DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Artificial intelligence will make Big Tech even bigger. Something needs to be done about the power imbalance, researchers warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

She asked if the company was selling unregistered securities (which is typically illegal, by the way — here's what it means). Big Tech + AI = even bigger tech. So Big Tech companies are best-positioned to gain even more power as artificial intelligence technology — like ChatGPT — gets further developed. Something needs to be done about this power imbalance, researchers warn. My teammate Emilia David breaks down the AI power imbalance and highlights some proposed solutions in her latest story.

☆ The rise of AI will only make Big Tech more powerful, NYU researchers warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

That gives Big Tech companies an advantage. Last week, AI Now released a report detailing Big Tech's impact on AI development — finding that AI development has been "foundationally reliant" on resources controlled by Big Tech, including data and computing power. AI Now said Big Tech has also been positioned as a crucial part of the US-China race, giving them geopolitical importance. The report said much of the narrative around AI development has been shaped by Big Tech, from the idea that AI needs unrestricted innovation for social good to connecting AI development to societal progress. Myers West said better enforcement of antitrust laws and connecting competition with the concept of privacy could limit just how big Big Tech can get.

☆ How Larry Page's flying-car company of the future turned into a stunning failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Although I'm currently pretty homesick and jet lagged, I'm blessed with "the life-changing magic of working from home." One worker told my colleague Rebecca Knight how remote work transformed her life and how returning to the office has killed company morale. The stunning failure of Google founder Larry Page's flying-car company. In April 2022, company morale plummeted when it axed one of its most promising projects, those former insiders say. The company put together a thorough document to help managers navigate pay-related conversations with employees, and Insider got a look.

☆ Humans have to get in the way of AI to make it more responsible
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Humans are key to responsible AI. Calls to pause AI development centered around the need to make sure we were building responsible AI. But some Big Tech companies laid off responsible AI employees as part of the great cost-cutting sweeping the industry, possibly undermining the greatest tool against unfettered, unchecked AI. Those moves come right as society has come to understand what can happen if AI escapes its guardrails, making AI ethics more important than ever. Here's why humans will help bring responsible AI to fruition.

☆ Leaders like Elon Musk are calling for an AI pause. But experts say there's no secret to better, safer AI: Just add humans.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Leaders like Elon Musk have called for a "pause" on AI development to better consider its effects on society. But industry insiders say that we already know the best way to make sure AI acts responsibly: Just add humans. The thing is that the secret to responsible AI is no secret at all. A lot of responsible AI deals with understanding the impact of AI in people's day-to-day lives. All of which is to say, a way to create responsible AI already exists.

☆ Why banning TikTok could be a bad idea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Download Insider's app here. Screenshots from Lemon8 app, Ese Nuesiri / Shantania Beckford1. The rise of Lemon8 proves how pointless a TikTok ban would be. The US government wants to ban TikTok, but its parent company ByteDance is coming out with a new app aimed at the US market. Paayal writes that even if the US banned TikTok, Lemon8 would still exist.

☆ Elon Musk dreams of Twitter's AI power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's personal AI ambitions. Elon Musk was one of the more prominent names on an open letter calling for a pause in AI development. My teammate Asia Martin points out that Musk's position on AI is contradicted by Twitter's investment in generative AI. Twitter's recent purchase of hardware normally used to develop generative AI products shows the extent of this ambition. Read more on Elon Musk's AI ambitions.

☆ More layoffs may still come for tech workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The tech sector has shed an estimated 330,000 jobs since last year, but my colleague Hasan Chowdhury writes that more cuts will likely come. Here's why tech workers have to brace for more layoffs. The AI arms race has pushed tech organizations to recruit AI talent from university programs aggressively. Google employees reportedly tried to stop Bard. Read Insider's exclusive on the cuts.

☆ Why cutting middle management is a bad idea
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The push to cut middle managers will backfire on tech. Companies like Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce embarked on cost-cutting efforts that "flattened" org charts by removing middle managers, starting a trend across Silicon Valley. Middle managers, or what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls "managers managing managers," saw their roles shrink in the past year as tech companies focus on "individual contributors," increasingly requiring managers to do coding work themselves. But losing middle managers could also impact team morale and how employees look at their futures in the company. It comes despite Musk recently signing an open letter calling for an industry-wide halt to any AI training for several months.

☆ Can ChatGPT be a doctor?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

My colleague Emilia David will take over for the rest of this week until Diamond Naga returns from her much-needed vacation. Can ChatGPT be a doctor? One physician said the AI chatbot was "better than many doctors" he's observed when it came to clinical diagnosis. The doctor said the diagnosis didn't differ from what he would have determined. ChatGPT may have passed the exam, but it's still unable to take the Hippocratic oath, where doctors swear to abide by a set of professional ethical standards.

☆ OpenAI has become synonymous with the generative AI boom, but it has a weakness that its competitors are already starting to exploit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But while OpenAI became synonymous with AI, its competition hasn't sat still. Other AI model makers see a growing opportunity in the concerns around OpenAI, and want to pounce on the opportunity. Amazon, not one to miss a promotional activity, then directed its programmers to use its own AI model called CodeWhisperer. OpenAI's determination to dominate the field meant it created a more general AI model that others could add on. However, it also leaves an opening in the market for more specific AI models that organizations in sensitive industries will flock to.

☆ Google's AI chatbot Bard is still being rushed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google contractors say they don't have enough time to verify correct answers from the company's AI chatbot, Bard. Bard got off to a less-than-ideal start when it gave an incorrect answer at Google's launch event earlier this year. Some of the contractors told Insider that they just aren't given enough time to corroborate and check the most accurate answer. Google CEO said he sticks to fun and creative questions with Google's Bard AI chatbot. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, told The New York Times that he learned through trial and error what type of questions to ask Google's AI chatbot.

☆ Leaders like Elon Musk want to pause AI development, but the power of the free market means it's impossible to stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk and other business leaders signed a letter urging a six-month pause in AI development. From the moment the public was allowed to start testing OpenAI's GPT-3 in November, there was no stopping the bullet train of generative AI development. And the power of market forces means that there's no stopping the pace of AI development, even if companies like OpenAI wanted to. The train has left the station, and there's no going backSince November, and arguably even before, generative AI has been the technology on everyone's lips. Even if we wanted to pause AI development, there's not a clear way to enforce itThere's also the problem of enforcement.

☆ High-profile tech leaders say AI is developing too fast and we should pause. Google's Bard says it's complicated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A letter from tech heavyweights and researchers urging caution about AI should serve as a warning. To help address the fears, companies must set rules and be open how they use AI, execs told Insider. If you ask a group of high-profile tech leaders and researchers, they'll answer a firm "yes." That could involve companies coming up with standards and declaring how they are using or plan to use AI, business leaders told Insider. Bricker said business leaders need to work on improving the rules around AI systems and processes.

☆ Tech leaders are urging caution on AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insider asked ChatGPT, the viral AI chatbot sweeping the internet, to whip up a layoff memo for a pretend tech company, Gomezon. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, researchers at Alphabet's DeepMind, and other AI leaders are calling for a pause on training AI models more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4. My colleague Emilia David looked at why Elon Musk and other tech leaders are right: AI needs to slow down. An Apple Watch is an essential for many of us these days, but the right band can make all the difference. Check out Insider's review of the 18 best Apple Watch bands in 2023.

☆ Elon Musk is right: AI needs to slow down for the good of society
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and over 1,000 others signed a letter calling for a pause on new AI models. Wozniak, Musk, and more than 1,000 other business leaders signed a letter seeking guardrails and a pause on training AI models as the technology grows more powerful. The letter argues powerful AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 "should only be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable." It's hard to develop responsibly when the free market demands moving quicklyTo be clear, AI, particularly generative AI like ChatGPT, is incredibly transformative technology. Releasing powerful AI models for the public to play with before it's ready isn't making the technology better.

☆ OpenAI's ambitious master plan to conquer rivals like Google in the AI race hinges on pure speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Moving fast looks to be the core of OpenAI's ambitious strategy to become the number one name in AI. And, importantly, OpenAI wants — or, perhaps needs — the other much faster than its competitors can. Speed is key to OpenAI's approachBy now, everyone knows OpenAI, thanks to the smash almost-overnight success of ChatGPT. Much of the process to improve its AI models is to let it connect to more data sources than ever before. But OpenAI isn't waiting around: it wants to move fast, and its ambition stretches beyond just improving ChatGPT and its other AI models.

☆ Twitter and Apple are cracking down on return-to-office mandates. Other tech companies will likely start too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Major tech companies are taking in-person work pretty seriously. They were early return-to-office tech companies. So their crackdowns give a glimmer of how tech companies issuing similar mandates now will enforce them going forward. Amazon, Oracle, Salesforce, and many other tech companies recently announced the end to remote work. Check out our list of major companies with return-to-office mandates — they could eye policy enforcement soon.

☆ America needs immigration reform, or it risks of losing an entire generation of tech workers to countries like Canada, the UK, and Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Emilia David | Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

While the US still attracts talent, workers increasingly go to places like the UK or Canada. With other countries easing immigration for tech workers, the US may find itself lagging. Without change, and fast, experts say this could mean an entire lost generation of tech talent for American tech. "Foreign countries have figured out ways to more aggressively attack top-tier tech talent," Hiba Anver, an immigration attorney with Erickson Immigration Group, told Insider. America's loss is other countries' gainMeanwhile, other countries are making it easier for tech workers like Negandhi and students to immigrate.

☆ The US is bleeding tech workers to other countries — it needs to move fast or risk falling behind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US is losing tech workers to other countries. And so, many tech workers are opting to move and work there instead of the US. Plus, many of these countries are making their immigration systems easier for tech workers. My teammates Emilia David and Paayal Zaveri break down how the US is on the brink of losing an entire generation of tech workers. And it showed that Boomers and Gen Z both love many of the same cars, including the Toyota RAV4.

☆ The rise of AI automation in the workplace is bad news for the 'brilliant jerks' of tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This will make it more important for tech workers to be good at collaboration and communication. This is bad news for tech workers who thrived as brilliant solitary jerks. The more AI becomes integrated into a workplace, those experts suggested, the more all workers can work with others to get more creative in solving issues. That doesn't leave a lot of room for the brilliant jerks who struggle to treat their colleagues and customers with respect. He added that AI tools combined with interpersonal and collaboration skills create a more team-based culture in the workplace.

Greg Becker, who was the longtime CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, pictured last year. "Looks like Silicon Valley Bank is in some deep shit," Uncommon Capital general partner Jamie Quint tweeted. Startup founders scrambled to get their funds out of Silicon Valley Bank after its collapse. Andreessen Horowitz announced this week that it will continue banking with Silicon Valley Bank "for the foreseeable future" but is crafting a longer-term plan to diversify. Even so, he added, "I think we'd be supportive, as they stabilize, for them to be one of many partners that our founders bank with."

That's the question posed by certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. He and others pushing a grind culture are motivated, as tech employees commenting on the workplace app Blind noted. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ Silicon Valley Bank's meltdown shows that tech's elites need the government after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Silicon Valley Bank meltdown is teaching the tech industry that regulators are sometimes needed. Tech's relationship with regulation has long been contentiousGovernment regulations, some of tech's most vocal figures contend, can stifle innovation and creativity. "I would suspect that this failure will result in some significant changes to banking regulation," Griffin said. "My logic for that is it isn't sustainable to have a run on a bank triggered mainly on Twitter." Very few in the VC world believe that the move to protect depositors will be bad for the industry's overall health.

After a bank run of $42 billion in withdrawals, Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by regulators on Friday. The founders were banking at Silicon Valley Bank and wanted to switch banks immediately after being told by their venture investors that the bank was suffering from "liquidity issues." The go-to bank of Silicon ValleySilicon Valley Bank has been a pillar of the startup of ecosystem for four decades, acting as the go-to financial institution for VC fundraising and building strong ties with founders and investors alike. This helped bolster SVB's reputation as the go-to bank of Silicon Valley in the good times, but exacerbated the crisis when it hit Thursday and Friday. "If you're given responsibility to run this iconic Silicon Valley company, you need some humility."

Search resuls for: "Emilia David"

25 mentions found