Morning Mail: AFL tells Sportsbet to ditch AI players; Anne Aly reveals death threats; and Musk’s electoral play

The Guardian Australia · 2026-10-13T20:06:38.000Z · Artificial Intelligence

Want to get this in your inbox every weekday? Sign up for the Morning Mail here , and finish your day with our Politics, really newsletter . Morning everyone. Our exclusive lead story reveals how the AFL has told its commercial partner, Sportsbet, to stop promoting its products with AI-generated images and memes of players without their consent. Elsewhere, the small business minister, Anne Aly, has laid bare the scale of abuse facing women in politics after revealing that she has received 19 death threats in the past week alone; figures show Elon Musk has donated US$366m to rightwing political campaigns in the current US election cycle; and Josh Hazlewood stars as Australia beat South Africa in the first Test. Vintage Hazlewood | Josh Hazlewood proved his enduring worth to Australia taking 6-49 as he spearheaded the dismissal of South Africa for 206 to wrap up a dominant win in the first Test in Durban by 214 runs. Exclusive | The AFL has told its official gambling partner, Sportsbet, to stop featuring its high-profile athletes in AI-generated social media content without player permission. Wildlife crisis | Flying foxes are starving en masse across New South Wales and parts of Victoria, with wildlife rescuers responding to a surge in reports of “exhausted and emaciated” adults and skeletal pups and blaming habitat loss and a dry winter. Assaults rise | The sexual assault of Australian children has accelerated sharply since the pandemic, surprising researchers who expected rates to have fallen but instead found attacks on boys had risen 15.7%. Aly death threats | Anne Aly has condemned as “racist” and “misogynistic” comments in parliament calling for her to be “stoned in the square” – while revealing she has received 19 death threats in the last week alone. Continue reading...

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