soon as next spring, the arboretum said. “It is our hope that the story and spirit of these trees will inspire future generations of cherry tree enthusiasts around the world — deepening cultural connections for years to …