CALIFORNIA: More than 800 competitors will be trudging through the Florida Everglades for the next eight days, in search of invasive Burmese pythons that will bring in thousands of dollars in prize money.
The python hunt officially began Friday morning and runs through 5 p.m. on Aug. 15, according to officials who gathered in Miami to kick off the annual event.
“This is significant because every python removed is one less invasive species preying on our native birds, mammals and reptiles,” said Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Since 2000, more than 17,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades ecosystem, according to a news release. Burmese pythons, which are not native to Florida, prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles. A female python can lay as many as 100 eggs a year.
Cash prizes of up to $2,500 are available in both the professional and novice categories for those who remove the most pythons, officials said. There are additional prizes for the longest python in each category. Each python must be dead, with hunters facing disqualification if they kill them inhumanely or kill a native snake.
So far, the registered hunters represent 32 states and Canada. Registrations are being accepted throughout the competition. It costs $25 to register and participants must also complete an online training course.
Python hunt! 800 compete to remove Florida’s invasive snakes
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Python hunt! 800 compete to remove Florida’s invasive snakes
- Since 2000, more than 17,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades ecosystem, according to a news release
India tells university to leave AI summit after presenting Chinese robot as its own, sources say
- Social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China’s Unitree Robotics for about $2,800
- Orion, the robotic dog, was claimed to have been developed at the Center of Excellence at Galgotias University
NEW DELHI: An Indian university has been asked to vacate its stall at the country’s flagship AI summit after a staff member was caught presenting a commercially available robotic dog made in China as its own creation, two government sources said.
“You need to meet Orion. This has been developed by the Center of Excellence at Galgotias University,” Neha Singh, a professor of communications, told state-run broadcaster DD News this week in remarks that have since gone viral.
But social media users quickly identified the robot as the Unitree Go2, sold by China’s Unitree Robotics for about $2,800 and widely used in research and education globally.
The episode has drawn sharp criticism and has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on India’s artificial intelligence ambitions.
The embarrassment was amplified by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who shared the video clip on his official social media account before the backlash. The post was later deleted.
Both Galgotias and Singh have subsequently said the robot was not a university creation and the university had never claimed otherwise.
The stall remained open to visitors as of Wednesday morning with university officials fielding questions from media about accusations of plagiarism and misrepresentation.
Galgotias has yet to receive any communication about being kicked out from the event, a representative at the booth said.
The India AI Impact summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, which runs until Saturday, has been billed as the first major AI gathering hosted in the Global South. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei will address the gathering on Thursday.
The event has also faced broader organizational difficulties since opening, with delegates reporting overcrowding and logistical issues.
That said, there has been more than $100 billion of investment in India AI projects pledged during the summit, including investments from the Adani Group conglomerate, tech giant Microsoft and data center firm Yotta.
India’s biggest opposition party, Congress, was among those expressing outrage.
“The Modi government has made a laughing stock of India globally with regard to AI,” it said on social media, citing the robot incident.
