Latest news with #MondayMornings
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
UK judge warns of risk to justice after lawyers cited fake AI-generated cases in court
LONDON (AP) — Lawyers have cited fake cases generated by artificial intelligence in court proceedings in England, a judge has said — warning that attorneys could be prosecuted if they don't check the accuracy of their research. High Court justice Victoria Sharp said the misuse of AI has 'serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system.' In the latest example of how judicial systems around the world are grappling with how to handle the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in court, Sharp and fellow judge Jeremy Johnson chastised lawyers in two recent cases in a ruling on Friday. They were asked to rule after lower court judges raised concerns about 'suspected use by lawyers of generative artificial intelligence tools to produce written legal arguments or witness statements which are not then checked,' leading to false information being put before the court. In a ruling written by Sharp, the judges said that in a 90 million pound ($120 million) lawsuit over an alleged breach of a financing agreement involving the Qatar National Bank, a lawyer cited 18 cases that did not exist. The client in the case, Hamad Al-Haroun, apologized for unintentionally misleading the court with false information produced by publicly available AI tools, and said he was responsible, rather than his solicitor Abid Hussain. But Sharp said it was 'extraordinary that the lawyer was relying on the client for the accuracy of their legal research, rather than the other way around.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. In the other incident, a lawyer cited five fake cases in a tenant's housing claim against the London Borough of Haringey. Barrister Sarah Forey denied using AI, but Sharp said she had 'not provided to the court a coherent explanation for what happened.' The judges referred the lawyers in both cases to their professional regulators, but did not take more serious action. Sharp said providing false material as if it were genuine could be considered contempt of court or, in the 'most egregious cases,' perverting the course of justice, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. She said in the judgment that AI is a 'powerful technology' and a 'useful tool' for the law. 'Artificial intelligence is a tool that carries with it risks as well as opportunities,' the judge said. 'Its use must take place therefore with an appropriate degree of oversight, and within a regulatory framework that ensures compliance with well-established professional and ethical standards if public confidence in the administration of justice is to be maintained.'
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wildfires force Hudbay Minerals to suspend work at Snow Lake mine in Manitoba
TORONTO – Hudbay Minerals Inc. says wildfires burning in northern Manitoba have forced it to suspend work at its Snow Lake mine. Last week, the Toronto-based company said it planned to maintain output at the gold, copper and zinc mine at reduced levels. But the town of Snow Lake was put under a precautionary early evacuation notice on Tuesday, so Hudbay has decided to temporarily wind down its operations there. It says only essential personnel will remain on site to help with emergency activities. The miner says its infrastructure and facilities in the Snow Lake and Flin Flon areas are at low risk of being damaged. It says it still expects to meet its annual targets for Snow Lake, given strong performance there so far this year. 'The safety of our employees, their families, our First Nations partners and the communities we serve remains our top priority. With the wildfires spreading, Hudbay has taken additional actions to support our employees, including $1 million in direct financial support and establishing a Community Relief Donations Fund,' said senior vice-president Rob Carter. 'We are collaborating closely with local communities and municipal and provincial authorities to provide support during this challenging time. We will continue to monitor the situation, ensuring a safe return to full operations as soon as it is advisable.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Hudbay removed non-essential staff in the Flin Flon, Man., area last week. It hasn't been actively mining in the area near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan boundary since 2022, but it still runs care and maintenance work and also has services there to support Snow Lake 200 kilometres to the east. Exploration activities have been suspended in both Flin Flon and Snow Lake. Wildfires have forced tens of thousand of people from their homes across in northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX: HBM)
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Tuesday officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending, taking funding away from programs targeted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. It's a process known as 'rescission,' which requires President Donald Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated. Trump's aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies. The request, if it passes the House and Senate, would formally enshrine many of the spending cuts and freezes sought by DOGE. It comes at a time when Musk is extremely unhappy with the tax cut and spending plan making its way through Congress, calling it on Tuesday a 'disgusting abomination' for increasing the federal deficit. Here's what to know about the rescissions request: Will the rescissions make a dent in the national debt? The request to Congress is unlikely to meaningfully change the troublesome increase in the U.S. national debt. Tax revenues have been insufficient to cover the growing costs of Social Security, Medicare and other programs. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government is on track to spend roughly $7 trillion this year, with the rescission request equaling just 0.1% of that total. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at Tuesday's briefing that White House budget director Russ Vought — a 'well-respected fiscal hawk,' she called him — would continue to cut spending, hinting that there could be additional efforts to return funds. 'He has tools at his disposal to produce even more savings,' Leavitt said. What programs are targeted by the rescissions? A spokesperson for the White House Office of Management and Budget, speaking on condition of anonymity to preview some of the items that would lose funding, said that $8.3 billion was being cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. NPR and PBS would also lose federal funding. The spokesperson listed specific programs that the Trump administration considered wasteful, including $750,000 to reduce xenophobia in Venezuela, $67,000 for feeding insect powder to children in Madagascar and $3 million for circumcision, vasectomies and condoms in Zambia. Is the rescissions package likely to get passed? Members of the House Freedom Caucus, among the chamber's most conservative lawmakers, are calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to immediately bring the rescissions package to the floor 'for swift passage.' 'We will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months,' the group said in a press release. 'Passing this rescissions package will be an important demonstration of Congress's willingness to deliver on DOGE and the Trump agenda.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Why does the administration need Congress' approval? The White House's request to return appropriated funds is meant to comply with the 1974 Impoundment Control Act. That law created the process by which the president can formally disclose to Congress the appropriated money it intends to not spend. Congress then has 45 days to review and approve the request. Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said in an emailed statement that the Trump administration was already 'illegally impounding additional funds,' as withholding money has 'always been illegal without explicit Congressional approval.' On CNN on Sunday, Vought insisted that the Trump administration was complying with the law, but it simply had a different view of the law relative to some Democrats. 'We're not breaking the law,' Vought said. 'Every part of the federal government, each branch, has to look at the Constitution themselves and uphold it, and there's tension between the branches.'
Winnipeg Free Press
29-05-2025
- Science
- Winnipeg Free Press
US supercomputer named after Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna to power AI and scientific research
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A new supercomputer named after a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry will help power artificial intelligence technology and scientific discoveries from a perch in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley, federal officials said Thursday. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is scheduled to announce the project Thursday alongside executives from computer maker Dell Technologies and chipmaker Nvidia. The new computing system at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will be called Doudna after Berkeley professor and biochemist Jennifer Doudna, who won a Nobel in 2020 for her work on the gene-editing technology CRISPR. It's due to switch on next year. 'One of the key use cases will be genomics research,' said Dion Harris, a product executive in Nvidia's AI and high-performance computing division, in an interview. 'It was basically just a nod to her contributions to the field.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Dell is contracted with the energy department to build the computer, the latest to be housed at Berkeley Lab's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. Previous computers there have been named after other Nobel winners: Saul Perlmutter, an astrophysicist, and Gerty Cori, a biochemist. It's not clear yet how the computer will rank on the TOP500 listing of the world's fastest supercomputers. The current top-ranked computer is El Capitan, located about an hour's drive away at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. That's followed by other supercomputers at U.S. national labs in Tennessee and Illinois.
Winnipeg Free Press
29-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nebraska Republicans sought to weaken voter-backed paid sick leave. A Democrat helped them do it.
Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature managed to pass a bill that significantly weakens a voter-backed measure requiring employers to offer paid sick leave. And they did it with the help of a Democrat. Backers of the bill overcame a filibuster on Wednesday with the exact number of votes needed — 33 — thanks to the support of a Democrat in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln. Raybould, whose family owns several grocery store chains in the state, was also the main sponsor of another bill that sought to restrict a voter-backed minimum wage law. That bill suffered an unexpected defeat earlier this session when a freshman lawmaker failed to show up for a vote on it. Raybould's attempt to attach it to the paid sick leave measure on Wednesday also failed. By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, Nebraska voters in November approved a ballot measure that requires all Nebraska employers to provide at least some paid sick leave to their employees. The ballot language, which had been set to take effect Oct. 1, required businesses to provide workers with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to seven days at businesses with more than 20 employees. Employees at smaller businesses could accrue up to five days' worth of paid sick leave a year. The leave could be used for the employees themselves or to tend to a family member. But the bill passed Wednesday and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen carves out exceptions. It allows businesses to withhold paid sick leave from 14- and 15-year-olds, as well as from temporary and seasonal agricultural workers. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees would not need to provide paid sick leave at all. More concerning, opponents say, is a provision that strips from the new law the ability of workers to sue employers who retaliate against them for using paid sick leave. The removal of that enforcement language would 'essentially gut' the paid leave measure, said Sen. John Cavanaugh, who opposed the bill. Cavanaugh reiterated that paid sick leave received nearly 75% approval — more support than most lawmakers got at the polls. 'The voters wanted this more than they wanted you here,' he said, addressing fellow lawmakers. 'This is about respect for the will of the voters.' Nebraska joins other states leading efforts to counter voter-approved policies on everything from paid sick leave to abortion. Some states are seeking to limit the voter initiative process itself, leading to pushback from voters. Supporters of the Nebraska paid sick leave rollback say they're seeking to protect both workers and businesses. Raybould has said throughout debate this session that teens under 16 will find themselves unable to get an after-school or summer job without changes to both minimum wage and paid sick leave measures. She says no one will hire teens with limited experience and federal child labor restrictions at $15 per hour — the minimum wage set to take effect Jan. 1. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'We have to find that balance between business and labor,' Raybould said during debate Wednesday. 'We have to be competitive, and we have to be flexible.' Others went further, with Republican Sen. Mike Jacobson saying that government telling businesses what wages and benefits they must offer employees 'threatens democracy.' If employees don't like the terms of their employment, he said, it's incumbent on them to find a different job. Sen. Robert Hallstrom is another Republican who supported restrictions on both the minimum wage and paid sick leave. He said the Legislature has the right to make changes to voter-backed measures, asking if young or seasonal workers who would be affected by those changes would 'rather have a $10-an-hour job or no job?' The Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans coalition, which was behind the effort to get paid sick leave on the Nebraska ballot last year, said the bill passed Wednesday would remove paid sick leave protections for 140,000 workers in the state. 'Despite thousands of Nebraskans demanding that our Legislature honor the clear will of voters, 33 senators ignored those calls yet again today,' the coalition said in a statement. 'It will prevent thousands of Nebraskans from being able to access the good life.'
