How are online tools being used to track and resist fascism across the globe?
What are the online tools that fueled 'No Kings' and the Trump Resistance? From Signal to Reddit, people across the world are using tech tools to plan, analyse, and carry out political activism. We explore what those tools look like and how effective they are in preventing a bleak political future, including an explainer on the website 'Realtime Fascism' that uses AI to track fascism online.
Also, Tesla's have been causing drama -- from phantom braking to a rise in Robotaxi issues. Will this stall the progress of automated vehicles in Australia?
Plus, AI overviews have transformed the way we search for things online. What does this mean for old-school search engines and the sources we can trust?
Plus why and how have 40,000 Cameras, from bird feeders to baby monitors, been exposed to the internet?
GUESTS:
Petra Stock, environment and science reporter for the Guardian Australia
environment and science reporter for the Guardian Australia
Charles Gretton, Director of Attention and Innovation, Integrated AI Network, and Associate Professor at ANU
This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land and in Naarm and on Ngunnawal country.
Technical production by Allyse Simons.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Trump's 'big beautiful bill' clears first Senate hurdle
The Republican-controlled US Senate has advanced President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill in a key procedural vote, raising the odds the "big, beautiful bill" will be passed in coming days. The sweeping tax-cut and spending measure, Trump's top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote late on Saturday, US time (Sunday afternoon AEST), with two Republican senators voting against it. The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations. The procedural vote, which would start debate on the 940-page megabill to fund Trump's top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities, began after hours of delay. It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican senators joined Democrats to oppose the legislation. In the end, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only two senators opposed among Republicans. Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said. The megabill - titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version of the bill would add trillions to US government debt. Democrats fiercely opposed the bill, saying its tax-cut elements would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs that lower-income Americans rely upon. Elon Musk doubled down on his opposition to the bill, arguing the legislation would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country," Musk wrote on his social media platform X ahead of the vote. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future." The Tesla and SpaceX chief, whose birthday was also on Saturday, later posted the bill would be "political suicide for the Republican Party". The criticisms reopened a recent fiery conflict between the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration he recently left. The Republican-controlled US Senate has advanced President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill in a key procedural vote, raising the odds the "big, beautiful bill" will be passed in coming days. The sweeping tax-cut and spending measure, Trump's top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote late on Saturday, US time (Sunday afternoon AEST), with two Republican senators voting against it. The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations. The procedural vote, which would start debate on the 940-page megabill to fund Trump's top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities, began after hours of delay. It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican senators joined Democrats to oppose the legislation. In the end, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only two senators opposed among Republicans. Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said. The megabill - titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version of the bill would add trillions to US government debt. Democrats fiercely opposed the bill, saying its tax-cut elements would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs that lower-income Americans rely upon. Elon Musk doubled down on his opposition to the bill, arguing the legislation would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country," Musk wrote on his social media platform X ahead of the vote. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future." The Tesla and SpaceX chief, whose birthday was also on Saturday, later posted the bill would be "political suicide for the Republican Party". The criticisms reopened a recent fiery conflict between the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration he recently left. The Republican-controlled US Senate has advanced President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill in a key procedural vote, raising the odds the "big, beautiful bill" will be passed in coming days. The sweeping tax-cut and spending measure, Trump's top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote late on Saturday, US time (Sunday afternoon AEST), with two Republican senators voting against it. The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations. The procedural vote, which would start debate on the 940-page megabill to fund Trump's top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities, began after hours of delay. It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican senators joined Democrats to oppose the legislation. In the end, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only two senators opposed among Republicans. Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said. The megabill - titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version of the bill would add trillions to US government debt. Democrats fiercely opposed the bill, saying its tax-cut elements would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs that lower-income Americans rely upon. Elon Musk doubled down on his opposition to the bill, arguing the legislation would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country," Musk wrote on his social media platform X ahead of the vote. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future." The Tesla and SpaceX chief, whose birthday was also on Saturday, later posted the bill would be "political suicide for the Republican Party". The criticisms reopened a recent fiery conflict between the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration he recently left. The Republican-controlled US Senate has advanced President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill in a key procedural vote, raising the odds the "big, beautiful bill" will be passed in coming days. The sweeping tax-cut and spending measure, Trump's top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote late on Saturday, US time (Sunday afternoon AEST), with two Republican senators voting against it. The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations. The procedural vote, which would start debate on the 940-page megabill to fund Trump's top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities, began after hours of delay. It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican senators joined Democrats to oppose the legislation. In the end, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only two senators opposed among Republicans. Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said. The megabill - titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version of the bill would add trillions to US government debt. Democrats fiercely opposed the bill, saying its tax-cut elements would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs that lower-income Americans rely upon. Elon Musk doubled down on his opposition to the bill, arguing the legislation would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country," Musk wrote on his social media platform X ahead of the vote. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future." The Tesla and SpaceX chief, whose birthday was also on Saturday, later posted the bill would be "political suicide for the Republican Party". The criticisms reopened a recent fiery conflict between the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency and the administration he recently left.
Herald Sun
an hour ago
- Herald Sun
UBS, Citi answer AI's trillion-dollar question about reality versus hype
As artificial intelligence transforms from buzzword to business reality, two major investment brokers have tackled the trillion-dollar question: will demand for AI justify the massive spending spree that's preceded it? The answer, according to UBS and Citi, is a cautious yes – but with important caveats that investors need to understand. UBS analyst Karl Keirstead and his team have been examining what they call the 'three pillars' of AI demand and trying to work out whether the boom in AI infrastructure spending will actually pay off. Their conclusion is, overall, reassuring for investors betting on the AI boom. However, they've identified a significant weak link in the chain. Think of AI demand like a three-legged stool. The first leg is the tech giants building and training large language models; companies like OpenAI (which runs ChatGPT), Google, Meta and others racing to create smarter AI systems. The second leg is consumer demand from people using ChatGPT, asking Google AI-powered questions, or interacting with AI chatbots. Both of these legs appear solid and growing stronger. It's the third leg – the enterprise demand – whereby Keirstead sees potential wobbles. 'Organisations are moving slowly, the return on investment is less clear, and AI technology needs to be architected to automate specific enterprise workflows and tasks,' the UBS report says. Although consumers are embracing AI tools enthusiastically, businesses are being more cautious about spending big money on AI systems. The risk is that enthusiasm from tech companies and consumers cools down before businesses fully embrace AI spending, creating a temporary 'digestion phase' in the AI investment boom. But UBS attaches 'a low probability' to this scenario, saying it considers this as manageable rather than likely. The bank says it's 'constructive on AI demand trends,' arguing that training new AI models and growing consumer use will 'sustain GPU demand for years to come'. For investors wondering which stocks to back, Keirstead's team has some clear favourites. At the top of the list sits Nvidia, the chipmaker and stock market darling that's become synonymous with AI processing power. UBS also likes Broadcom as a key beneficiary of computing and networking demand, and Micron Technology for increased memory requirements. Globally, it favours Taiwan Semiconductor. UBS's key AI stock picks: • Hardware: Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron, TSMC, Arista, Ciena • Software: Oracle, Snowflake, ServiceNow • Tech giants: Meta • Asian manufacturers: Quanta, Wistron Interestingly, among software companies UBS likes the 'infrastructure and data-exposed' names like Oracle and Snowflake, rather than the traditional software-as-a-service companies. However, it thinks ServiceNow is better positioned among large SaaS players for AI monetisation. Meanwhile, Citi US equity strategist Drew Pettit offers a complementary perspective, focusing on valuation and geographic opportunities. His key insight is that while American AI stocks generally trade at higher prices, they've 'earned those multiples with strong growth plus higher and improving returns on equity and margins'. In investment language, the US offers 'quality AI'. But Pettit says the valuations of non-US AI stocks haven't risen nearly as much, even as growth rates are expected to narrow. He therefore foresees 'value AI' opportunities outside the US. Citi's analysis suggests that the growth expectations built into current AI stock prices are actually 'attainable given consensus outlooks'. Working backwards from current stock prices to see what growth rates are implied, the analysis finds that most AI stocks aren't priced for impossibly high growth rates. This suggests the AI rally isn't built on completely unrealistic expectations. Both banks are essentially saying that although AI stocks have risen substantially, the underlying business fundamentals can support these valuations if demand continues growing as expected. Their analysis calls for a diversified approach to investing in the AI boom. Rather than betting everything on the most obvious AI plays like Nvidia, they recommend spreading investments across what Citi calls 'enablers' – companies that make AI possible like chip manufacturers; also 'adopters' – companies which use AI to improve their businesses. Overall, while the easy money to be made from AI investing may be over, both UBS and Citi expect sustainable demand drivers which can support continued investment returns. The key is choosing companies with realistic valuations and genuine AI business models, rather than just riding the hype wave. Enterprise adoption continues to be the wildcard. If businesses embrace AI more slowly than expected, investors may face some bumpy periods ahead. As always in investing, the devil is in the detail, and both reports say careful stock selection will matter more than simply buying any stock with 'AI' in its business description. Originally published as UBS and Citi answer AI's trillion-dollar question: can the tech reality match the current hype?
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Newly listed terror organisation preying on ‘teenage boys'
A global network of neo-Nazi groups is trying to recruit Australian 'teenage boys', Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says. Terrorgram is a collective that promotes white supremacist violence on encrypted social media platforms, such as Telegram. The Albanese government this week formally listed it as a terrorist organisation, with anyone found guilty of being involved with it facing up to 25 years behind bars. Mr Burke said on Sunday Terrorgram poses a 'real' threat of radicalisation to young Australians. 'This is a new form of risk,' he told Sky News. 'So effectively, now we have a disproportionate number, and if you look at where the increase is happening, is fastest – it's teenage boys.' Mr Burke said contact is usually made through online gaming platforms. 'They'll be playing with somebody who they've never met, who they presume is someone of their own age,' he said. 'They'll feel that they're building a relationship, and then that person will start to gradually try to take them down a pathway. Mr Burke said he was 'not talking huge numbers' but that 'you don't need huge numbers' to deal with a risk to civilians. 'This is a growing form of terrorism,' he said. Home Affairs has linked Terrorgram to the radicalisation of Jordan Patten, who was charged with attempting to commit a terrorist act last year. Mr Patten was allegedly plotting to kill NSW state Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp. He was a block away from Mr Crakanthorp's office in Newcastle when police arrested him. We have officially listed Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code). — Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) June 26, 2025 Australia's domestic intelligence agency last year raised the terror threat to 'probable' because of deteriorating social cohesion and a spike in radicalisation among young men. The agency's chief, Mike Burgess, warned at the time people were becoming radicalised for increasingly complicated and varied reasons and that ideologies were blending. It was the first hike in a decade.
