IA: Google signe un partenariat avec l’agence australienne AAP
L’agence d’information Australian Associated Press (AAP) va fournir son contenu à Google pour améliorer les réponses de Gemini, son assistant conversationnel recourant à l’intelligence artificielle (IA), ont annoncé les deux entreprises mercredi.Le montant de l’accord entre le géant américain de la tech et l’agence australienne n’a pas été dévoilé.”Nous sommes ravis de nous associer avec Google afin que notre travail journalistique serve de mécanisme pour garantir la rapidité et la justesse de l’information que fournissent ses produits”, a salué Emma Cowdroy, la directrice générale de l’agence fondée il y a 90 ans. “Cela témoigne clairement de notre réputation de média d’information de premier plan et fiable.”Nic Hopkins, responsable local des partenariats de Google en matière d’informations, s’est félicité d’un accord qui permettra d’apporter “des informations en temps réel pour améliorer les réponses” fournies par Gemini.De plus en plus de contrats sont passés entre des médias et des acteurs du secteur de l’IA générative soucieux d’accroître la pertinence des réponses apportées aux questions posées par les utilisateurs.Mi-janvier, l’Agence France-Presse (AFP) a conclu un partenariat avec la start-up française Mistral pour lui permettre d’intégrer ses dépêches dans les réponses données par son agent conversationnel.Des médias ont par ailleurs intenté des poursuites contre des acteurs de l’IA pour leur emploi présumé de contenus protégés par le droit d’auteur.
Chinese mega-hit ‘Ne Zha II’ enlists Michelle Yeoh to woo US audiences
It is the highest-grossing movie of the year, and the biggest animated film ever made — but if you live outside China, you’ve likely never heard of “Ne Zha II.” That may be about to change.A24, the trendy indie studio behind “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” is releasing a redubbed English-language version in US theaters this Friday, featuring a voice cast including Michelle Yeoh.The hope is that a fantastical tale of warring dragons, demons and immortals — rooted in Chinese mythology, but reimagined with flashy battle scenes worthy of a Marvel movie — can translate to Western audiences.Speaking on the red carpet of a Los Angeles premiere this month, Yeoh described the movie as a “cultural exchange.””I had seen ‘Ne Zha II’ in Chinese, and even at that time I thought, ‘I hope they do an English version, because you want little kids to be able to see it and understand,'” she told People magazine.The sprawling fantasy film centers on Ne Zha, a tiny child with fearsome magical powers, who sets off on a quest to save his best friend after his hometown is attacked by dragons.The movie is already an astonishing box office success. “Ne Zha 2” has grossed around $2.2 billion worldwide — a source of great patriotic pride in China, even if the vast majority of those receipts came from domestic audiences.For context, since the Covid-19 pandemic, only one other film has passed $2 billion worldwide: “Avatar: The Way of Water.””This is probably the most talked-about non-US film of the year,” said Comscore box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “$2.2 billion puts it in the pantheon.”Chinese audiences have also pointed to the movie’s special effects as evidence of the country’s film industry catching up with, or even surpassing, Hollywood’s offerings. Some 4,000 Chinese animators worked on the 3D fantasy epic.- ‘Globalization of content’ -Still, the movie’s initial, subtitled launch overseas failed to set box offices alight. It took $20 million in the US, and generated similarly solid but not spectacular figures in other markets like the United Kingdom and Australia.The movie is based on the 16th-century Chinese novel “Investiture of the Gods” which itself draws heavily on millennia-old folklore and characters.It features an at-times bewildering array of shape-shifting heroes and villains who will be unfamiliar to viewers with no knowledge of traditional Chinese stories or the film’s 2019 predecessor, “Ne Zha.”That said, A24 is hoping that an international voice cast, delivering the film’s irreverent humor in a style reminiscent of Hollywood superhero fare, can help bridge the cultural gap.It comes at a time when Western audiences are increasingly flocking to works rooted in Asian cultures, such as last weekend’s US box office top 12 featuring two Indian films (“Coolie,” “War 2”) and one Japanese movie (“Shin Godzilla 4K.”)And the shift has been even more pronounced on streaming platforms. Summer smash-hit “KPop Demon Hunters” is rapidly on course to become Netflix’s most-watched original film ever, and the debut season of “Squid Game” remains its most-watched TV show of all time.”There’s definitely been a globalization of content, in terms of people all around the world enjoying cinema from different countries,” said Dergarabedian.
India celebrates clean energy milestone but coal still king
Non-fossil fuels now account for half of India’s installed energy capacity — years ahead of schedule — but the third-largest greenhouse gas polluter remains deeply reliant on coal for electricity generation.”A landmark in India’s energy transition journey,” Minister of Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi proclaimed after the world’s most populous nation released figures in July.”Five years early,” he added, referring to India’s 2030 target under the Paris Agreement, and marking a step to the country’s stated goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070.But while the 50 percent milestone is significant, climate expert Avantika Goswami says the figures — which refer only to potential energy production — tell just part of the story.”Overall, actual generation from renewable sources is still quite low,” Goswami told AFP from the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).The reason is stark: nearly three-quarters of electricity continues to come from heavily polluting coal-burning power plants.- Coal paradox -The challenge becomes even more apparent when examining India’s continued dependence on coal. Far from decreasing its usage, the globe’s second-largest consumer of coal pushed up production of the dirty fossil fuel by five percent last year, mining one billion tonnes, according to the coal ministry.”Coal remains crucial,” the ministry said.The stance highlights the practical challenges of India’s energy transition. Coal is needed to fulfil power demands while storage capacity lags behind the surge in renewable sources of power.”The coal sector remains a crucial contributor to India’s energy mix, powering over 74 percent of the country’s electricity and sustaining key industries like steel and cement,” the coal ministry said, celebrating what it dubbed “India’s coal boom”.This reliance places India in a challenging position globally. The country ranks behind only China and the United States for carbon emissions overall.But analysts point out that in a country of 1.4 billion people, per capita emissions are only one-third of the global average, according to official figures.”Looking at India’s per capita emissions, the effort it is making, India is doing pretty well,” said activist Harjeet Singh, head of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.India has set itself the daunting challenge of reducing emissions by 45 percent by 2030.At the same time, electricity needs are expected to more than double by 2047, according to the country’s Center for Science and Environment.Supplying some of that demand “is likely to be met by the addition of renewables”, Goswami said.- ‘Waste that energy’ -Half of India’s 484.8 GW installed capacity is from non-fossil fuel sources.The majority comes from solar, totalling 119 GW — the third-largest level globally.India is building one of the world’s largest solar and wind energy farms, spread over a desert the size of Singapore.It is followed by hydro and wind, and also nuclear power — which makes up less than two percent of the total mix.But solar and wind create steady power only when the conditions are right, and India’s storage capacity is a meagre 505 MWh — far lower than it can generate.The storage bottleneck was not lost on the renewable energy minister.Speaking at the inauguration of a battery storage systems plant in June, Joshi said India’s renewable energy potential was “growing fast” and “adding 25–30 GW every year”. He added: “But without storage, we will either waste that energy or fall back on coal when renewables dip.”Building storage based on batteries requires rare earth metals, with rival and neighbour China controlling 70 percent of the world’s supplies.”We still remain dependent on China,” said Harjeet Singh, the climate activist. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in New Delhi for talks on Tuesday, with the supply of rare earth metals on the agenda.One solution India is considering is pump-hydro energy storage projects. When wind and solar plants produce excess energy, water is pumped into high reservoirs. That stored energy can then be released to generate power when demand surges.But Goswami believes the transition to cleaner power requires a multi-pronged approach.The transition to cleaner power must come from “emission intensity reduction” of often inefficient coal plants, combined with better integrated renewable energy in the grid that “will actually make the shift happen”.
Israel demands release of all hostages after Hamas backs new truce offer
A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza ceasefire deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal.Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war.Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism, noting the latest proposal was “almost identical” to an earlier version agreed to by Israel.Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli official told AFP the government’s stance had not changed and demanded the release of all hostages in any deal.The two foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire. Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy.Egypt said Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding “the ball is now in its court”. Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a “very positive response, and it truly was almost identical to what the Israeli side had previously agreed to”.”We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point,” he added.- Mounting pressure -According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera News, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept “an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war”.Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had “opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past”. Hamas’s acceptance of the proposal came as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad.On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for an end to the war and a deal to free the hostages still held captive.Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.The new proposal also comes after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, despite fears it will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.On Tuesday, the new offensive was presented to the defence minister by the military’s top brass.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who has staunchly opposed ending the war — slammed the plan, warning of a “tragedy” if Netanyahu “gives in to Hamas”.Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said: “Unfortunately, today’s Zionist reactions reflect Netanyahu’s malicious intentions to continue the war, genocide and ethnic cleansing.”- ‘Unbearable’ -In Gaza, the civil defence agency reported Israeli strikes and fire killed 48 people across the territory on Tuesday.Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was “very dangerous and unbearable” in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said “artillery shelling continues intermittently”.The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” and took “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm”.The military later said a strike in Khan Yunis overnight targeted a Hamas militant.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.In the Zikim area of northern Gaza on Tuesday, an AFP journalist saw Palestinians hauling sacks of food aid along dusty roads lined with rubble and damaged buildings.Gazan Shawg Al-Badri said it took “three to four hours” to carry flour, what she called “white gold”, back to her family’s tent.”This bag is worth the whole world,” she said.Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.