Arizona

Arizona lawmakers give nod of approval to harsher penalties for AI crimes

Published

10 months ago

February 22, 2024

Arizona lawmakers give nod of approval to harsher penalties for AI crimes

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — A Scottsdale mother’s fight to stop scammers from using artificial intelligence is gaining traction among Arizona lawmakers. Legislation, Senate Bill 1599, could make punishments more severe for people who use AI to commit crimes, and at a recent committee hearing, it received unanimous support.

Last year, Jennifer DeStefano received a phone call from a scammer who used AI to clone her 15-year-old daughter’s voice and fake a kidnapping. “She goes, ‘Mom. These bad men have me. Help me. Help me. Help me,’ and starts pleading and crying and sobbing in a voice very familiar that I’ve known for 15 years,’” DeStefano said.

The ransom demand started at a million dollars. That wasn’t possible, so the scammers dropped the price to $50,000. “Not only did they want it in cash, but they also wanted to come pick me up in a white van, put a bag over my head and transport me to my daughter with all the money. And if not, we both were dead,” DeStefano told Arizona state lawmakers. “As I’m making these arrangements, my 13-year-old daughter is listening, thinking she’s lost her sister and now she’s going to lose her mother.”

There was no kidnapping, but for a few minutes, it all felt so real. “I had had an interactive conversation. It was her cries, her sobs, unique to her. A mother knows her child,” DeStefano said.

On Your Side’s first report on this AI scam captured the attention of Sen. Jon Ossoff from Georgia, who invited DeStefano to testify on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers vowed action. DeStefano is grateful state lawmakers are calling for change as AI technology rapidly improves. “Unfortunately, the police were not able to do anything because there’s no laws in place to allow them to do anything,” DeStefano testified. “Unfortunately, it was considered a prank call.”

State Sen. Justine Wadsack, a Republican, introduced SB 1599, which would amend state law to make using AI in a crime an ‘aggravating circumstance’ in sentencing. Basically, it would make AI a weapon, so just as criminals could face harsher punishments for using a gun while committing a crime, criminals could also face harsher punishments for using artificial intelligence while committing a crime.

DeStefano’s daughter, Brianna, was by her side to tell Arizona lawmakers about her experience. “This scam has deeply affected my life,” she said. “As a young girl still in high school, it’s difficult being able to walk out even just walking my dogs at night. Hanging out with my friends, going to the bathroom alone, you never know where anyone could be at any point in time.”

Brianna says she is not outspoken on social media and doesn’t know where scammers got her voice to clone. But as On Your Side has reported, it doesn’t take more than a few seconds of a voice sample to get a realistic fake. “I want girls to be aware of this instance and know how to protect themselves against this problem as well as the government being able to protect them,” the younger DeStefano said.

There is opposition to the bill. The ACLU of Arizona and Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice are on the record against it. The ACLU believes it’s too broad and doesn’t describe what constitutes artificial intelligence or acknowledge that the use of AI could be incidental to a crime.

Though the bill received a unanimous vote of support in the Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children committee, it has not been scheduled for a vote on the floor. DeStefano is optimistic. “Arizona is being a pioneer and it’s amazing and I’m so thankful,” she said. “This is our government at play, being representatives of the people, speaking for the people and bringing forth our concerns and our needs to protect us.”

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Source link

Click to comment

Arizona

Is Big Lots closing all stores? What to know about all the stores closing in Arizona

Published

8 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Is Big Lots closing all stores? What to know about all the stores closing in Arizona

After months of store closures and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Big Lots is preparing to close all of its locations, according to a news release issued by the company on Thursday.

More than 400 stores have already been closed by the retailer in 2024 with the remaining ones set to hold “going out of business” sales. The company said it would continue to serve customers in-store and online and did not specify how long the sales would last.

“The Company is preparing to commence going out of business sales at all remaining Big Lots store locations in the coming days to protect the value of its estate,” Big Lots said in the news release.

CEO Bruce Thorn said the closures could be reversed if a company sale is completed.

The announcement comes as the company has already announced the closures of 24 locations in Arizona since July. Here’s the remaining Big Lots that are now closing.

Which Big Lots in Arizona are closing?

Bullhead City: 2350 Miracle Mile
Casa Grande: 1346 E. Florence Blvd.
Glendale: 6660 W. Cactus Road
Kingman: 3320 N. Stockton Hills Road
Lake Havasu City: 1799 Kiowa Ave.
Mesa: 1110 W. Southern Ave.
Show Low: 4421 S. White Mountain Road
Sierra Vista: 135 S. Highway 92
Surprise: 14537 W. Grand Ave.
Yuma: 1625 S. Fourth Ave.

Reach the reporter at reia.li@gannett.com. Follow @Reialirui on X, formerly Twitter.

Source link

Arizona

Safety Dalton Johnson withdraws from NCAA transfer portal, will return to Arizona in 2025

Published

15 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Safety Dalton Johnson withdraws from NCAA transfer portal, will return to Arizona in 2025

The NCAA transfer portal giveth and it taketh, but sometimes it just gives back what it took. For Arizona, that happened not once but twice on Thursday.

Safety Dalton Johnson is returning to the Wildcats for his redshirt senior season, withdrawing from the portal after going in last week. He joins fellow safety Genesis Smith, who did the same earlier Thursday.

Johnson, the only member of Arizona’s 2021 recruiting class–which signed in between Kevin Sumlin being fired and Jedd Fisch getting hired–led the Wildcats with 94 tackles this season. He started 11 games, missing one because of injury, and has 24 starts with 36 career appearances.

Arizona has had more than 30 players from the 2024 team enter the portal including the majority of the defensive starters, but getting back Johnson and Smith helps solidify a back line that has added three players from the portal and will have Duane Akina back as position coach following a season as defensive coordinator.

The return of Johnson and Smith continues the recent good news for Arizona, which on Wednesday night saw quarterback Noah Fifita announce he was coming back for 2025. Fifita has started the last 21 games.

Source link

Arizona

Arizona softball’s 2025 nonconference schedule has a Pac-12 flavor

Published

23 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

Arizona softball’s 2025 nonconference schedule has a Pac-12 flavor

Looking for a tough nonconference schedule? Have some Pac-12 nostalgia? Arizona softball has it covered.

The Wildcats released their full schedule on Thursday morning, adding the nonconference slate to the previously released Big 12 schedule. It has something to please everyone.

Arizona will keep rivalries with former Pac-12 opponents Washington, Stanford, and UCLA. They will bring Alabama and Texas to Tucson and play home and away against Cal State Fullerton. In total, the Wildcats will play 12 teams that made the NCAA tournament last season and appear in 32 games at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Things kick off with the Candrea Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium from Feb. 6-9, 2025. First on the slate is a doubleheader against Michigan State on Thursday, Feb. 6. The Spartans finished 21-30 overall last year and went 7-16 in the Big Ten but had a five-game winning streak to end the season.

That game heads straight into the land of the Pac-12 with the first of two games against the Washington Huskies on Friday, Feb. 7. It’s the first game of a Friday night doubleheader with the second game against Western Michigan. The Wildcats will play UW a second time on Sunday, Feb. 9.

The Huskies went 32-10 overall last season. They were 13-10 in their final Pac-12 season. They beat Arizona 2-1 in their series in Tucson. Their season ended in the Columbia Regional with a loss to Missouri. They went 1-2 in the postseason.

Saturday, Feb. 8 will feature Alabama. The Crimson Tide were 39-20 last year. They went 10-14 in the SEC. They advanced to the Women’s College World Series, going 1-2 and bowing out to Florida. They defeated Arizona twice during the regular season in Tuscaloosa.

Arizona hosts the Bear Down Fiesta the weekend of Feb. 13-16. The Wildcats will play South Alabama on Thursday, Feb. 13 and again on Friday, Feb. 14. They face Fullerton on Feb. 14 and Sunday, Feb. 16. Ohio is on the slate on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Arizona played South Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after 11 innings due to the “drop dead time.” The Jaguars ended their year 34-20-1 overall and 16-8 in the Sun Belt Conference. They went 2-2 at the Gainesville Regional, losing twice to host team Florida.

Fullerton was 39-19 overall in 2024. The Titans ended Big West play 22-5. They went 3-2 at the Stanford Regional, beating the host Cardinal and ranked Mississippi State once each.

The Ohio Bobcats were 31-24 last season. They finished 18-8 in the MAC. Their season ended with a loss to Ball State in the MAC Tournament.

The Wildcats stay home for the third week in a row to host the Hillenbrand Invitational from Feb. 20-23. The featured teams this weekend are Stanford and Texas, with the Cardinal playing UA twice.

Things start on Thursday, Feb. 20 with the Cardinal. The two teams will face off again on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Stanford will be a different team this season without NiJaree Canaday, whom Arizona will face in Big 12 play against Texas Tech. However, the Cardinal have advanced to the WCWS the last two seasons. They went 57-17 in 2024, finishing 17-7 in their last Pac-12 season.

The Cardinal went 2-1 against Arizona in Tucson last season. They went 2-2 in Oklahoma City, losing 1-0 to national runner-up Texas in their final game.

In between the two games against Stanford, the Wildcats will play UC Davis twice, once on Feb. 20 and once on Feb. 21. The game against the Aggies on Friday will be followed by a game against Colorado State. Saturday, Feb. 22 will feature Texas.

The Aggies were 21-29 overall and 12-15 in the Big West. The Rams went 26-21 overall and 9-12 in the Mountain West.

Texas was ranked No. 1 for a good chunk of 2024. The Longhorns went 55-10 overall and 23-4 in their final Big 12 season. They went 3-2 in Oklahoma City, losing the championship series to Oklahoma in two straight games.

The Wildcats play their first road game in a one-off at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, Feb. 26. LMU was 28-25 last season. The Lions finished 9-7 in the WCC.

The trip to Southern California continues on the return games at Cal State Fullerton from Feb. 28-Mar. 2. The Wildcats face the Wildcats of Weber State first on Friday, Feb. 28. They play the host Titans immediately following in a doubleheader.

Weber State finished 22-28 overall and 8-7 in the Big Sky in 2024.

Saturday, Mar. 1 features another doubleheader. First up is Notre Dame. Longtime rival UCLA follows.

The Bruins were 43-12 last year. Their last year in the Pac-12 ended with a 17-4 record. They won the series against Arizona 2-1 in Los Angeles. They then defeated Arizona by the score of 6-5 in the Pac-12 Tournament. They went 1-2 in Oklahoma City, losing back-to-back against Oklahoma and Stanford.

Things wrap up on Mar. 2 against San Diego State. The Aztecs finished 31-20 overall and 15-7 in the MWC last season. They went 0-2 in the Los Angeles Regional, losing to Virginia Tech and GCU.

Arizona returns home to start Big 12 play against UCF on Friday, Mar. 7, but they will play another one-off nonconference game against Utah State on Monday, Mar. 10. The Aggies were 22-28 last year and 5-17 in the MWC.

A Big 12 home series against Utah will be followed by a road game at GCU on Wednesday, Mar. 19. The Lopes had a 50-13 finish overall last season. They were 23-3 in the WAC. They lost 3-2 at Arizona on Apr. 30, 2024.

GCU went 2-2 at the Los Angeles Regional, a run that included defeating 17th-ranked Virginia Tech to advance to the regional final.

The next five weekends find the Wildcats facing Big 12 foes Arizona State, BYU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas Tech before another nonconference doubleheader.

The New Mexico State Aggies come to Tucson for a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 22. The Aggies were 30-25 last year. They went 13-11 in Conference USA. Arizona defeated them twice in Las Cruces.

The Wildcats return to Southern California for two more games against San Diego State to complete their Big 12 bye week. The games will be held on Friday, Apr. 25 and Saturday, Apr. 26.

Arizona finishes the Big 12 regular season at Houston from May 2-4 before heading to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Tournament May 7-10.

Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics

Source link