Tech

Google supports the Indian General Election by providing easy access to voting information and countering misinformation. Initiatives include partnering with the Election Commission, prioritizing trusted content on YouTube, and implementing advertising policies for transparency. Measures against AI-generated content are also taken.

Google has announced a series of initiatives aimed at supporting the democratic process and safeguarding its platforms from abuse during the upcoming Indian General Election. With millions of eligible voters heading to the polls, the tech giant has said that recognises its responsibility to connect users with reliable information and counter the spread of misinformation, including AI-generated content.
Easy access to voting information on Search and YouTube
Google has mentioned that its primary focus is on providing easy access to authoritative information from trusted sources.The company has also partnered with the Election Commission of India to showcase critical details on Google Search and YouTube, such as how to register and vote, in English and Hindi.
Apart from this, YouTube’s recommendation system will prioritise trusted content during the election season. Additionally, YouTube’s homepage will prominently showcase trusted content along with an “Up Next” panel to make election-related details easily available for users.
YouTube will also highlight content from trusted sources during key moments through its Top News and Breaking News as well as a news watch page.
Moreover, the tech giant has also set up information panels that indicate funding sources from publishers that receive public or government funding and information panels that provide topical context for topics prone to misinformation.
Safeguarding misinformation
To protect the integrity of the electoral process and to protect its products and services from abuse, Google has re-inforced its existing policies to keep its products and platforms safe while curbing misinformation at the same time. Also, the policies apply to all users, irrespective of the content type.
The company has employed a combination of human reviewers and artificial intelligence models to identify and remove content that violates these policies. Google’s AI capabilities are enhancing its abuse-fighting efforts, enabling faster action against emerging threats.
Advertising during election campaigns
To keep things transparent when it comes to election advertising, the company requires advertisers to undergo identity verification and provide necessary certifications from the Election Commission. Election ads must also include disclosures indicating the advertiser’s identity and location. Google maintains a searchable hub for all election ads, providing insights into the advertisers and their spending.
Restricting AI-generated content
Google has also taken some steps to help identify AI-generated content through new tools and policies. The company has introduced disclosure requirements for election ads containing synthetic content and will soon require creators on YouTube to label realistic altered or synthetic content. The new ad policies prohibit the use of manipulated media to mislead people, like deepfakes or doctored content.
Google has also implemented restrictions to Gemini on the types of election-related queries it will respond to and has also prioritised the provision of high-quality information. Additional features, such as the “About this Image” tool in Search and digital watermarking for AI-generated images, aim to provide users with context and assess credibility.
Furthermore, Google has joined the C2PA coalition, a cross-industry effort to provide transparency and context for AI-generated content. The company has confirmed the deployment of technology to counter harmful AI-generated content aimed at deceiving voters during the 2024 elections.

Sharan Hegde, an entrepreneur and founder of The 1% Club who also runs a YouTube channel named — ‘financewithsharan’ has claimed that his YouTube account got hacked via his personal Instagram account.
In his Instagram post, he mentioned that his account got compromised and hackers started live streaming Bitcoin prices on his YouTube channel. Hegde claimed that the live stream on his YouTube channel showcased Bitcoin prices reaching $100K which translates to approximately Rs 69,448,00
Hegde mentioned that as a part of the negotiation, all the contents from the YouTube channel were washed away, however, it was recovered later on.
His post reads, “The hacker took control of the account & started a live stream of Bitcoin prices reaching $100k – without my consent, of course. Within minutes, I got 100s of DMs from you guys informing me about the fact. Thank you so much for alerting me but unfortunately the channel got terminated & I didn’t know what to do. My 3 years of hard work just disappeared right in front of my eyes.”
Tips to keep YouTube account secure
YouTube has shared several tips on keeping YouTube accounts safe and secure on its official support page.
Create a strong password: This is the most basic step for keeping any account secure. A strong password with a combination of letters, numbers and symbols can go a long way in preventing it from getting hacked.
Also, it is advisable to avoid sharing personal account information with anyone, especially the login credentials.
Regular security checkup: Google offers a Security checkup feature with a Google account that allows users to scan their passwords and accounts for potential breaches and also take necessary actions.
2-step verification: Enabling 2-step verification adds a layer of security for any account, including Google.
Remove suspicious people from your account
Remove sites and apps you don’t need
Update your software and back up your account
Protect against suspicious messages & content
Manage access requests properly: YouTube allows users to set access permissions for users to manage a YouTube account. So, assign the necessary permissions to users you trust.

Elon Musk has been extremely critical of ChatGPT maker OpenAI for deviating from its mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and taking a profit-making path. He has advocated that artificial intelligence (AI) should be accessible for all, and he has now announced that his AI startup xAI will open source Grok chatbot this week.
“This week, @xAI will open source Grok,” Musk said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In simpler words, open-sourcing a software, like a chatbot, means that the software projects are redistributable as all source code is accessible by everyone. One of the advantages of having open source software is that it provides flexibility to an enterprise to have multiple ways of fixing a problem rather than waiting for an internal team to provide a solution.
“OpenAI is a lie”
Meanwhile, a user suggested that OpenAI should do the same.
“OpenAI should do the same if they are ‘open’ that is,” the user said. Musk replied, “OpenAI is a lie.”
Musk wants AI technology to be open-source
Musk had floated the idea of open-sourcing AI during a podcast in November last year. In a podcast with Lex Fridman, Musk suggested that he likes the idea of open-source AI. “I am generally in favour of open sourcing, like biassed towards open sourcing,” he said.
His comments came soon after his AI company called xAI released Grok, its chatbot, which reportedly took four months to build. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was quick to take a dig at this and shared a post in which he built Grok with a single prompt on GPT Builder.
“GPTs can save a lot of effort:” he said.
Musk, obviously didn’t like the jab and replied with a long-ish message saying “GPT-4 is about as funny as a screendoor on a submarine.”

Apple‘s Find My app has cost the city of Denver, US $3.76 million in compensation and damages. In 2022, the city’s police wrongly raided and ransacked an elderly woman’s home looking for a stolen truck and guns.
According to a report by CNN, Denver police were seeking to recover a stolen truck loaded with guns, ammo and cash. For this, the police used Apple’s Find My technology on another iPhone to locate the vehicle.However, the police picked the wrong house out of a fairly wide area to storm in and catch the thieves.
Due to this misplaced raid, 78-year-old Ruby Johnson filed a lawsuit against the police. As compensation, the city will be paying Johnson a $3.76 million award.
Moreover, the defendant officers — Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy — were also sued as an individual. Denver police had previously cleared both men of wrongdoing, but the jury disagreed.

How Apple’s Find My app played a role

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought the case on behalf of Johnson. The lawsuit mentioned that the raid was conducted based on an “alleged location ping from an iPhone’s Find My app that the officers did not understand and for which they had no training.”
As per the complaint, the police relied on a “Find My” ping from an iPhone 11 that was probably still in the stolen truck. However, the area identified included parts of six other properties across parts of four city blocks.
In a statement, Johnson’s attorney Tim Macdonald said: “We are disturbed by the lack of training or policy changes and hope that the amount of the punitive damages award will send a strong message that the police department must take seriously the constitutional rights of its residents.”
The ACLU and the jury concluded that the two police officers who ordered the raid had no reason to single out Johnson’s house as the target.
Also, the officers have to pay nearly $1.25 million each in punitive and compensatory damages. A Denver District Court clerk noted that the city has not yet filed an appeal of the verdict.

Bobby Kotick, the former head of Activision Blizzard, is reportedly considering buying TikTok, as the app could be banned in the United States. The Wall Street Journal reports that Kotick has talked to ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, about buying the app, which could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
This comes as US lawmakers introduce a new bill that would make ByteDance sell TikTok within six months or stop it from being available in US app stores.President Joe Biden has said he would approve the bill if it passes in Congress.
The Wall Street Journal report adds that Kotick, the head of OpenAI, Sam Altman, discussed teaming up to buy TikTok at a dinner last week.
Kotick’s interest in TikTok follows a rough end to his 30 years leading Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft acquired last year. The company faced a lawsuit saying it allowed sexual harassment and discrimination under Kotick’s leadership. The Wall Street Journal also said Kotick knew about bad behaviour and didn’t tell the board everything. Kotick was accused of harassment, but Activision Blizzard said the report was “misleading.”
Lawmakers are worried about data privacy and TikTok’s ties to China. US President Biden, whose administration has banned the app already on state devices, has expressed his support for banning the app in the US. However, former President Donald Trump, who once wanted to ban TikTok, has changed his mind, saying a ban would help TikTok’s rivals, like Facebook and YouTube.
As the bill against TikTok gains support, the app has asked its American users to speak up for it, sending messages telling users to call their representatives. The bill, which passed a committee last week, is expected to be approved when the House votes on Wednesday. If it passes, it will then go to the Senate, and then the bill will be signed by the President of the US.Former Activision boss reportedly wants to buy TikTok

Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju is reportedly upset with the French IT company Atos. Reason is said to be delay in the delivery of two supercomputers by the French company to Indian weather forecasting institutes. According to a report in news agency PTI, the Earth Sciences Ministry had ordered two supercomputers worth $100 million from French firm Eviden, of the Atos Group, last year to enhance the computing capabilities of its institutions — the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
“I am more upset because the target we set was December. The Union Cabinet had already approved purchasing the supercomputer. We have only four petaflop capacity. We want to install up to 18 petaflop capacity,” Rijiju told PTI in a video interview.
He said that the French company ran into some financial trouble and wanted the government to make payment to its subsidiary.
Minister says that the delay is causing him “worry”
Rijiju said that the delay has caused him lots of worry as the company has overshot the timeline. “But I think we will sort it out soon,” he said, adding that the government wanted to be “very correct in our position legally”.
“We are ready to release the money because we want the machine immediately. The only problem is the amount is not small. So if we pay now, if the company is bankrupt or something happens, who will bail out,” the minister said.
Rijiju further added that the government was taking some steps to speed up the delivery of the supercomputer but did not elaborate. “But I hope the French government will also intervene because we have a good understanding and a very good relationship with the French government.
“Since it is a high-cost equipment, we want to ensure that the transaction happens duly and properly,” he said.
“From outside, everything’s ready. It is only the problem with the main company. They want us to pay their subsidiary. We will pay only to a company whom we have entered an MoU with,” Rijiju said.
The supercomputing system, based on Eviden’s BullSequana XH2000, is said to have a combined power capacity of up to 21.3 petaflops.
Supercomputer at IITM
The supercomputer at the Pune-based IITM will provide 13 petaflops of computing power for atmosphere and climate research. As per the PTI report, it will integrate 3,000 CPU nodes using AMD EPYC 7643 processors and 26 GPU nodes through NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs. The system will benefit from the NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking platform with In-Network Computing, 3PB all flash and 29PB disk-based DDN EXAScaler ES400NVX2 storage and Micron high-technology memory.
The existing computing facility at NCMRWF is 2.8 petaflops and at IITM is 4 petaflops, respectively.