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Clippy, the animated paper clip that annoyed Microsoft Office users nearly three decades ago, might have just been ahead of its time. Microsoft introduced a new artificial intelligence character called Mico (pronounced MEE’koh) on Thursday, a floating cartoon face shaped like a blob or flame that will embody the software giant’s Copilot virtual assistant and marks the latest attempt by tech companies to imbue their AI chatbots with more of a personality. Copilot’s cute new emoji-like exterior comes as AI developers face a crossroads in how they present their increasingly capable chatbots to consumers without causing harm or backlash. Some have opted for faceless symbols, others like Elon Musk’s xAI are selling flirtatious, human-like avatars, and Microsoft is looking for a middle ground that’s friendly without being obsequious. When you talk about something sad, you can see Micos face change. You can see it dance around and move as it gets excited with you, said Jacob Andreou, corporate vice president of product and growth for Microsoft AI, in an interview with The Associated Press. Its in this effort of really landing this AI companion that you can really feel. In the U.S. only so far, Copilot users on laptops and phone apps can speak to Mico, which changes colors, spins around and wears glasses when in study mode. It’s also easy to shut off, which is a big difference from Microsoft’s Clippit, better known as Clippy and infamous for its persistence in offering advice on word processing tools when it first appeared on desktop screens in 1997. It was not well-attuned to user needs at the time, said Bryan Reimer, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Microsoft pushed it, we resisted it and they got rid of it. I think were much more ready for things like that today. Reimer, co-author of a new book called How to Make AI Useful, said AI developers are balancing how much personality to give AI assistants based on who their expected users are. Tech-savvy adopters of advanced AI coding tools may want it to act much more like a machine because at the back end they know its a machine, Reimer said. But individuals who are not as trustful in a machine are going to be best supported not replaced by technology that feels a little more like a human. Microsoft, a provider of work productivity tools that is far less reliant on digital advertising revenue than its Big Tech competitors, also has less incentive to make its AI companion overly engaging in a way that’s been tied to social isolation, harmful misinformation and, in some cases, suicides. Andreou said Microsoft has watched as some AI developers veered away from giving AI any sort of embodiment, while others are moving in the opposite direction in enabling AI girlfriends. Those two paths dont really resonate with us that much, he said. Andreou said the companion’s design is meant to be genuinely useful and not so validating that it would tell us exactly what we want to hear, confirm biases we already have, or even suck you in from a time-spent perspective and just kind of try to kind of monopolize and deepen the session and increase the time youre spending with these systems. Being sycophantic short-term, maybe has a user respond more favorably, Andreou said. But long term, its actually not moving that person closer to their goals. Part of Microsoft’s announcements on Thursday includes the ability to invite Copilot into a group chat, an idea that resembles how AI has been integrated into social media platforms like Snapchat, where Andreou used to work, or Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram. But Andreou said those interactions have often involved bringing in AI as a joke to troll your friends, which is different from the intensely collaborative AI-assisted workplace Microsoft has in mind. Microsoft’s audience includes kids, as part of its longtime competition with Google and other tech companies to supply its technology to classrooms. Microsoft also said Thursday it’s added a feature to turn Copilot into a voice-enabled, Socratic tutor that guides students through concepts they’re studying at school. A growing number of kids use AI chatbots for everything from homework help to personal advice, emotional support and everyday decision-making. The Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry last month into several social media and AI companies Microsoft wasn’t one of them about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions. Thats after some chatbots have been shown to give kids dangerous advice about topics such as drugs, alcohol and eating disorders. The mother of a teenage boy in Florida who killed himself after developing what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with a chatbot filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Character. AI. And the parents of a 16-year-old sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in August, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life. Altman recently promised a new version of ChatGPT coming this fall that restores some of the personality of earlier versions, which he said the company temporarily halted because we were being careful with mental health issues that he suggested have now been fixed. If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it, Altman said on X. (In the same post, he also said OpenAI will later enable ChatGPT to engage in erotica for verified adults, which got more attention.) Matt O’Brien, AP technology writer
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time after failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking, and terrorism. Zhao had asked Trump for a pardon previously. He has deep ties to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture that the Republican president and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. launched in September. Trumps most recent financial disclosure report reveals he made more than $57 million last year from World Liberty Financial, which has launched USD1, a stablecoin pegged at a 1-to-1 ratio to the U.S. dollar. World Liberty Financial also recently announced that an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates would be using $2 billion worth of USD1 to purchase a stake in Binance. Zhao also has publicly said that he had asked Trump for a pardon that could nullify his conviction. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday that the Biden administration prosecuted Zhao out of a desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry. She said there were no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims, though Zhao had pleaded guilty in November to one count of failing to maintain an anti-money-laundering program. I failed here, Zhao told the court last year. I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry. Will Weissert, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Chinas ruling Communist Party said Thursday it will focus on speeding up self-reliance in science and technology, a long-running push that has become more pronounced as the U.S. has imposed increasingly tight controls on access to semiconductors and other high-tech items. The announcement by state media came in a communique after a four-day meeting that approved a draft of the party’s next five-year development plan. China faces profound and complex changes and rising uncertainty, it said. The communique did not directly mention the trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. China’s leader Xi Jinping is expected to meet Trump for talks in South Korea next week. Since returning to the White House, Trump has ramped up tariffs on imports in an effort to compel manufacturers to shift factories to the United States. That has added to pressure on the Chinese economy at a time when the leadership is struggling to resolve a prolonged downturn in the property market and stoke stronger domestic demand. But China has managed to keep exports growing by shifting to other markets, and the statement signaled the government is confident it can counter external threats with domestic policy tools, said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, a French investment bank. “It means China will likely demand more from the U.S. to reach a deal, if one is to be reached, he said. The communique contained few surprises, largely echoing the policy direction set out by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who wants to build China into a tech leader and global power with a robust military able to command respect and exert international influence. It provided only a broad overview of the coming 2026-2030 five-year plan, indicating its scope without details. More information may be released in the coming days, but the full plan won’t be known until March, when the legislature gives a rubber-stamp approval to the plan at its annual meeting. The general impression of the communique is that it highlights much more continuity than change, said Xin Sun, a senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian Business at Kings College London. Ng said that compared to the previous plan five years ago, the government is deepening its push for technological self-sufficiency, income redistribution and a transition to clean energy. The countrys industrial policy has driven the rapid development of the electric car and wind and solar industries in recent years and has turned now to robotics and artificial intelligence. The party will accelerate the all-out green transformation of economic and social development, the statement said. It said that China would continue to boost domestic demand and spending, an objective that economists said is important for the countrys economic growth, though it didn’t signal any significant change to that approach. China has rolled out various policies to help increase consumption such as subsidies for consumer loans and child care and trade-in programs for electric vehicles and appliances. Economists are watching for more measures to support consumption by the year’s end. Beijing said this week it is still on a solid foundation to achieve its full-year official growth target of around 5%, after Chinas economy grew 4.8% in the July to September quarter. The meeting of the party’s Central Committee was notable for the low number of deputies, an indication of Xi’s deep purges among the Communist Party’s top ranks. Out of 205 members, 168 attended the meeting, the communique said, along with 147 out of 171 alternates. Eleven alternates were made voting members to fill vacancies on the committee. The party meeting chose a replacement for China’s second-highest-ranking general. He was expelled from the party along with eight other senior military officials on suspicion of corruption, the Defense Ministry announced just days before this week’s meeting. Zhang Shengmin was named vice chair of the Central Military Commission, the top military body. He was already a member of the commission and holds the rank of general in the Peoples Liberation Armys Rocket Force. He is secretary of the commission’s Discipline and Inspection Commission, which investigates corruption. The elevation of Zhang shows an emphasis on political loyalty and anti-corruption as Xi continues a push to modernize Chinas military, Sun said. Ken Moritsugu, Huizhong Wu, and Chan Ho-Him, Associated Press Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed.
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E-Commerce
As weather disasters become more and more frequent, the home insurance system feels broken for Americans across the country. Now, the advocacy nonprofit Consumer Reports is trying to implement a homeowners insurance bill of rights to codify baseline protections across all 50 states. According to a survey from the group, homeowners have seen their insurance rates climblike Sierra in North Carolina, whose insurance spiked 43% last year, with her provider citing the increased regional weather risks as well as Hurricane Helenes impact specifically. Theyve been denied payouts, like Charmian in Illinois, who says their provider refused to pay for hail damage on their roof. Hail storms are becoming both more frequent and more damaging as global temperatures rise. And some homeowners have been outright abandoned as insurance companies flee high-risk states and drop long-time customers. Because of the growing risk of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other disasters, homeowners have been dropped in states including California, Florida, and Louisiana, among others. Vicki in California is one example, even after she spent money on fire protection measures. An industry ‘almost universally disliked’ Sierra, Charmian, and Vicki are some of the more than 500 Consumer Reports members who shared their insurance stories with the nonprofit when it began to look into the home insurance market. Consumer Reports rates all sorts of products and services, from appliances to electric vehicles to anti-virus software. But it only just started covering insurance providers this year. The focus on home insurance was prompted by the January wildfires in Los Angelesand the news that major providers like State Farm and other insurers had canceled hundreds of policies in the months before that disaster hit. It’s really been a flood of heartbreaking stories of people who have lost their homes that didn’t even know that they were in extreme weather risk regions and didn’t have sufficient insurance or even insurance at all to help rebuild, says Sara Enright, Consumer Reports senior director of safety and sustainability advocacy. Consumer Reports put out the call for stories from its members that January, and received responses filled with frustrations like reduced or eliminated coverage and skyrocketing rates from all 50 states. In September, Consumer Reports revealed its ratings of best and worst homeowners insurance, the first time it did such a list. The nonprofit looked at 28 providers, but after surveying 24,000 policyholders, only three received a Consumer Reports recommendation. That’s pretty poor showing, Enright says. This is an industry that’s almost universally disliked by its customers. Nine rights for homeowners The insurance industry is clearly struggling with the realities of climate change, and the extent to which extreme weather is becoming more common. The scale of damage is increasing to such an extent that traditional insurance models no longer apply to our current reality. Consumer Reports wanted to help figure out some solutions. We felt that there are things that the insurance industry could do to ease the pain on their customers in the meantime, as they figure out their business model under a world in which extreme weather events are going to occur more frequently, Enright says. So the nonprofit got to work writing up a Homeowners Insurance Bill of Rights, one that prioritized consumer voices. Along with more than 500 stories from members, it engaged more than 56,000 consumers in total to get feedback, which it then analyzed for certain themes. It also partnered with advocates that have studied insurance, like United Policy Holders and the Consumer Federation of America. It came up with nine rights it says all policyholders should be guaranteed, and which would make the home insurance market more fair: A clear, plain-language explanation of what isand isntcovered by your policy Knowing which risk factors are used to determine eligibility and set rates Fair access to coverage based on property risk, not your finances Receiving written notice and a full explanation well in advance of major changes to your insurance policy Benefitting from incentives to harden your home against severe weather or wildfire risk Insurance security during and after declared States of Emergency No penalties for inquiries and unpaid claims Prompt, full, and fair payment on a claim Immediate and adequate financial support for emergency housing and essentials Some of these rights seem obvious, or like theyd already existlike clear language around what a policy covers. But policies may not actually be that transparent to homeowners. Its also an intentional way to call out how the industry can seem unfair, and unaccountable to its customers. A lot of the rights cover things where youre like, Why doesnt that exist? Enright says. Right after a disaster, don’t drop your home insurance policy rightthat’s not legally required in most states, and that just seems like a very low hanging fruit for insurers to be able to say no were not going to abandon you in your time of need. A patchwork system Though some of these rights arent legally required in certain states, the majority are already covered by at least one state law. The problem is that the insurance industry is a patchwork system, with different requirements and responsibilities from state to state. We believe that those rights should then be extended to all policyholders, to create a stronger protection network for everybody, Enright says. Consumer Reports wanted to ensure that these rights were possible, and that they could get onboard. Though it’s a fact that companies will drop customers in high-risk areas like California, the nonprofit didnt feel it could call for a change to such business practices. Canceling policies because the risk is too high, or hiking insurance rates are business decisions that have to be made in the time of climate change, Enright says. Obviously we think that those should be overseen by state regulators, but it’s not something that we thought we could voluntarily ask insurance companies to say that they would stop doing. But the bill of rights does call for actions like providing enough advanced notice so homeoners can respond, fight back, or find a new provider before their insurance ends. The full bill of rights also shares some tips for what homeowners can do to protect themselves in the meantime, before these rights are (hopefully) enactedsuggestions like asking if any risk scores were used to determine their premiums, and how they could improve their risk score to lower their rate. Theres a customer education component to this crisis, Enright adds; many people dont even know their basic home insurance package doesnt cover flooding, for example. Consumer Reports next steps Still, Consumer Reports wants the insurance companies to adopt these rights, and state legislators to codify them. They were formed so as not to require dramatic business changes, Enright says, and Consumer Reports is also reaching out to all 28 insurers it rated this year to talk about how they can implement these changes. Our hope is that insurers will see some value in adopting, as an industry, universal rights that will level the playing field for all of them so that they are competing on customer service as much as anything else, she says. The nonprofit is also reaching out to industry groups and talking to state legislators about putting consumer protection policies in place. The insurance industry is legislated at the state level, so thats where Consumer Reports is focusing. Consumer Reports also launched a petition asking for signatures in support of the Homeowners Insurance Bill of Rights. At the federal level, like around FEMA or federal flood insurance, details are still up in the air as the Trump administration has cut departments and slashed services. Trumps moves to gut the NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, may actually increase home insurance premiums and make companies drop even more homeowners, experts warned back in February, because the data that department once provided is crucial to understanding risk. Though Consumer Reports member stories reveal how frustrated homeowners are with their insurance companies, Enright wants to note that this effort isnt about painting insurers as bad actors. This is a story about us adapting to extreme weather events driven by climate change, she says. We have to work together. We need the insurance industry to be strong so that communities can get through extreme weather events and be resilient. We need to find solutions that work both for insurance companies as well as consumers.
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump’s administration announced Wednesday new massive sanctions against Russia’s oil industry that are aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bringing an end to Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine. The sanctions against oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil followed months of calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as bipartisan pressure on Trump to hit Russia with harder sanctions on its oil industry, the economic engine that has allowed Russia to continue to execute the grinding conflict even as it finds itself largely internationally isolated. Hopefully hell become reasonable, Trump said of Putin not long after the Treasury Department announced the sanctions against Russia’s two biggest oil companies and their subsidiaries. And hopefully Zelenskyy will be reasonable, too. You know, it takes two to tango, as they say. The U.S. administration announced the sanctions as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington for talks with Trump. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the new sanctions were a direct response to Moscows refusal to end its senseless war and an attempt to choke off the Kremlins war machine. Bessent added that the Treasury Department was prepared to take further action if necessary to support Trumps effort to end the war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions. The announcement came after Russian drones and missiles blasted sites across Ukraine, killing at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters. The attack came in waves from Tuesday night into Wednesday and targeted at least eight Ukrainian cities, as well as a village in the region of the capital, Kyiv, where a strike set fire to a house in which the mother and her 6-month-old and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said. At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded in Kyiv, which appeared to be the main target, authorities said. Russian drones also hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, later Wednesday when children were in the building, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. One person was killed and six were hurt, but no children were physically harmed, he said. Rutte, in his Oval Office appearance, went out of his way to underscore that the weaponry the U.S. is selling Europe to provide to Ukraine has been essential to helping stop many attacks like the one that ravaged the kindergarten. We need to make sure that the air defense systems are in place, and we need the U.S. systems to do that, and the Europeans are paying for that, Rutte said. It is exactly the type of actions we needed, and the President is doing that and trying everything to get this work done. Zelenskyy said many of the children were in shock. He said the attack targeted 10 separate regions: Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Sumy. Peace efforts stall Trump’s efforts to end the war that started with Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Putin’s refusal to budge from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks. Trump said Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold because he didnt want it to be a waste of time. European leaders accused Putin of stalling. Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a public reminder of Russian atomic arsenals, Putin on Wednesday directed drills of the countrys strategic nuclear forces. Zelenskyy urged the European Union, the United States, and the Group of Seven industrialized nations to force Russia to the negotiating table. Pressure can be applied on Moscow only through sanctions, long-range (missile) capabilities and coordinated diplomacy among all our partners, he said. More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed Thursday at an EU summit in Brussels. On Friday, a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing a group of 35 countries that support Ukraine is to take place in London. Zelenskyy credited Trump’s remarks that he was considering supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for Putin’s willingness to meet. The American president later said he was wary of tapping into the U.S. supply of Tomahawks over concerns about available stocks. Russia has not made significant progress on the battlefield, where a war of attrition has taken a high toll on Russian infantry and Ukraine is short of manpower, military analysts say. Both sides have invested in long-range strike capabilities to hit rear areas. Ukraine says it hit key Russian chemical plant The Ukrainian army’s general staff said its forces struck a chemical plant Tuesday night in Russias Bryansk region using British-made air-launched Storm Shadow missiles. The plant is an important part of the Russian military and industrial complex, producing gunpowder, explosives, missile fuel and ammunition, it said. Russian officials in the region confirmed an attack but did not mention the plant. Ukraine also claimed overnight strikes on the Saransk mechanical plant in Mordovia, Russia, which produces components for ammunition and mines, and the Makhachkala oil refinery in the Dagestan republic of Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 33 Ukrainian drones over several regions overnight, including the area around St. Petersburg. Eight airports temporarily suspended flights because of the attacks. In other developments, Zelenskyy arrived Wednesday in Oslo, Norway, and after that flew to Stockholm, where he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson signed an agreement exploring the possibility of Ukraine buying up to 150 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets over the next decade or more. Ukraine has already received American-made F-16s and French Mirages. Trump says Russia is on the agenda for upcoming Xi talks The U.S. president is expected to meet next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping when the two leadrs travel to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. Beijing has not provided Russia with direct support in the war, but has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine, according to a U.S. assessment. Trump has said he believes the Russia-Ukraine war would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia and placed tariffs on China of 50% to 100% for its purchases of Russian petroleum. I think he could have a big influence on Putin, Trump said of Xi Jinping. Beijing has yet to confirm that Trump and Xi will meet. Aamer Madhani, Susie Blann, Fatima Hussein, Associated Press Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov, Samya Kullab, Andrea Rosa, Yehor Konovalov, and Josh Boak contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
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