Etzebeth accepts 12-week ban but claims eye-gouge ‘was never intentional’
Eben Etzebeth, the Springboks lock serving a 12-week ban for eye-gouging Alex Mann of Wales, has claimed it was “never intentional”, contradicting the verdict of an independent disciplinary committee announced last week.In an Instagram post on Wednesday the Sharks second row accepted guilt and apologised, saying “unfortunately mistakes happen”.The 34-year-old double Rugby World Cup winner also appeared to distance himself from the act by drawing attention to “other factors”.Along with three videos accompanying the post, Etzebeth claimed two Welsh players involved in the fracas, along with Mann, changed “the dynamic of the entire picture”.Etzebeth will be sidelined until April after an 18-week ban, for what was deemed a mid-range offence, was reduced to 12 weeks due to mitigating factors including his previous good disciplinary record.
“I’ve been quiet, but now that my hearing is done, I think I owe everyone an explanation,” Etzebeth wrote.“I accept guilt.I made a mistake and I’m willing to serve a suspension which I deserve …“I don’t want young kids who look up to the Springboks to think that it’s OK to eye gouge someone, because it’s not, but unfortunately mistakes happen … I would never do something like this on purpose, I know what the consequences will be after playing rugby for a few years.”As in his evidence to the disciplinary hearing, Etzebeth said he had been struck by Mann in his neck/chin area, which was not spotted by the officials, before retaliating with an open-handed blow.“You can clearly see my first point of contact is against his shoulder with an open hand, just like he did, except he got me on the chin,” Etzebeth wrote.
“When I went for the same open hand towards his shoulder, you’ll see two Welsh players changing the dynamic of the entire picture, as well as one of my teammates pulling [Mann] around his neck away from my hand and where my force is going.”Etzebeth said this led to what he claims was an accidental eye-gouge.“Why did I post this?” Etzebeth added.“To try and show people how everything happened and that it was never intentional.I would never do something like this on purpose.
”“Having considered the Player’s and other evidence and reviewed the footage, and for the reasons set out in the full written decision … the Disciplinary Committee have determined that contact with the eye was intentional,” stated an update from the Quilter Nations Series, announcing the verdict last Wednesday.
Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China
Donald Trump has cleared the way for Nvidia to begin selling its powerful AI computer chips to China, marking a win for the chip maker and its CEO, Jensen Huang, who has spent months lobbying the White House to open up sales in the country.Before Monday’s announcement, the US had prohibited sales of Nvidia’s most advanced chips to China over national security concerns.Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday: “I have informed President Xi, of China, that the United States will allow NVIDIA to ship its H200 products to approved customers in China, and other Countries, under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security. President Xi responded positively!”Trump said the Department of Commerce was finalising the details and that he was planning to make the same offer to other chip companies, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel. Nvidia’s H200 chips are the company’s second most powerful, and far more advanced than the H20, which was originally designed as a lower-powered model for the Chinese market that would not breach restrictions, but which the US banned anyway in April
AI researchers are to blame for serving up slop | Letter
I’m not surprised to read that the field of artificial intelligence research is complaining about being overwhelmed by the very slop that it has pioneered (Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’, 6 December). But this is a bit like bears getting indignant about all the shit in the woods.It serves AI researchers right for the irresponsible innovations that they’ve unleashed on the world, without ever bothering to ask the rest of us whether we wanted it.But what about the rest of us? The problem is not restricted to AI research – their slop generators have flooded other disciplines that bear no blame for this revolution. As a peer reviewer for top ethics journals, I’ve had to point out that submissions are AI-generated slop
EU opens investigation into Google’s use of online content for AI models
The EU has opened an investigation to assess whether Google is breaching European competition rules in its use of online content from publishers and YouTube creators for artificial intelligence.The European Commission said on Tuesday it would examine whether the US tech company, which runs the Gemini AI model and is owned by Alphabet, was putting rival AI owners at a “disadvantage”.The commission said: “The investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, or by granting itself privileged access to such content, thereby placing developers of rival AI models at a disadvantage.”It said it was concerned that Google may have used content from web publishers to generate AI-powered services on its search results pages without appropriate compensation to publishers and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content.The commission said it was also concerned as to whether Google had used content uploaded to YouTube to train its own generative AI models without offering creators compensation or the possibility to refuse
Australia launches a social media ban – and is AI a bubble about to pop?
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, writing to you from a New York City that feels much colder than last December. 🥶In a world first, Australia implemented a ban on social media use for people under 16. It’s the first country to take such a far-reaching measure. Starting on 10 December, children and teens under 16 will not be allowed to use social media in Australia
‘I feel it’s a friend’: quarter of teenagers turn to AI chatbots for mental health support
It was after one friend was shot and another stabbed, both fatally, that Shan asked ChatGPT for help. She had tried conventional mental health services but “chat”, as she came to know her AI “friend”, felt safer, less intimidating and, crucially, more available when it came to handling the trauma from the deaths of her young friends.As she started consulting the AI model, the Tottenham teenager joined about 40% of 13- to 17-year-olds in England and Wales affected by youth violence who are turning to AI chatbots for mental health support, according to research among more than 11,000 young people.It found that both victims and perpetrators of violence were markedly more likely to be using AI for such support than other teenagers. The findings, from the Youth Endowment Fund, have sparked warnings from youth leaders that children at risk “need a human not a bot”
Social media use damages children’s ability to focus, say researchers
Increased use of social media by children damages their concentration levels and may be contributing to an increase in cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a study.The peer-reviewed report monitored the development of more than 8,300 US-based children from the age of 10 to 14 and linked social media use to “increased inattention symptoms”.Reseachers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the Oregon Health & Science University in the US found that children spent an average of 2.3 hours a day watching television or online videos, 1.4 hours on social media and 1
US engaging in ‘extreme rightwing tropes’ reminiscent of 1930s, British MPs warn
UK denies Milei’s claim of talks over Falklands-era ban on Argentina arms sales
Sajid Javid told Boris Johnson he was Dominic Cummings’ ‘puppet’
Keir’s performance in PMQs panto sets bar low enough for Kemi to stay as Tory leader | John Crace
Keir Starmer appoints 25 Labour peers to strengthen support in House of Lords
No 10 publishes list of 34 new political peerages including 25 Labour, five Liberal Democrats and three Conservatives – as it happened