Safety concerns prompt delay in release of new OpenAI model
Saachi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI, has announced that the company will not release its new AI model GPT-6.1 Astra due to safety concerns. Jain said the AI system, which performs tasks like browsing the web and using apps by itself, “didn’t quite meet the bar” of the company’s standards. This follows various incidents across the industry, with mounting concern about the risks posed by AI. Top AI leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic boss Dario Amodei have urged the industry to slow the pace of development due to concerns about the risks. Jain said of Astra that the model fell short in terms of “staying within scope and authorisation, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it’s done,” adding: “We want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that’s in the company, or when we ship it to users. But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment.”
“Murderous” 7 October attack no justification for suffering inflicted on Gaza – Miliband
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has told the Labour party’s annual conference that party members “were right” to be “moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people”. He described the 7 October attacks as “murderous”, prompting “rightful condemnation” of Hamas by most of the world, but said that “this cannot justify the suffering the Netanyahu government has inflicted in Gaza and the West Bank”.
E Cape, KZN and Free State have highest NMW noncompliance rates – report
Rural regions in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State have the highest minimum wage noncompliance rates, according to the latest report from the National Minimum Wage Commission. The highest rates were registered in Joe Gqabi (Eastern Cape), uThukela and Harry Gwala (KwaZulu-Natal) and Thabo Mofutsanyana (Free State). The report notes: “These are predominantly rural districts with relatively low average wage levels, limited economic diversification, and high concentrations of agriculture and low-skilled service employment. This is also where in-kind payment may account for a larger share of worker wages bills, which is not recorded in the data we use.” The lowest noncompliance rates were recorded in the City of Tshwane (Gauteng), Overberg (Western Cape), Mangaung (Free State), City of Cape Town (Western Cape) and Nelson Mandela Bay (Eastern Cape).
Mbeki’s foundation accuses AfriForum, Solidarity of planning “people’s state” for Afrikaners
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation says AfriForum and the Solidarity movement are trying to build American political and financial support in order to create a separate “people’s state” for Afrikaners. His comments coincide with the visit of various delegations to Washington D.C. for the Lex Libertas White Cross Project initiative, aimed at drawing attention to farm murders in South Africa. The foundation refers to a “Washington Memorandum,” which the document says was presented to American officials. It proposes that “assistance be provided to an Afrikaner Development Fund to assist with community infrastructure that protects Afrikaners. This includes security structures, social structures, work structures, training structures, and infrastructure to settle Afrikaners in a concentrated manner.” Meanwhile, the Daily Maverick reports that the White Cross Project has garnered little media attention in the US. It says there was no evidence that even Fox News covered the event, and that the sole US national TV channel apparently giving it airtime was One America News (OAN), which had been dropped by most major US television providers amid controversy over its broadcasting of disinformation. The most extensive coverage from other US media came from right-wing news website The Daily Caller, “so notorious for its coverage of debunked conspiracy theories that polling at one stage found it to be America’s least trusted news organisation. The website has also repeatedly platformed far-right and virulently anti-Semitic views.”
Sources: BBC, Daily Maverick, Haaretz, The Guardian, Netwerk24