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Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to 4 months for allowing money laundering

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance and a dual citizen of the UAE and Canada, was sentenced to four months in prison yesterday for breaches of US money laundering regulations and sanctions at the leading global cryptocurrency exchange. This sentence falls below the one to one and a half years recommended by sentencing guidelines and is considerably less than the three years sought by prosecutors.

In November, Zhao entered a guilty plea and consented to step down as CEO of Binance, agreeing to a $50 million fine for failing to implement an adequate anti-money laundering strategy. This failure led to breaches of sanctions involving users from Iran, Cuba, Syria, and Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. Additionally, Binance will pay penalties and forfeitures totaling $4.3 billion. This ruling comes shortly after Sam Bankman-Fried, a former executive at FTX, received a 25-year sentence for fraud related to his cryptocurrency enterprise.

Zhao relinquished his right to challenge any sentence of up to 18 months as part of his plea agreement. Zhao, whose fortune is estimated at $43 billion, primarily from his stake in Binance, will be the wealthiest individual incarcerated in a US federal prison.

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Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall

Last night, numerous New York City police officers intervened at Columbia University following a student occupation of an administrative building earlier that day. The students involved were subsequently arrested and are anticipated to face charges of trespassing and criminal mischief. This incident significantly heightened campus tensions, which have been inflamed by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

At Columbia, protesters took control of Hamilton Hall on Tuesday morning, causing damage and renaming the building "Hind's Hall" in memory of a young Palestinian girl who died in Gaza. This action followed the university's threats of suspension and potential expulsion directed at students who had been staging a prolonged sit-in at the site. The demonstrators are pressing the university to sever financial ties with companies that do business with Israel, echoing calls from various student movements across the U.S.

In related events, Portland State University shut down its campus after protestors entered its library, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes due to similar disturbances. Nationwide, arrests related to these protests have surpassed a thousand individuals.

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Major U.S. newspapers sue OpenAI, and Microsoft for copyright infringement

Yesterday, eight regional daily newspapers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement. This legal action marks a significant moment in the ongoing challenges faced by the publishing industry as it grapples with the implications of artificial intelligence technologies. Among the plaintiffs are prominent publications like the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, all under the ownership of Alden Global Capital, the second-largest newspaper operator in the U.S.

These AI technologies, exemplified by OpenAI's ChatGPT, utilize large language models trained on vast amounts of internet text to mimic human-like responses. The plaintiffs, including media giants like The New York Times, have previously argued that the use of their journalistic content to train these models constitutes more than simple usage and veers into intellectual property infringement, especially when it leads to misattributions or errors presented under their brands.

In contrast to pursuing legal action, some media outlets are exploring collaborative agreements with AI firms. Notable examples include The Associated Press, Reuters, and the UK's Financial Times, which have entered into licensing arrangements, reportedly netting them annual fees ranging from $1 million to $5 million from OpenAI for content access.

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