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☆ Now Hiring: Sophisticated (but Part-Time) Chatbot Tutors
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After her second child was born, Chelsea Becker took an unpaid, yearlong leave from her full-time job as a flight attendant. After watching a video on TikTok, she found a side hustle: training artificial intelligence models for a website called Data Annotation Tech. For a few hours every day, Ms. Becker, 33, who lives in Schwenksville, Pa., would sit at her laptop and interact with an A.I.-powered chatbot. technology has put a more sophisticated spin on a kind of gig work that doesn’t require leaving the house. The growth of large language models like the technology powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT has fueled the need for trainers like Ms. Becker, fluent English speakers who can produce quality writing.

Persons: Chelsea Becker, yearlong, Becker Locations: Schwenksville, Pa

☆ TikTok Turns to Creators to Fight Possible Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Sapna Maheshwari | Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Facing a possible ban in the United States, TikTok has scrambled to deploy perhaps its most powerful weapon: its creators. The hugely popular video service began recruiting dozens of creators at the end of last week, asking them to travel to Washington to fight a bill being debated in Congress. Under the proposal, TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, would need to sell the app or it would be blocked in the United States. Many of the creators have met with lawmakers and posted videos about their opposition to the bill with the hashtag #KeepTikTok, often with the irreverent humor the app is known for. “So old white people boomers we call Congress-people are trying to ban TikTok, and I’m not having it,” Giovanna González, a TikTok creator better known as @TheFirstGenMentor, posted in a video on Tuesday, with the U.S. Capitol visible in the distance behind her.

Persons: TikTok, I’m, ” Giovanna González Organizations: U.S, Capitol Locations: United States, Washington

☆ The Youths Have Spoken: Wallets Are Lame. Go Digital.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Brian X. Chen | Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To a growing number of youths, a wallet stuffed with cash and cards is as unfashionable as the millennial tuck, no-show socks and skinny jeans. Iykyk — that’s “if you know, you know,” for those who don’t know. I, Brian Chen, a graying 39-year-old tech columnist, am not one of those in the know. It’s unfathomable to me to part with my wallet, which holds crucial items like my driver’s license. “If a store doesn’t accept Tap to Pay, I won’t give them business,” Ms. Hegab said.

Persons: Iykyk, Brian Chen, unfathomable, Yiwen Lu, Ruby Hegab, Ms, Hegab Organizations: Apple Locations: Fremont , Calif

☆ What Elon Musk and Sam Altman Said About Each Other
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Yiwen Lu | Tripp Mickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A decade ago, Elon Musk and Sam Altman bonded over a shared concern about the dangers of artificial intelligence. In 2018, Mr. Musk departed OpenAI after a power struggle with Mr. Altman. Mr. Musk later expressed dismay that the lab had turned into a for-profit company. On Thursday, Mr. Musk sued Mr. Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of breaching the founding contract between Mr. Musk and Mr. Altman by putting profits and commercial interests ahead of the public good in developing A.I. Here’s what Mr. Musk and Mr. Altman have said about each other over the years, and what they have jointly said.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Musk, Mr, Altman Organizations: Mr, OpenAI

☆ Snap Shares Plummet After Fourth-Quarter Results
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31 was $1.36 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year ago but below Wall Street projections of $1.38 billion for Snapchat’s parent company. Net losses for the fourth quarter narrowed to $248 million, from $288 million a year earlier. “2023 was a pivotal year for Snap, as we focused relentlessly on adding value to our community while evolving our business for long-term growth,” Evan Spiegel, the company’s chief executive, said in a letter to investors. On Monday, Snap laid off more than 500 workers, or about 10 percent of its global work force, part of a bigger wave of targeted cuts by tech companies this year. “While this decision was painful, and we will miss our friends and colleagues, we believe these changes are necessary to achieve our long-term goals” and manage expenses, Mr. Spiegel said in the letter.

Persons: ” Evan Spiegel, Spiegel Organizations: Revenue

☆ Snap Becomes Latest Tech Company to Cut Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Snap, the parent of messaging app Snapchat, on Monday said it would lay off more than 500 employees, joining other tech companies in a wave of new cost-cutting measures. The layoffs amount to 10 percent of its global work force; the majority will occur in the first quarter of 2024. “We have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” the company said in a securities filing, adding that it would take pretax charges of $55 million to $75 million, primarily for severance and related costs. Amazon, Google and Microsoft have announced layoffs this year, following tens of thousands across the sector last year.

Persons: “ Organizations: Google, Microsoft

☆ Watch Me Lose My Job on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She was being laid off by a tech giant. The video racked up a half million views and thousands of comments within hours. “One of my resolutions for this year was to be a lot more open and honest with things I struggle with in my own life, so part of that is really showing parts of my life that may not be as glamorous,” Ms. Ade-Banjo said in an interview. As companies from the start-up Discord to Google have shed hundreds of jobs in recent weeks, some tech workers are taking to social media to share their layoff experiences, and many of these videos have gone viral. They show people crying as they talk with human resources or going through their daily routine knowing a mysterious appointment on their calendar is likely to result in their termination.

Persons: “, ” Folashade Ade, Banjo, Ade, Ms Locations: Angeles

☆ Hottest Job in Corporate America? The Executive in Charge of A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In September, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona created a first-of-its-kind job at the hospital system: chief artificial intelligence officer. So executives appointed Dr. Bhavik Patel, a radiologist who specializes in A.I., to the new job. Dr. Patel has since piloted a new A.I. capabilities throughout every department, every division, every work group,” said Dr. Richard Gray, the chief executive of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. The chief A.I.

Persons: Bhavik Patel, Patel, “ We’re, ”, Richard Gray Organizations: Mayo Clinic Locations: Arizona, Phoenix, Scottsdale, ultrasounds

General Motors is slowing the expansion of its Cruise automated driving division and significantly cutting spending at the unit after suspending operations in response to growing safety concerns about its driverless cars. The company had been planning to roll out a ride service in San Francisco and three other cities and begin testing Cruise vehicles on the streets of several other markets. It now plans to focus on only one city as it works to improve the operation of its fleet of driverless vehicles it has been testing. “We expect the pace of Cruise’s expansion to be more deliberate when operations resume, resulting in substantially lower spending in 2024 than in 2023,” G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, said Wednesday at an investor conference. “We must rebuild trust with regulators at the local, state and federal levels, as well as with the first responders and the communities in which Cruise will operate.”Last month, California regulators suspended Cruise’s license to operate in the state after an incident in which a Cruise self-driving vehicle in San Francisco ran over a pedestrian who had been hit by another car and dragged her for 20 feet.

Persons: ”, ’, Mary T, Barra Organizations: Motors, Cruise Locations: San Francisco, California

☆ Epic Games C.E.O. Says Google Has ‘De Facto Control’ on Android App
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“I want to make it clear to everybody exactly what was happening on these platforms,” Mr. Sweeney said from a witness stand on Monday. If Epic wins, Google could be forced to allow other companies to offer competing payment systems on the Play Store. Since the trial started two weeks ago, Mr. Sweeney has been sitting in the front row of the courtroom almost every day. In September, Google reached a settlement with dozens of state attorneys general who sued the company on similar grounds. In his testimony, Mr. Sweeney insisted that his goal was to distribute the games to more users, rather than seek monetary damages, and that Google’s fee prevented Epic from expanding its business.

Persons: Mr, Sweeney, “, Jonathan Kravis Organizations: Apple, Google, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft

☆ ‘Lost Time for No Reason’: How Driverless Taxis Are Stressing Cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After loading the patient into an ambulance, a black-and-white car pulled up and blocked the path. It was a driverless vehicle operated by Waymo, an autonomous car company that Google’s parent, Alphabet, owned. With no human driver to instruct to move out of the way, Mr. Wood spoke through a device in the car to a remote operator, who said someone would come take the vehicle away. Instead, another autonomous Waymo car arrived and blocked the other side of the street, Mr. Wood said. But the self-driving cars added seven minutes to the emergency response, he said.

Persons: Adam Wood, Wood Organizations: San, Waymo Locations: San Francisco, city’s

☆ ‘Lost Time for No Reason:’ How Driverless Taxis Are Stressing Cities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Persons: Adam Wood, Wood Organizations: San, Waymo Locations: San Francisco, city’s

Kyle Vogt, a founder and chief executive of Cruise, the driverless car subsidiary of General Motors, resigned on Sunday, less than a month after Cruise suspended all autonomous operations after a series of traffic mishaps. Mr. Vogt had faced criticism for months as Cruise’s self-driving operations ran into issues in cities such as San Francisco. At various points, Cruise’s autonomous vehicles were involved in accidents, with outrage mounting after one of its cars dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after a crash in October. In a statement, Cruise said that its board had accepted Mr. Vogt’s resignation, but it did not specify what had led to his departure. The company did not name a new chief executive but appointed a new president who also became its chief technology officer and a new vice chairman.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Cruise, Vogt, Vogt’s, ” Organizations: General Motors Locations: San Francisco

Two months ago, Kyle Vogt, the chief executive of Cruise, choked up as he recounted how a driver killed a 4-year-old girl in a stroller at a San Francisco intersection. I get emotional.”To make streets safer, he said in an interview, cities should embrace self-driving cars like those designed by Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors. Now Mr. Vogt’s driverless car company faces its own safety concerns as he contends with angry regulators, anxious employees and skepticism about his management and the viability of a business that he has often said will save lives while generating billions of dollars. On Oct. 2, a car hit a woman in a San Francisco intersection and flung her into the path of one of Cruise’s driverless taxis. The Cruise car ran over her, briefly stopped, and then dragged her some 20 feet before pulling to the curb, causing severe injuries.

Persons: Kyle Vogt, Cruise, ”, “, Vogt’s Organizations: General Motors Locations: San Francisco

Deb Perelman, the best-selling cookbook author and creator of Smitten Kitchen, tends to focus her social media posts on her work, like pasta or chocolate chip cookie recipes. Of course, many people see immense importance in posting on social media about the war. Social media feeds have focused on major news events many times before. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a uniquely thorny and divisive issue to navigate on social media, though, particularly for those not educated about the region or its history, or who are still forming their opinions. People of both faiths have asked her to post about the war on social media, she said, and sending her graphic images.

Persons: Deb Perelman, “, ”, Perelman, ” Ms, —, outpourings, Israel, Phoebe Lind, Maddie Coppola, Israel ”, Coppola, Ms, Andrey Romanov, Nazhath Faheema, Faheema, — they’re, Minaa, ’ ”, Agneez Kang, Kang, ” Yiwen Lu Organizations: Harvard, Artforum, Harper’s, Facebook, LinkedIn Locations: Israel, Gaza, Washington, New York, Singapore, ”

☆ Snap Reports 5% Revenue Increase, Reversing Declines in Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, on Tuesday reported that its revenue rose 5 percent in the latest quarter after two straight quarters of declines, as the digital advertising market rebounded. But Snap cautioned that the ad market remains unpredictable and that it has “observed pauses in spending from a large number of primarily brand-oriented advertising campaigns immediately following the onset of the war in the Middle East.”Revenue for the third quarter was $1.19 billion, up from $1.13 billion a year ago and above Wall Street estimates of $1.11 billion. In the previous two quarters, Snap’s revenue had fallen between 4 percent and 7 percent. The company remained unprofitable, recording a net loss of $368 million for the third quarter, which was wider than a loss of $360 million a year ago.

Organizations: ” Revenue

The collapse in cryptocurrency prices last year forced a procession of major firms into bankruptcy, trigging a government crackdown and erasing the savings of millions of inexperienced investors. But for a small group of corporate turnaround specialists, crypto’s implosion has become a financial bonanza. Lawyers, accountants, consultants, cryptocurrency analysts and other professionals have racked up more than $700 million in fees since last year from the bankruptcies of five major crypto firms, including the digital currency exchange FTX, according to a New York Times analysis of court records. Large fees are common in corporate bankruptcies, which require complex and time-intensive legal work to untangle. Every dollar in fees is deducted from the pool of funds that will be returned to creditors at the end of the bankruptcies.

Persons: trigging Organizations: New York Times

☆ Driverless Taxis Blocked Ambulance in Fatal Accident, San Francisco Fire Dept. Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two Cruise driverless taxis blocked an ambulance carrying a critically injured patient who later died at a hospital, a San Francisco Fire Department report said, in another incident involving self-driving cars in the city. It said that a police vehicle in another lane had to be moved in order for the ambulance to leave. The patient, who had been struck by a car, was pronounced dead about 20 to 30 minutes after arriving at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, about 2.4 miles away from the accident. Cruise, an autonomous vehicle subsidiary of General Motors, said that it was not at fault. The footage also showed that other vehicles, including another ambulance, passed by the right side of the Cruise taxi.

Organizations: San Francisco Fire Department, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, General Motors, The New York Times, Cruise

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

☆ Cruise Agrees to Reduce Driverless Car Fleet in San Francisco After Crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Less than a day after one of its driverless taxis collided with a fire truck in a San Francisco intersection, Cruise agreed on Friday to a request from state regulators to cut in half the number of vehicles it was operating in the city. On Friday, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates the safety of the driverless cars, asked Cruise to halve the number of vehicles it was operating in San Francisco. The Cruise vehicle’s collision with a fire truck the day before had injured a passenger in the driverless car. Earlier in the week, another Cruise vehicle got stuck in newly poured concrete on another city street. The company, which now has 400 vehicles operating in San Francisco, will have no more than 50 driverless cars running during the day and 150 at night.

Persons: Cruise Organizations: California Public Utilities Commission, General Motors, Google, California Department of Motor Vehicles Locations: San Francisco, Cruise

☆ Driverless Taxis Can Expand San Francisco Services, Regulators Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The expansion plan was the first indication that driverless cars could be commercially viable after billions of dollars in investments by the tech and auto industries. “San Francisco would be a proof of concept” for the rest of the country, said Matt Wansley, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York. Darcie Houck, a commissioner who voted for the expansion, said the companies had met requirements that the state set out. Cruise operates 300 vehicles in San Francisco during the night and 100 during the day, while Waymo operates 250 throughout the day. Waymo said its driverless fleet would “align” with rider demands, while Cruise said it would focus on expanding the market to new parts of the city, since it had offered paid rides only in northwest San Francisco.

Persons: Matt Wansley, Darcie, Waymo, Cruise Organizations: Cardozo School of Law, Cruise Locations: San Francisco, New York

☆ San Francisco Balks at Expanding Driverless Car Services on City’s Roads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past year or so, a jarring sight has become common in San Francisco: driverless cars buzzing around the city’s streets with no one at the wheel and an expensive array of electronic sensors guiding the way. But a plan by two companies to expand driverless taxi services in San Francisco has met stiff resistance from city officials and some activists. The fight has become a Rorschach test for local tolerance of the tech industry’s new ideas: Are the driverless cars an interesting and safe transportation alternative? With more than 800,000 residents, hilly San Francisco is the second most densely populated city in the country. Whether self-driving cars can succeed in the city will be a harbinger for their viability in other communities.

Persons: Cruise Organizations: California Public Utilities Commission, General Motors Locations: San Francisco, California

☆ Uber Posts 14% Rise in Revenue as Growth Slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Uber’s revenue increased 14 percent in its most recent quarter, the company reported on Tuesday, but the growth was its slowest since the coronavirus pandemic began easing last year. The San Francisco-based company posted revenue of $9.2 billion, up from $8.1 billion in the second quarter last year. The 14 percent growth was slower than the 105 percent increase a year earlier and down from 29 percent in the previous quarter. Uber’s gross bookings — the amount paid by customers — totaled $33.6 billion, up 16 percent from year earlier. “We are focused on driving significant demand in the years ahead — both by attracting new riders to Uber and by getting existing riders to use Uber more,” Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive, said in a statement.

Persons: Dara Khosrowshahi Organizations: Wall Street Locations: San Francisco

☆ What Happened When 15 of Twitter’s Top Celebrities Joined Threads
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Threads, the new social app from Meta, had a fast start this month when it racked up 100 million downloads in less than a week. We compiled a list of 15 of some of the most-followed celebrities and high-profile figures on Twitter who joined Threads, including Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Gates, Britney Spears, Shakira and Oprah Winfrey. Then we compared their activity on Twitter with their activity on Threads every day since July 5, when Threads was released. We also looked at what they did on Instagram, which is owned by Meta and developed Threads. What we found is just an early snapshot, but it may provide some clues to where Threads is headed.

Persons: Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Gates, Britney Spears, Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, — Organizations: Meta, Twitter

☆ Snap’s Sales Fall for the Second Time in a Row
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past year, the company has performed layoffs, reordered the priority of some of its business initiatives and reorganized some of its executives to deal with the challenges. Yet even as slower ad spending has buffeted large tech companies such as Google and Meta over the past year, Snap’s issues have been particularly difficult. As a smaller social media company with a narrower audience, it is not always the first stop for advertisers. And it faces intense competition from rivals like TikTok, which has gained users more rapidly and is now bigger than Snap. To diversify where it makes money, Snap rolled out a subscription service called Snapchat+ last year, and it has gained more than four million users.

Persons: Evan Spiegel, Jasmine Enberg, ” Organizations: Google, Insider Intelligence

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