AI generator Midjourney pauses service over deepfake 'abuse' / Photo: © AFP
-
Marchand 'stressed' about racing Japanese rivals at LA Olympics
-
Missing F-35 fighter parts 'not sensitive', says Australia minister
-
Mobile boat clinics bring healthcare to India's remote islands
-
Cambodia showcases scams crackdown with global conference
-
Former India paceman Zaheer Khan named Chennai coach in IPL
-
Afghan cyclist who disguised herself as man wins Asian Games silver
-
Six-year-old Chinese girl sets world record with Rubik's Cube
-
Typhoon Dujuan leaves four dead in Japan, 45,000 houses without power
-
Swimming prodigy Yu, 13, says 'interviews way harder than racing'
-
G7 leaders condemn Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia
-
Star coaches make their bows as Nations League returns
-
Google data centre sparks protests in Austria
-
Rams bounce back as Giants reel from Dart injury
-
Shin Ohashi: Junk food-loving teen and Japan's next big swimming hope
-
In Bangladesh, Pakistan's Jinnah photo stirs anger
-
Stocks rise on AI buzz, drop in oil prices
-
Two New Zealand naval ships transit Taiwan Strait
-
China's robot dancers limber up for America's Got Talent final
-
Zidane gets down to work as France start new era
-
Despite military might, Saudi struggles to crush the Houthis
-
Inside the Venezuelan prison meant to 'drive you insane'
-
Trump to tout deals, defend Iran war in UN speech
-
UK king braces as memoir by Diana's brother goes on sale
-
Sri Lanka to issue verdict in landmark Easter attack trial
-
Akkodis and Hamburg Public Transport Association Showcase hvv mia at InnoTrans 2026, Demonstrating the Future of AI-Powered Mobility
-
No green light to lift EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs, talks to resume
-
Macron says talks with Trump on Red Sea, Ukraine 'constructive'
-
UK agrees support for Saudi in struggle with Houthis: reports
-
Green policies just good politics, says UK minister
-
EU foreign policy chief calls for continued sanctions on Russia
-
Bardot auction in Paris fetches nearly one million euros
-
Flights scrapped, evacuations urged as Typhoon Dujuan wallops Japan
-
No timeline on Daniels injury return, says Commanders coach
-
Fonseca to take break from tennis
-
British Columbia sues OpenAI in US court over Canada school shooting
-
A Cuban zoo, and its animals, in epic battle for survival
-
French star Batum retires after 18-year NBA career
-
Infantino proposes consulting federations to reform FIFA
-
Zidane leads first France training session
-
El Nino weather pattern enters record territory: scientist
-
Man shot by ICE agent in Texas detained with bullet inside him: lawyer
-
OpenAI calls for US to lead global effort on AI standards
-
California declares state of emergency ahead of El Nino
-
South African ostriches plucked alive for luxury fashion: report
-
South Africa arrests three more suspects, after nine women murdered
-
US networks halt Trump coverage in revolt over White House ban
-
Carse needs time away from England, says captain Brook
-
Paramount settles with US states to clear Warner Bros. mega-merger
-
NOWPayments Releases Cross-Chain Payout Data Revealing Key Performance Benchmarks Across TRON, BNB Chain, and Solana
-
Climate crisis a job for world leaders, not just activists: UK FM
AI generator Midjourney pauses service over deepfake 'abuse'
Research laboratory Midjourney has paused free trials of its image-generation software after users cranked out realistic deepfakes including of former US president Donald Trump getting arrested and Pope Francis in a puffer jacket.
Midjourney responded to a request Thursday for a trial with a message saying it could not be provided and to try again another day.
The imagery created using the artificial intelligence platform, particularly those of Trump and the pontiff which went viral, have put a spotlight on the San Francisco-based lab.
"Due to a combination of extraordinary demand and trial abuse we are temporarily disabling free trials until we have our next improvements to the system deployed," Midjourney founder David Holz said in a post this week on the company's Discord channel.
The service generates realistic looking images based on written prompts made by users.
It launched in test mode in mid-2022, with the independent lab consistently upgrading the software.
Users have praised a freshly released version of Midjourney for improved realism in produced images.
Along with putting the brakes on new free trials, Midjourney banned certain words, such as "arrested," from being used to prompt image creation.
On Thursday Midjourney denied a request by AFP to generate an image of the former president being arrested in front of Trump Tower in New York.
"The word 'arrested' is banned," a message from Midjourney stated.
"Circumventing this filter to violate our rules may result in your access being revoked."
Billionaire mogul and Twitter owner Elon Musk and a range of experts called on Wednesday for a pause in the development of powerful artificial intelligence systems to allow time to make sure they are safe.
An open letter, signed by more than 1,000 people so far including Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, was prompted by the release of artificial intelligence platform GPT-4 from Microsoft-backed firm OpenAI.
Canadian AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, who signed the letter, warned during a virtual press conference in Montreal that "society is not ready" for this powerful tool, and its possible misuses.
"Let's slow down. Let's make sure that we develop better guardrails," he said.
T.Bondarenko--BTB
