AI Weekly: watchdogs on the prowl

STORY: From competition enforcers targeting Big Tech, to why bots aren’t, yet, deciding elections, this is AI Weekly.

Nvidia looks set to face antitrust charges in France.

Reuters sources say watchdogs are concerned by the firm’s dominance in AI systems.

If confirmed, it would be the first action against the chip champion by a national enforcer.

The EU has a bunch of big names in its crosshairs.

Regulators are looking at Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, and Google’s partnership with Samsung.

Worries include whether Big Tech is blocking smaller rivals from reaching users and businesses.

In a year of big elections, AI isn’t yet doing much to sway votes.

That’s the conclusion of experts in the UK who studied the technology's impact on 112 national elections.

Researcher Sam Stockwell says it’s more that AI is making existing problems worse:

“Things such as an erosion of trust in governments and information sources, deepened political polarisation, the kind of consolidation of echo chambers. All of these things, I think, deepfakes and AI threats are just enhancing.”

Apple is getting a seat on OpenAI’s board, sort of.

Media reports say App Store chief Phil Schiller will get observer status, but no voting rights.

It’s all part of last month’s deal to integrate the ChatGPT maker’s tech into Apple products.

And Baidu has launched an upgraded version of its AI model - dubbed Ernie 4.0 Turbo.

The Chinese search giant wants to maintain its position in the country’s competitive AI market.

It says its Ernie chatbot has hit 300 million users since launch.