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Category: Artificial Intelligence

  • MIL-OSI: Applied Materials Announces First Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Revenue $7.17 billion, up 7 percent year over year
    • GAAP gross margin 48.8 percent and non-GAAP gross margin 48.9 percent
    • GAAP operating margin 30.4 percent and non-GAAP operating margin 30.6 percent
    • GAAP EPS $1.45 and non-GAAP EPS $2.38, down 40 percent and up 12 percent year over year, respectively
    • Generated $925 million in cash from operations and distributed $1.64 billion to shareholders including $1.32 billion in share repurchases and $326 million in dividends

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) today reported results for its first quarter ended Jan. 26, 2025.

    “The industry drive to accelerate the development of advanced compute and more sophisticated AI is gaining momentum,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO. “Applied Materials is enabling the major device architecture inflections critical for energy-efficient AI and our focus on high-velocity co-innovation creates unique collaboration opportunities with our customers and partners, positioning Applied for continued growth and outperformance in the years to come.”

    “We delivered strong financial performance in the first fiscal quarter, with record revenue, gross margin expansion and robust shareholder distributions,” said Brice Hill, Senior Vice President and CFO. “ For the second fiscal quarter, we are encouraged by the trends supporting continued customer investments to enable leading-edge technology inflections, while also taking into account export control related headwinds.”

    Results Summary

      Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024   Change
      (In millions, except per share amounts and percentages)
    Net revenue $ 7,166     $ 6,707     7%
    Gross margin   48.8 %     47.8 %   1.0 point
    Operating margin   30.4 %     29.3 %   1.1 points
    Net income $ 1,185     $ 2,019     (41)%
    Diluted earnings per share $ 1.45     $ 2.41     (40)%
    Non-GAAP Results          
    Non-GAAP gross margin   48.9 %     47.9 %   1.0 point
    Non-GAAP operating margin   30.6 %     29.5 %   1.1 points
    Non-GAAP net income $ 1,946     $ 1,782     9%
    Non-GAAP diluted EPS $ 2.38     $ 2.13     12%
    Non-GAAP free cash flow $ 544     $ 2,096     (74)%
                       

    A reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided in the financial tables included in this release. See also “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section.

    Impact of Singapore Tax Incentives

    As a result of new tax incentive agreements in Singapore in fiscal 2025, the company recorded a $644 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, income tax expense due to the remeasurement of deferred tax assets in Singapore.

    Business Outlook

    Applied’s total net revenue, non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter of fiscal 2025, including the estimated impact of recently announced U.S. export regulations, are expected to be approximately as follows:

      Q2 FY2025
    (In millions, except percentage and per share amounts)  
    Total net revenue $ 7,100   +/- $ 400  
    Non-GAAP gross margin   48.4 %    
    Non-GAAP diluted EPS $ 2.30   +/- $ 0.18  
                   

    This outlook for non-GAAP diluted EPS excludes known charges related to completed acquisitions of $0.01 per share and a gain on asset sale of $0.05 per share, and includes a net income tax benefit related to intra-entity intangible asset transfers of $0.04 per share, but does not reflect any items that are unknown at this time, such as any additional charges related to acquisitions or other non-operational or unusual items, as well as other tax-related items, which we are not able to predict without unreasonable efforts due to their inherent uncertainty.

    First Quarter Reportable Segment Information

    Semiconductor Systems Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024
      (In millions, except percentages)
    Net revenue $ 5,356     $ 4,909  
    Foundry, logic and other   68 %     62 %
    DRAM   28 %     34 %
    Flash memory   4 %     4 %
    Operating income $ 1,986     $ 1,744  
    Operating margin   37.1 %     35.5 %
    Non-GAAP Results    
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,998     $ 1,754  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   37.3 %     35.7 %
    Applied Global Services Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024
      (In millions, except percentages)
    Net revenue $ 1,594     $ 1,476  
    Operating income $ 447     $ 417  
    Operating margin   28.0 %     28.3 %
    Non-GAAP Results    
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 447     $ 417  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   28.0 %     28.3 %
    Display Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024
      (In millions, except percentages)
    Net revenue $ 183     $ 244  
    Operating income $ 14     $ 25  
    Operating margin   7.7 %     10.2 %
    Non-GAAP Results    
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 14     $ 25  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   7.7 %     10.2 %
    Corporate and Other Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024
      (In millions)
    Unallocated net revenue $ 33     $ 78  
    Unallocated cost of products sold and expenses   (305 )     (297 )
    Total $ (272 )   $ (219 )
                   

    Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    Applied provides investors with certain non-GAAP financial measures, which are adjusted for the impact of certain costs, expenses, gains and losses, including certain items related to mergers and acquisitions; restructuring and severance charges and any associated adjustments; impairments of assets; gain or loss, dividends and impairments on strategic investments; certain income tax items and other discrete adjustments. On a non-GAAP basis, the tax effect related to share-based compensation is recognized ratably over the fiscal year. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP are provided in the financial tables included in this release.

    Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate the company’s operating and financial performance and for planning purposes, and as performance measures in its executive compensation program. Applied believes these measures enhance an overall understanding of its performance and investors’ ability to review the company’s business from the same perspective as the company’s management, and facilitate comparisons of this period’s results with prior periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that management does not believe are indicative of Applied’s ongoing operating performance. There are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because the non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, and may exclude certain items that may have a material impact upon our reported financial results. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

    Webcast Information

    Applied Materials will discuss these results during an earnings call that begins at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast and related slide presentation will be available at https://ir.appliedmaterials.com. A replay will be available on the website beginning at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time today.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those regarding anticipated growth and trends in our businesses and markets, industry outlooks and demand drivers, technology transitions, our business and financial performance and market share positions, our capital allocation and cash deployment strategies, our investment and growth strategies, our development of new products and technologies, our business outlook for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 and beyond, and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements and their underlying assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements include, without limitation: the level of demand for our products; global economic, political and industry conditions, including changes in interest rates and prices for goods and services; the implementation of additional export regulations and license requirements and their interpretation, and their impact on our ability to export products and provide services to customers and on our results of operations; global trade issues and changes in trade and export license policies and our ability to obtain licenses or authorizations on a timely basis, if at all; imposition of new or increases in tariffs and any retaliatory measures; the effects of geopolitical turmoil or conflicts; demand for semiconductor chips and electronic devices; customers’ technology and capacity requirements; the introduction of new and innovative technologies, and the timing of technology transitions; our ability to develop, deliver and support new products and technologies; our ability to meet customer demand, and our suppliers’ ability to meet our demand requirements; the concentrated nature of our customer base; our ability to expand our current markets, increase market share and develop new markets; market acceptance of existing and newly developed products; our ability to obtain and protect intellectual property rights in key technologies; cybersecurity incidents affecting our information systems or information contained in them, or affecting our operations, suppliers, customers or vendors; our ability to achieve the objectives of operational and strategic initiatives, align our resources and cost structure with business conditions, and attract, motivate and retain key employees; the effects of regional or global health epidemics; acquisitions, investments and divestitures; changes in income tax laws; the variability of operating expenses and results among products and segments, and our ability to accurately forecast future results, market conditions, customer requirements and business needs; our ability to ensure compliance with applicable law, rules and regulations and other risks and uncertainties described in our SEC filings, including our recent Forms 10-K and 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on management’s current estimates, projections and assumptions, and we assume no obligation to update them.

    About Applied Materials

    Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations make possible a better future. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.

    Investor Relations Contact:
    Liz Morali (408) 986-7977
    liz_morali@amat.com 

    Media Contact:
    Ricky Gradwohl (408) 235-4676
    ricky_gradwohl@amat.com 

     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions, except per share amounts) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Net revenue $ 7,166     $ 6,707  
    Cost of products sold   3,670       3,503  
    Gross profit   3,496       3,204  
    Operating expenses:      
    Research, development and engineering   859       754  
    Marketing and selling   206       207  
    General and administrative   256       276  
    Total operating expenses   1,321       1,237  
    Income from operations   2,175       1,967  
    Interest expense   64       59  
    Interest and other income (expense), net   8       395  
    Income before income taxes   2,119       2,303  
    Provision for income taxes   934       284  
    Net income $ 1,185     $ 2,019  
    Earnings per share:      
    Basic $ 1.46     $ 2.43  
    Diluted $ 1.45     $ 2.41  
    Weighted average number of shares:      
    Basic   814       831  
    Diluted   819       837  
                   
     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
           
    (In millions) January 26,
    2025    		   October 27,
    2024
    ASSETS      
    Current assets:      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,264     $ 8,022  
    Short-term investments   1,949       1,449  
    Accounts receivable, net   5,998       5,234  
    Inventories   5,501       5,421  
    Other current assets   982       1,094  
    Total current assets   20,694       21,220  
    Long-term investments   2,686       2,787  
    Property, plant and equipment, net   3,563       3,339  
    Goodwill   3,768       3,732  
    Purchased technology and other intangible assets, net   237       249  
    Deferred income taxes and other assets   2,390       3,082  
    Total assets $ 33,338     $ 34,409  
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY      
    Current liabilities:      
    Short-term debt $ 799     $ 799  
    Accounts payable and accrued expenses   4,485       4,820  
    Contract liabilities   2,452       2,849  
    Total current liabilities   7,736       8,468  
    Long-term debt   5,461       5,460  
    Income taxes payable   684       670  
    Other liabilities   832       810  
    Total liabilities   14,713       15,408  
    Total stockholders’ equity   18,625       19,001  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 33,338     $ 34,409  
                   
     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Cash flows from operating activities:      
    Net income $ 1,185     $ 2,019  
    Adjustments required to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities:      
    Depreciation and amortization   105       91  
    Share-based compensation   195       170  
    Deferred income taxes   668       (72 )
    Other   95       (235 )
    Net change in operating assets and liabilities   (1,323 )     352  
    Cash provided by operating activities   925       2,325  
    Cash flows from investing activities:      
    Capital expenditures   (381 )     (229 )
    Cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired   (28 )     —  
    Proceeds from sales and maturities of investments   1,223       531  
    Purchases of investments   (1,711 )     (749 )
    Cash used in investing activities   (897 )     (447 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:      
    Proceeds from issuance of commercial paper   200       100  
    Repayments of commercial paper   (200 )     (100 )
    Common stock repurchases   (1,318 )     (700 )
    Tax withholding payments for vested equity awards   (142 )     (192 )
    Payments of dividends to stockholders   (326 )     (266 )
    Repayments of principal on finance leases   —       1  
    Cash used in financing activities   (1,786 )     (1,157 )
    Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents   (1,758 )     721  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents—beginning of period   8,113       6,233  
    Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash equivalents — end of period $ 6,355     $ 6,954  
           
    Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash equivalents      
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 6,264     $ 6,854  
    Restricted cash equivalents included in deferred income taxes and other assets   91       100  
    Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash equivalents $ 6,355     $ 6,954  
           
    Supplemental cash flow information:      
    Cash payments for income taxes $ 70     $ 139  
    Cash refunds from income taxes $ 70     $ 2  
    Cash payments for interest $ 52     $ 34  
                   

    Additional Information

      Q1 FY2025   Q1 FY2024
    Net Revenue by Geography (In millions)  
    United States $ 917     $ 759  
    % of Total   13 %     11 %
    Europe $ 330     $ 410  
    % of Total   4 %     6 %
    Japan $ 540     $ 565  
    % of Total   8 %     9 %
    Korea $ 1,667     $ 1,231  
    % of Total   23 %     18 %
    Taiwan $ 1,183     $ 559  
    % of Total   17 %     8 %
    Southeast Asia $ 286     $ 186  
    % of Total   4 %     3 %
    China $ 2,243     $ 2,997  
    % of Total   31 %     45 %
           
    Employees(In thousands)      
    Regular Full Time   36.0       34.5  
                   
     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions, except percentages) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Non-GAAP Gross Profit      
    GAAP reported gross profit $ 3,496     $ 3,204  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions1   7       7  
    Non-GAAP gross profit $ 3,503     $ 3,211  
    Non-GAAP gross margin   48.9 %     47.9 %
    Non-GAAP Operating Income      
    GAAP reported operating income $ 2,175     $ 1,967  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions1   12       11  
    Acquisition integration and deal costs   3       3  
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 2,190     $ 1,981  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   30.6 %     29.5 %
    Non-GAAP Net Income      
    GAAP reported net income $ 1,185     $ 2,019  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions1   12       11  
    Acquisition integration and deal costs   3       3  
    Realized loss (gain), dividends and impairments on strategic investments, net   (9 )     (1 )
    Unrealized loss (gain) on strategic investments, net   106       (280 )
    Income tax effect of share-based compensation2   (10 )     (26 )
    Income tax effects related to intra-entity intangible asset transfers3   674       22  
    Resolution of prior years’ income tax filings and other tax items   (16 )     33  
    Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments4   1       1  
    Non-GAAP net income $ 1,946     $ 1,782  
    1 These items are incremental charges attributable to completed acquisitions, consisting of amortization of purchased intangible assets.
       
    2 GAAP basis tax benefit related to share-based compensation is recognized ratably over the fiscal year on a non-GAAP basis.
       
    3 Amount for the three months ended January 26, 2025, included changes to income tax provision of $30 million from amortization of intangibles and a $644 million remeasurement of deferred tax assets resulting from new tax incentive agreements in Singapore in fiscal 2025.
       
    4 Adjustment to provision for income taxes related to non-GAAP adjustments reflected in income before income taxes.
       
     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions, except per share amounts) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Non-GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share      
    GAAP reported earnings per diluted share $ 1.45     $ 2.41  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions   0.01       0.01  
    Realized loss (gain), dividends and impairments on strategic investments, net   (0.01 )     —  
    Unrealized loss (gain) on strategic investments, net   0.13       (0.33 )
    Income tax effect of share-based compensation   (0.01 )     (0.03 )
    Income tax effects related to intra-entity intangible asset transfers1   0.83       0.03  
    Resolution of prior years’ income tax filings and other tax items   (0.02 )     0.04  
    Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share $ 2.38     $ 2.13  
    Weighted average number of diluted shares   819       837  
    1 Amount for the three months ended January 26, 2025, included changes to income tax provision of $0.04 per diluted share from amortization of intangibles and $0.79 per diluted share from a remeasurement of deferred tax assets resulting from new tax incentive agreements in Singapore in fiscal 2025.
       
     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions, except percentages) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Semiconductor Systems Non-GAAP Operating Income      
    GAAP reported operating income $ 1,986     $ 1,744  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions1   12       10  
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,998     $ 1,754  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   37.3 %     35.7 %
    Applied Global Services Non-GAAP Operating Income      
    GAAP reported operating income $ 447     $ 417  
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 447     $ 417  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   28.0 %     28.3 %
    Display Non-GAAP Operating Income      
    GAAP reported operating income $ 14     $ 25  
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 14     $ 25  
    Non-GAAP operating margin   7.7 %     10.2 %
    1  These items are incremental charges attributable to completed acquisitions, consisting of amortization of purchased intangible assets.
       

    Note: The reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP segment results above does not include certain revenues, costs of products sold and operating expenses that are reported within corporate and other and included in consolidated operating income.

     
    APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP EFFECTIVE INCOME TAX RATE
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions, except percentages) January 26, 2025
       
    GAAP provision for income taxes (a) $ 934  
    Income tax effect of share-based compensation   10  
    Income tax effects related to intra-entity intangible asset transfers   (674 )
    Resolutions of prior years’ income tax filings and other tax items   16  
    Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments   (1 )
    Non-GAAP provision for income taxes (b) $ 285  
       
    GAAP income before income taxes (c) $ 2,119  
    Certain items associated with acquisitions   12  
    Acquisition integration and deal costs   3  
    Realized loss (gain), dividends and impairments on strategic investments, net   (9 )
    Unrealized loss (gain) on strategic investments, net   106  
    Non-GAAP income before income taxes (d) $ 2,231  
       
    GAAP effective income tax rate (a/c)   44.1 %
       
    Non-GAAP effective income tax rate (b/d)   12.8 %
           
     
    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FREE CASH FLOW
       
      Three Months Ended
    (In millions) January 26,
    2025    		   January 28,
    2024
    Cash provided by operating activities $ 925     $ 2,325  
    Capital expenditures   (381 )     (229 )
    Non-GAAP free cash flow $ 544     $ 2,096  
                   

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Australia – CBA partners with NSW Government to deliver banking services, building a brighter future for people, businesses and communities – CBA

    Source: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

    CBA to deliver innovative payments and transaction banking services at scale, to shape the State’s digital future.

    NSW Government today announced that Commonwealth Bank has been selected to provide banking services and support to benefit the people, businesses and communities of the State.

    As part of the agreement, CBA will deliver liquidity management, transaction banking, merchant acquiring, FX, cross-border payments and transit payments services, to increase efficiency and make transacting with the government seamless for the people of New South Wales.

    CBA will help shape the State’s digital future by deploying the bank’s innovative payments technologies and transaction banking expertise, including globally recognised responsible AI capabilities, specialised government payment solutions and market leading merchant technologies.

    CBA has been retained to provide transit ticketing services for the NSW Government and will support the State to deliver new technologies for improved journey planning, payment and information access.

    As part of the long-term partnership, CBA is committed to delivering a number of benefits for the broader community and citizens of New South Wales, including investments to support small business, innovation and data insights.

    Approximately 40 per cent of all payments across Australia are processed through CBA’s network, and this rich data and insight will be leveraged to enable the government to make timely and informed data-driven decisions to help build a brighter future for the State.

    The agreement will also help to ensure the safety and security of payments through the implementation of CBA’s leading cyber and fraud management technologies, such as Namecheck, an Australian banking first that has saved the bank’s customers more than $400 million in mistaken payments and scams to date.

    Sinead Taylor, incoming CBA Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets, said CBA would bring the bank’s full breadth of transaction banking capabilities to drive better outcomes for New South Wales.

    “We are thrilled to have been given the opportunity by the New South Wales Government to harness our scale, digital innovation and government credentials to support a thriving, resilient and sustainable New South Wales.”

    “CBA is at the forefront of payments modernisation and our secure, resilient and innovative payments technologies, combined with our sophisticated scams and fraud mitigation tools, will drive efficiencies and deliver a better experience for people across the State.”

    “The New South Wales Government and CBA have a history of working together to drive innovation, with our long-standing partnership with Transport for NSW as just one example, and we look forward to broadening our partnership to benefit the people, businesses and communities of New South Wales.”

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Consumer NZ Valentine’s Day alert: Beware the red flags

    Source: Consumer NZ

    Consumer NZ is warning New Zealanders to be on high alert this Valentine’s Day as romance scammers flip the typical scam protection advice on its head.

    Ruairi O’Shea, Consumer NZ investigative writer, says romance scams are particularly insidious because they don’t follow the typical patterns associated with scams.

    “Romance scams work because they bypass the red flags we’re trained to look out for. Instead of demanding urgent action or sending texts with links out of the blue, romance scammers build trust over months,” says O’Shea.

    “And unlike an unsolicited text with a dodgy link, you may have even initiated first contact by swiping left on a dating app. It’s a slow burn, with scammers building trust before recommending investment opportunities or asking for intimate pictures that they could use to blackmail a person.

    “Victims genuinely believe they’re in a relationship: they trust the other person implicitly and believe that person will act in their best interests.”

    Between 2023 and 2024, a French woman was targeted by a scammer using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to successfully convince her she was speaking to the American actor Brad Pitt. She was scammed out of almost NZ$1.5 million.

    “Romance scams can be utterly devastating because of the financial and emotional toll they take.  

    “Love is a strong incentive, and sadly, scammers know this and exploit it.”

    Recognising these three ‘red flags’ can protect you from romance scams

    The long game

    Unlike traditional scams that rely on urgency, romance scammers play the long game. O’Shea says this slow-building trust makes victims more likely to overlook the more common or “typical” signs of a scam.  

    The investment  

    Once the scammer is confident they’ve established trust, they will begin exploiting.

    “It might start with the scammer revealing a seemingly minor financial stress, and because they feel committed to this relationship, the victim may even proactively offer to help resolve the problem.

    “Later, the scammer might casually recommend an investment opportunity, which, unfortunately, turns out to be fake.”

    Strictly online

    “It’s not new to hear of someone who is in a happy, committed relationship, with kids, a dog and a house, after having initially met their partner on a dating app.

    “What is new, however, is the sophisticated way in which scammers are using AI to basically turbocharge their authenticity,” O’Shea says.

    “Be suspicious if the person you meet online is reluctant to get together in the flesh. Their reasons for keeping a relationship secret or online can be incredibly convincing – health, travel, work, family – but if you can’t meet them in person, you shouldn’t trust them.”

    4 don’ts to protect yourself and those you love (in real life) from romance scams

    Don’t keep it on the down-low – talk to friends and family about online relationships: a fresh pair of eyes could help spot the signs of a scam.

    Don’t give someone anything you wouldn’t post publicly on social media – this isn’t just intimate photographs but also your address or other potentially sensitive personal information.

    Don’t send money to anyone you’ve only communicated with online – if you haven’t met someone in person, don’t give them anything of monetary value.

    Don’t move to another messaging service – if you meet someone on a dating platform and they suggest moving to an encrypted messaging service like WhatsApp, be suspicious.

    What to do if you’re the victim of a romance scam

    If you’re the victim of a romance scam, contact the Police, Manaaki Tāngata Victim Support, your bank and Netsafe (the nation’s non-profit online safety organisation) immediately: a scam doesn’t necessarily end when a victim realises they’ve been scammed.  

    It’s also important to report online scams to CERT NZ, part of the National Cyber Security Centre. The National Cuber Security Centre runs Own Your Online and the service has helpful advice on how to spot a scam and what to do if you get caught out.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes the Make America Healthy Again Commission

    Source: The White House

    MAKING AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission.

    • Chaired by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Commission is tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with an initial focus on childhood chronic diseases.
    • Within 100 days, the Commission will produce an assessment that summarizes what is known and what questions remain regarding the childhood chronic disease crisis, and include international comparisons.
    • Within 180 days, the Commission will produce a strategy, based on the findings of the assessment, to improve the health of America’s children.
    • The Commission has four main policy directives to reverse chronic disease:
      • Empower Americans through transparency and open-source data and avoid conflicts of interest in all federally funded health research.
      • Prioritize gold-standard research on why Americans are getting sick in all health-related research funded by the federal government.
      • Work with farmers to ensure that U.S. food is the healthy, abundant and affordable.
      • Ensure expanded treatment options and health coverage flexibility for beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.
    • The Commission aims to restore trust in medical and scientific institutions and hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, and similar events to receive expert input from leaders in public health.

    ADDRESSING THE RISE OF CHRONIC ILLNESSES: President Trump understands that America’s healthcare system is largely focused on treating chronic illnesses rather than preventing them, leading to a growing health crisis with serious economic and national security consequences.

    • Based on all health indicators and global comparisons, Americans are becoming sicker, beset by illnesses that our medical system isn’t addressing effectively.
      • In the United States, six in 10 adults have at least one chronic condition, and four in 10 have two or more.
      • Prior to COVID, American life expectancy averaged 78.8 years, while comparable countries averaged 82.6 years, creating a gap that equates to 1.25 billion fewer life years for Americans.
      • The United States has the highest age-standardized cancer incidence rate across 204 countries, nearly double the next-highest rate.
        • From 1990 to 2021, the United States saw an 88% increase in cancer.
      • Asthma is far more common in the United States than in other parts of the world, including most of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
    • The rise in chronic conditions is not limited to adults.
      • Childhood is usually the healthiest period of life, yet as of 2022, 30 million (40.7%) United States children had at least one health condition like allergies, asthma, or autoimmune diseases.
      • Autism now affects one in 36 children, a staggering increase from rates of one to four out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s.
      • 18% of teens suffer from fatty liver disease, nearly 30% are prediabetic, and more than 40% are overweight or obese – these conditions were virtually unheard of in prior generations.
      • The incidence of childhood cancer, while still rare, increased 0.8% per year since 1975—an over 40% increase over 45 years.
      • Overmedication, particularly among children, is a growing concern. More than 3.4 million children are currently taking medication for ADD/ADHD and diagnoses continue to rise.
    • Chronic disease has widespread effects, including on our military and our economy.
      • 77% of young adults do not qualify for military service without a waiver, primary due to being overweight, drug use, or mental and physical health issues.
      • 90% of America’s $4.5 trillion healthcare expenditure is directed at managing chronic and mental health conditions.
      • The United States spends almost twice per capita what other wealthy countries spend on healthcare.
    • Americans have lost trust in our health system, skeptical as to whether they are receiving honest answers about the causes of the country’s health crisis and how to improve it.
      • Only a third of Americans trust the U.S. health system, a near-record low.

    TAKING ON THE HEALTH CRISIS: President Trump is fulfilling his promise to tackle the health crisis facing America.

    • President Trump pledged that upon returning to the White House he would establish a special Presidential Commission that’s “not bought and paid for by Big Pharma, and I will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses […] And then, I will ask them to publish recommendations for how every American child can have a safe and healthy childhood.”
    • In his first term, President Trump lowered healthcare costs, provided more healthcare options, and ensured better care for the American people.
    • President Trump has consistently championed initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of Americans. Select actions from the prior Trump Administration include:
      • Passed Right To Try to give terminally ill patients access to lifesaving cures.
      • Signed an executive order to fight kidney disease with more transplants and better treatment.
      • Accelerated medical breakthroughs in genetic treatments for Sickle Cell disease.
      • Declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency and signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest-ever legislative effort to address a drug crisis in our Nation’s history.
      • Expanded access to telehealth, especially in rural and underserved communities.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Announces “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” on Trade

    Source: The White House

    THE “FAIR AND RECIPROCAL PLAN”: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum ordering the development of a comprehensive plan for restoring fairness in U.S. trade relationships and countering non-reciprocal trading arrangements.

    • The “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” will seek to correct longstanding imbalances in international trade and ensure fairness across the board.
    • Gone are the days of America being taken advantage of: this plan will put the American worker first, improve our competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our trade deficit, and bolster our economic and national security. 

    AMERICA WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES: The United States is one of the most open economies in the world, yet our trading partners keep their markets closed to our exports. This lack of reciprocity is unfair and contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit.

    • There are endless examples where our trading partners do not give the United States reciprocal treatment.
      • The U.S. tariff on ethanol is a mere 2.5%. Yet Brazil charges the U.S. ethanol exports a tariff of 18%. As a result, in 2024, the U.S. imported over $200 million in ethanol from Brazil while the U.S. exported only $52 million in ethanol to Brazil.
      • The U.S. average applied Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff on agricultural goods is 5%. But India’s average applied MFN tariff is 39%. India also charges a 100% tariff on U.S. motorcycles, while we only charge a 2.4% tariff on Indian motorcycles.
      • The European Union can export all the shellfish it wants to America. But the EU bans shellfish exports from 48 of our states, despite committing in 2020 to expedite approvals for shellfish exports. As a result, in 2023, the U.S. imported $274 million in shellfish from the EU but exported only $38 million.
      • The EU also imposes a 10% tariff on imported cars. Yet the U.S. only imposes a 2.5% tariff.
      • A 2019 report found that across 132 countries and more than 600,000 product lines, United States exporters face higher tariffs more than two-thirds of the time.
    • This lack of reciprocity is one source of America’s large and persistent annual trade deficit in goods: closed markets abroad reduce U.S. exports and open markets at home result in significant imports, both of which undercut American competitiveness.
      • The United States has run a trade deficit of goods every year since 1975. In 2024, our trade deficit in goods exceeded $1 trillion.
      • Thanks to the proliferation of non-reciprocal barriers in just the last few years, the U.S. now runs a trade deficit in agriculture, worth around $40 billion in 2024.
    • Though America has no such thing, and only America should be allowed to tax American firms, trading partners hand American companies a bill for something called a digital service tax.
      • Canada and France use these taxes to each collect over $500 million per year from American companies.
      • Overall, these non-reciprocal taxes cost America’s firms over $2 billion per year.
      • Reciprocal tariffs will bring back fairness and prosperity to the distorted international trade system and stop Americans from being taken advantage of.

    THE ART OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEAL: President Trump continues to deliver on his mandate given to him by the American People to put America First when it comes to trade.

    • As President Trump said in the Presidential Memorandum on American First Trade Policy on his first day in office, trade policy is a critical component of our economic security and national security.
    • In his first term, President Trump successfully ended the outdated and unfair NAFTA, replacing it with the historic USMCA to deliver one of the largest wins for American workers.
    • When our national security was threatened by a global oversupply of steel and aluminum, President Trump took swift action to protect America’s national security by implementing tariffs on imports of these goods.
    • In response to China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behavior, President Trump acted with conviction to impose tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral economic agreement.

    Just last week, President Trump leveraged tariffs to force Canada and Mexico to make long-overdue changes at our northern and southern borders, ensuring the safety and security of American citizens.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: XR Creator Hackathon Showcases Next Generation of Extended Reality Innovators

    Source: Government of India

    XR Creator Hackathon Showcases Next Generation of Extended Reality Innovators

    The event featured an engaging VR activity session showcasing a virtual experience of Chandrayaan and Gaming Warfare simulation, among others

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 6:26PM by PIB Delhi

    The XR Creator Hackathon’s Delhi chapter, hosted by Wavelaps and Bharat XR at 91 Springboard in Noida on 8th February, marked another successful milestone in the WAVE Summit initiative. Over 80 enthusiastic participants explored the cutting-edge Extended Reality (XR) technologies. The event, supported by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under the Create In India Challenge of WAVES, demonstrated Delhi’s vibrant tech community’s commitment to advancing India’s position in immersive technologies.

    The Delhi meet up featured an exceptional lineup of industry experts like Ms. Chhavi Garg, Mr. Ankit Raghav and Mr. Siddharth Satyarthi, who conducted comprehensive sessions on AR and VR technologies. Participants received detailed insights into Unity and Unreal Engine, along with practical knowledge about developing AR/VR applications. The sessions highlighted various industrial use cases, providing attendees with valuable real-world perspectives.

    A significant highlight of the event was the presence of the Joint Director at the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Mr. Ashutosh Mohle, who also serves as the nodal officer in WAVES. The official’s participation underscored the government’s commitment to nurturing India’s creator economy and supporting technological innovation.

     

    The event featured an engaging VR activity session where participants experienced groundbreaking projects developed by fellow XR Creator Hackathon participants. These immersive demonstrations included a virtual experience of Chandrayaan, an innovative Gaming Warfare simulation, and an impressive VR tourism application, showcasing the diverse capabilities and creativity of India’s XR community.

    Ms. Chhavi Garg, Co-founder of Arexa, and Bharat XR, co-organizer of XR Creator Hackathon, highlighted the growing potential of XR technology, stated that “XR technology is evolving rapidly and achieves its full potential when integrated with other technologies like web, apps, and AI/ML.”

    “These initiatives by the Government and industry partners are creating a platform for students and professionals in the XR industry to create within India and showcase to the world,” said Ashutosh Kumar, CEO of Wavelaps, an industry association partner with WAVES and co-organizer of the XR Creator Hackathon.

    The event garnered significant media attention, with representatives from DD News, All India Radio and various other media platforms covering the proceedings. The successful organization of engagement activities further enhanced participant interaction and learning experiences.

    The Delhi meetup is part of the larger XR Creator Hackathon, which is co-organized by industry partner Wavelaps in collaboration with Bharat XR and XDG. The hackathon has already set a national record as India’s biggest VR/AR hackathon with over 2,200 registrations from more than 250 cities. The initiative has now entered Phase 3, where the top 40 teams are competing to secure positions in the final top five, showcasing innovative products across different themes.

    About Wave Summit:

    Wave Summit is a flagship initiative celebrating India’s advancement in creative technologies, fostering collaboration between creators, industry leaders, and government bodies to drive innovation in the immersive technology sector.

    About XR Creator Hackathon:

    The XR Creator Hackathon is a nationwide initiative driving innovation in Extended Reality technologies, organized by Wavelaps, XDG, and Bharat XR in association with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, bringing together creative minds from across India to shape the future of immersive technologies.

    ****

    Dharmendra Tewari/ Shatrunjay Kumar

    (Release ID: 2102865) Visitor Counter : 35

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI: CentralReach and AI.Measures Announce Exclusive Partnership to Transform the Way Assessments and Autism Care Are Delivered, Paving the Way for Improved Learner Outcomes and Provider-Driven Value-Based Care

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Fort Lauderdale, FL, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CentralReach, the leader in autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) care software announces the establishment of its exclusive strategic partnership with Dr. Thomas Frazier’s next generation assessment company, AI.Measures, the leader in evidence-based, norm-referenced assessments for child mental health, including behavioral intervention for autism. This collaboration will enable therapy providers to access AI.Measures’ innovative solutions, providing them the opportunity to begin to standardize the assessment process and receive treatment recommendations based on each patient’s characteristics.   

    Access will occur first on an exclusive, standalone basis through CentralReach and ultimately as an integrated solution within CentralReach’s Care360 platform. This groundbreaking feature ensures providers can leverage proprietary, evidence-based algorithms to deliver the appropriate level of care for each child – something no other autism assessment currently offers. This integration also paves the way for value-based care reporting and standardization, ensuring that therapy providers are in the driver’s seat when determining the appropriate treatment dosage for each patient. 

    “While there are many autism assessment tools in the market today, none have been designed from the ground up to provide detailed assessment results to drive both the customized care plan and the outcome expectation for the child.  We acquired the ABLLS-R® and AFLS® assessments and SILAS™, our assessment driven platform for social emotional learning, executive function and vocational needs, to deliver on our vision that the assessment of an individual must be more comprehensive and holistic to create a plan that delivers the best outcome for each individual,” said Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach. “By combining AI.Measures’ scientifically validated multi-modal assessment platform with CentralReach’s powerful suite of clinical solutions, providers can finally have a complete picture of an individual’s needs, which will feed a comprehensive, customized care plan that will provide the best outcome for that individual in a way that current products on the market today cannot.  For the past decade, this industry has been trying to solve for the eventual move towards true clinical quality metrics and ultimately value-based care delivery and reimbursement but didn’t have the data set or the tools to do it effectively.  The integration of AI.Measures multi-modal autism assessment technology and CentralReach’s unparalleled data set and instructionally-designed curricula is a game changer that will allow our high-quality value-based vision to become reality.” 

    On top of the potential for value-based care measurement, the partnership’s integration into CentralReach’s CR Assessment platform also gives clinicians the ability to: 

    • Standardize the assessment process with norm-referenced evaluations that provide evidence-based treatment recommendations. 
    • Optimize intervention strategies by tailoring treatment plans based on data-driven insights. 
    • Enhance care coordination through CentralReach’s Care360 platform, which now integrates AI.Measures’ assessment tools for a seamless experience across the full care continuum. 
    • Enhance the assessment process through addition of video-based data collection and analysis 

    “The future of autism care lies in precision and standardization,” said Thomas Frazier, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AI.Measures. “With this partnership, we’re solving a fundamental challenge in the industry – ensuring providers have the right tools to assess skills and interfering behaviors and prescribe treatment based on the individual needs of each learner, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. As I was considering which autism and IDD care software vendor to work with, CentralReach was the right partner. Not only for their size, but also for the team behind the company which is continuously demonstrating its full commitment to making a positive difference on the autism and IDD community.” 

    Access to the AI.Measures platform will be available in Q1 2025, with deeper integration into the CentralReach platform planned for the second half of 2025. To learn more about the AI.Measures partnership with CentralReach and how it can benefit autism and IDD care providers, visit the partner page. 

    About CentralReach 

    CentralReach is the leading provider of autism and IDD care software, providing the only complete, end-to-end software and services platform that helps children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) – and those who serve them – unlock potential, achieve better outcomes, and live more independent lives. With its roots in Applied Behavior Analysis, the company is revolutionizing how the lifelong journey of autism and IDD care is enabled at home, school, and work with powerful and intuitive solutions purpose-built for each care setting. 

    Trusted by more than 185,000 professionals globally, CentralReach is committed to ongoing product advancement, market-leading industry expertise, world-class client satisfaction, and support of the autism and IDD community to propel autism and IDD care into a new era of excellence. For more information, please visit CentralReach.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook. 

    About AI.Measures 

    AI.Measures is a pioneer in multi-modal, standardized, norm-referenced assessments designed to assess symptom and skill patterns, optimize clinical planning, and support value-based care initiatives. Its solutions empower providers to make data-driven decisions that improve patient outcomes. 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Praise Sri Lanka’s Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, Ask about Legislation on Child Marriage and Domestic Violence

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its consideration of the ninth periodic report of Sri Lanka, with Committee Experts praising the State’s national action plan on women, peace and security, and raising questions about the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, which permitted child marriage, and domestic violence.

    One Committee Expert said the national action plan on women, peace and security was a positive step in addressing the needs of women in conflict.  Were there plans to conduct a mid-term assessment of the plan?

    Yamila González Ferrer, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka, said that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act was amended in 2022, but there were still concerns about elements of the law.  Were there plans to further amend the law, including to ban child marriage?

    Another Committee Expert said at least one in five women in Sri Lanka had experienced violence from an intimate partner, and many did not report it.  What was the timeline for adopting proposed amendments to the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act?  What protections were provided to women victims of violence?

    Introducing the report, Saroja Savitri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs of Sri Lanka and head of the delegation, said the Sri Lankan Government was committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and advancing gender equality.  This review held particular significance, as it was the country’s first engagement with an international human rights treaty body since the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2024.

    Ms. Paulraj said Sri Lanka’s first national action plan for women, peace and security for 2023 to 2027 had been launched.  The Government was committed to realising the full promise of the women, peace and security agenda.  The delegation added that the action plan addressed displacement, and women’s protection, security and participation in peacebuilding.  The State party was planning to conduct a review of the implementation of the action plan.

    On the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, the delegation said the Government had conducted consultations regarding its amendment.  It was trying to strike a balance between women’s and children’s rights and cultural rights.  Ms. Paulraj added that the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus had suggested setting a minimum age for marriage and establishing a multi sectoral committee to address this issue.

    On domestic violence, the delegation said the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act had been amended; the amended Act would come into force this year.  The Assistance to Victims Act underlined the rights of victims to be treated with respect and privacy, and to request legal, medical and psychosocial assistance.  A toll-free hotline operated by female officers was available for reporting domestic violence.

    In closing remarks, Ms. Paulraj said the Sri Lankan Government had undertaken significant efforts to strengthen women’s empowerment.  It was fully committed to addressing the issues that women faced in the State and would continue to engage with the Committee constructively.

    In her concluding remarks, Nahla Haidar, Committee Chair, said that the State party had shared candidly and transparently the progress made and difficulties it was facing.  She commended the State party for its efforts and encouraged it to implement the Committee’s recommendations for the benefit of all Sri Lankan women and girls.

    The delegation of Sri Lanka consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs; Attorney General’s Department; Sri Lanka Police; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism; and the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Committee will issue the concluding observations on the report of Sri Lanka at the end of its ninetieth session on 21 February.  All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage.  Meeting summary releases can be found here.  The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

    The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Friday, 14 February to consider the sixth periodic report of Liechtenstein (CEDAW/C/LIE/6).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the ninth periodic report of Sri Lanka (CEDAW/C/LKA/9).

    Presentation of Report

    SAROJA SAVITRI PAULRAJ, Minister of Women and Child Affairs of Sri Lanka and head of the delegation, said the Sri Lankan Government was committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and advancing gender equality.  This review held particular significance, as it was the country’s first engagement with an international human rights treaty body since the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2024 and the formation of the new Government in Sri Lanka.  Sri Lanka was proud to have a member from Sri Lanka in the Committee, Rangita de Silva de Alwis.  Her contribution to this Committee’s work was highly appreciated.

    Ms. Paulraj said she was the first Tamil Member of Parliament elected from the Southern Province, which had a predominantly Sinhala community.  Women’s representation in Sri Lanka’s Parliament had risen from 4.8 to 9.7 per cent with the election of 22 female members in November 2024.  These women included individuals from the working class and marginalised communities, including, for the first time in history, two women from the Malayaga community. 

    Sri Lanka was proud to have its third female Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.  One of the Government’s key electoral pledges had been to ensure the equal representation of women in Government. Appointing a woman to the post of Deputy Chairman of Committees of Parliament for the first time was another milestone.  The Sri Lankan judiciary also had a high percentage of women at senior levels. Thirty-two per cent of Ambassadors in Sri Lanka were women.  Across all levels of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service, women were in the majority. During the reporting period, Sri Lanka Police appointed four female Deputy Inspectors General of Police and the first female Director of the Criminal Investigation Department.  Many women had been appointed to the Government’s decision-making councils, commissions and boards.

    The Government had made a policy commitment to reduce the burden of unpaid care work for women. Women played a crucial role in driving the economy in Sri Lanka, with their contributions being essential in generating income across key sectors.  Women made up most of the workforce in industries such as garments, plantations, and as migrant workers.  For the first time, a woman had been appointed as the Chairperson of the Sri Lankan Apparel Exporters Association in the corporate sector.

    The Government had introduced several initiatives to support economic recovery and empower citizens, particularly focusing on women and youth.  One notable proposal was the establishment of a new development bank aimed at providing new entrepreneurs, including rural and disadvantaged women, with loans without the requirement for collateral.  The Sri Lanka Women’s Bureau was the national mechanism implementing projects and programmes for the social and economic development of women from national to grassroots level.

    The Women Empowerment Act of 2024 introduced mechanisms to give effect to the obligations undertaken by Sri Lanka in relation to the Convention, and defined women’s right to equality and non-discrimination.  A key component of this Act was to establish an independent National Commission on Women, and to provide provisions for the appointment of a Woman Ombudsperson on ensuring women’s rights and setting up a National Fund for Women. 

    The Land Development (Amendment) Act of 2022 had brought in provisions to ensure gender equality and non-discrimination in land inheritance.  The Women’s Parliamentary Caucus had suggested setting a minimum age for marriage and establishing a multi sectoral committee to address this issue.

    Addressing sexual and gender-based violence was a key priority for the Government.  It would establish mechanisms to prioritise and expedite the resolution of cases involving sexual offences against women and minors, ensuring that victims received timely redress.  The progress review of the first national action plan to address sexual and gender-based violence for the period 2016-2020 found a 70 per cent level of implementation.  Thereafter, a second plan for the period 2024-2028 was launched in 2024.  This plan focused on prevention programmes in schools, places of work, and community-based initiatives, as well as programmes on engaging men to address gender-based violence. 

    Children and Women Desks had been newly established in police stations, and the Government would also double the allocation for 2025 for the establishment and expansion of shelter homes for women.

    Sri Lanka’s first national action plan for women, peace and security for 2023 to 2027 had been launched.  The action plan was developed through an inclusive process of broad consultations with survivors of conflict and vulnerable women and children.  The Government was committed to realising the full promise of the women, peace and security agenda. 

    Technology-facilitated gender-based violence was another pressing challenge that Sri Lanka was facing.  The Government was working to implement stronger laws and policies to protect individuals from privacy violations, online stalking, and hate speech.  Sri Lanka was a party to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which focused on addressing online and technology-facilitated violence against women.  The Online Safety Act of 2024 aimed to protect the vulnerable sections of the society in line with international standards.

    Sri Lanka was committed to upholding human rights, gender equality, and social justice.  Its foremost priority was to ensure that no one was left behind.  Sri Lankan women had been active participants in the country’s development agenda and the Government was committed to addressing existing challenges and supporting women to carry out this role.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    YAMILA GONZÁLEZ FERRER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka, said that Sri Lanka’s Constitution established that all persons had the right to live free from discrimination. However, this was not yet a reality. Sri Lanka was in the process of drafting a new Constitution.  Were there plans to incorporate the rights of women and girls into the Constitution? Proposals had been made to reform criminal laws to remove discriminatory provisions affecting women related to marriage. What progress had been made in this regard?

    The national human rights institution had “A” status under the Paris Principles.  What actions had it implemented to protect women’s rights? Were its complaints mechanisms effective?  Were there plans to update the national action plan on human rights?  There were several obstacles limiting the capacity of the judicial system to protect women affected by sexual and gender-based violence and domestic violence.  How was the State party strengthening the judiciary and reducing trial times?

    The death penalty was legal in Sri Lanka.  Although there was a de facto moratorium in place, courts continued to sentence women to death, often not considering mitigating circumstances such as gender-based violence.  Could the State party provide data on women sentenced to death?  Had the Convention been invoked before the courts?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said that the Constitution guaranteed the right to non-discrimination.  Violations of fundamental rights could be brought before the Supreme Court, which had drawn reference to the Convention in some of its determinations.  In one case, it had held that equality could be seriously impaired when women were subjected to workplace gender-based violence.  The Women’s Commission was mandated to introduce mechanisms to give effect to Convention obligations.

    There were several mechanisms in place facilitating access to justice.  The Legal Commission of Sri Lanka provided free legal services to citizens who had incomes of less than 40,000 rupees.  This threshold did not apply for cases of a domestic nature. The Human Rights Commission and the Women’s Commission were empowered to receive complaints related to human rights violations directly from victims, investigate the matter, and make recommendations.  Financial assistance and counselling were provided to women victims of violence. The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act allowed for victims to make complaints directly to the police.

    Sri Lanka had maintained a moratorium on the death penalty since 1978.  The Supreme Court had intervened in the past to prevent the death penalty from being carried out.  A recent amendment to the Penal Code increased the minimum age from which the death penalty could be applied from 16 to 18 years.

    Many efforts had been made to implement the Committee’s previous concluding observations.  The Government had established a coordinating committee to follow-up on the Committee’s concluding observations, in collaboration with civil society.  In 2022, legislation on marriage and divorce was amended to remove all provisions permitting the marriage of a minor with parents’ permission. Legislation on inheritance had also been revised to remove its gender components.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    YAMILA GONZÁLEZ FERRER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka, said that the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act was amended in 2022, but there were still concerns about elements of the law addressing abortion and rape.  Were there plans to further amend the law?  Was work underway to ensure that authorities could mainstream a gender perspective in measures promoting access to justice?

    Another Committee Expert congratulated the Government on appointing a woman Prime Minister.  Ms. de Silva’s contributions enriched the Committee. The national action plan on women, peace and security was a positive step in addressing the needs of women in conflict.  However, challenges remained in this field.  Were there plans to conduct a mid-term assessment of the plan?  How would the Government ensure accountability for past conflict-related gender-based violence and ensure the rights of victims to protest and mourn publicly?

    Non-governmental organizations faced financial and regulatory obstructions.  How would the State party support women human rights defenders and remove restrictions on the activities of civil society?

    One Committee Expert welcomed measures for increasing the political representation of women, but said the Committee was concerned by the low level of representation of women in public and private life.  She commended the quota of 25 per cent representation for local government bodies, but said this was not in line with the Committee’s recommendation of 50 per cent representation.  The Expert further commended an initiative to enhance the incomes of women in the agricultural sector.  Had this initiative been successful?  What affirmative actions had been implemented in other sectors?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the Government had conducted consultations regarding the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act.  It was trying to strike a balance between women’s and children’s rights and cultural rights, and was working to ensure that the law reflected the views of the people.  There was constant training of police officers and the judiciary on the Convention.  Persons who caused a woman to miscarry, except to save the life of the woman, were punished, but the Government was considering legal amendments in this regard.

    Sri Lanka’s civil society had made important contributions to the protection of human rights.  The window in which civil society could challenge bills had been extended from seven to 14 days.  Freedom of expression, speech and assembly were protected in the Constitution. The Government was committed to protecting the freedom of expression of civil society.  It had simplified administrative requirements for registering non-governmental organizations.  Regulatory measures were needed to prevent non-governmental organizations from engaging in money laundering and financing of terrorism. Complaints could be made regarding infringements of the rights of human rights defenders to the Supreme Court, the National Police Commission, the Women’s Ombudsperson, and the Human Rights Commission, which had produced guidelines on the protection of human rights defenders.

    Women were selected to leadership roles on public bodies on merit.  Their representation was improving.  Sri Lanka had had the world’s first woman Prime Minister.  There was no quota for appointments to roles in the public sector, but over 50 per cent of prosecutors were women.  The Government had conducted several awareness raising campaigns encouraging women’s participation in public life.  Diploma programmes were developed to train women to participate in political roles, and a forum had been held to advocate for increased representation of women in trade unions.  Leadership courses had been held for minority women.  Women’s representation in local government had risen to 25 per cent in 2018, thanks to the quota enacted in 2017.  The Government aimed to increase the representation of women in Parliament and provincial councils to 30 per cent.

    The women, peace and security action plan addressed displacement, and women’s protection, security and participation in peacebuilding.  A steering committee had been established to implement the plan and make policy recommendations.  The State party was planning to conduct a review of the implementation of the action plan.

    The Government was developing a truth and reconciliation process that had the people’s trust.  The Office for Reparations had reviewed more than 6,000 complaints, tracing around 180 missing persons and helping over 4,000 families to access remedies.  Investigation results were accessible to the public.  The national reparations policy was tabled in Parliament in 2022.  It included provisions for memorialisation. The Office provided livelihood support, land rights, housing, psychosocial support and measures to prevent violence.  Payments had been provided for over 11,000 individuals across various categories. An independent body had also been established to conduct investigations into historic violations.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    A Committee Expert congratulated Sri Lanka on having the first female Prime Minister in the world and on electing its third female Prime Minister.  The State party needed to consider temporary special measures such as quotas to improve women’s representation in various fields.  Would the State party increase its 25 per cent quota for Parliament and other bodies?

    Another Committee Expert said gender stereotypes perpetuated inequalities in Sri Lanka.  What actions had been taken by the State party to promote gender equality in school curricula and tackle gender stereotypes? What was the timeline for amending the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act to ban child marriage?

    At least one in five women in Sri Lanka had experienced violence from an intimate partner, and many did not report it. Women who sought justice faced discriminatory treatment in the judicial system.  What was the timeline for adopting proposed amendments to the Domestic Violence Act?  How would the State party address barriers to women victims accessing justice?  Were gender courts available in rural areas? What protections were provided to women victims of violence?  Courts did not recognise marital rape and girls over age 16 were not protected from statutory rape.  How would the State party ensure that all girls without exception were protected from rape?

    One Committee Expert welcomed the national action plan to combat trafficking, the Witness Protection Act, and a fund to compensate victims of violence.  Was the unit working to prevent trafficking a militarised unit? Most persons trafficked to the Middle East were female domestic workers.  Traffickers recruited women and girls from rural areas and forced them to work in the commercial sex industry in urban areas.  Law enforcement lacked proper training on identifying trafficking. What measures were in place to ensure the protection of victims who reported trafficking crimes?  Were there efforts being made to reduce the evidence threshold for declaring trafficking crimes?  How did the State party ensure that victims of trafficking were not criminalised?  Did police officers receive training on trafficking and labour rights?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act had been amended and would come into force this year. The Assistance to Victims Act provided for the establishment of a national authority for the protection of victims and witnesses.  It underlined the rights of victims to be treated with respect and privacy, and to request legal, medical and psychosocial assistance.  Female victims could request investigating officers of a particular gender.

    The police had implemented specialised protective units and a targeted programme that encouraged increased reporting of domestic violence and reduced death rates.  A toll-free hotline operated by female officers was available for reporting domestic violence.

    The National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce coordinated police actions to investigate trafficking in persons. The Taskforce included members of various Government departments; it was not a militarised entity.  There was also an anti-trafficking desk within the Ministry of Defence.  The Government operated a shelter for female victims of trafficking, which provided health, food and other support services.  Awareness raising campaigns on the importance of reporting trafficking crimes were in place.  Trafficking in persons was an offence in the Penal Code.  Persons who committed or conspired to commit trafficking offences were liable for a penalty of between three to 15 years imprisonment. 

    Persons who committed rape were punished with imprisonment for no less than seven years, or no less than 15 years when the victim was under 16.  A man who had a non-consensual sexual relationship with a woman who was formerly his wife was criminalised.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    One Committee Expert asked whether marital rape had been criminalised, and if not, when it would be.  Were there plans to provide specific services for victims of technologically-assisted gender-based violence and to provide training to stakeholders on this issue?

    YAMILA GONZÁLEZ FERRER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka, asked how awareness raising campaigns promoted the rights of women in vulnerable situations.

    Another Committee Expert said that in 2023, 51 per cent of harmful speech online targeted women.  Women’s rights groups and even the Prime Minister were targeted by online hate speech.  How did legislation protect women and rights groups online?  Some social media platforms had not removed harmful content due to high thresholds for removal.  Did the State party plan to hold these platforms to account to protect women?  Thirty-two per cent of Ambassadors were female, though women made up more than half of the foreign service.  How would the State party support women to become Ambassadors?  Many transgender women faced barriers in accessing residence certificates and the right to vote.  How was the State party addressing these barriers?

    Another Committee Expert said Sri Lankan women who married foreigners faced barriers in passing their nationality to their children.  What measures were in place to ensure that women could transmit their nationality on par with their male counterparts?  Tamil women, women in rural zones, and displaced women often lacked documentation to prove their nationality.  Lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women faced discrimination from police and confronted obstacles in obtaining gender recognition papers.  Children born to foreign parents did not obtain Sri Lankan nationality, raising issues of statelessness for plantation workers.  How was the State addressing these issues?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said statutory rape was currently rape of persons aged up to 16 years.  Marital rape was not currently criminalised.  The Online Safety Act aimed to promote safety for women and girls online.  The Cybercrime Investigation Unit was tasked with handling all cyber-related complaints, including those related to sexual and gender-based violence and online child exploitation.  It acted swiftly to remove harmful online content, including from social media platforms. Women could submit complaints of online abuse through email and hotlines.  The Act established an independent Online Safety Commission that could issue directives to internet service providers, requiring them to respond to discriminatory online acts.  The Commission could also disable users, remove offending content, and seek internet intermediaries to disclose the identities of offenders.

    Women played a significant role in diplomatic representation at all levels.  They accounted for more than 50 per cent of diplomatic mission staff, so it was likely that women would account for more than 50 per cent of Ambassadors in future.

    Freedom of expression was recognised in the Constitution, but this right was not without limitation.  It could not be used to infringe on the rights of others. Hate speech against political candidates could be reported to the Elections Commission, as well as the Women’s Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

    The conferment of citizenship was previously linked to fathers in legislation; however, this had been amended to allow for citizenship to be conferred by both parents.  Citizenship could be provided to stateless children by the State.  There was no legal impediment to persons obtaining birth certificates.  Tamils of Indian origin would be recognised as Sri Lankan citizens.  The Government was considering programmes to provide permanent residency to members of the Malayaga community, and the members of Parliament from this community could take up this issue in the legislature.  There were measures to identify stateless children and register them. Mobile units were in place that supported birth registration for families living on plantations.

    The family background report system had been criticised as being discriminatory, placing the burden of childcare on women.  In 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers removed the mandatory family background report for women seeking work abroad and lowered the age limit for them.  The Government was supporting access to caretakers for children aged two and above.  It sought to support both women and men to seek work overseas without compromising their family’s welfare.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    One Committee Expert asked whether the Online Services Act was effective.  Had there been any prosecutions under it?  What was the State party doing to implement local elections, which had not been held since 2018, and to support women’s participation in those elections?

    A Committee Expert asked whether the period of free birth registration would be extended.

    One Committee Expert said Sri Lanka had made achievements regarding girls’ education.  Girls’ literacy rate was over 90 per cent, which was much higher than many other countries in the region.  However, child marriages remained a challenge in rural communities and were a major reason for girls dropping out of schools.  The COVID-19 pandemic also affected girls in rural areas, as they had limited opportunities to participate in online education.  The computer literacy rate on plantations was less than half that of other regions. 

    Stereotypes hindered the access of Muslim women and girls to education.  What measures had the State party taken to combat dropouts of girls in primary and secondary education?  What measures were in place to promote gender mainstreaming in education? How did the State party ensure that girls of all religions could access education?  What activities were carried out to prevent stereotypes in education?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the Online Safety Act was a new law.  There had yet to be prosecutions under the law.  The related Commission would soon be set up and would be able to investigate complaints.

    Every citizen over the age of 18 who was qualified to be an elector could become one.  Sri Lanka had established an independent Election Commission that could investigate complaints of violations and issue sanctions. The Supreme Court had upheld the right to vote and held that any impediment to such was a violation.  The law on local government elections was being revised; once this had concluded, local elections could be held.

    The education system was committed to ensuring equal access for all students, regardless of gender.  The provision of free school meals and textbooks allowed for girls from poor families to pursue their education.  The State party was committed to reducing the burden that education placed on parents.  Education was compulsory until age 16.  An initiative to provide girls with sanitary pads was implemented in 2024, benefitting 800,000 girls.  Scholarships were provided to girls from low-income families to participate in technology studies.  There had been an increase in the share of girls participating in science, technology, engineering and maths courses in university in recent years; the share was currently 37 per cent.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    A Committee Expert commended the State party for establishing sexual harassment committees and creating a labour complaints mechanism.  Most women worked in the informal sector, where they lacked labour rights and were vulnerable to abuse.  Many informal sector workers lacked access to social security, leave and childcare services. What measures were in place to protect the rights of women in the informal sector?  Did the State party plan to establish mechanisms to allow domestic workers to seek redress in cases of abuse?  Were there plans to extend paid maternity leave to at least 14 weeks and promote shared parental leave?  Were there plans to ratify International Labour Organization Conventions 181, 189 and 190?  The number of Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers had increased in recent years. These workers often faced abuse from their employers.  How were these workers informed about their rights and protected from abuse? 

    Another Committee Expert commended Sri Lanka’s commitment to strengthening public health care. Persistent barriers obstructed women’s sexual and reproductive health rights.  How would State policies address these barriers?  Restrictive laws forced many women to resort to unsafe abortions. What steps had been taken to ensure women’s safe access to abortion?  What measures were in place to prevent forced sterilisation and ensure informed consent? Girls faced challenges in accessing information on contraception, leading to high rates of early pregnancies. What measures were in place to reduce early pregnancies?  Many schools in rural areas lacked proper sanitation facilities, forcing girls to miss school during menstrual periods.  There was also a very high tax of 47 per cent on menstrual products. How was the State party supporting access to sanitation facilities and menstrual products for women and girls?

    Female genital mutilation continued to be practiced in some Muslim communities.  There was no law criminalising female genital mutilation in Sri Lanka.  When would one be developed?  What awareness raising campaigns on female genital mutilation were in place?  Some women experienced obstetric violence during childbirth.  Did the State party intend to implement measures to prevent such practices?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said women spent more time than men in unpaid domestic work in Sri Lanka.  The Government had taken steps to train care workers to improve the availability of childcare and disability care services for working mothers and reduce the burden of unpaid care work.  Sri Lanka was interested in ratifying International Labour Organization Convention 190.  The necessary amendments had been incorporated into legislation.  The State had also implemented policies to promote women’s employment.  The Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment was conducting consultations with stakeholders to strengthen protections of Sri Lankan domestic workers overseas.  The Women’s Empowerment Act aimed to address the gender pay gap.

    Taxes on sanitary products and baby formula had been removed.  Budgetary allocations had been ensured for sexual and reproductive health services across the country.  All students from sixth grade received sexual and reproductive health education, which addressed preventing unwanted pregnancies.  Medical practitioners who practiced or promoted female genital mutilation were sanctioned.  There were no specific offences on female genital mutilation or obstetric violence, but these acts were prohibited under general legislation on violence.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    One Committee Expert commended the State party on working to ensure the empowerment of women and girls through the rural employment programme and programmes on digital transformation. What concrete actions were being taken to ensure that vulnerable women and girls were aware of the economic empowerment policies in place?  How was the State party preventing the abuse of women by financial institutions and regulating lending practices?  Had the State party assessed fiscal reforms and their impacts on the rights of women and girls?  How was the State party mitigating the unfair financial burden of tax on women and girls? What measures were in place to increase the representation of women and girls in decision making related to economic empowerment?  What measures were there to support female athletes to overcome structural barriers in sports? 

    Another Committee Expert said female tea plantation workers continued to have less access to Government subsidies and microcredit due to their lack of access to land ownership.  How was this being addressed?  Women with disabilities continued to face stigma and discrimination, and infrastructure was not adapted to persons with disabilities.  How was the State party working to make inclusive education programmes more adapted to persons with disabilities?  There were also persistent hate crimes against lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women.  What measures were in place to prevent such hate crimes?  Same sex sexual acts were criminalised; would they be decriminalised?  What reforms had been made to ensure adequate facilities for women in prisons?  Were women prisoners allowed to live with their young children in prisons?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the Government had implemented various welfare measures for persons in poverty.  Around 1.7 million households benefited from welfare support.  There were various Government programmes for empowering women-led households.  The banking system had also provided special loan schemes with favourable interest rates and flexible return policies for women entrepreneurs during the financial crisis.  Banks had offered advisory services and capacity building programmes for women entrepreneurs.  The State had been regulating lending institutions.  Support had been provided to 185 rural women affected by unregulated microcredit schemes.  A socioeconomic protection scheme helped to ease loss of income due to unemployment.

    Sri Lanka had undertaken various initiatives to empower women to engage in technology studies and the digital economy. The national strategy for women’s development promoted women’s digital freedom and security.  Many women entrepreneurs had been trained on digital skills.

    Sanitary facilities in prisons had been improved to ensure a comfortable stay for women, and facilities for children in prison with their mothers had also been improved.  There were plans to establish a separate women’s prison aligned with international standards.

    The police had been instructed on protecting the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and investigating complaints from these persons.  A bill had been lodged in Parliament on decriminalising same-sex relations.  The Supreme Court had found that there was no barrier to the amendment of this legislation. The bill had yet to be considered due to the dissolution of Parliament.

    Questions by Committee Experts 

    YAMILA GONZÁLEZ FERRER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Sri Lanka, asked whether the law on terrorism could be used to prevent the operation of women’s organizations.

    Another Committee Expert welcomed the State party’s efforts to ensure women’s equal rights in law and family relations.  Had measures been taken to amend the Penal Code to ensure that legislation on statutory rape protected all girls under age 16, including girls over age 12 who were married?  The Committee expected that the State party would address legislation on polygamy. When would the State party revise the family law to allow women to have equal rights to men concerning custody of children?  What was the status of legal amendments seeking to strengthen the rights of widows?

    NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, said that, while respecting the freedom of belief, the State party needed to work to protect the rights of Muslim women and girls.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the law on terrorism had not been used to limit the activities of women’s organizations in recent years.  The law was only used in instances when it was necessary.

    The amended Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act set the age of marriage at 18, but children from age 16 could be married with parental consent.  The previous Cabinet of Ministers had approved the amended bill, and the new Government would consider whether to take this legislation forward.  The Parliamentary Caucus had proposed the establishment of a committee to address the issue of child marriages.

    Concluding Remarks

    SAROJA SAVITRI PAULRAJ, Minister of Women and Child Affairs of Sri Lanka and head of the delegation, said Sri Lanka participated in the review in a spirit of openness.  It appreciated the Committee’s recognition of the progress it had made and the challenges it faced.  The Government had undertaken significant efforts to strengthen women’s empowerment.  It was fully committed to addressing the issues that women faced in the State. Ms. Paulraj thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue.  The Government was committed to the promotion and protection of the human rights of all Sri Lankans and would continue to engage with the Committee constructively.

    NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, said that the State party had shared candidly and transparently the progress made and the difficulties it was facing.  The dialogue had helped the Committee to better understand the situation of women and girls in Sri Lanka.  It commended the State party for its efforts and encouraged it to implement the Committee’s recommendations for the benefit of all women and girls in the State party.

     

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

     

     

    CEDAW25.009E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Measures to protect creators and the cultural and creative industry from the challenges of generative AI – E-000498/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000498/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Dimitris Tsiodras (PPE)

    The evolution of generative AI poses significant challenges for creative industries, as GenAI companies take copyright-protected content, without a licence and on an industrial scale, to develop their models.

    It is estimated[1] that music and audiovisual creators will see respectively 24 % and 21 % of their revenues (totalling EUR 22 billion) at risk of loss by 2028. This significantly affects the income and living conditions of creators and other professionals and threatens Europe’s cultural heritage and diversity.

    In view of the above:

    • 1.How does the Commission intend to ensure that companies operating in Europe, whether they are based inside or outside the EU, are complying with EU copyright legislation, which requires them to obtain a licence from creators’ collective management organisations?
    • 2.Is it looking into the possibility of implementing techniques and systems, such as digital watermarks, that will enable the identification of AI-generated content and help creators to protect their content and identify offenders more effectively, thereby discouraging the unauthorised use of copyright-protected material?

    Submitted: 5.2.2025

    • [1] PMP Strategy-CISAC study on the economic impact of generative AI in the music and audiovisual industries.
    Last updated: 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – The lessons from DeepSeek AI’s development strategy for the proposed methods in the ‘AI Gigafactories’ and ‘Apply AI’ initiatives – E-000512/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000512/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Alex Agius Saliba (S&D)

    A shock wave went through the tech markets on 27 January 2025 with the release of Chinese-made DeepSeek AI, which seems to perform similarly to US tools such as ChatGPT.

    DeepSeek’s claim that it used significantly fewer resources and microchips led to a drop in share prices. Enormous investments in AI hardware might be less essential to AI development than had been assumed.

    It was reported that DeepSeek used distillation to learn from the OpenAI model and that this could be a breach of intellectual property (IP) rights – an ironic claim by a company that used swathes of IP-protected material to train its own model.

    These developments need to be followed closely to be used as lessons for the upcoming proposals for the ‘AI Gigafactories’ and ‘Apply AI’ initiatives.

    • 1.Has the Commission analysed DeepSeek’s claims that it operates an efficient AI system at lower cost and with fewer resources, including fewer advanced microchips, and does it deem these claims to be credible?
    • 2.What are the lessons to drawn from DeepSeek’s approach when developing an AI ecosystem in the EU with a fraction of the budget available to the US big tech firms and how will these lessons be incorporated in the upcoming ‘AI Gigafactories’ proposal?
    • 3.What is the Commission’s view on the method of distillation used to train AI models within the European IP framework?

    Submitted: 5.2.2025

    Last updated: 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Creators’ rights in the music industry and artificial intelligence – E-000528/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000528/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Eleonora Meleti (PPE)

    With the growing dominance of music streaming and the rapid development of artificial intelligence in music creation, there is a growing concern that AI could exacerbate existing inequalities, undermine the value of human creativity, threaten fair remuneration models and even cultural heritage itself.

    The European Parliament has underlined the need for better working conditions and fair remuneration for cultural and creative professionals, in particular creators, as well as the need to ensure that AI is used ethically by creating a clear, timely and visible label to inform the public that a work has been generated by AI.

    In view of the above:

    • 1.How does the Commission intend to ensure that music generated by AI does not replace or devalue the work of human creators? Will it introduce specific measures to regulate the use of AI in the music industry, such as a transparency requirement for AI-generated content?
    • 2.Will it undertake legislative initiatives aimed at creating fairer revenue distribution models and mechanisms to protect cultural diversity and creators’ rights in the area of digital services, namely music streaming and video on demand, including the rights to use their work for training AI?

    Submitted: 5.2.2025

    Last updated: 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Head of US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) calls on Prime Minister

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 11:51PM by PIB Delhi

    Mr. Elon Musk, Head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and CEO of Tesla called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today.

    Prime Minister and Mr. Musk discussed strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development. Their discussion also touched on opportunities to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, entrepreneurship and good governance.

    Mr. Musk was accompanied by family members for the meeting.

     

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: NSSTA Celebrates 17th Foundation Day on 13th February, 2025

    Source: Government of India (2)

    NSSTA Celebrates 17th Foundation Day on 13th February, 2025

    Theme: “Empowering Governance Through Statistical Excellence – 17 Years of Capacity Development and Collaboration.”

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 7:53PM by PIB Delhi

    The National Statistical Systems Training Academy (NSSTA), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India celebrated its 17th Foundation Day at Mahalanobis Auditorium, NSSTA, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. This celebration marks the 17 years of excellence in statistical training and capacity building of NSSTA. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Empowering Governance Through Statistical Excellence – 17 Years of Capacity Development and Collaboration.” The event underscored NSSTA’s crucial role in equipping statisticians and field officials with advanced methodologies, ensuring high quality data collection that supports evidence-based policy making.

    The celebration commenced with the lighting of the lamp by dignitaries, followed by Vandana and a performance of the musical instrument by the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. Shri K. B. Surwade, ISS, Additional Director General (CDD), MoSPI, delivered the welcome address, highlighting NSSTA’s role in developing statistical professionals and modernizing data collection methodologies. He emphasized its responsibility in strengthening statistical capacity across central, state, and UT governments, as well as developing countries, through a blend of traditional and modern approaches. He also underscored NSSTA’s national and global collaborations, the Indian data governance framework, and its commitment to fostering a data-driven and prosperous India, while expressing gratitude to MoSPI for their support.

    Shri P. R. Meshram, ISS, Director General (DG), MoSPI, addressed NSSTA’s 17th Foundation Day, highlighting its role in strengthening statistical systems since 2009. He emphasized NSSTA’s contributions to capacity building, having trained over 4,000 officers, including international participants, through collaborations with global institutions. Stressing the evolving role of statisticians, he called for technical proficiency, ethical integrity, and dynamic skilling to support Viksit Bharat 2047. Shri Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India, highlighted global perspectives on capacity building in official statistics and potential collaborations with NSSTA to promote statistical excellence. India has made significant contributions to the global statistical field, with pioneers like Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis shaping modern frameworks that continue to drive policymaking and governance. Accurate and timely data is crucial for tracking Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with platforms like the National Indicator Framework (NIF) and Global Indicator Framework (GIF) relying on robust statistics for informed decision-making. As India advances toward Viksit Bharat 2047, the United Nations remains a committed partner, emphasizing that data should serve as a unifying force in addressing complex global challenges.

     

     

    Dr. Saurabh Garg, IAS, Secretary, MoSPI, provided insights on statistical strategy and India’s future priorities. He emphasized the integration of advanced technologies, real-time data generation, and alternative data sources. Highlighting India’s evolving statistical landscape, he underscored the role of technology, collaboration, and high-quality data in shaping the future. He also acknowledged the National Sample Survey’s 75-year legacy in shaping India’s socio-economic and environmental policies, strengthened through NSSTA’s capacity-building initiatives. District-level data releases are in Plan, which will bolster evidence-based governance. The collaborations with IITs and other institutes of repute have fuelled research. Additionally, India’s leadership in the UN Statistical Commission and initiatives like iGOT have reinforced statistical literacy and innovation. With a focus on quality, inclusivity, and modernization, MoSPI aims to position India as a global leader in data-driven decision-making, aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

     

    Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Capacity Building Commission (CBC), addressed the collaboration and role of NSSTA in strengthening the vision of the Capacity Building Commission. NSSTA actively collaborates with iGOT and CBC and has demonstrated exemplary performance during National Learning Week (NLW) alongside the Field Operations Division of MOSPI, with a significant percentage of users completing the target of 4+ learning hours.

    He stressed that the world is evolving rapidly, making it imperative to embrace technology to realize the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. As the pace of data collection and surveys accelerates, there is an need to reassess how information is analyzed and utilized effectively. He emphasized that Al and big data are revolutionizing statistical applications, underscoring the necessity of integrating Al training into decision-making processes and promoting widespread digital adaptation. He further highlighted the critical role of NSSTA in advancing data-driven governance by enabling individuals to comprehend and apply data in everyday decision-making. Leveraging platforms such as IGOT for digital learning, he asserted that the focus must be on equipping all civil servants with essential statistical and technological competencies to enhance policy implementation and governance.

    In continuation to this, Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar, Chairman of NSC, emphasized its role in capacity development and the growing significance of data in AI and modern technologies. He highlighted that without embracing these innovations, individuals and institutions risk obsolescence. AI models rely on vast datasets for insights, making inferential statistics crucial for data relevance. While AI holds great potential for national development, human intelligence remains vital. He cautioned against misinterpreting data, stressing the need for sound judgment in decision-making.

     

    A vote of thanks presented by Dr. J. S. Tomar, DDG, NSSTA to all dignitaries, our partners, collaborators, and well-wishers, whose continued support and encouragement have strengthened NSSTA’s vision and activities.

    As part of the celebrations, NSSTA also released the Statistical Training needs Assessment (STA) Survey Report, prepared in collaboration with the Capacity Building Commission (CBC). The survey assesses the skill levels and training needs of Indian Statistical Service (ISS) officers and provides key insights to develop a targeted training strategy. The report highlights areas for capacity building, including advanced statistical methods, IT tools, and interdisciplinary competencies, ensuring a structured approach to professional development. Dignitaries at the event emphasized the significance of the report in fostering a culture of continuous learning and strengthening MoSPI’s training initiatives.

     

    A technical session followed, featuring discussions on the use of official statistics in governance. The speakers included Shri Amarjeet Sinha, IAS, Former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, who shared experiences on official statistics use cases for decision-making. Dr. Sonalde Desai, NCAER, highlighted the importance of capacity development for producing and using official statistics. Dr. Amandeep Singh Kapoor, IPS, Director, CDTI, Jaipur, emphasized the importance of NSSTA and CDTI collaboration for mutual benefits. NSSTA is also collaborating with other national institutes of repute, as well as UN and international agencies like the World Bank, IMF SARTTAC. Through partnerships with global organizations, we are aligning our methodologies with international best practices while maintaining their relevance to our unique national context. He highlighted the role of data inclusivity in policymaking, advocating for the integration of AI and non-traditional data sources such as satellite imagery and mobile data to enhance data collection and analysis. Additionally, he stressed the necessity of district-wise granular datasets for more effective policy targeting and capacity-building initiatives. Through partnerships with global organizations, we are aligning our methodologies with international best practices while maintaining their relevance to our unique national context. Representatives from the first three ISS pass-out batches (2007, 2008, and 2009) of NSSTA shared their training experiences and highlighted the way forward.

     

    The event concluded with a vibrant cultural program. Today`s NSSTA 17thfoundation day celebrated NSSTA’s commitment to nurturing a future ready statistical workforce. As India moves towards realizing vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, NSSTA remains a cornerstone in the evolution of India’s statistical ecosystem, ensuring that official statistics continue to drive informed policy making and national progress. With 75 years of NSS shaping India’s development, NSSTA’s role in building the capacity of the next generation of statistical professionals will be instrumental in ensuring a data-driven and prosperous future to achieve the vision of Vikshit Bharat 2047.

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh Highlights in Rajya Sabha India’s robust disaster preparedness including earthquake preparedness as well as disaster management strategies

    Source: Government of India

    Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh Highlights in Rajya Sabha India’s robust disaster preparedness including earthquake preparedness as well as disaster management strategies

    Gujarat Disaster Management Committee was the first of its kind to be established when Sh Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister and subsequently, inspired by this, in 2005, the National Disaster Management Committee came into existence

    Posted On: 13 FEB 2025 7:47PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, while responding to questions in the Rajya Sabha, outlined India’s robust disaster preparedness including earthquake preparedness as well as disaster management strategies. He emphasized the significant progress made over the years in strengthening the nation’s resilience to seismic activities, particularly in high-risk regions like Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and the Himalayan belt.

    Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted that following the Gujarat earthquakes, the Gujarat Disaster Management Committee was the first of its kind to be established when Sh Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister and subsequently, inspired by this, in 2005, the National Disaster Management Committee came into existence. The Institute of Seismological Research was first established in Gujarat by Narendra Modi as CM and later as PM he also set up the National Centre of Seismology, reinforcing the country’s scientific approach towards earthquake preparedness.

    The Minister informed the House that in the last decade, seismic observatories have increased significantly. In 2014, there were only 80 observatories, whereas today, their number has grown to 168. This expansion surpasses the progress made in the previous 70 years, ensuring better monitoring and response capabilities.

    In earthquake-prone areas like Kutch, Bhuj, Uttarakhand, and the Himalayan belt, significant preventive measures have been adopted. Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that in 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a 10-point agenda for disaster risk reduction, aligning with the Vision Document 2047, which envisions an earthquake-resilient India. Regular mock exercises are conducted as part of the preventive strategy.

    Retrofitting of structures has been a major focus post-Bhuj and Kutch earthquakes. Recognizing that nearly 59-60% of India’s geographical area is prone to earthquakes, building code compliance has been strictly enforced. Old buildings are being retrofitted and strengthened to withstand seismic events. Notably, AIIMS New Delhi and Bhuj hospitals were among the first institutions included in the restructuring plan. Moving forward, schools and other sensitive infrastructure will also be integrated into the retrofitting initiative. Financial grants have been sanctioned to support these efforts.

    For the Himalayan region, which is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, early warning systems and a well-defined disaster response framework have been established. Public awareness campaigns have also been a priority. Dr. Jitendra Singh mentioned initiatives such as ‘Aapda Ka Samna’ on Doordarshan, mock drills, and the ‘Homeowners Guide for Earthquake and Cyclone Safety,’ which provides citizens with essential safety measures. Additionally, in 2021, simplified earthquake safety guidelines were introduced, offering comprehensive specifications for statistical and building infrastructure safety under the Building Code of India.

    Regarding Northeast India’s earthquake preparedness, Dr. Jitendra Singh affirmed that it remains a top priority. Several observatories have been installed to monitor seismic activities of magnitude 3.0 and above. Over the past few years, special attention has been given to strengthening disaster resilience in the region. He also underscored that most of the missions and schemes launched in the first 100 days of the Modi Government 3.0 either focus on the Northeast or emphasize technological advancements. Notable initiatives include ‘Mission Mausam’ under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a semiconductor development mission, and a ₹1,000 crore allocation for space startups. The Minister also noted that Prime Minister Modi has visited the Northeast nearly 70 times in the last decade, demonstrating the government’s commitment to the region’s development.

    Addressing the issue of infrastructure insurance against earthquake-induced damage, Dr. Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha about the ‘Risk Transfer Mechanism’. This mechanism assesses disaster-related damages and ensures the provision of insurance coverage. He stressed that comprehensive guidelines have been established, and it is the responsibility of relevant agencies to ensure strict adherence to these protocols.

    The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to enhancing disaster preparedness and resilience across India, leveraging advanced technology, public awareness, and proactive policy measures to mitigate earthquake risks effectively.

    *****

    NKR/PSM

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Chairman Aguilar: The Republican Rip Off will fuel inflation, hand out trillions in tax breaks for billionaires

    Source: US House of Representatives – Democratic Caucus

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –

    February 13, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar joined House Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle, New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar and Representative Veronica Escobar for a press call with Families Over Billionaires on how the House Republican budget does nothing to lower costs and instead harms Americans by gutting Medicaid and food assistance, all while handing massive tax cuts to billionaires.

    CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate being here and very much appreciate hearing the stories of Mary Beth and Mary Carol. It just reiterates the chaos and the confusion that you see here in Washington, D.C.—with House Republicans fighting Senate Republicans, and House Republicans fighting each other. It just can’t compare to the chaos caused by the Republican Rip Off. 

    House Democrats are united in fighting for the American people, and I want to thank especially Congresswoman Escobar on the Budget Committee and Ranking Member Boyle, who you heard from earlier, for their important work. And special thanks to Chair Schneider and Chair Casar for bringing together every corner of the Democratic caucus to stand up to massive tax giveaways to billionaires and corporations at the expense of working families.

    The Republican plan to gut Medicaid is going to make health care less accessible and more expensive in Red states and Blue states. Taking away SNAP benefits will take food off the table for mothers, children and veterans in Red States and Blue states. Eliminating the Department of Education will close neighborhood schools and raise property taxes in Red States and Blue states. Inflation is rising because the Trump Administration cares more about renaming the Gulf of Mexico than in lowering costs. The Republican Rip Off will explode the deficit and add fuel to the inflation fire consuming far too many Americans. Now is not the time to hand out trillions in tax breaks for billionaires. 

    House Democrats want to cut taxes for working families. The American people deserve a little breathing room, but House Republicans are prioritizing their billionaire donors and friends—and we are prepared to fight this with every tool in our toolbox. Thank you so much. Michael, I’ll turn it back over to you.

    Audio of the full press call and Q&A is here.

    ###

    Previous Article

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: H&R Block and Tinder Team Up to Celebrate Singles this Tax Season

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Managing finances as a single person can be tough, especially in the face of rising costs. That is why H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), the pioneer of the tax preparation category founded 70 years ago, has teamed up with Tinder to give 10 lucky singles a financial boost on Feb. 15, 2025, National Singles Awareness Day. Through a special sweepstakes offered this tax season, the leading companies are offering singles a chance to win extra cash – recognizing that navigating money matters alone can be tough, and a little support goes a long way.

    Beyond daily expenses, tax season sheds light on the financial disparities between singles and couples. In 2022, single filers received an average refund of $1,777, while married couples received an average refund of $2,620, and heads of household received more than three times what single filers received1.

    “Married couples often benefit from a lower effective tax rate and a larger refund when they file jointly, combining their income, deductions and credits,” said Andy Phillips, Vice President, H&R Block’s The Tax Institute. “Meanwhile, the lower refund size for single filers is likely the result of other factors, such as single filers being less likely to claim child-related tax credits than head of household or married filers.”

    Easing Financial Challenges

    To help ease the financial challenges some singles may face, H&R Block and Tinder are hosting a sweepstakes that will run from Feb. 15 to March 15. How does it work? Starting on National Singles Awareness Day, Tinder users can enter for a chance to win $1,777, accessible in the Tinder app or Tinder’s TikTok bio. Entrants must be 18+ and a U.S. resident2. See here for more information and to enter for a chance to win on Feb. 15.

    What many know is that financial wellness is not just personal – it shapes relationships, starting with the one you have with yourself. And, in the dating world, financial stability is now a top priority.

    A survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Tinder found that one of the top traits men and women seek in a potential partner is financial stability (20%), along with loyalty (48%), attractiveness (42%) and honesty (37%). Reflecting this trend, “finance” became the second most popular Tinder bio mention in 2024, surging 82% from the year prior3.

    Filing Taxes: Almost As Easy As Tinder’s Swipe®Experience

    This is not H&R Block’s first partnership focused on navigating the world of taxes and finances as a single person. During the 2024 tax season, H&R Block broke the traditional marketing mold by creating Responsibility Island, a parody that aired on Roku and YouTube and is based on well-known and loved reality TV dating shows. Responsibility Island featured a group of young adults who think they are embarking on the latest dating show journey. To their surprise, what they thought would be an adventure to find true love is a responsibility boot camp. The show followed cast members as they took on a gauntlet of challenges in adulting designed to teach self-reliance and productivity. In the finale, they faced the mother of all responsibility to get off the island – filing their own taxes.

    “At H&R Block, we want to make filing your taxes as easy as the Swipe Experience,” said Jill Cress, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer, H&R Block. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Tinder to connect with their audience and meet Gen Z customers where they are. After all, 87% of our Gen Z customer base is single. While we cannot guarantee a perfect match, we can guarantee stress-free filing that is accessible for everyone.”

    For more information on the sweepstakes, check out the Official Rules on Feb. 15, and head to Tinder’s Tik Tok and Instagram, keeping an eye out for a guest appearance from one of the beloved stars from Responsibility Island. You might hear a few hints dropped on what is to come for the show’s cast later this tax season.

    To learn more about H&R Block’s tax preparation services, many ways to file, and year-round financial support, visit hrblock.com. For media assets, visit hrblock.com/tax-center/newsroom or for a downloadable Tax Season 2025 media kit, visit https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/media-kit/tax-season-2025/. And for helpful tips and information, follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

    About H&R Block 
    H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation services, financial products, and small-business solutions. The company blends digital innovation with human expertise and care as it helps people get the best outcome at tax time and also be better with money using its mobile banking app, Spruce. Through Block Advisors and Wave, the company helps small-business owners thrive with year-round bookkeeping, payroll, advisory, and payment processing solutions. For more information, visit H&R Block News.  

    About Tinder 
    Launched in 2012, Tinder® revolutionized how people meet, growing from 1 match to one billion matches in just two years. This rapid growth demonstrates its ability to fulfill a fundamental human need: real connection. Today, the app has been downloaded over 630 million times, leading to over 97 billion matches, serving approximately 50 million users per month in 190 countries and 45+ languages – a scale unmatched by any other app in the category. In 2024, Tinder won four Effie Awards for its first-ever global brand campaign, It Starts with a Swipe™.

    Tinder®, Swipe®, the flame logo, and It Starts with a Swipe™ are registered trademarks of Tinder LLC.

    1Source: Table 1.3. All Returns: Sources of Income, Adjustments, Deductions, Credits, and Tax Items, by Filing Status, Tax Year 2021 (Filing Year 2022); SOI tax stats – Individual statistical tables by filing status | Internal Revenue Service
    2No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. 18+ U.S. only. Rules at https://fooji.info/SinglesTaxRefundRules
    3A survey of 4000 18-30-year-olds who are actively dating in the US, UK, Canada and Australia between Sept. 25, 2024 and Nov. 4, 2024 conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Tinder

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pastor Is Sentenced To 10 Years For Possession And Receipt Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    The Defendant Used the Church’s Computer to Access, View, and Download Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of Children

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Ashley James Crouse, 53, of Granite Falls, N.C., was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for possession and receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Lawrence J. Cameron, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Crouse was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

    Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, Roger “Chip” Hawley, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Sheriff Alan C. Jones of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Reed Baer of the Hickory Police Department, join Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron in making today’s announcement.

    According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in April 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) referred a tip to law enforcement that a Dropbox account user had uploaded videos containing CSAM. Law enforcement determined that the Dropbox user was Crouse, who was a pastor at a church in Caldwell County. On November 3, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Crouse’s residence and the church. From Crouse’s office at the church, detectives seized a computer tower, an iPad, and two thumb drives.

    Crouse admitted to law enforcement officers that he had been downloading and collecting child pornography for five to six years and that he viewed CSAM at the church while multi-tasking and completing church business. The investigation determined that Crouse routinely used his computer at the church to access, view, and download CSAM. A forensic examination of Crouse’s church computer and other digital devices revealed that Crouse shared child pornography and links to child pornography through the Telegram application and that he had used AI and a software program to make child and other pornography. In total, Crouse possessed over 1,200 videos and 450 images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

    Also on the church computer, investigators found that Crouse maintained a book that outlines in detail how to sexually abuse children. The forensic examiner further found evidence that Crouse had installed an anti-forensic software program on his church computer which he used to permanently delete files and folders. 

    On August 21, 2024, Crouse pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography that involved a minor who had not attained the age of 12 years, and receipt of child pornography. Crouse remains in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

    In making today’s announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron commended the FBI, the SBI, the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hickory Police Department for their investigation of the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani Ford of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

    This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Enhancing supply chain efficiency with agentic systems

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Enhancing supply chain efficiency with agentic systems

    The supply chain challenge continues 

    Retailers and consumer goods companies have faced constant change, particularly in supply chains. New sales and distribution models, such as online sales, omnichannel approaches, direct-to-consumer sales, and complex ecosystems, have evolved. External disruptions are frequent, with 90% of leaders reporting supply chain challenges in 20241. 

    Supply chain agility and resiliency rely on fast and accurate decision making. Poor decisions or slow responses lead to missed promises, negatively impacting revenue and customer satisfaction, and increasing costs due to inefficient shipments and higher inventory levels. 

    To address these challenges, there is an urgent need to improve both the quality and speed of decision making in supply chain management. 

    Microsoft Cloud for Retail

    Connect your customers, your people, and your data.

    Enter agents and agentic systems

    Agentic systems offer a revolutionary opportunity to enhance decision making quality and speed. Triggered by business events, agents collect and analyze relevant data to either act directly or recommend actions. 

    Microsoft announced the ability to build autonomous agents using Microsoft Copilot Studio during Microsoft Ignite in October 2024. In a supply chain context, this capability could, for example, allow for the identification and action upon alternative supply sources in the event of a delayed shipment, with minimal human intervention. 

    Overview of agentic systems 

    In the context of agentic systems, an agent refers to a system capable of autonomous decision making and action. These systems can pursue goals independently without direct human intervention. Agentic systems have the following characteristics: 

    • Autonomy. They operate independently, making decisions and executing tasks without human oversight, escalating to a human when necessary. 
    • Context aware. They interpret data and adjust actions accordingly. 
    • Goal orientation. They can aim to achieve specific objectives. 
    • Learning. They enhance their performance by using new data and past outcomes. 
    • Reasoning and decision making. Agents use reasoning to process information, infer relationships, and make decisions. 
    • Perception and sensing. Agents perceive their environment through sensors or other means, which allows them to be triggered by changes in the process.  
    • Skills and capabilities. Agents possess specific skills or capabilities to perform tasks. These skills can be learned or programmed.   
    • Memory. An agent’s memory stores relevant information for decision making and future actions. 

    Agents can be programmed to pursue specific objectives once activated. For instance, when searching for an alternative supply source, they can prioritize cost minimization rather than selecting the first available option. 

    Agents are already delivering value for customers—for example, one customer has autonomous agents reviewing shipping invoices with more use cases planned. Over time, agents can be developed for various tasks across the organization, with Microsoft Copilot serving as the ‘UI for AI’.  

    Have we heard this before? 

    This may sound like RPA (Robotic Process Automation). You might also question how an agent differs from a copilot. 

    RPA employs rules-based automation, while agents enhance this capability by reasoning over data and using large language models (LLMs) to extract relevant information from extensive datasets. Whereas an RPA-based solution is rigid in terms of the scenarios that it can address and requires programming to make changes, an agent-based process automation solution can learn and improve over time, resulting in more effective outcomes. 

    Agents operate autonomously, unlike copilots who assist users in real-time. An agent can work within Copilot, aligning with the Microsoft vision of Copilot as the UI for AI. In the future, users will have one copilot but multiple agents including many working autonomously behind the scenes. 

    How agents can operate in the retail and consumer goods (RCG) supply chain 

    Agents can be widely applied across the RCG supply chain to automate repetitive tasks, analyze vast amounts of data for insights, and improve supply chain management. An ideal use case involves tasks that are human-intensive, repetitive, and require real-time decision making, where AI can significantly boost efficiency and accuracy. The criteria for an ideal use case includes high data availability, clearly defined achievable outcomes, and the potential for measurable improvements in revenue and cost savings. 

    AI agents can play a crucial role in retail store performance and inventory management practices. An agent can autonomously monitor performance data to alert the store manager when store performance metrics fall below a defined threshold. By comparing performance across similar stores, the agent can identify areas for improvement and recommend actions to improve store performance.  

    Agents can help to avoid stockout and overstock situations at retail locations. By analyzing data from various sources (such as sales, inventory, promotions, and external events), an agent can identify when a sales spike is misaligned with the forecast, leading to a potential shortage, and alert the supply chain team. The agent recommends a replenishment order which it can automatically generate to help ensure optimal stock levels, lower carrying costs, and reduce the likelihood of stockouts or surplus inventory. 

    Mitigating challenges with agentic AI

    Disruptions across the supply chain often lead to product shortages and low case fill rate (CFR), leading to the complex daily task of allocating inventory across your customers. An agent can analyze customer orders, current inventory levels, and product substitution options to identify potential CFR situations. The agent allocates inventory by prioritizing orders based on predefined criteria such as customer loyalty, customer segmentation, order value, SLA fines, and urgency. 

    One of the biggest challenges facing RCG companies in 2025 is assessing the impact of tariffs. AI agents can evaluate and recommend alternative suppliers from different regions to mitigate the risk of high tariffs. This diversification strategy helps in maintaining a steady supply of materials while minimizing costs. By continuously monitoring tariff regulations and market conditions, an AI agent can suggest cost-saving measures such as bulk purchasing before tariff hikes or shifting production to countries with lower tariffs. An agent can assist in negotiating better terms with suppliers by analyzing market conditions and historical pricing data. This helps to ensure that companies get the best possible deals despite tariff fluctuations.  

    What’s next? 

    Consider the significant amount of time and effort that it takes today to answer the question: “How can I optimize my supply chain to boost sales by 10%?”. 

    Although this might feel like a supply chain question, it involves finance, sales, marketing, and possibly manufacturing. It’s such a complex question that answering it is likely to need days or weeks of analysis. 

    Today, agents integrated into Copilot enable users to ask specific questions in defined areas. This capability will expand in scope and complexity over time, eventually leading to a comprehensive redesign of business applications. 

    Project Sophia envisions agents, copilot, and business applications converging into an infinite research canvas.   

    Designed with an AI first approach, Project Sophia lets you ask business questions by analyzing data from various disparate systems and inputs. The AI guides you to view different perspectives, helping you understand and act on insights holistically. 

    Project Sophia reimagines the user experience, supporting each job function to address questions from their perspective while integrating strategic and tactical approaches. 

    Getting started with agentic systems 

    Increasing AI’s potential to scale value chain optimization in retail, consumer goods 

    Agentic AI lends itself well to navigating the complexity of routes to market—integrating manufacturing and sales strategies, selling through multiple channels or direct to consumer, managing multiple product lines and businesses, and integrating marketing and sales efforts globally. 

    Agentic AI is an integral tool that gives LLMs agency, with the ability to act autonomously. Whereas LLMs have previously been used to perform tasks including generating text and summarizing documents, they have not been able to act on their recommendations. Agentic AI on the other hand, is designed to drive goal-based optimizations and can dynamically adapt and execute goals with high predictability and minimal human oversight. Together, advancements in generative AI and agentic AI will redefine strategic value and productivity derived from technology, incorporating more advanced decision making processes with greater accuracy and speed. 

    Identify business problems and scenarios for more strategic engagement 

    As you consider how to use AI agents in a strategic manner, it is vital to frame applications of agentic AI in the larger context of identifying line of business processes that lend themselves to automation: optimizing time-consuming and mundane tasks/scenarios; establishing user trust in the agent’s capabilities and establishing clear operational guardrails for agentic AI including data governance, privacy, security; and instilling confidence in the agent’s value delivery, extending collaborative work management beyond task tracking to planning and execution functions.  

    The integration of agentic AI and generative AI into business applications signifies a monumental shift in how organizations can approach problem solving, strategic planning, and operational efficiency. By using advanced AI capabilities, businesses can anticipate a future where decision making is not only faster and more accurate, but also more insightful and holistic. This convergence of technology paves the way for innovative solutions and unprecedented levels of productivity, firmly with AI at the core of tomorrow’s business landscape. 

    Learn more about agentic systems

    Explore Microsoft Cloud for Retail.

    Sources

    1 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/supply-chain-risk-survey  

    Felice Miller

    Business Strategy Leader, Supply Chain & Operations, Worldwide Retail and Consumer Goods and Gaming, Microsoft

    Felice leads Supply Chain and Sustainability Strategy for Microsoft’s Worldwide Retail and Consumer Goods Industry Group collaborating with customers and partners to reimagine data and AI solutions, and leveraging technology to drive innovation and better business outcomes. She has extensive experience in consumer products, retail, and global manufacturing. Felice has been an angel investor in early-stage startups, the founder of Delvv, a machine learning studio that created AI-driven interface technology to enhance the smartphone user experience and is an advocate for consumer-centric technology in the mobile space.

    See more articles from this author

    Oliver Guy

    Global Industry Architect, Microsoft Retail & Consumer Goods, Microsoft

    Oliver Guy, Global Industry Architect, specializes in helping business leaders innovate and compete more flexibility and efficiently. For more than 25 years he has delivered value for retail and consumer goods companies across the globe with technology led change. Oliver is a recognized Retail Technology Influencer by Retail Technology Innovation Hub (RTIH) and is also a RetailWire BrainTrust panelist.

    See more articles from this author

    Paul Manikas

    Principal Industry Architect, Industry Solutions Delivery, Microsoft

    As a Manufacturing industry architect, Paul works with senior business and IT leaders to help them understand how to apply Microsoft’s technologies and partner solutions to digitally transform their company. Leveraging over 35 years of manufacturing industry experience, Paul works with clients to build their transformations strategy, considering four key pillars of digital transformation: customer experience, operational excellence, workforce transformation and product-as-a-service.

    See more articles from this author

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: AI at Work: Let’s talk about AI pricing strategies

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: AI at Work: Let’s talk about AI pricing strategies

    When your company is investing in AI, it can be hard to gauge ROI. What use cases will generate the most value? How will you measure ROI? With these big questions looming, it’s understandable that leaders might feel uncertain about answering one of the most basic questions: how much should I spend? 

    Adding to the complexity is the fact that we’re operating in a fast-changing AI market, as innovations constantly disrupt the status quo and models become commoditized. Last month it was DeepSeek—what will tomorrow bring? In the midst of so much volatility, it’s natural to wonder how this will affect the AI market in general, and prices specifically. 

    But here’s the thing: No matter how uncertain and fast-moving the environment is, you still need to drive value from your AI investment. So don’t get distracted by factors you can’t control. 

    At Microsoft, the core of my job is helping customers get the most value out of their AI investments. As part of that effort, we’ve been evolving our approach to pricing AI. We believe the best way to optimize your organization’s AI investment is to focus on three key elements: 

    Here’s the thinking behind our approach and how it plays out in our pricing model. 

    The Price That’s Right 
    Microsoft recently released a new offering called Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. It’s the simplest way to illustrate what I’m talking about because it’s the simplest price: free. Copilot Chat is AI chat for our Microsoft 365 commercial customers, available at no charge. It’s powered by GPT-4o, one of the most sophisticated mainstream models available. 

    I bring this up not to pitch you our product, but to show how it addresses those key elements that every organization needs to consider when investing in AI. 

    • Flexibility: A free offering offers a low-stakes way for everyone in an organization to learn how one of the most foundational AI use cases—chat—can help them become more productive in their day-to-day work. Organizations can then see how those collective productivity gains start to generate ROI. 

    • Cost efficiency: This one may seem a little obvious, but it’s worth noting that what you’re getting for free is an on-ramp to discovering the value of AI at scale. You’re not getting access to maximum-strength AI—that would be our flagship Microsoft 365 Copilot offering—but it’s enough to start identifying where potential value lies. 

    At the next level of AI capability are agents, and here we took a page from the cloud-services pricing playbook. Along with the free Copilot Chat, we’re also offering metered access to AI agents—you pay as you go based on the volume and complexity of tasks the agent carries out. We’re aiming to lower the barrier to entry for one of AI’s most exciting uses by once again addressing those three core needs. 

    • Flexibility: With pay as you go, you’re not making a big financial commitment before you know how valuable agents will be for transforming your organization’s business processes. Employees have a low-risk way to experiment with agents and learn what they’re capable of. 

    The third leg of the AI-pricing stool is probably the most familiar: subscriptions. You pay a fixed fee for unlimited access to AI. It’s simple and straightforward. This is how we price Microsoft 365 Copilot. Once again, it’s an approach that addresses the three core needs of organizations investing in AI—in this case, most likely the ones furthest along the AI adoption curve. 

    • Cost efficiency: Pay-as-you-go agents make sense up to a point, and that point is where you’re spending more on metered use than you would for a subscription. It’s easy to see when you’re hitting that tipping point, and it’s easy to switch to a flat-fee subscription. 

    Finding Your Mix 
    How your organization invests in AI probably depends on how far along you are on the AI adoption curve, but for many companies it will involve a mix of these three approaches. 

    Whenever a technology is new, some companies want pay-as-you-go pricing. They’re excited to get moving quickly but don’t want a big commitment or a lot of risk. Typically, once they start using it and seeing the value, they come back and say, “Actually, I don’t want consumption-based pricing any longer. Will you give me a flat rate instead?” I expect the same thing will happen with AI. 

    There’s another approach that’s starting to get some attention. Outcome-based pricing ties the cost of AI services directly to specific results—the fee could be based on, say, the number of resolved conversations in customer support. This approach builds ROI right into the payment structure. But for it to work, both the provider and customer need to be perfectly aligned on what constitutes results. As these issues get smoothed out, we expect this model to work for some applications. 

    Summing It Up 
    There’s a lot going on right now with AI (and the world in general). Don’t let that paralyze you. 

    The big picture is that AI is essential to your company’s future, whatever industry you’re in. Every employee will have an AI assistant, and every business process will be transformed by agents. Right now, it’s essential for your employees to explore and innovate with AI. By staying focused on flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency, you’ll put your organization in the best position to most effectively invest in AI. It will help you tune out the noise and concentrate on your path to maximizing the value of AI, regardless of the news cycle. 

    For more insights on AI and the future of work, subscribe to this newsletter.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Enzymes are the engines of life − machine learning tools could help scientists design new ones to tackle disease and climate change

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sam Pellock, Postdoctoral Scholar in Biochemistry, University of Washington

    Enzymes have complicated molecular structures that are hard to replicate. Design Cells/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Enzymes are molecular machines that carry out the chemical reactions that sustain all life, an ability that has captured the attention of scientists like me.

    Consider muscle movement. Your body releases a molecule called acetylcholine to trigger your muscle cells to contract. If acetylcholine sticks around for too long, it can paralyze your muscles – including your heart muscle cells – and, well, that’s that. This is where the enzyme acetylcholinesterase comes in. This enzyme can break down thousands of acetylcholine molecules per second to ensure muscle contraction is stopped, paralysis avoided and life continued. Without this enzyme, it would take a month for a molecule of acetylcholine to break down on its own – about 10 billion times slower.

    You can imagine why enzymes are of particular interest to scientists looking to solve modern problems. What if there were a way to break down plastic, capture carbon dioxide or destroy cancer cells as fast as acetylcholinesterase breaks down acetylcholine? If the world needs to take action quickly, enzymes are a compelling candidate for the job – if only researchers could design them to handle those challenges on demand.

    Designing enzymes, unfortunately, is very hard. It’s like working with an atom-sized Lego set, but the instructions were lost and the thing won’t hold together unless it’s assembled perfectly. Newly published research from our team suggests that machine learning can act as the architect on this Lego set, helping scientists build these complex molecular structures accurately.

    What’s an enzyme?

    Let’s take a closer look at what makes up an enzyme.

    Enzymes are proteins – large molecules that do the behind-the-scenes work that keep all living things alive. These proteins are made up of amino acids, a set of building blocks that can be stitched together to form long strings that get knotted up into specific shapes.

    The specific structure of a protein is key to its function in the same way that the shapes of everyday objects are. For example, much like a spoon is designed to hold liquid in a way that a knife simply can’t, the enzymes involved in moving your muscles aren’t well suited for photosynthesis in plants.

    For an enzyme to function, it adopts a shape that perfectly matches the molecule it processes, much like a lock matches a key. The unique grooves in the enzyme – the lock – that interact with the target molecule – the key – are found in a region of the enzyme known as the active site.

    The induced fit model of enzymes states that both the enzyme and its substrate change shape when they interact.
    OpenStax, CC BY-SA

    The active site of the enzyme precisely orients amino acids to interact with the target molecule when it enters. This makes it easier for the molecule to undergo a chemical reaction to turn into a different one, making the process go faster. After the chemical reaction is done, the new molecule is released and the enzyme is ready to process another.

    How do you design an enzyme?

    Scientists have spent decades trying to design their own enzymes to make new molecules, materials or therapeutics. But making enzymes that look like and go as fast as those found in nature is incredibly difficult.

    Enzymes have complex, irregular shapes that are made up of hundreds of amino acids. Each of these building blocks needs to be placed perfectly or else the enzyme will slow down or completely shut off. The difference between a speed racer and slowpoke enzyme can be a distance of less than the width of a single atom.

    Initially, scientists focused on modifying the amino acid sequences of existing enzymes to improve their speed or stability. Early successes with this approach primarily improved the stability of enzymes, enabling them to catalyze chemical reactions at a higher range of temperatures. But this approach was less useful for improving the speed of enzymes. To this day, designing new enzymes by modifying individual amino acids is generally not an effective way to improve natural enzymes.

    This model of acetylcholinesterase shows acetylcholine (green) bound to its active site.
    Sam Pellock, CC BY-SA

    Researchers found that using a process called directed evolution, in which the amino acid sequence of an enzyme is randomly changed until it can perform a desired function, proved much more fruitful. For example, studies have shown that directed evolution can improve chemical reaction speed, thermostability, and even generate enzymes with properties that aren’t seen in nature. However, this approach is typically labor-intensive: You have to screen many mutants to find one that does what you want. In some cases, if there’s no good enzyme to start from, this method can fail to work at all.

    Both of these approaches are limited by their reliance on natural enzymes. That is, restricting your design to the shapes of natural proteins likely limits the kinds of chemistry that enzymes can facilitate. Remember, you can’t eat soup with a knife.

    Is it possible to make enzymes from scratch, rather than modify nature’s recipe? Yes, with computers.

    Designing enzymes with computers

    The first attempts to computationally design enzymes still largely relied on natural enzymes as a starting point, focusing on placing enzyme active sites into natural proteins.

    This approach is akin to trying to find a suit at a thrift store: It is unlikely you will find a perfect fit because the geometry of an enzyme’s active site (your body in this analogy) is highly specific, so a random protein with a rigidly fixed structure (a suit with random measurements) is unlikely to perfectly accommodate it. The resulting enzymes from these efforts performed much more slowly than those found in nature, requiring further optimization with directed evolution to reach speeds common among natural enzymes.

    Recent advances in deep learning have dramatically changed the landscape of designing enzymes with computers. Enzymes can now be generated in much the same way that AI models such as ChatGPT and DALL-E generate text or images, and you don’t need to use native protein structures to support your active site.

    AI tools are helping researchers design new proteins.

    Our team showed that when we prompt an AI model, called RFdiffusion, with the structure and amino acid sequence of an active site, it can generate the rest of the enzyme structure that would perfectly support it. This is equivalent to prompting ChatGPT to write an entire short story based on a prompt that only says to include the line “And sadly, the eggs never showed up.”

    We used this AI model specifically to generate enzymes called serine hydrolases, a group of proteins that have potential applications in medicine and plastic recycling. After designing the enzymes, we mixed them with their intended molecular target to see whether they could catalyze its breakdown. Encouragingly, many of the designs we tested were able to break down the molecule, and better than previously designed enzymes for the same reaction.

    To see how accurate our computational designs were, we used a method called X-ray crystallography to determine the shapes of these enzymes. We found that many of them were a nearly perfect match to what we digitally designed.

    Our findings mark a key advance in enzyme design, highlighting how AI can help scientists start to tackle complex problems. Machine learning tools could help more researchers access enzyme design and tap into the full potential of enzymes to solve modern-day problems.

    Sam Pellock receives funding from the Washington Research Foundation and Schmidt Futures program.

    – ref. Enzymes are the engines of life − machine learning tools could help scientists design new ones to tackle disease and climate change – https://theconversation.com/enzymes-are-the-engines-of-life-machine-learning-tools-could-help-scientists-design-new-ones-to-tackle-disease-and-climate-change-249565

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Is AI making us stupider? Maybe, according to one of the world’s biggest AI companies

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Brown, Professor in Philosophy, Director of the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland

    Nadia Piet + AIxDESIGN & Archival Images of AI/Better Images of AI, CC BY-SA

    There is only so much thinking most of us can do in our heads. Try dividing 16,951 by 67 without reaching for a pen and paper. Or a calculator. Try doing the weekly shopping without a list on the back of last week’s receipt. Or on your phone.

    By relying on these devices to help make our lives easier, are we making ourselves smarter or dumber? Have we traded efficiency gains for inching ever closer to idiocy as a species?

    This question is especially important to consider with regard to generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology such as ChatGPT, an AI chatbot owned by tech company OpenAI, which at the time of writing is used by 300 million people each week.

    According to a recent paper by a team of researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, the answer might be yes. But there’s more to the story.

    Thinking well

    The researchers assessed how users perceive the effect of generative AI on their own critical thinking.

    Generally speaking, critical thinking has to do with thinking well.

    One way we do this is by judging our own thinking processes against established norms and methods of good reasoning. These norms include values such as precision, clarity, accuracy, breadth, depth, relevance, significance and cogency of arguments.

    Other factors that can affect quality of thinking include the influence of our existing world views, cognitive biases, and reliance on incomplete or inaccurate mental models.

    The authors of the recent study adopt a definition of critical thinking developed by American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and colleagues in 1956. It’s not really a definition at all. Rather it’s a hierarchical way to categorise cognitive skills, including recall of information, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

    The authors state they prefer this categorisation, also known as a “taxonomy”, because it’s simple and easy to apply. However, since it was devised it has fallen out of favour and has been discredited by Robert Marzano and indeed by Bloom himself.

    In particular, it assumes there is a hierarchy of cognitive skills in which so-called “higher-order” skills are built upon “lower-order” skills. This does not hold on logical or evidence-based grounds. For example, evaluation, usually seen as a culminating or higher-order process, can be the beginning of inquiry or very easy to perform in some contexts. It is more the context than the cognition that determines the sophistication of thinking.

    An issue with using this taxonomy in the study is that many generative AI products also seem to use it to guide their own output. So you could interpret this study as testing whether generative AI, by the way it’s designed, is effective at framing how users think about critical thinking.

    Also missing from Bloom’s taxonomy is a fundamental aspect of critical thinking: the fact that the critical thinker not only performs these and many other cognitive skills, but performs them well. They do this because they have an overarching concern for the truth, which is something AI systems do not have.

    ChatGPT is used by 300 million people each week.
    Alex Photo Stock/Shutterstock

    Higher confidence in AI equals less critical thinking

    Research published earlier this year revealed “a significant negative correlation between frequent AI tool usage and critical thinking abilities”.

    The new study further explores this idea. It surveyed 319 knowledge workers such as healthcare practitioners, educators and engineers who discussed 936 tasks they conducted with the help of generative AI. Interestingly, the study found users consider themselves to use critical thinking less in the execution of the task, than in providing oversight at the verification and editing stages.

    In high-stakes work environments, the desire to produce high-quality work combined with fear of reprisals serve as powerful motivators for users to engage their critical thinking in reviewing the outputs of AI.

    But overall, participants believe the increases in efficiency more than compensate for the effort expended in providing such oversight.

    The study found people who had higher confidence in AI generally displayed less critical thinking, while people with higher confidence in themselves tended to display more critical thinking.

    This suggests generative AI does not harm one’s critical thinking – provided one has it to begin with.

    Problematically, the study relied too much on self-reporting, which can be subject to a range of biases and interpretation issues. Putting this aside, critical thinking was defined by users as “setting clear goals, refining prompts, and assessing generated content to meet specific criteria and standards”.

    “Criteria and standards” here refer more to the purposes of the task than to the purposes of critical thinking. For example, an output meets the criteria if it “complies with their queries”, and the standards if the “generated artefact is functional” for the workplace.

    This raises the question of whether the study was really measuring critical thinking at all.

    The research found that people with higher confidence in themselves tended to display more critical thinking.
    ImYanis/Shutterstock

    Becoming a critical thinker

    Implicit in the new study is the idea that exercising critical thinking at the oversight stage is at least better than an unreflective over-reliance on generative AI.

    The authors recommend generative AI developers add features to trigger users’ critical oversight. But is this enough?

    Critical thinking is needed at every stage before and while using AI – when formulating questions and hypotheses to be tested, and when interrogating outputs for bias and accuracy.

    The only way to ensure generative AI does not harm your critical thinking is to become a critical thinker before you use it.

    Becoming a critical thinker requires identifying and challenging unstated assumptions behind claims and evaluating diverse perspectives. It also requires practising systematic and methodical reasoning and reasoning collaboratively to test your ideas and thinking with others.

    Chalk and chalkboards made us better at mathematics. Can generative AI make us better at critical thinking? Maybe – if we are careful, we might be able to use generative AI to challenge ourselves and augment our critical thinking.

    But in the meantime, there are always steps we can, and should, take to improve our critical thinking instead of letting an AI do the thinking for us.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Is AI making us stupider? Maybe, according to one of the world’s biggest AI companies – https://theconversation.com/is-ai-making-us-stupider-maybe-according-to-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-ai-companies-249586

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Coons, Wicker introduce bill to better financially protect poultry growers against avian flu outbreaks

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) yesterday introduced the Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act (HPAI ACT) to ensure that all poultry growers and laying operations in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) control areas whose operations are affected receive compensation. This bill was
    “As avian flu cases rise in Delaware, it’s vital that we have smart policies in place that protect Delaware’s independent family farmers and poultry growers both medically and financially. As it stands, blind spots in our HPAI compensation program punish growers for culling flu-free flocks,” said Senator Coons. “As co-Chair of the Senate Chicken Caucus, I hope that including this bipartisan solution in the next Farm Bill will provide a lifeline to all hardworking farmers who do their part in helping us contain disease outbreaks by offering them fair and immediate financial relief, allowing them to recover quickly and assisting them in maintaining the strength of our essential poultry supply chains.”
    “Farmers play a significant role in providing our nation with food and protecting our national security,” said Senator Wicker. “Unexpected avian flu outbreaks harm the poultry industry, put farmers at risk for financial hardship, and drive up the cost of chicken and eggs at the grocery store. Since the initial outbreak in 2022, HPAI has led to the loss of a record 156 million birds across the United States. This bipartisan legislation would ensure farmers are compensated for their work to contain these outbreaks.”
    “The current wave of Bird Flu outbreaks is leaving our farming communities twisting in the wind,” said Congressman Mark Alford. “When poultry operations test positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the federal government makes growers whole for lost revenue. The Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act will level the playing field by ensuring poultry growers and layer operations—who are impacted by USDA control zones put in place even though their own birds never tested positive—also qualify for indemnity payments. I’m proud to once again co-lead this critical bipartisan legislation to support Missouri’s agriculture community.”
    “The San Joaquin Valley is the heart of California agriculture, and our poultry farmers are on the front lines of the avian flu crisis. When they face challenges, we all pay the price—from farms to grocery stores. That’s why I’m leading the charge with the HPAI Act to provide real relief, protect our food supply, and ensure the farmers who feed America get the support they deserve,” said Congressman Jim Costa.
    Under the current policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), when an HPAI case is discovered, all poultry farms located within a 10-kilometer radius of the case are banned from placing flocks until the virus is contained. Afterward, all growers who have positive tests in their flocks receive compensation from the USDA, but not those within the control area whose flocks don’t contract HPAI. This creates a perverse incentive: once a control area is established, it is preferable for poultry operations within the area to have HPAI cases, as otherwise they will not receive compensation afterward despite undergoing many of the same financial struggles. This bill would rectify that so all growers in the control area are duly compensated. 
    Since the start of the HPAI outbreak in 2022, bird flu has affected 153 million birds in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to poultry growers and layer operations, driving food inflation even higher for Americans’ most cost-effective animal protein sources. 
    In addition to Senators Coons and Wicker, this legislation is cosponsored by Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
    Specifically, the HPAI Act would:
    Expand USDA-APHIS compensation to all poultry farmers in an HPAI control area. The program currently only compensates farmers whose flocks test positive, not those in the control area who are disallowed from placing flocks until the virus is contained, which sometimes takes months. 
    Simplify the calculation of indemnity. The payments to farmers will be calculated based on the average income they earned from the last five flocks. This method is more transparent and ensures that farmers will not face a cash shortfall in the face of an HPAI outbreak in their area.
    This legislation is endorsed by the Delaware Department of Agriculture, the Delmarva Chicken Association, the National Chicken Council, the United Egg Producers, the Delta Council, and the American Farm Bureau Federation.
    The full bill text is available here.
    A one-pager is available here. 
    Senator Coons and Senator Wicker are the co-Chairs of the Senate Chicken Caucus.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Celebrate Love with the Samsung Galaxy S25 this Valentine’s Day

    Source: Samsung

    Experience love like never before this Valentine’s Day, with the new Samsung Galaxy S25 Series. From memorable moments captured with breathtaking clarity to seamless connections that can bring hearts closer, the Galaxy S25 isn’t just a phone – it’s the AI companion that helps you express love, plan perfect dates, and turn every ordinary moment into an extraordinary moment. Whether you’re planning a surprise for your significant other or reminiscing about cherished memories, the Galaxy S25 is here to make it all happen with ease.
     

     
    New Ways to Find Romantic Spots and Gifts
    The Galaxy S25 is the love whisperer you never knew you needed. Powered by advanced AI, it’s not just smart – it’s intuitive, anticipating your needs to make sure you never forget important dates with your partner. Thanks to the ability to take seamless actions across apps. For instance, you can search for a romantic restaurant within a 10km radius of your location, that serves French cuisine, then add it into your diary and text or email an invitation to your partner.
     

     
    Capture Love’s Most Beautiful Moments – Even in low light
    Capturing love’s beautiful moments shouldn’t be ruined by imperfect lighting anymore. Capture your romantic evenings in stunning clarity with Nightography on the Galaxy S25 – whether it’s a candlelit dinner or a moonlit walk – even in low light. After capturing your video, edit using the improved Audio Eraser that lets you remove unwanted noise with great precision. Your love story deserves to shine any time of day, and the Galaxy S25 ensures every memory is captured in its most dazzling form.
     

     
    Never Forget a Special Date Again
    Spontaneous ideas deserve to be turned into cherished memories. Thanks to Search to Calendar, the Galaxy S25 effortlessly transforms those “We should do this!” moments into well-organised plans. Found the perfect spot for a getaway or remembered an anniversary you can’t miss? Simply search, and your phone adds it to your calendar – keeping love organised and ready to bloom.
     
    With Now Brief and Now Bar, your AI companion will keep you informed about hallmark days and personal anniversaries, and it could even help you plan the perfect surprise. Planning Valentine’s Day? Let the Galaxy S25 help you stay on top of important reminders and manage your calendar. Conversations flow effortlessly, leaving more room for what truly matters – your connection.
     

     
    The Love Letter Reimagined
    Gone are the days of handwritten love letters only (though they remain a powerful tool). With the Galaxy S25, you could ask Gemini to suggest a romantic haiku poem, or use Note or Chat Assist to write a short and sweet romantic message for your other half. With a few easy finger taps, your thoughts and dreams are ready to be shared with your partner most chicly.
     
    Thoughtful Gestures, Simplified
    In the digital age, gestures of love have never been easier. In-app Search helps you find and share memories, whether it’s an old photo or a sweet note, that instantly warms the heart. Want to surprise your partner with a long-lost photo from your first date or a memory from a shared trip? It’s as simple as searching and sending, strengthening your connection in the most heartfelt ways.
     

     
    The Gift of Knowing Exactly What They Want
    You could be “Netflix and Chilling” with your partner, and they see an item (anything from a plant to a pair of shoes) they like and you immediately think of getting it for them. No more guessing – Circle to Search is the secret weapon of thoughtful gift-giving, allowing you to snap and circle what’s on screen (whether it’s a photo or video) to search for exactly what your loved one wants. Circle to Search lets you get all the information about it (like where you can get it) without giving away your secret romantic intention. So, whether you’re buying a Valentine’s Day gift or surprising them on a special occasion, it’s all made effortless, ensuring every gift is a hit.
     
    Want another way gift-searching has been enhanced? With its human-like ability to interpret your needs, the Galaxy S25’s multimodal search can help you combine voice, image, and text inputs to search for ideas. Simply take pictures of items your partner likes, and the system can recommend gifts based on those inputs.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Video: Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor in Opposition to RFK, Jr. to Secretary of Health and Human Services

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine

    BROADCAST-QUALITY VIDEO IS AVAILABLE HERE.
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to President Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
    “I don’t believe Mr. Kennedy can separate fact from fiction. I don’t believe Mr. Kennedy can separate conspiracy from content,” Kaine said. “Now, you wouldn’t want someone suffering from that challenge in any position of leadership at any level of government—local, state, or federal. But this particular position, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, one of the most important positions in the nation as it respects to people’s physical and mental health, is exactly the wrong kind of a position for someone who can’t tell fact from fiction or content from conspiracy.”
    Kaine continued, “… the American public needs to be able to rely on HHS and other critical agencies for information that is not just about the state of their savings account or housing costs. This is about life and death.”
    Kaine then discussed the Gardasil vaccine, which is manufactured in Virginia and protects Americans from certain cancers caused by HPV, and raised concerns about RFK, Jr.’s previous comments on Gardasil. Kaine said, “[RFK, Jr.] has said that the vaccination is one of the most dangerous vaccines ever created. He has said that it’s dangerous and defective. On one of his website articles on his blog, he said that ‘it is inescapable that Gardasil kills girls.’ …He cannot separate fact from fantasy, content from conspiracy.”
    “This inability to tell the difference between fact and fiction and content and conspiracy would be dangerous enough if it was just about health information,” Kaine said. “But this individual’s inability to tell the difference between fact and fiction and between conspiracy and content is not just limited to health.”
    Kaine then brought up a previous post from RFK, Jr. posted on July 5, 2024, in which he refused to “take a side” on 9/11 conspiracy theories. Kaine said, “A lot of Virginia families lost loved ones that day… I don’t take it very well when someone says they won’t take sides about 9/11—when someone admits it’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t.”
    “If you cannot tell what happened on 9/11, if you decide to just freelance an opinion 23 years later, and tell the American public—and he’s running for president at the time—I will not take sides on 9/11, you should not have been nominated for this position in the first place,” said Kaine.
    “This is a very, very dangerous vote that we will cast tomorrow. Of any position in the federal government that needs somebody who can tell the difference between fact and fiction, conspiracy and content, HHS Secretary is that position,” Kaine concluded. “And Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. so badly flunks the test of what is needed—careful, reasoned information that people can count on—that I urge my colleagues, even if you voted in a committee, even if you voted on a procedural resolution to move this to the floor, stop now. You can still stop now. Don’t hurt this country. Don’t hurt the health of this country by putting someone in office who can’t even understand what happened on 9/11.”
    Kaine pressed RFK, Jr. on his previous statements regarding 9/11 and the Gardasil vaccine during RFK, Jr.’s nomination hearing. Last week, Kaine joined his colleagues in pressing RFK, Jr. over his conflicts of interest related to anti-vaccine lawsuits and his plan to transfer stake in anti-vaccine lawsuits to his son.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Helping Alberta industry lead the world

    [. However, many of these technologies don’t yet exist, are still early in development or are not yet commercially available. Given our energy leadership, Alberta will continue to lead the way.

    Alberta’s government is investing $55 million from the industry-funded TIER program to help industries, big and small, test and implement the technologies they need to keep leading the world. Delivered through Emissions Reduction Alberta, this funding will help 15 projects develop cutting-edge technologies that could one day be used across Canada and around the world.

    “When it comes to innovation, Alberta’s track record is second to none. This funding will help empower our industry and businesses to develop the new technologies that are in demand around the world. This funding is a win-win: creating jobs, reducing emissions, and strengthening our economy for the benefit of all Albertans.”

    Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas

    This funding will support projects across the economy, including the energy, newsprint, cement, water treatment, dairy and forestry sectors. In total, $46 million will go to 12 projects through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Industrial Transformation Challenge, with an additional $8.7 million invested in three projects approved through the Partnership Intake Program.

    “By investing in these technologies today, we are helping to maintain Alberta as a global leader in industrial innovation and paving the way for a more sustainable and competitive future across our industries.”

    Heather Stephens, chief operating officer, Emissions Reduction Alberta

    Funding ranges from $500,000 to $10 million for each project, including:

    • $10 million to help Alberta Newsprint Company make best-in-class energy efficiency upgrades that will reduce costs and improve the mill’s competitiveness.
    • $8.4 million to help Dairy Innovation West advance a new approach for developing concentrated milk products that can be transported with less energy and further processed into other dairy products, increasing the province’s milk-processing capacity.
    • $7.45 million to help the City of Calgary install a first-in-Alberta and second-in-Canada technology to use thermal energy at the Fish Creek wastewater treatment plant.
    • $4 million to help Lafarge Canada explore using calcined clay in cement products, lowering the overall emission intensity of cement while maintaining strength.
    • $3.7 million to help Flash Forest Inc. advance a proof-of-concept that uses drones, AI-based site selection software and ecological science to speed up and improve tree planting and reforestation. 
    • $2 million to help Merlin Plastics develop a commercial-scale operation that will divert hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills or incineration.
    • $700,000 to help TS-Nano Canada test a new product that will more effectively seal oil and gas wells, reducing potential methane leaks and reducing operational costs.

    “With support from the Government of Alberta and Emissions Reduction Alberta, Alberta Newsprint Company will adopt state-of-the-art technologies that significantly reduce its carbon footprint, demonstrating Alberta’s leadership in sustainable manufacturing.”

    Ron Stern, president and chief executive officer, Alberta Newsprint Company

    “This funding support enables the City of Calgary to employ innovative low-carbon technology to heat the new infrastructure for the Fish Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade project. By using heat pumps to recover thermal energy from wastewater effluent as a heat source, the project significantly reduces the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

    Michael Thompson, general manager, Infrastructure Services, City of Calgary

    “The support from the Government of Alberta and Emissions Reduction Alberta has been instrumental in driving the development and deployment of innovative technologies for the Dairy Innovation West facility. This funding not only accelerates our progress but also underscores Alberta’s commitment to advancing clean technology and sustainable solutions that have a lasting impact both locally and globally.”

    Henry Holtmann, chair, Dairy Innovation West

    A full list of funding and project details can be found at https://www.eralberta.ca. 

    Quick facts

    • These projects are estimated to reduce 119,000 tonnes of emissions each year, 394,000 tonnes of emissions by 2030, and more than 2.2 million tonnes of emissions by 2050.
    • These projects are estimated to create almost 1,600 jobs and inject $237 million into Alberta’s GDP by 2027.
    • Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Partnership Intake Program acts as a catalyst to de-risk and deploy novel technology solutions by giving applicants the opportunity to leverage funding from both Emissions Reduction Alberta and trusted partner organizations.
    • Industrial Transformation Challenge applicants and their technologies can originate from anywhere in the world, but projects must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta and show significant emissions reduction and economic benefits within the province.  
    • Successful applicants are eligible for up to $10 million per project, with a minimum request of $500,000. Funding received through the Industrial Transformation Challenge will match private contributions on a one-to-one basis.

    Related information

    • Industrial Transformation Challenge
    • Partnership Intake Program

    Multimedia

    • Watch the news conference

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Founder of Purported Artificial Intelligence-Driven Hedge Fund Pleads Guilty to Investment Adviser Fraud

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Defendant Targeted Egyptian-American Coptic Christians and Spent Victims’ Funds on Luxury Goods and Expensive Meals

    Earlier today, Mina Tadrus pled guilty at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York to committing investment adviser fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in Tadrus Capital LLC, a hedge fund Tadrus founded and operated, of more than $5 million.  Today’s proceeding took place before United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez.  When sentenced, Tadrus faces up to five years in prison.    Tadrus was charged in September 2023.

    John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York Field Office (IRS-CI), announced the guilty plea.

    “The defendant preyed on the Egyptian-American Coptic Christian community by falsely promising that his purported artificial intelligence-driven hedge fund would earn guaranteed annual returns of 30% or more, and taking advantage of their trust for his own personal gain,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “This Office has prioritized protecting and seeking justice for individual investors in our District and beyond.”

    Mr. Durham expressed his appreciation to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York Regional Office for its assistance in this matter.

    “The only thing more artificial than Tadrus’ AI-driven hedge fund was his sincerity.  He sold a dream to trusting investors and instead of turning their money into profit, he swindled it for his own luxuries.  Today’s plea and forfeiture agreements are just a small step forward for his victims to receive genuine justice,” said Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI New York.

    According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Tadrus marketed interests in Tadrus Capital LLC to investors based on false promises that he would employ artificial intelligence-driven trading strategies that would earn them guaranteed annual returns of 30% or more.

    In reality, however, Tadrus did not use investor funds to engage in artificial intelligence-based trading as promised, nor did he engage in any trading activity. Instead, he used investor funds to pay employees, to purchase luxury gifts and expensive meals for himself, and to make Ponzi scheme-like payments to new victim investors.

    If you were a Tadrus Capital LLC client and would like to file a complaint, please visit www.iC3.gov.  Please reference “Tadrus Capital” or “Mina Tadrus” in your complaint.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud Section. Assistant United States Attorney John O. Enright and Special Agent Martin Sullivan are in charge of the prosecution with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Sarah Burn.

    The Defendant:

    MINA TADRUS
    Age: 38
    Tampa, Florida

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-393 (HG)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: StepStone Group Launching ELTIF in Europe

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP), a leading global private markets investment firm responsible for approximately $698 billion in total capital, including $65 billion in private debt, announced it received approval to launch a Private Debt-based European Long-Term Investment Fund (“ELTIF”).

    “As part of our continued expansion into the European private wealth market, this milestone marks yet another chapter in our story of delivering private markets strategies to more investors with the mission of convenience, efficiency, and transparency,” said Neil Menard, Partner and President of Distribution, StepStone Private Wealth. “With these approvals in place, we will now be able to deliver institutional-grade investments better tailored to the dynamics of European wealth platforms.”

    ELTIFs are designed to channel investments in Europe that support economic growth and job creation. StepStone plans to initially market ELTIFs in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and the Nordic and Benelux regions, focusing on investing in private credit assets in the European Union.

    “We believe that this offering provides unique advantages and is very differentiated to all other solutions in the market. The Firm’s sourcing network can provide significant selectivity and diversification to investors in a market that is otherwise highly fragmented,” said Marcel Schindler, Head of StepStone Private Debt. “Both institutional and individual investors alike are seeking efficient solutions such as this one. StepStone is well positioned to meet these expectations.”

    StepStone also received approval to convert their current RAIF funds into UCI Part II vehicles, allowing professional investors and semi-professional investors greater access to the private markets, including private equity, infrastructure, and real estate. Funds set to be converted include StepStone Private Markets Fund Lux (SPRIM Lux), StepStone Private Venture and Growth Fund Lux (SPRING Lux) and StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund Lux (STRUCTURE Lux). These funds are currently available on a variety of platforms, including Allfunds, FundsPlace, and offer a digital subscription through Goji.

    About StepStone

    StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of December 31, 2024, StepStone was responsible for approximately $698 billion of total capital, including $179 billion of assets under management. StepStone’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.

    Contacts

    Shareholder Relations:
    Seth Weiss
    shareholders@stepstonegroup.com
    +1 (212) 351-6106

    Media:
    Brian Ruby / Chris Gillick / Matt Lettiero, ICR
    StepStonePR@icrinc.com
    +1 (203) 682-8268

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Progress and lessons learned on the road to 2030 climate goals

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Progress and lessons learned on the road to 2030 climate goals

    2025 is a notable year in the world’s continued efforts toward a more sustainable future. It marks the five-year countdown to 2030, the end of the timeline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 2025 will also be the 30th convening of the UN Climate Change Conference—also known as COP30—and it is taking place in Brazil, both a symbolically and strategically important nation in the world’s fight against climate change and environmental degradation.   

    It is also a notable year for Microsoft. In addition to celebrating the 50th anniversary of our company’s founding, it is the midpoint of our own sustainability journey. In 2020 we announced our ambitions to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030, all while protecting ecosystems. We have made tremendous progress over the past five years, and we are proud of what we’ve accomplished. We’ve also learned lessons along the way, lessons that constantly inform and shape our path toward 2030 and beyond.  

    The goals that we set in 2020 reflected what we believed we needed to do in order to help push the world toward a net-zero economy. I joined Microsoft on this journey two years ago—becoming our Chief Sustainability Officer in January 2023—and I continue to be impressed by the work of employees across the company in their relentless pursuit of these goals.  

    • In June 2020, we announced our largest power PPA to date at the time—a 500MW PPA with Sol Systems. Today, we are one of the largest carbon-free energy buyers in the world, with a 34-gigawatt (GW) contracted renewable energy portfolio across 24 countries to date. We are bringing more carbon-free electricity onto the grids where we operate, and we continue to advocate for the expansion of clean energy solutions around the world. 
    • A key component of our water positive goal is to replenish more water than we consume across our global operations. We’ve grown our replenishment portfolio to 90 projects in over 40 locations around the world.  
    • On our journey to become zero waste, we’re finding opportunities to keep electronics in circulation. The repairability of our current portfolio of Surface devices has evolved significantly from our first field-repairable product in 2019. This is also true of Xbox, which recently announced how they’re working to expand the number of ways players can get support to repair their consoles and accessories.  
    • We exceeded our land protection goal, with 15,849 acres of protected land and surpassed our initial target of 11,000 acres by more than 40%. 

    This is only a snapshot of the real progress we’ve made over the last 5 years. We have a longstanding commitment to sustainability, and our experience shows us that the investments and innovations we’ve focused on are good for our company, our customers, the economy, and our planet. Every investment has also been a learning opportunity, a chance to test our assumptions and adjust as needed.  

    While we are proud of these achievements, we know that our work is far from over, and that the path ahead has gotten harder. The world is not on track to meet critical climate goals and we see many of these challenges reflected in our own journey.  

    In 2020, Microsoft leaders referred to our sustainability goals as a “moonshot,” and nearly five years later, we have had to acknowledge that the moon has gotten further away. However, the force creating this distance from our goals in the short term is the same one that will help us build a bigger, faster, and more powerful rocket to reach them in the long term: artificial intelligence (AI). This is not hyperbole. Already, we are seeing AI make a positive impact on the planet, and in the coming years, this technology will begin to rapidly accelerate climate solutions at a scale we’ve not yet seen. In November 2023, we introduced our AI and Sustainability Playbook, which highlights five foundational enabling conditions needed to unlock AI’s full transformative potential for accelerating sustainability progress. In January, we shared a report that highlights our progress and the innovations that have advanced each of those five pillars.  

    Building the AI economy of the future is a top priority for our business, but we are also in the business of sustainability. As CSO, it is my job to ensure that these dual mandates are working together.   

    To achieve this, we need to run our sustainability initiatives like we run the rest of our business: ensuring that our focus is on the highest-impact interventions that truly move the needle when it comes to planetary impact. 

    Carbon Neutrality

    Microsoft announced that it was carbon neutral in 2012, several years ahead of our ambitious goal to be carbon negative by 2030. Microsoft’s prior years achieving carbon neutrality were based on a common combination of environmental attributes purchased with funds from our corporate-wide carbon fee and our overall carbon emissions reduction efforts. This is a prime example of where we have learned and adjusted along our journey. While we continue to apply the carbon fee to investments in emissions reductions, we have ceased purchasing non-additional, unbundled renewable energy certificates. We are refocusing the use of these funds on more long-term, higher-impact investments across carbon reduction, carbon removal, and clean electricity procurement. These interventions are expected to more effectively help us achieve our goal of becoming carbon negative by 2030 and may take us out of carbon-neutral position. 

    We will also continue to invest in innovative climate solutions through our $1B Climate Innovation Fund (CIF). Since launching the CIF in 2020, Microsoft has committed nearly $800M to solutions ranging from sustainable fuels and low-carbon building materials to carbon dioxide removal, water innovation, and circular economy technologies. We now have a portfolio of 63 investees that we’re helping to scale. Going forward, we will extend this strategy and continue to invest our capital to build new markets and increase the market supply of emerging sustainable technologies to address carbon, water, and waste.  

    We are proud to continue making decisions that drive positive environmental impact in the market and deliver high-integrity investments. We remain resolute in our commitment to our climate goals and to empowering others with the technology needed to build a more sustainable future.

    In my first year with Microsoft, I wrote a piece on LinkedIn: Removing Roadblocks in the Race to Net Zero, where I compared reaching our sustainability goals to training for a marathon, noting that “it will take focus, planning, and perseverance to reach the finish line.” Today—and now two years into my role—I would like to add another comparison, to an African proverb that says the following: “If you want to travel fast, travel alone; if you want to travel far, travel together.”     

    In 2025, the moon is further away, so we all must travel together and do more if we are going to reach it. We will continue to work in close collaboration with our employees, customers, suppliers, industry peers, partners, and with policymakers to maximize our impact in pursuit of our shared goals. 

     

    Tags: COP30, net zero, sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, UN Climate Change Conference

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: We have always used music to express our love – we can now use AI too

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hussein Boon, Principal Lecturer – Music, University of Westminster

    GoodStudio/Shutterstock

    As a nine-year-old, I loved singing and took every chance to do so enthusiastically during school assemblies and end-of-year shows. I developed a bit of a reputation, so much so that one day, a classmate asked me to serenade him and a girl. Cut to me belting Donna by 10CC from behind a bush outside his bedroom window.

    My classmate was lacking in musical or lyrical abilities to write and perform his own song. However, if he found himself in a similar position this Valentine’s Day, he could get a little help from AI, and so can you.

    Suno’s Valentine’s Day Experience is a tool to create personalised love songs in response to a three-question prompt. Keenan Freyberg, one of Suno’s co-founders, noted that their generator is similar to a mixtape, a curated collection of songs that can reflect the compiler’s feelings and intentions.

    Music and dance have long served as mediators in matters of love. A British music publisher, writing in 1912, recounted in Pete Doggett’s Electric Shock, noted that music was essential at the start of a courtship, with song lyrics needing to be a blend of directness and obliqueness. This balance should allow the message to be understood while providing a safe way to ignore it if the sentiment is not reciprocated.

    Looking for love this Valentine’s Day? Whether you want to improve your relationship with others or with yourself, The Quarter Life Glow-up can help.

    This six-week newsletter course from The Conversation will bring you research-backed advice and tools to help improve your relationships, your career, your free time and your mental health – no supplements or skincare required.

    Sign up here to start your glow-up at any time

    So, for instance, if you send someone At Last by Etta James you can plausibly deny that it meant anything. You were just sharing a great song. If, however, they share the sentiment and hear a ring of reciprocal feeling in James’s voice then you can bond in a burgeoning romance where “life is like a song”.

    Many of us have probably been guilty of doing this and there are so many love songs out there that there is quite possibly one to help convey every sort of romantic feeling.

    A recent survey by the UK’s Performing Rights Society of 2,000 British respondents identified All of Me by John Legend as the UK’s favourite love song. The song was prompted by an old friend of Legend’s who suggested that he write one for his future-wife, Chrissy Teigen, that conveyed a similar message as Billy Joel’s She’s Always A Woman To Me. The idea that you could love someone, flaws and all, is a pretty powerful and universal sentiment.

    In the US, a similar chart compiled by Billboard of the top 50 songs with love in their title, spanned hits from 1958 to 2011. The top track was Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, a true classic about undying feelings and commitment.

    The most recently released song in the list was Rhianna’s We Found Love featuring Calvin Harris from 2011. The song’s lyrics and central hook, “We found love in a hopeless place,” were written by Calvin Harris and conveys perhaps a more youthful, possibly hedonistic message of love in a club based track.

    All of these songs have really strong sentiments, but they aren’t quite the same as expressing your unique thoughts and feelings for your intended yourself. But if, like my 10CC-loving friend, you lack the skill, AI could help you craft something a bit more specific for your intended.

    Suno’s love song generator asks for you to plug in your love interest’s name, where you met and something nice about them. The product is a personalised love song. While you might not be able to hide your feelings in the words of others with this AI-generated song, there is something brave and worthy about being so forthright.

    Such a direct show of emotion might not be for you but this new development in AI makes clear that music and words have long been essential in the expression of love through the ages. As my experience at the tender age of nine confirms, providing the right words, with a suitable melody, at crucial moments mitigates the awkwardness of males, of all ages, where matters of the heart are concerned. Even in the age of AI.

    Hussein Boon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. We have always used music to express our love – we can now use AI too – https://theconversation.com/we-have-always-used-music-to-express-our-love-we-can-now-use-ai-too-249523

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Unifying Cybersecurity and IT Management: USX Cyber Unveils the Next Evolution of GUARDIENT XDR

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VIENNA, Va., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — USX Cyber, a leader in AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, today announced the latest evolution of its flagship GUARDIENT™ XDR platform—now integrating advanced Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) capabilities. This powerful upgrade transforms GUARDIENT into a comprehensive cybersecurity and IT management platform, enabling businesses to detect, respond, and remediate threats—all within a single solution.

    A Unified Approach to Security and IT Management

    Traditional cybersecurity solutions focus on detection and response, often leaving IT teams struggling with remediation and ongoing system management. With GUARDIENT XDR’s latest enhancements, security and IT operations converge into a unified solution, providing:

    • Comprehensive Remote Access – Secure, real-time remote access to any endpoint, enabling IT teams to troubleshoot and respond to incidents instantly.
    • Automated Patch & Software Management – Ensuring all endpoints stay updated with the latest security patches and software versions, reducing vulnerabilities.
    • Live System Monitoring & Health Checks – Continuous system diagnostics, tracking CPU usage, memory consumption, and disk health to proactively address performance issues.
    • Policy Enforcement & Compliance Management – Centralized security policy enforcement, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
    • Real-Time Threat Response & Remediation – Instant security actions such as isolating compromised systems, terminating malicious processes, and executing remote security scripts.

    Why This Matters

    Cyber threats are evolving at an unprecedented rate, and organizations can no longer afford to have siloed security and IT management. By integrating RMM capabilities, GUARDIENT XDR enables IT and security teams to work in unison—eliminating inefficiencies, reducing downtime, and significantly improving response times.

    Unlike conventional cybersecurity platforms that rely on third-party tools for remediation, GUARDIENT XDR’s built-in capabilities provide:

    • Faster incident resolution with direct endpoint access for immediate forensic analysis and remediation.
    • Reduced operational overhead by automating system maintenance and security enforcement.
    • Enhanced IT visibility with a single pane of glass to monitor and secure all managed endpoints.

    Setting a New Standard for Cybersecurity Excellence

    Many organizations struggle to balance robust security with efficient IT management. GUARDIENT XDR’s advanced integration closes this gap, delivering an intelligent, automated, and proactive defense system that strengthens security postures while empowering IT teams to maintain optimal system health and compliance—without unnecessary complexity.

    “With GUARDIENT XDR’s latest advancements, we’re redefining what cybersecurity means for businesses and MSPs. It’s no longer just about detecting threats—it’s about eliminating them, automating IT management, and streamlining operations in a way no other platform can. This evolution cements GUARDIENT XDR as the most complete security and IT management solution on the market.”

    – Cole McKinley, Chief Technology Officer, USX Cyber

    About USX Cyber

    USX Cyber is at the forefront of AI-powered cybersecurity innovation, delivering cutting-edge threat detection and response solutions tailored for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), small to mid-sized businesses, and enterprises. Our flagship GUARDIENT XDR platform consolidates security operations, enhances threat visibility, and automates incident response—helping businesses stay secure, compliant, and ahead of evolving cyber threats.

    For more information about USX Cyber and our solutions, visit www.usxcyber.com.

    Media Inquiries

    Rod Volz
    Chief Growth Officer, USX Cyber
    Email: rod@usxcyber.com
    Phone: (703) 244-3892

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