Nvidia CEO Huang Says Countries Must Build Sovereign AI Infrastructure 

NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang attend a session of the World Governments Summit, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 12, 2024. (Reuters)
NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang attend a session of the World Governments Summit, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Nvidia CEO Huang Says Countries Must Build Sovereign AI Infrastructure 

NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang attend a session of the World Governments Summit, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 12, 2024. (Reuters)
NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang attend a session of the World Governments Summit, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Monday that every country needs to have its own artificial intelligence infrastructure in order to take advantage of the economic potential while protecting its own culture.

"You cannot allow that to be done by other people," Huang said at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Huang, whose firm has catapulted to a $1.73 trillion stock market value due to its dominance of the market for high-end AI chips, said his company is "democratizing" access to AI due to swift efficiency gains in AI computing.

"The rest of it is really up to you to take initiative, activate your industry, build the infrastructure, as fast as you can."

He said that fears about the dangers of AI are overblown, noting that other new technologies and industries such as cars and aviation have been successfully regulated.

"There are some interests to scare people about this new technology, to mystify this technology, to encourage other people to not do anything about that technology and rely on them to do it. And I think that's a mistake."

Following a new round of US restrictions in October imposed on some of its AI chips, Nvidia said in November it was working with customers in China and the Middle East to obtain export licenses for new products that would comply with US rules.

The CEO did not address that issue on Monday.

Nvidia is due to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 21.



New Instagram Location Sharing Feature Sparks Privacy Fears

(FILES) A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
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New Instagram Location Sharing Feature Sparks Privacy Fears

(FILES) A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Instagram users are warning about a new location sharing feature, fearing that the hugely popular app could be putting people in danger by revealing their whereabouts without their knowledge.

The Meta-owned image sharing platform added an option on Wednesday which shares locations using an Instagram map, similar to a feature rival Snapchat has offered since 2017.

Some users have since been shocked to discover that their location was being shared, viral posts have shown, reported AFP.

"Mine was turned on and my home address was showing for all of my followers to see," Instagram user Lindsey Bell wrote in reply to a warning posted by "Bachelor" reality television personality Kelley Flanagan to her 300,000 TikTok followers.

"Turned it off immediately once I knew but had me feeling absolutely sick about it."

In a TikTok video, Flanagan called Instagram's new location sharing feature "dangerous" and gave step-by-step instructions on how to make sure it is turned off.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri fired off a post on Meta-owned Threads stressing that Instagram location sharing is off by default, meaning users need to opt in for it to be active.

"Quick Friend Map clarification, your location will only be shared if you decide to share it, and if you do, it can only be shared with a limited group of people you choose," Mosseri wrote.

"To start, location sharing is completely off."

The feature was added as a way for friends to better connect with one another, sharing posts from "cool spots," Instagram said in a blog post.

Users can be selective regarding who they share locations with, and can turn it off whenever they wish, according to Instagram.

Wariness regarding whether Instagram is watching out for user privacy comes just a week after a federal jury in San Francisco sided with women who accused Meta of exploiting health data gathered by the Flo app, which tracks menstruation and efforts to get pregnant.

A jury concluded that Meta used women's sensitive health data to better target money-making ads, according to law firm Labaton Keller Sucharow, which represented the plaintiffs.

Evidence at trial showed Meta was aware it was getting confidential health data from the third-party app, and that some employees appeared to mock the nature of the information, the law firm contended.

"This case was about more than just data -- it was about dignity, trust, and accountability," lead attorney Carol Villegas said in a blog post.

Damages in the suit have yet to be determined.