DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Apple said it pulled the Meta-owned apps WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China on Friday on government orders, potentially escalating the war over technology between the United States and China. The House of Representatives was preparing to vote on a bill as soon as this weekend that would force the Chinese internet company ByteDance to sell its popular video app TikTok or have it be banned in the United States. U.S. lawmakers have said TikTok poses a security threat because of its ties to China. Apple said that China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration, ordered the removal of WhatsApp and Threads from its app store because of national security concerns. “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,” an Apple spokesman said.

Persons: Apple Organizations: U.S, Cyberspace Administration, Apple Locations: China, United States

Page, hampered for more than a decade by an unusual ailment in his vocal cords, described his vision of a digital utopia in a whisper. If that happens, Mr. Musk said, we’re doomed. Finally he called Mr. Musk a “specieist,” a person who favors humans over the digital life-forms of the future. That debate has pitted some of the world’s richest men against one another: Mr. Musk, Mr. Page, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, the tech investor Peter Thiel, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sam Altman of OpenAI.

Persons: Page, Musk, we’re, ”, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, OpenAI Organizations: Valley, Meta, Microsoft Locations: Silicon

More board members, who could be plucked from OpenAI’s biggest investor, Microsoft, and the A.I. Mr. Altman was not named to the board on Tuesday night, and it was not clear if he ever will be. But some already argue that it will not be as attuned to OpenAI’s original mission to create A.I. The tech industry — perhaps even the world — will be watching to see if OpenAI is any closer to balancing those dueling aspirations than it was a week ago. “This needs to be a trustworthy organization that’s aligned with its board, and at the end of it all, OpenAI is a more valuable organization than it was a week ago.”

Persons: Altman, ”, Aaron Levie Organizations: Microsoft

For much of the past year, OpenAI’s board of directors has been criticized as too small and too divided to effectively govern one of the fastest-growing start-ups in Silicon Valley history. On Friday, the board’s dysfunction spilled into public view when four of its members fired Sam Altman, OpenAI’s popular and powerful chief executive. Mr. Altman, 38, returned to the company on Tuesday night, after days of haggling over his job and over the makeup of the board. The board and Mr. Altman’s allies discussed more than a half dozen options for its future. The departing board wanted to be sure the replacements would be independent thinkers and experienced enough to stand up to Mr. Altman.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI’s, Altman, Altman’s, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs, Brian Chesky Organizations: Emerson Locations: Silicon Valley

Sam Altman was reinstated late Tuesday as OpenAI’s chief executive, the company said, successfully reversing his ouster by the company’s board last week after a campaign waged by his allies, employees and investors. The board of directors will be overhauled, jettisoning several members who had opposed Mr. Altman. Adam D’Angelo, the chief executive of Quora, will be the only holdover. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” OpenAI said in a post to X. “We are collaborating to figure out the details.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Adam D’Angelo, Sam, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, ” OpenAI, Greg Brockman, upended Organizations: Quora

Nearly all of OpenAI’s 800 employees have threatened to follow Mr. Altman to Microsoft, which asked him to lead an A.I. lab with Greg Brockman, who quit his roles as OpenAI’s president and board chairman in solidarity with Mr. Altman. The board has not said what it thought Mr. Altman was not being honest about. There were indications that the board was still open to his return, as it and Mr. Altman held discussions that extended into Tuesday, two people familiar with the talks said. But there was a sticking point: Mr. Altman rejected some of the guardrails that had been proposed to improve his communication with the board.

Persons: OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman, Brockman Organizations: Microsoft

The board of directors of OpenAI, the high-flying artificial intelligence start-up, said in a note to employees on Sunday night that its former chief, Sam Altman, would not be returning to his job, while naming his second interim replacement in two days. Emmett Shear, the former chief executive of Twitch, will replace Mira Murati as interim chief executive of OpenAI, the board said. Ms. Murati, a longtime OpenAI executive, had been appointed to that role after Mr. Altman’s ouster on Friday. The board said Mr. Shear has a “unique mix of skills, expertise and relationships that will drive OpenAI forward,” according to the memo viewed by The New York Times. It was signed by each of the four directors on the company’s board; Adam D’Angelo, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, and Tasha McCauley.

Persons: Sam Altman, Emmett Shear, Twitch, Mira Murati, Murati, Altman’s, Shear, ”, Adam D’Angelo, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, “ Organizations: OpenAI, The New York Times

OpenAI’s four-person board shocked the tech industry early Friday afternoon when it removed Mr. Altman, saying they could no longer trust him. One of the board members who pushed out Mr. Altman then reversed course on Monday and signed the letter demanding that he be reinstated. The decision by the board set off a frantic weekend of unexpected corporate jockeying that ended with Mr. Altman joining Microsoft to start a new A.I. By early Monday morning, the 700 employees had signed the letter, according to three people familiar with the matter. The upheaval leaves the future of one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley history in doubt.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman Organizations: Microsoft, Mr Locations: Silicon Valley

Talks at OpenAI to bring back Sam Altman, the artificial intelligence start-up’s recently ousted chief executive, continued on Sunday afternoon but there were disagreements over the makeup of the company’s board of directors, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Mr. Altman, 38, spent the weekend waging a pressure campaign on the start-up’s four-person board of directors who ousted him on Friday afternoon, three people familiar with the matter said. The result was a groundswell of support from investors, employees and OpenAI executives. Mr. Altman was at the OpenAI headquarters on Sunday afternoon. Members of the board have not yet agreed to what a restructured board of directors might look like — nor is Mr. Altman’s reinstatement an inevitability, two of the people said.

Persons: Sam Altman, up’s, Altman, “

Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two top executives at OpenAI who left the company after a dramatic board meeting on Friday, are talking again with board members about returning to the artificial intelligence start-up, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The discussions follow an outcry after Mr. Altman, 38, was ousted from his role as OpenAI’s chief executive. Since then, OpenAI’s investors and Mr. Altman’s supporters have pressured the board members of the start-up to bring Mr. Altman back, six people with knowledge of the situation said. There is no guarantee that Mr. Altman or Mr. Brockman will be reinstated at OpenAI, the people said. work is done — the company’s investors have no official say in what happens to the start-up or who leads it.

Persons: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Altman, Altman’s, Brockman Organizations: OpenAI, Microsoft Locations: OpenAI

Mr. Altman plans to launch the initiative with his longtime partner and co-founder Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s former president who stepped down in solidarity with Mr. Altman on Friday, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans for the new company are not yet public. Details on the potential company are scarce, because Mr. Altman and Mr. Brockman are still working through what it will be. Plans could change quickly, as the pair are keeping a wide range of options open, the sources said. OpenAI’s board of directors shocked the tech industry on Friday when it abruptly fired Mr. Altman from his position as chief executive. By Friday night, the two men were already working on their plans to pitch investors on their next venture.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s, Brockman Organizations: OpenAI

☆ Mark Zuckerberg Taps the Strengths of WhatsApp
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Mike Isaac | More About Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion nearly a decade ago, Mark Zuckerberg made a promise: The Facebook chief said he wouldn’t meddle often with the messaging app so as not to mess with a good thing. Mr. Zuckerberg stuck to that philosophy as WhatsApp amassed more than two billion users globally — until 2019, when he began tapping the app’s growth and business potential. Now WhatsApp has become increasingly crucial to Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and other apps. Ads on WhatsApp and its sister messaging service, Messenger, are also growing so rapidly that they may reach $10 billion in revenue this year, the company recently said. “If you’re envisioning what will be the private social platform of the future, starting from scratch, I think it would basically look like WhatsApp,” Mr. Zuckerberg, 39, said in a recent interview.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, wouldn’t meddle, Zuckerberg, WhatsApp, Mr Organizations: Facebook, Meta

But there was one topic Mr. Gilani was always wary of raising: The treatment of Palestinians. Instead it was attributed to “Muslim, Palestinian and Arab Google employees joined by anti-Zionist Jewish colleagues.” The New York Times discussed the matter with seven Google employees and reviewed messages posted in employee channels for this article. Google said the acrimony described to The Times by both Muslim and Jewish employees was limited to a small group of its many thousands of workers. “The overwhelming majority of those employees are not engaged in internal discussions or debate.”Google isn’t unique in facing this turmoil. Even compared with its Silicon Valley peers, Google has become a hub for employee activism, a legacy of the company’s open and informal founding culture.

Persons: Sarmad Gilani, Gilani, ”, Mr, Israel, —, ” Courtenay Mencini, Donald J, Rachel Westrick, Westrick, Israel’s, Sundar Pichai, Thomas Kurian, Kurian, he’s Organizations: Google, Hamas, New York Times, Times, Hollywood, Democratic Party, Microsoft, Pentagon, Asian, Meta, Washington Post Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, “, United States, Meta, Palestine

☆ Meta to Require Political Advertisers to Disclose Use of A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Mike Isaac | More About Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It put systems into place and developed policies for what types of political ads were and were not allowed on its platforms. The Silicon Valley company said that starting next year, it would require political advertisers around the world to disclose when they had used third-party A.I. software in political or social issue ads to synthetically depict people and events. Meta added that it would bar advertisers from using its own A.I.-assisted software to create political or social issue ads, as well as ads related to housing, employment, credit, health, pharmaceuticals or financial services. Those advertisers would be able to use third-party A.I.

Persons: Meta Organizations: Facebook

☆ Meta Posts 23% Growth as Ads Rebound, With Profit More Than Doubling
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Mike Isaac | More About Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, spent the past two years weathering a slump in digital advertising and cutting costs. Profit was $11.6 billion, more than double the $4.4 billion from a year earlier. Meta’s growth was bolstered by a rebound in digital ads, which has also fueled the financial performance of other companies. On Tuesday, Google reported increased ad sales, with Snap also disclosing rising sales after revenue declined for two quarters. But Meta’s results were also helped by its cost cuts, as expenses fell 7 percent from a year earlier to $20.4 billion.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: FactSet, Google

The head of Instagram’s Threads app, an X competitor, reiterated that his social network would not amplify news. The company has laid off news employees in two recent team reorganizations, and some publishers say traffic from Google has tapered off. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now: The major online platforms are breaking up with news. Publishers seem resigned to the idea that traffic from the big tech companies will not return to what it once was. Even in the long-fractious relationship between publishers and tech platforms, the latest rift stands out — and the consequences for the news industry are stark.

Persons: Campbell Brown, —, Adam Mosseri, Elon Musk Organizations: Twitter, Google, Publishers Locations: Instagram

Hamas is barred from Facebook, removed from Instagram and run off TikTok. Yet posts supporting the group that carried out terrorist attacks in Israel this month are still reaching mass audiences on social networks, spreading gruesome footage and political messages to millions of people. Several accounts sympathetic to Hamas have gained hundreds of thousands of followers across social platforms since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, according to a review by The New York Times. That account, Gaza Now, is aligned with Hamas, according to the Atlantic Council, a research group focused on international relations. “We’ve seen Hamas content on Telegram, like bodycam footage of terrorists shooting at Israeli soldiers,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League.

Persons: “ We’ve, ”, Jonathan A, Greenblatt, “ Organizations: Facebook, Hamas, The New York Times, Atlantic Council, Defamation Locations: Israel, Gaza

In a WhatsApp text conversation this week, we asked Jane Austen — yes, the 19th-century British author — how she felt about Mr. Darcy, a character from one of her most famous works, “Pride and Prejudice.”After a few seconds, Ms. Austen responded. “Ah, Mr. Darcy. Everyone remembers him as one of my characters,” she said, her face appearing in a small window above our conversation. But a modern interpretation of her likeness was used by Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, as part of an artificially intelligent character that could chat across the company’s messaging apps. Characters based on other people’s likenesses — including the former quarterback Tom Brady, the social media influencers Mr.

Persons: Jane Austen —, —, Darcy, “, ”, Austen, “ Ah, Tom Brady, Charlie D’Amelio, Snoop Dogg, Microsoft’s Bing Organizations: Meta, Facebook

Those who pay for Facebook and Instagram subscriptions would not see ads in the apps, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans are confidential. That may help Meta fend off privacy concerns and other scrutiny from E.U. regulators by giving users an alternative to the company’s ad-based services, which rely on analyzing people’s data, the people said. Meta would also continue to offer free versions of Facebook and Instagram with ads in the European Union, the people said. It is unclear how much the paid versions of the apps would cost or when the company might roll them out.

Persons: Meta Organizations: Facebook, European Union Locations: United States, Europe

My Waymo pulled into a parking lot six minutes later than it had initially predicted. It glided through the parking lot to a small, empty space where the map on the touch screen showed a circle. The Waymo rides were affordable, ranging from $18 to $21, about the same as an Uber. It’s going to take years — if not decades — for Waymo to recoup the billions of dollars that it has invested in its service. Though there’s no driver, each ride is supported by staff at a Waymo site that can be summoned if a car runs into trouble.

Persons: “, Mike, Uber Organizations: Chalet Locations: Golden, Waymo

☆ The Armed Is One of Punk’s Biggest, Oddest Mysteries. That’s Changing.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Mike Isaac | More About Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There are bands that are challenging to get into, and then there is the Armed. Its self-produced, highly weird music videos have a “Jackass”-meets-David Lynch aesthetic, with surprisingly advanced production values for an obscure Midwestern hardcore group. The Armed considers itself more of a collective or an art project than a band, with dozens of rotating members. Now, the Armed has a grand opportunity to capitalize on its years of toiling in relative obscurity. Harder acts like Scowl, Gel and Zulu are thriving, and Turnstile, the Baltimore-based hardcore group, has found a way to bridge hardcore to the mainstream.

Persons: David Lynch Organizations: Porsche Locations: Detroit, Baltimore, ”

☆ With No Date Set, Musk and Zuckerberg Trade Barbs on ‘Cage Match’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Mike Isaac | More About Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That rivalry has only increased in recent months, as Mr. Zuckerberg quickly spun up Threads after he witnessed the difficulties Mr. Musk had in his takeover of Twitter. Their brinkmanship came to a head in June, when Mr. Musk, in a reply to someone on Twitter, said that he would fight Mr. Zuckerberg in a physical cage match. It seemed as if the fight “might actually happen,” Mr. Musk later said in an online discussion. In July, Mr. Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself shirtless after a training match, boasting a newly chiseled physique and affirming his zeal for the sport. Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Zuckerberg, Musk, Dana White, Mr, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Gov Locations: China, Japan, South Korea, Florida

The algorithms powering Facebook and Instagram, which drive what billions of people see on the social networks, have been in the cross hairs of lawmakers, activists and regulators for years. In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of political news declined when their ability to reshare posts was removed, the researchers said. At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to another study. Ninety-seven percent of the links to “untrustworthy” news stories on the apps during the 2020 election were read by users who identified as conservative and largely engaged with right-wing content, the research found.

Persons: Instagram Organizations: University of Texas, University of Texas , New York University , Princeton, Facebook Locations: University of Texas , New

The largest companies in the tech industry have spent the year warning that development of artificial intelligence technology is outpacing their wildest expectations and that they need to limit who has access to it. Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, said on Tuesday that he planned to provide the code behind the company’s latest and most advanced A.I. technology to developers and software enthusiasts around the world free of charge. The decision, similar to one that Meta made in February, could help the company reel in competitors like Google and Microsoft. Those companies have moved more quickly to incorporate generative artificial intelligence — the technology behind OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT chatbot — into their products.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Meta, Mr Organizations: Meta, Google, Microsoft

When we — Brian X. Chen and Mike Isaac, both longtime tech journalists — got an assignment from our editor last week to review Threads, the new social network from Meta, it was like a blast from the past. Both of us have written about social networks for over a dozen years. The arrival of Threads, which was spun out of Instagram and is aimed as a prime place for public, real-time conversations, shakes up that scene. We wondered how we would take to it since one of us — Brian — is a casual Twitter user, and the other — Mike — is a longtime Twitter addict, which might affect our experience with Meta’s new app. Here’s what we found about Threads’ pros and cons and whether it might become a part of your life.

Persons: Brian X, Chen, Mike Isaac, —, Brian —, Mike — Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Meta

Search resuls for: "More About Mike Isaac"

25 mentions found