Musk launches Grokipedia to rival ‘left-biased’ Wikipedia

Elon Musk’s company xAI has launched a website called Grokipedia to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he and others on the American right wing have accused of ideological bias.The site, dubbed version 0.1, had more than 885,000 articles by Monday evening after its launch, compared to Wikipedia’s more than seven million in English. The launch came with the promise of a newer version, 1.0, which Musk said would be “10X better” than the current live site, which he claimed is already “better than Wikipedia.”Musk and the US Republican Party have frequently criticized Wikipedia, accusing a site that has become a living repository of human knowledge of being biased against right-wing ideas. Musk, the world’s richest person and owner of social media platform X, poured hundreds of millions into US President Donald Trump’s election campaign, and claimed Grokipedia would carry “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”We will never be perfect, but we shall nonetheless strive towards that goal,” he said on X following the launch.The content of Grokipedia is generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and the generative AI assistant Grok.Grokipedia’s release had been slated for the end of September, but was delayed to “purge out the propaganda,” Musk said in a separate X post.- Attacks on Wikipedia -In 2024, Musk accused Wikipedia of being “controlled by far-left activists” and called for donations to the platform to cease.In August, he stopped Twitter from using Wikipedia as a “definitive source for Community Notes, as the editorial control there is extremely left-biased.”Trump-aligned officials have also taken aim at the site since the Republican returned to power in January.In April, federal prosecutor Ed Martin, who was appointed by Trump but has since been replaced, threatened to investigate whether Wikipedia’s parent organization Wikimedia was eligible for the tax exemption granted to foundations, accusing it of carrying propaganda.And in August, two Republican members of the House of Representatives launched an investigation into “organized efforts… to influence US public opinion on important and sensitive topics by manipulating Wikipedia articles.” Created in 2001, Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia managed by volunteers, largely funded by donations. Its pages can be written or edited by internet users.”Unlike newer projects, Wikipedia’s strengths are clear: it has transparent policies, rigorous volunteer oversight, and a strong culture of continuous improvement,” Gwadamirai Majange, a spokeswoman for the Wikimedia Foundation, told AFP in an email.She said the site is written to inform “billions of readers without promoting a particular point of view.”- Right-leaning content -A Grokipedia article about Musk states that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “has influenced broader debates on technological progress, demographic decline, and institutional biases, often via X.”It said his ownership of the social media platform “has prioritized content moderation reforms amid criticisms from legacy media outlets that exhibit systemic left-leaning tilts in coverage.”Another example was the page devoted to right-wing journalist and commentator Tucker Carlson, which highlights his role in “challenging systemic biases in traditional journalism.”The citation to that claim, however, links to a Newsweek article where the only corroboration is Carlson describing himself that way. Several right-wing figures welcomed the launch of Grokipedia. Hardline Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin described the article about him as “neutral, objective, accurate,” whereas Wikipedia’s page, according to him, was, “totally biased and defamatory.”Asked about the launch of Grokipedia, Wikimedia spokesperson Majange said the organization was “still in the process of understanding how Grokipedia works.” She highlighted that Wikimedia “is — and always will be — human.””This human-created knowledge is what AI companies rely on to generate content, even Grokipedia needs Wikipedia to exist.”

Chômage: derrière la hausse, les effets de la réforme de France Travail

Le nombre de chômeurs en France a augmenté au troisième trimestre en raison de l’inscription de nouveaux publics à France Travail et d’un changement de règles pour les radiations, mais, sans ces effets, il est orienté à la baisse, selon les chiffres officiels.Ces chiffres, publiés mardi, mettent donc en lumière des tendances contradictoires en fonction de l’interprétation qui en est faite, le gouvernement y voyant “une situation positive pour le marché du travail” malgré le contexte économique et budgétaire tendu, tandis que la CGT y lit “un chômage qui repart à la hausse”.Le nombre de demandeurs d’emploi inscrits à France Travail en catégorie A (aucune activité) a ainsi augmenté de 1,6% au troisième trimestre 2025 par rapport au deuxième, et de 7,6% sur un an, rapporte le département des études du ministère du Travail (Dares).Le nombre de chômeurs de cette catégorie s’élevait en moyenne cet été à 3,26 millions.Ce chiffre tient compte de l’inscription automatique, depuis janvier, d’allocataires du RSA et de jeunes en parcours d’insertion. Sans ces nouveaux inscrits, le nombre de chômeurs de catégorie A aurait augmenté de seulement de 0,7% sur le trimestre et de 6,3% sur un an, indique la Dares.La hausse s’explique aussi par une baisse du nombre de radiations en raison d’un nouveau régime de sanctions entré en vigueur début juin. En moyenne, le nombre de radiations est ainsi tombé à 2.000 par mois au troisième trimestre, contre 45.000 par mois au premier trimestre 2025.Sans changement des règles de radiations, malgré les plans sociaux et les hésitations des employeurs à embaucher, le nombre d’inscrits au troisième trimestre 2025 aurait ainsi diminué 1% pour la catégorie A, selon le ministère, pour lequel “ce sont ces évolutions qui reflètent le mieux la situation conjoncturelle du marché du travail”.- “thermomètre perturbé” -Pour l’ensemble des trois catégories de chômeurs tenues de chercher un emploi (A,B et C), dont certains exercent une activité réduite, le nombre de chômeurs a progressé de 1,5% sur le trimestre et de 5,3% sur un an. Leur nombre s’élève à 5,7 millions.Cette hausse est réduite à 0,8% sur le trimestre et à 4% sur un an en retranchant les nouveaux publics. Enfin, sans tenir compte de la baisse des radiations, l’évolution pour l’ensemble des trois catégories serait orientée à la baisse au troisième trimestre, de 0,3%.”Correction faite des effets méthodologiques, on constate une baisse du nombre des demandeurs d’emploi”, se réjouit ainsi auprès de l’AFP le ministère du Travail, pour qui le “marché du travail reste solide et la dynamique de l’emploi préservée”.Beaucoup plus prudent, le directeur du département Analyses et prévision de l’OFCE Eric Heyer constate que “le thermomètre est perturbé par une mesure qui fait qu’on a moins de radiations”.Donc “pour comprendre, il faut retrancher d’un côté, de l’autre, je trouve ça très fragile”, a commenté l’économiste qui relève aussi une “file d’attente” de 867.000 nouveaux inscrits (les allocataires du RSA et les jeunes en insertion) qui, neuf mois après la mise en œuvre de la loi Plein Emploi, ne se résorbe que très lentement.”Le fait que ça fasse trois trimestres à des niveaux élevés, ça montre bien que France Travail n’a pas beaucoup de moyens pour recevoir” ces nouveaux publics, dit encore Eric Heyer.Dans un communiqué, la CGT dénonce de son côté la hausse du chômage , dont les jeunes sont “les premières victimes”.Selon la Dares, le chômage des moins de 25 ans, qui frappe environ un jeune sur cinq, a progressé sur le trimestre de 6,8% pour la catégorie A et de 4,4% pour les catégories A,B et C. Sur un an, il a bondi de 29,8% pour ceux sans aucune activité et de 19,5% en incluant l’activité réduite.Le 13 novembre, l’Insee publiera un autre indicateur: le taux de chômage pour le 3e trimestre, calculé sur la base d’une enquête permettant les comparaisons internationales. Au 2e trimestre, il était de 7,5%.

Foot: chiffre d’affaires record pour le PSG qui réduit ses pertes

Le PSG a présenté mardi un chiffre d’affaires record de 837 millions d’euros sur l’exercice 2024-25 qui le hisse à hauteur des cadors européens, malgré un stade jugé trop “petit” pour accompagner sa croissance.”C’est une saison historique sur le plan sportif et économique”, se félicite dans un communiqué le club parisien, sacré champion d’Europe à l’issue d’une saison 2024-25 pleine. Les succès du PSG, racheté par Qatar Sports Investments en 2011, lui ont permis de porter ses revenus commerciaux à 367 million d’euros, notamment grâce à ses partenaires, de plus en plus nombreux (31) et une vente record de produits dérivés. Les revenus “matchday” – billetterie, hospitalité, restauration – ont quant à eux grimpé à 175 millions d’euros.Avec 837 millions d’euros de chiffre d’affaires (sans compter les ventes de joueurs), contre 806 millions l’an passé, soit une hausse de 4%, le club parisien se hisse à hauteur des plus grands clubs du vieux continent.- Le Real Madrid domine -Loin, encore, du Real Madrid (1,05 milliard d’euros selon le classement Deloitte 2023-24) mais à hauteur de Manchester City qui le devançait la saison dernière (2e, 837,8M).”L’objectif est de devenir la première franchise mondiale de sport et divertissement”, expose le club qui se félicite notamment d’un bond de 210% de ses ventes sur la boutique en ligne depuis le début de la saison.Le PSG a également réduit sa masse salariale pour se conformer aux règles du fair-play financier. Alors qu’elle atteignait 111% de son chiffre d’affaires, celle-ci a été ramenée en deçà des 65%, notamment après le départ de ses stars Neymar, Messi et Mbappé.Mais cet essor est en demi-teinte. Les gains engendrés par la Ligue des champions et par la Coupe du monde des clubs (96 millions pour le finaliste, divisé en deux sur les saisons 24-25 et 25-26) gonflent des chiffres plombés par des droits TV en chute libre (-30%) et des revenus billetterie au maximum de leur capacité. Après des années d’investissements conséquents, le club se rapproche de l’équilibre financier et relève une perte nette négative “inférieure aux 60 millions d’euros de l’an dernier”.- Un plus grand stade -Pour continuer à développer ses revenus et sa base de supporters, le PSG ambitionne de changer d’écrin, alors que les 48.000 places du Parc des Princes ne suffisent plus pour accueillir ses supporters. “Nous rivalisons aujourd’hui avec les grands clubs européens dans un stade plus petit. Nous avons besoin d’innover pour continuer à grandir”, relève le club, qui a lancé le 20 octobre une consultation adressée à plus de 90.000 abonnés, Deux sites – Massy (Essonne) et Poissy (Yvelines) où se trouve déjà son centre d’entraînement – font l’objet de ce large sondage.”Il est important d’écouter les attentes et besoins de nos supporters pour nourrir notre réflexion autour de ce projet”, ajoute le club, conscient des défis d’un potentiel déménagement “impopulaire” à plus de 30 km de la capitale.

Campaigning begins in Myanmar’s junta-run election

Parties approved to participate in Myanmar’s junta-organised elections started campaigning on Tuesday, two months ahead of a poll being shunned at home and abroad as a ploy to legitimise military rule.Myanmar has been consumed by civil war since the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, deposing and jailing democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi after her party won the last election by wide margins.The junta has lost swathes of the country to pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic-minority armed factions, but has touted elections as a path to reconciliation.Rebels have pledged to boycott the vote in huge enclaves they control, while human rights groups and a UN expert have denounced the poll’s restrictive conditions in junta-held zones.”This election means nothing to me,” said one 60-year-old man in Sittwe city, the capital of western Rakhine state. “It is not a genuine election and I see no one supporting it.””People are struggling with their own problems,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity for security concerns in a region where fighting has triggered a humanitarian crisis.”I see more and more beggars in town as people are starving. People have no jobs and so the election seems like a distant prospect. They have no time to be interested in it.”There will be 57 parties on the ballot when polls take place in phases beginning on December 28.State media said on Tuesday that the second round was set for January 11, but subsequent rounds and a result date have not been announced.Suu Kyi’s vastly popular National League for Democracy — which won 82 percent of elected seats in the last poll in 2020 — will not run because the junta dissolved the party after jailing her and making unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.The gate was locked at the deserted party headquarters in Yangon on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said.- ‘Just want to go home’ -The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) began its campaign by unveiling election billboards in the capital Naypyidaw, where voting will be held in most constituencies in the first phase of the election.Several thousand USDP members and supporters attended a kick-off event in the city, including candidates Mya Tun Oo and Tin Aung San, both former generals and current ministers under US sanctions.Campaigning is expected to be generally low-key with high security amid the civil war.”It is unlikely I will go for voting and I have no idea if I am on the voter list,” said one civilian displaced by fighting to the central city of Mandalay, speaking anonymously for security reasons.”We are not very interested,” he added. “We just want to go home.”In Yangon, about 300 supporters of the pro-military party, dressed in green and white, gathered at its office, an AFP journalist saw.Red and green party flags lined the street, with around a dozen armed soldiers and police patrolling the area.Khin Maung Soe, Yangon regional chairman of the USDP, said his party planned to campaign in townships the Union Election Commission had designated and where security could be ensured, like Yangon.”There won’t be any parading on the street,” he said.The junta has conceded elections will not take place in one in seven national parliament constituencies, many of them active war zones, while martial law remains in place in one in five townships.The military government has introduced laws punishing those who protest against the election with up to a decade in prison, and new cybercrime laws police the internet for communications that “disrupt unity”.Diplomatic sources told AFP on Monday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not send election observers to Myanmar.Numerous rights groups lobbied the 11-nation bloc to hold back monitors, lest they lend legitimacy to a vote which they say will be neither free nor fair.

Beef, defence deals and rare earths: how Japan’s new leader wooed Trump

Japan pulled out all stops for this week’s visit by US President Donald Trump — his first with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.The US president’s visit was a major diplomatic test for Takaichi, who has only been in office for a week.From pledges that Tokyo will spend much more on its defence to supporting Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize bid, here’s how Takaichi sought to woo the mercurial US leader:- ‘Golden Age’ and Nobel Peace Prize -“I was very impressed and inspired by you,” Takaichi told Trump as they met, calling for “a new golden age of the Japan-US alliance”.Takaichi also announced during the visit that she will nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize.Since returning to the White House for his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly insisted that he deserves the prize for his role in resolving numerous conflicts.Observers say Trump’s claims of helping bring about world peace are broadly exaggerated.But Tokyo was keen to burnish the US leader’s bid to join the ranks of former president Barack Obama and journalist Maria Ressa, praising Trump’s efforts towards a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia and his “unprecedented historic achievement” of the Gaza deal.- Baseball and slogan caps -Speaking after their meeting, Takaichi apologised for being late and explained that they had been watching a World Series baseball game — which also featured Japanese star player Shohei Ohtani.The two leaders also signed black “Japan is back” caps, reminiscent of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hats.- US beef on the menu -Menus at summit lunches are often carefully considered with diplomatic niceties in mind.And Tokyo’s choice was no exception, deftly blending US produce with Japanese ingredients.For starters guests were served a “US rice cheese risotto with chicken”, while mains were New York strip steak with gravy and warm vegetables from the southern Japanese city of Nara — Takaichi’s hometown.Not exactly traditional Japanese fare, but tailormade to appeal to Trump’s push to sell more American agricultural products and backing for US farmers, a key support base.- Defence spending -Trump has for years grumbled that US allies in Asia including Japan do not spend enough on their own defence and urged them to pay more for US military presence on their territory.Days before Trump’s arrival, Takaichi told Japan’s parliament that Tokyo’s target of spending two percent of its gross domestic product on defence would be achieved this fiscal year — two years earlier than planned.Japan had also committed to acquiring counter-attack capabilities including Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States, part of a contract signed in January 2024.- Rare earths and shipbuilding -Tokyo signed a key deal with Washington for “securing” supplies of critical minerals and rare earths.Under the agreement, the United States and Japan would “jointly identify projects of interest to address gaps in supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths”.It comes as the United States tries to boost access to critical minerals with China tightening controls on rare earths.The world’s second-largest economy exercises a virtual monopoly on so-called “rare earth” metals, essential for everything from household appliances to cars, energy and even weapons.Another cooperation agreement was signed Tuesday between Tokyo and Washington on shipbuilding, a sector where Japan and neighbour South Korea are seeking to challenge Chinese dominance.- Golf and memories of Abe -Takaichi had another ace up her sleeve — her ties to her mentor, former premier Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022 and with whom Trump became close during his first term.She thanked Trump for his “enduring friendship” with Abe and later gifted him a golf putter used by the late premier.The sport was a shared passion of Trump and Abe’s, and the two met several times on the golf course.The US president also met with the politician’s widow, Akie Abe, who said afterwards: “He still holds my husband in high regard and offered me warm words.”Another gift planned by Tokyo, according to Japanese media, is gold-plated golf balls.