Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father found guilty of hitting his daughter but cleared of abusing Olympic champion
The father of the double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been found guilty of hitting the Norwegian runner’s younger sister, Ingrid, with a wet towel, and handed a 15-day suspended sentence.However, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who coached his Jakob to 1500m gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021 before an acrimonious split a year later, was acquitted of charges of physical and verbal abuse against Jakob after a court in Norway found there was “reasonable doubt” about the accusations.Ingrid, who left the family home aged 15 after a series of incidents, was also awarded compensation of 10,000 kroner (£744) by the court.The verdict marks another extraordinary episode in the life of the family that became huge reality TV stars in Norway after the docu-series The Ingebrigtsens, which charted their lives and eccentric nature, became a phenomenon.Prosecutors had called for Gjert to be jailed for two and a half years for what they told the court in the town of Sagnes was a “regime of physical and verbal abuse” towards Jakob and his younger sister, Ingrid, which spanned a decade.
It followed testimony from Jakob, who said that he had been a victim of domestic violence at the hands of his father, who had punched and kicked him as well as “controlled” him.Early in the six-week trial, Jakob alleged that when he was eight his father had punched him in the head “many times” after receiving a negative report about his behaviour from school.Jakob claimed that in another incident around the same time, he had been playing in the street on a scooter when his father jumped on him and kicked him in the stomach.The court also heard that Gjert had used threats, coercion and violence against Jakon’s younger sister, Ingrid, including “whipping” her in the face with a wet towel in 2022 after he had refused to let her play outside with friends.In court Gjert accepted that he had sometimes been demanding while coaching his three sons, Jakob, Henrik and Filip, to major international titles.
The 59-year-old also acknowledged that he had once thrown the family PlayStation out of a second floor window after a row.However, he denied all allegations of abuse and broke down in tears as he told the court that he had never hit anyone in his life.He also admitted his regret at falling out with Ingrid, who left the family home at 15 after the towel incident.“I miss her every day,” Gjert said.“She is the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night, and the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning.
The loss is extreme.”
Tell us: what questions do you have about the impacts of smartphones on children?
A quarter of three- and four-year-olds in the UK now own a smartphone, but the impact of that is still being understood. From endless scrolling to constant notifications, smartphones expose children not just to their friends and classmates, but to a world of advertising, influencers, and algorithms. But how is all of this shaping how children see themselves, relate to others, and develop emotionally?In a video series on our It’s Complicated Youtube channel, we’re speaking to experts to explore how smartphones might be affecting children’s mental health, attention, self-esteem and relationships. Are social apps making kids more anxious? What happens when children are targeted by ads that shape their sense of identity from a young age? What do we know, and what don’t we yet understand, about growing up in a world where you’re always online?We want to hear from you. What have you always wondered about children and smartphones? Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or just someone curious about the long-term effects, fill out the form below to share your questions
Disney and Universal sue AI image creator Midjourney, alleging copyright infringement
Disney and Universal sued an artificial intelligence company on Wednesday, alleging copyright infringement. In their lawsuit, the entertainment giants called Midjourney’s popular AI-powered image generator a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” for its alleged reproductions of the studios’ best-known characters.The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission “innumerable” copies of their marquee characters such as Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me. Midjourney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The suit by Disney and Universal over images and video represents a new frontier in the raging legal wars over the copyright and the creation of generative artificial intelligence
‘They went too far’: Musk says he regrets some of his posts about Trump
Elon Musk has expressed contrition for some of his tweets about Donald Trump last week, in an apparent effort to retreat from an explosive falling out that has threatened to damage the Tesla boss’s business interests.Musk was by far the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign, but tensions between the two erupted into public view last week and rapidly escalated, as the world’s richest man called for the president’s impeachment and mocked his connections to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a series of posts.On Wednesday, Musk posted on X, the social network he owns: “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.”Musk’s public apology came after the tech billionaire privately called Trump on Monday night, the New York Times first reported, citing three people familiar with the matter
Meta to announce $15bn investment in bid to achieve computerised ‘superintelligence’
Meta is to announce a $15bn (£11bn) bid to achieve computerised “superintelligence”, according to multiple reports.The Silicon Valley race to dominate artificial intelligence is speeding up despite the patchy performance of many existing AI systems.Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, is expected to announce the company will buy a 49% stake in Scale AI, a startup led by Alexandr Wang and co-founded by Lucy Guo, in a move described by one Silicon Valley analyst as the action of “a wartime CEO”.Superintelligence is described as a type of AI that can perform better than humans at all tasks. Currently AI cannot reach the same level as humans in all tasks, a state known as artificial general intelligence (AGI)
UK students and staff: tell us your experiences with AI at university
The use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools are becoming increasingly commonplace in UK higher education. A February survey of 1,000 students showed an “explosive increase” in use of generative AI in particular over the previous 12 months.With this in mind, we’d like to find out more about how AI is affecting students at university.How has AI impacted your studies? Have you used AI tools? Have you been suspected of using AI when you haven’t? What guidance have you been given by universities or tutors about using AI? Do you have any concerns?We’d also like to hear from university teaching staff – what is the impact of AI on students’ work? What are the challenges?You can tell us about your experiences with AI at university using this form.Please share your story if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you wish
As big tech grows more involved in Gaza, Muslim workers are wrestling with a spiritual crisis
Is working in big tech halal? Muslim workers are reckoning with the possibility that their jobs go against their religious obligationsBefore Ibtihal Aboussad was fired by Microsoft for protesting the company’s work with the Israeli military during a celebration of the firm’s 50th anniversary, she sent two emails.The first went to all of her colleagues. She appealed to their universal humanity and urged them to stand against Microsoft’s contracts to provide cloud computing software and artificial intelligence products to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).She sent the second to the “Muslims at Microsoft” email list. Its subject line read: “Muslims of Microsoft, Our Code Kills Palestinians
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