02/10/2025

THURSDAY | OCT 2, 2025

8

Stars drag Google into fight for ‘personality rights’

New China visa to lure talent BEIJING: China kicked off yesterday a new visa programme aimed at attracting foreign talent in science and technology, part of efforts to position itself as a world leader in those sectors. China’s new K visa significantly simplifies the immigration process for those eligible, according to state media. The K visa does not require a domestic employer or entity to issue an invitation to the applicant. “K visas will offer more convenience to holders in terms of number of permitted entries, validity period and duration of stay,” Xinhua news agency reported in August. The official description for those able to apply is “young foreign scientific and technological talents”, but the exact age, educational background and work experience requirements needed are as yet unclear. Xinhua said visa-holders will be able to “engage in exchanges in fields such as education, culture, and science and technology, as well as relevant entrepreneurial and business activities”. The US tech industry has been rattled by unexpected changes made by the Trump administration to the H-1B visa procedure. H-1Bs allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialised skills – such as scientists, engineers and computer programmers – to work in the United States for three years, with a possible extension to six. Such visas are widely used by the tech industry, but the new H-1B visa policy now requires a one-time US$100,000 (RM421,256) fee. Indian nationals account for nearly three quarters of the permits allotted via a lottery system each year. A People’s Daily article on Tuesday pushed back at what it called “rumours” about the new visa creating “immigration problems” in China. “The so-called ‘immigration crisis’ will not materialise, we should have cultural confidence,” it said. – AFP FBI head gave NZ officials illegal arms SYDNEY: FBI director Kash Patel gifted New Zealand officials illegal firearms during his visit to the country earlier this year, authorities said yesterday. Patel visited New Zealand in July to open a permanent intelligence office and met senior government ministers, intelligence bosses and law enforcement officials. New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said yesterday he received a “coin display stand featuring an inoperable plastic 3D printed replica pistol” from Patel. “The advice of the Firearms Safety Authority was sought the following day and the gifts were collected from recipients,” Chambers said. “While inoperable in the form they were gifted, a subsequent analysis by the Firearms Safety Authority and Police Armoury determined that modifications could have made them operable.” The other firearms were gifted in display stands to spy agency bosses Andrew Hampton and Andrew Clark. Chambers said in compliance with local firearms laws, the replica pistols were destroyed. “To ensure compliance with New Zealand firearms laws, the gifts were handed to New Zealand Police the following day,” a joint statement from the intelligence services said. “Following assessment by police firearms specialists, the gifts were retained by New Zealand Police.” A US embassy Wellington spokesperson said the gift was a coin display stand that included a plastic, inert, non-functional replica of a firearm as a design element. – AFP

o Indian actors argue AI videos cause harm

Google spokespersons did not respond to Reuters’ queries. The Delhi High Court last month asked Google’s lawyer to submit written responses before the next hearing on Jan 15. Indian courts have started to back Bollywood stars upset about generative AI content damaging their reputation. In 2023, a Delhi court restrained the misuse of Anil Kapoor’s image, voice and even a catchphrase he often used. Reuters was the first to report details of the Bachchans’ specific challenge against Google, which was contained in court filings spanning 1,500 pages where they mostly target little known sellers for unauthorised physical merchandise like posters, coffee mugs and stickers with their photos and even fake autographed pictures. They are also seeking US$450,000 (RM1.9 million) in damages against Google and others, and a permanent injunction against such exploitation. The lawsuits contain hundreds of links and screenshots of what they allege are YouTube videos showing “egregious”, “sexually explicit” or “fictitious” AI content. The judge in early September ordered 518 website links and posts specifically listed by the actors to be taken down, saying they caused financial harm to the couple and harmed their dignity and goodwill. Reuters, however, found videos similar to the examples of infringing videos cited in Abhishek’s papers on YouTube. YouTube’s data-sharing policy states creators can opt in to share their videos for training models of other AI platforms.

NEW DELHI: Bollywood stars are asking judges to protect their voice and persona. In a high-profile case, Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya Rai have asked a judge to remove and prohibit creation of AI videos infringing their intellectual property rights. They also want Google ordered to have safeguards to ensure such YouTube videos do not train other AI platforms, legal papers reviewed by Reuters show. A handful of celebrities have begun asserting their “personality rights” in courts over the last few years, as India has no explicit protection for those like in many US states. But the Bachchans’ lawsuits are about the interplay of personality rights and the risk that misleading or deepfake YouTube videos could train other AI models. The actors argue that YouTube’s content and third-party training policy is worrying as it lets users consent to sharing of a video they created to train rival AI models, risking further proliferation of misleading content, according to near-identical filings from Abhishek and Aishwarya dated Sept 6, which are not public. “Such content being used to train AI models has the potential to multiply the instances of use of any infringing content that is first being uploaded on YouTube being viewed by the public, and then also being used to train,” the filings said. Representatives for the Bachchans and Giant sinkhole haunts Chilean town folk TIERRA AMARILLA: Residents in the mining town of Tierra Amarilla in the Chilean desert are hopeful that a new court ruling will allay their fears about a giant sinkhole that opened near their homes more than three years ago. A Chilean environmental court this month ordered Minera Ojos del Salado, owned by Canada’s Lundin Mining, to repair environmental damage related to activity at its Alcaparrosa copper mine, which is thought to have triggered the sinkhole in 2022. The ruling calls on the company to protect the region’s water supply and fill the sinkhole. The cylindrical crater originally measured 64m deep and 32m wide at the surface. That has provided a small measure of relief to those in arid Tierra Amarilla in Chile’s central Atacama region, who fear that without remedial works the gaping hole could swallow up more land. “Ever since the sinkhole occurred ... we’ve lived in fear,” said Rudy Alfaro, whose home is 800m from the site. A health centre and preschool are nearby. “We were afraid it would get bigger,.” The sinkhole expelled clouds of dust in a recent earthquake, provoking more anxiety, she said. The court upheld a shutdown of the small Alcaparrosa mine ordered by Chile’s environmental regulator in January, and confirmed “irreversible” damage to an aquifer, which drained water into the mine and weakened the surrounding rock. “This is detrimental to an area that is already hydrologically stressed,” said regional water director Rodrigo Saez. – Reuters

Aishwarya and Abhishek have asked a judge to remove and prohibit creation of AI videos infringing intellectual property rights. – AFPPIC YouTube adds: “We can’t control what a third-party company does if users share videos for such training.” The Bachchans argue that if AI platforms are trained on biased content that portrays them in a negative manner and infringes their intellectual property rights, then AI models “are likely to learn all such untrue” information, leading to its further spread. YouTube in May disclosed that it had paid more than US$2.4 billion to Indian creators in the last three years. The actors alleged that creators infringing their personality rights can make money when videos become popular. – Reuters

The 64m deep and 32m wide sinkhole in Tierra Amarilla, Chile. – REUTERSPIC