The CIA is set to launch its own ChatGPT-style AI tool to help sift through mountains of data for clues in ongoing investigations. 

Intended to mirror the famed OpenAI tech, the Central Intelligence Agency’s latest initiative will use artificial intelligence to help analysts better access open-source intelligence, agency officials said. 

The CIA’s Open Source Enterprise division developed the tech, which is also intended to be rolled out across the US government’s 18 intelligence agencies in an effort to rival China‘s growing intelligence capabilities. 

‘We’ve gone from newspapers and radio, to newspapers and television, to newspapers and cable television, to basic internet, to big data, and it just keeps going,’ said Randy Nixon, director of the CIA’s AI division. 

Nixon noted that analyzing the level of data across the web is a significant challenge that the AI program would help handle, adding: ‘We have to find the needles in the needle field.’

The push to add artificial intelligence to the US military and intelligence apparatus comes amid mounting pressure to compete with China’s advancing potency on the world stage. 

In particular, China is feared to be stretching well ahead in the race to command artificial intelligence and is seeking to become the global leader by 2030, according to Bloomberg. 

In an ominous glimpse into the nation’s use of the programs, in 2021 China developed a ‘prosecutor’ that could identify and press charges with a reported 97 percent accuracy. 

In contrast, America’s law enforcement sphere has also come under fire for struggling to utilize the power of AI in investigations, but Nixon said the new program will aid in condensing the unprecedented levels of information floating through the web.

Among the CIA’s new capabilities under the AI tool will be the capacity to see the original source of any information that they are viewing. 

Nixon added that, like ChatGPT, the program will see agents use a chat feature to receive information as succinctly as possible.

‘Then you can take it to the next level and start chatting and asking questions of the machines to give you answers, also sourced,’ he continued. 

‘Our collection can just continue to grow and grow with no limitations other than how much things cost.’

Nixon was drafted in as the CIA’s new Open Source Enterprise director in January, where he was expected to ‘speed up the agency’s development in open source intelligence just as the field is causing increasing concern and sparking rivalry in Washington’, according to Intelligence Online. 

China’s embrace of artificial intelligence has worried some that America could be left behind, with the nation even introducing an AI news anchor earlier this year. 

To make up its ever-growing AI operation, his division will reportedly draw in information from publicly and commercially available sources. 

However, the push to implement AI into intelligence gathering comes at a time when experts are still unsure of the technology’s red flags, including the potential for the CIA’s information to be accessed in the open internet. 

While it won’t be made available for Washington lawmakers, Nixon said the program will be rolled out across all 18 of the US government’s intelligence agencies, including the FBI, the NSA, and all military branches. 

In August, the Defense Department launched a task force to explore using the tech, including a view to better understanding its downsides. 

Months before in May, the director of the NSA, Gilbert Herrera, told Bloomberg that the intelligence community was still trying to ‘find a way to take benefit of these large models without violating privacy.’ 

In the announcement of the new AI initiative, the CIA reportedly did not detail how it would protect the information it gathers from the seemingly vulnerable technology, nor which model it would use. 

Nevertheless, Nixon stressed the need to keep up with the unrelenting amount of data streaming throughout the internet. 

‘The scale of how much we collect and what we collect on has grown astronomically over the last 80-plus years,’ he said. ‘So much so that this could be daunting and at times unusable for our consumers.’

He added that the Ai tool would help analysts work like never before, because ‘where the machines are pushing you the right information, one where the machine can auto-summarize, group things together.’ 

Asos set for weaker profits as sales slump

• Asos anticipates making underlying earnings of £40m-£60m this fiscal year
• Its fourth-quarter revenues declined by 15% as rain hit trade in July and August
• The firm has also been affected by elevated consumer cost-of-living pressures 

By Harry Wise

Updated: 11:36 EDT, 26 September 2023

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Jeremy Kyle has revealed he’s set to become a father for the sixth time as his wife Victoria is pregnant with their second child.

The broadcaster, 58, shared the news that he’s set to welcome a daughter in the coming months, after he and Victoria, 39, welcomed their son Oliver, in 2020.

Speaking to The Sun, Jeremy said he and Victoria, who he married in 2021, are ‘over the moon’ to be welcoming another child early next year, adding his family will be ‘complete.’

It comes as Jeremy prepares to join forces with former Coronation Street star Nicola Thorpe to front a brand new TalkTV breakfast show, starting next month.

He said: ‘Vic says I need to set up a side business by bottling it because I’m 58 and I’ve only got one testicle, but everyone knows that anyway.

‘The other kids are really happy, although my eldest Harriet thinks I need sectioning.

‘I personally think it’s my late parents having a laugh from up above, to be honest.’

Jeremy, who is also a grandfather, previously overcame a battle with testicular cancer in 2012, and has since strongly advocated for men’s health issues.

As well as son Oliver, Jeremy is father to daughters Harriet, 32, Alice, 18, Ava, 17, and son Henry, 13, who he shares with ex-wife Carla Germaine.

Back in October, Jeremy said he would miss Vicky and Oliver as he threw himself into work for his new live show on TalkTV.

The TV star made his television comeback with a brand new live show on TalkTV – three years after his daytime programme was axed following the death of guest Steve Dymond.

When asked what he would miss about returning to work, he said of his loved ones: ‘Not being there at bathtime! No, I’m kidding. I would love to be there every night. Oliver and Victoria have changed my life.

‘Oliver’s two and a half and completely rules the roost, to be perfectly honest. He’s changed me completely. He shouts, “Daddy!” when he sees me on screen now.

‘My kids, my grandkids, my family, my wife saved me. Harriet is an amazing mum with two toddlers. Alice is about to go to university; Henry is about to go to boarding school; Ava has just got eight GCSEs. It’s amazing, she’s severely dyslexic. It’s incredible what she’s done, amazing. I’m so proud.

‘But I’ve always wanted to go back to live television. It’s the best of what I’ve always loved doing.’

The presenter’s eponymous Jeremy Kyle Show was suspended indefinitely in May 2019 following the death of Steve Dymond, one week after a programme featuring him was filmed.

He returned to television screens in April for the first time in three years, as he helped launch new channel TalkTV along with Sharon Osbourne.

Dymond is suspected to have died from suicide seven days after filming for the Jeremy Kyle Show.

He had taken a lie detector test after being accused of cheating on his ex-fiancee Jane Callaghan, of Gosport, Hampshire.

The confrontational talk show, which was hugely popular and had been a regular fixture since 2005 in the daytime TV schedule, was axed for good following calls for it to be cancelled from MPs and members of the public.

After the show was pulled, MPs launched an inquiry into reality TV – and ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said the broadcaster had been ‘looking at’ cancelling it prior to it being removed from the schedules.

Senator Bob Menendez is set to announce his re-election bid on Monday, doubling down on his defense as fellow Democrats are calling on him to resign after he was charged with accepting bribes for favors.

The Democratic senator will hold a press conference in his home state of New Jersey, speaking publicly for the first time since he and his wife Nadine Arslanian Menendez were indicted by a federal grand jury over corruption allegations in an investigation that focused on a luxury car, $400,000 in gold bars and cash, plus payments toward a home mortgage allegedly received by the couple.

Menendez, who is up for re-election in 2024, is expected to announce he will run for a fifth term. He will speak at 11:30 am at Hudson County Community College. Hudson County is where he got his start in politics, serving as mayor of Union City.

But support for the embattled Democrat is waning. More than two dozen Democrats in New Jersey have called on him to resign.

And, Rep. Andy Kim, who cleaned up the Capitol after the rioters left on Jan. 6, 2021, announced he’s running for Senate, setting up a tough primary challenge for Menendez. 

‘This is not something I expected to do, but I believe New Jersey deserves better,’ Kim said in a statement. ‘We cannot jeopardize the Senate or compromise our country´s integrity. I believe it´s time we restore faith in our democracy, and that´s why I am stepping up and running for Senate.’ 

It is the second round of bribery charges for Menendez.  A 2015 case ended in mistrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all counts and a judge acquitted him on some charges.

But, in contrast to eight years ago, when many in the party stood by him, multiple Democrats – including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman – have called on Menendez to resign. 

‘The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state,’ Murphy said. As governor, he would appoint a senator to replace Menendez should he resign.

Notably, New Jersey’s other Democratic Senator, Cory Booker, has been silent on Menendez. 

Menendez himself has remained defiant – although he has stepped down from his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez called the investigation ‘an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists.’

‘The excesses of these prosecutors is apparent,’ Menendez said. ‘They have misrepresented the normal work of a Congressional office. On top of that, not content with making false claims against me, they have attacked my wife for the longstanding friendships she had before she and I even met.’

He also claimed he is being ‘falsely accused’ because he is a ‘Latin American’ who rose from a humble childhood to the United States Senate.

‘Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first generation Latin American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. senator,’ he said. 

Republicans see an opening to win a Senate seat if Menendez stays on the ballot.

But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ruled out a run, sticking with his campaign to be the Republican presidential nominee.

‘I have no interest in being in the United States Senate,’ Christie told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker in a Sunday morning interview.

The 27-page indictment, unsealed on Friday, claims that Bob and Nadine Menendezt had an improper relationship with three New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, who allegedly paid the couple in exchange for Menendez to use his influence in Washington D.C. to their benefit.

The couple face three criminal counts each: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. The three businessmen face charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud

The indictment also charges the senator with providing ‘sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.’ 

David Schertler, a lawyer for Nadine Menendez, said she ‘denies any criminal conduct and will vigorously contest these charges in court.’ 

The indictment outlines a series of texts, payments and actions the couple allegedly took to help the three businessmen, actions from which they financially benefited.

The probe listed several ‘bribes’ paid to them. ‘Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,’ the indictment said.

A June 2022 raid on their New Jersey home found ‘over $480,000 in cash – much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,’ the indictment notes, adding Nadine had over $70,000 in a safe deposit box. 

It also found two one-kilogram gold bars and eleven one-ounce gold bars.

The indictment alleges that Menendez tried to disrupt a federal criminal prosecution of Fred Daibes in exchange for the money and other items of value. Daibes is an old friend of Menendez, has fundraised for his Senate campaign, and allegedly has ties to the Genovese mob family.

The indictment charges Menendez ‘promised to and did use his influence and power’ to pressure President Joe Biden to nominate a U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey who Menendez ‘believed could be influenced by Menendez with respect to the federal criminal prosecution of Fred Daibes.’

Menendez recommended and Biden later nominated Phillip Sellinger as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, the top federal prosecutor in the state. 

Daibes has been under investigation before. New Jersey authorities have tracked high-ranking mobsters meeting with Daibes repeatedly over the last decade, the Daily Beast reported. 

Daibes provided the couple with gold bars and envelopes of cash, the indictment states. 

‘Multiple gold bars provided by Daibes were found during the court-authorized June 2022 search; of the couple’s home, the indictment states. It also says the senator performed a web search for ‘how much is one kilo of gold worth’ and that the envelopes of cash had the fingerprints of Daibes and his driver. 

The investigation also focused on 40-year-old New Jersey businessman, Wael Hana, who has known Nadine since before she started dating Menendez.

Hana, who is originally from Egypt, operated the company IS EG Halal in New Jersey and it soon became the sole entity authorized to certify that any halal food product imported into Egypt from anywhere in the world had been prepared according to Islamic law. 

According to the indictment, Menendez ‘improperly advised and pressured an official at the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting a business monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt and used in part to fund the bribes being paid to Menendez through Nadine Menendez.’ 

The designation of IS EG Halal surprised U.S. agriculture officials. Previously, several other companies had been doing that certification, but they were dismissed by Egyptian agriculture officials in favor of IS EG Halal, which had no previous experience in the field.

The indictment charges Menendez with using the power of his position on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to influence the State Department regarding policy in Egypt and with sending Nadine ‘highly sensitive’ about Egypt that he got in Senate briefings that she, in turn, gave to Hana.

As a senator, Menendez could put a ‘hold’ on State Department funding to the country. 

In a text to his wife, Menendez tells her: ‘I am going to sign off this sale to Egypt today. Egypt: 46,000 120MM Target Practice Rounds and 10,000 Rounds Tank Ammunition: $99 million.’

Nadine then forwarded it to an Egyptian official who replies with the thumbs up emoji.

MasterChef Australia fans outraged over rumours Jamie Oliver is set to replace Jock Zonfrillo on the new season

By Mary Mrad For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:43 EDT, 21 September 2023 | Updated: 02:54 EDT, 21 September 2023

British chip designer Arm set for £40bn Wall St debut

By Jessica Clark

Updated: 17:01 EDT, 13 September 2023

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Manie Libbok’s no-look pass to set up Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try for South Africa leaves fans blown away during win over Scotland as they hail the ‘outstanding’ Springboks star

By Ash Rose For Mailonline

Published: 14:03 EDT, 10 September 2023 | Updated: 14:46 EDT, 10 September 2023

• EU law has forced technology firms to use USB-C cables by December next year

By Padraic Flanagan For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 18:26 EDT, 9 September 2023 | Updated: 18:30 EDT, 9 September 2023

A Democrat Chicago treasurer who has her sights set on Congress has been accused of forcing taxpayer-funded staff to plan her daughter’s birthday and act as her personal bodyguard. 

The city’s treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, who was elected in May 2019, was accused of running a corrupt office and illegally firing two employees who raised concerns about her alleged misdeeds.   

In an letter from December 2020 that was only just unsealed and published by the Chicago Tribune, the public official is accused of having a ‘disturbing conduct’ and using ‘pervasive practices’ for her own benefit. 

Conyears-Ervin allegedly threatened staff, telling them they: ‘Should not care if her plans are illegal since the only way they could lose their jobs is if she fires them.’ 

The ordeal that triggered the accusations was the firing of two of her top aides under the alleged guise of an ‘office shake-up’ in November 2020.

Tiffany Harper and Ashley Evans alleged their firings ‘violated the Illinois whistleblower act, federal laws, and a city ordinance.’ 

Before they were fired, the letter claimed Conyears-Ervin told the women if they refused to implement her plans their ‘asses can walk’ and that they ‘will be walking the f*** up out of here.’

Conyears-Ervin believed ‘this is (her) f***ing office and (her) vision,’ the blistering letter from 2020 alleged. 

They sent the letter to the city’s Board of Ethics demanding reinstatement. They were eventually given a $100,000 settlement to share in 2021. 

The scathing letter, written by their attorney Michael Kanovitz, claimed Conyears-Ervin only sacked his clients out of retaliation.

It read: ‘The retaliation is clear, as is the corruption in the Treasurer’s office. The inference of retaliation is inescapable.’ 

One of the misconducts Conyears-Ervin is accused of is the hiring of Gina Zuccaro. 

Zuccaro, who is her political ally, was hired to be an administrative assistant. 

She organized her daughter’s birthday party and did her grocery shopping on the taxpayer’s dime, the letter claims. 

The letter states: ‘The Treasurer uses her for personal services like running errands, planning her daughter’s birthday party, grocery shopping and the like. 

‘The Treasurer also used City resources to support Ms. Zuccaro’s run for the and Illinois House of Representatives seat by allowing her to campaign on City time. 

‘This misuse of hiring to obtain personal services and favor her allies is a pervasive problem, extending well past these two employees to numerous other employees and contractors.’

The letter continued: ‘Treasurer Conyears-Ervin engaged in a pattern of disturbing conduct against the public trust, many of which violated the City of Chicago ethics rules as well as state and federal law. 

‘Her consistent and pervasive practice has been to misuse City money, City employees and City resources to benefit her private interests as well as those of her friends and campaign supporters.’

Conyears-Ervin also decided to hire an ex-Chicago police officer as her private security guard and driver – which was also a point of contention for the former staffers. 

The letter continued: ‘After losing a public battle with the Mayor on this issue, the Treasurer hired an ex-CPD officer to fill the opening of Assistant to City Treasurer, a job that requires financial training and experience which the candidate was utterly lacking.

‘This employee does not provide any services to the office and does not even come into the office. 

‘Rather he serves as a private armed security guard to the Treasurer and is her driver.’

As well as this, the treasurer was accused of using city money and resources to ‘advance the agenda of several churches and other religious organizations, many of which support her and her husband.’ 

Conyears-Ervin declined to address any of the specific allegations in the letter, but said last week in a statement given to the Tribune: ‘While I am not allowed to discuss the specifics of this settlement, I will make a general statement as I take these matters seriously.

‘I have never, nor will I ever abuse or misuse taxpayer dollars and breach the public trust. I treat my responsibility to the citizens and taxpayers with the utmost respect.’

By Sam Brookes For Mailonline

Updated: 04:43 EDT, 5 September 2023

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