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☆ Google search head says 'we won't always find' mistakes with AI products and have to take risks rolling them out
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I don't think we should take away from this that we shouldn't take risks," Reid said. When we find new problems, we should do the extensive testing but we won't always find everything and that just means that we respond." Reid's comments come at a critical moment for Google, which is scrambling to keep pace with OpenAI and Microsoft in generative AI. "You may have seen stories about putting glue on pizza, eating rocks," Reid told employees at the all-hands meeting. Reid was introduced on stage by Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google 's knowledge and information organization.

Persons: Liz Reid, Reid, OpenAI, Sundar Pichai, Barack Obama, America's, Prabhakar Raghavan, we've, we're Organizations: CNBC, Google, Microsoft

☆ Joe Biden’s agonizing wait as a jury deliberates his son’s fate
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The Hunter Biden and Trump cases are vastly different, as is the way the former and current first families have responded to the trials. This is especially significant since Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted, although a sentence for a first-time offender is unlikely to be that severe. The Hunter Biden trial is the latest cruel twist in the story of a family that has endured more tragedies than most could bear. The infringements on the Biden family’s dignity and privacy cut deep during the trial, which saw discomforting testimony about Hunter Biden’s former cocaine addiction. Media organizations, meanwhile, played an excerpt from Hunter Biden’s audio book that chronicles his spiral into addiction that was used in the prosecution case.

Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Hunter, Trump, Hunter Biden, He’s, Nelson Mandela, WITCH HUNT, ” Trump, Eric, Donald Jr, Mike Johnson —, GOP nominee’s, Melania Trump, Biden, Jill Biden, Leo Wise, “, ” Wise, ”, —, Beau, It’s, Bill Clinton, Roger Clinton, Billy Carter, Jimmy Carter, Beau Biden’s, Hallie, Naomi, “ I’m, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Biden’s, General Merrick Garland, David Weiss, Wise, Joe Organizations: CNN, Biden, Trump, ABC, GOP, Media, Manhattan, Attorney, Republicans Locations: York, Wilmington , Delaware, New York, American, Wilmington, France, Europe, there’s, Mar, Georgia —, Ukraine, China

☆ A national network of local news sites is publishing AI-written articles under fake bylines. Experts are raising alarm
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Hadas Gold | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But a closer look at the bylines populating the local site and a national network of others — Sarah Kim, Jake Rodriguez, Mitch M. Rosenthal — reveals a tiny badge with the words “AI.” These are not real bylines. The outlet, Hoodline, is not the first or only news site to harness AI. Sports Illustrated deleted several articles from its website after they were found to have been published under fake author names. Keeping local news aliveOn Hoodline’s network of local news sites, it is difficult to find an article not written by the software. But the transformation at Hoodline shows that bigger solutions are needed to keep vital local news reporting alive.

Persons: Sarah Kim, Jake Rodriguez, Mitch M, Rosenthal —, ”, Hoodline, ” Zachary Chen, ” Chen, “ Nina, Mark Graham, Peter Adams, “, ” Adams, Chen, Danielle Coffey, ” Coffey, That’s, Felix Simon, ” Simon, Simon, Benjamin Toff, Hoodline San Francisco ’, Nuala, ” Bishari Organizations: CNN, Media, Tech, Gannett, Internet, Wayback Machine, News Literacy, LinkedIn, Media Alliance, News Corp, Reuters Institute for, Journalism, University of Oxford, Research, University of Minnesota, San Francisco Chronicle Locations: embarrassments, San Francisco, Philippines, Hoodline San

☆ China's latest supersonic spy drone looks a lot like the Lockheed D-21 that crashed there in 1971
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Benjamin Brimelow | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The aircraft, shaped like a dart and painted black, was a D-21 supersonic reconnaissance drone. Ultimately unsuccessful, the drone would be relegated to the annals of aviation history if not for the appearance of a strikingly similar Chinese drone unveiled at a recent military parade. AdvertisementThis is what we know about the high-flying Chinese spy drone and the D-21 upon which it could be based. High altitude, high speedLockheed's solution was to create an unmanned high-altitude high-speed reconnaissance aircraft with similar capabilities as the A-12, but much smaller. A WZ-8 reconnaissance drone is on display at the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition on September 28, 2021 in Zhuhai, China.

Persons: —, Francis Gary Powers, Dwight Eisenhower, Marquardt, Bill, Ray Torrick, Chen Xiao, Benjamin Brimelow Organizations: Service, Air Force, 4200th Support Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Business, Lockheed Corporation, Soviet, White House, CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, Lockheed's, Works, Redesignated, Navy, US Air Force, Chinese Aviation Museum, Davis, Monthan Air Force Base, 13th China International Aviation, Aerospace, US National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency, 29th Air Regiment, People's Liberation Army Air Force's 10th Bomber, Global Affairs, Fletcher School of Law, Diplomacy, Modern, Institute Locations: Guam, China, Soviet Union, Soviet, Yunnan, Beijing, Tucson , Arizona, United States, Zhuhai, People's Republic of China, Liuan, Korean, Taiwan, Pacific, West

☆ Trump’s first criminal trial is a historic and solemn moment for America
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

The United States, unlike democracies that have been historically less stable, is not a nation accustomed to seeing its former heads of state on trial. This is one reason why Trump’s 2024 campaign is running as much through the courtrooms as according to the traditional rhythms of a White House bid. It’s very unfair that I’m having a trial there,” Trump said on Friday, alluding to New York City’s liberal lean. The deteriorating situation could bolster Trump’s claims the world is spinning out of control under his successor’s watch. Merchan has declined efforts by the president’s attorneys to get the trial relocated to a jurisdiction where voters may be more favorable to Trump.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”, Biden, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Juan Merchan, Judge Arthur Engoron, Joe Biden, “, that’s, Robert Hirschhorn, ” Trump, he’s, Nelson Mandela, Alexey Navalny, Bragg, Trump’s, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, ” Bragg, ” Trump’s, …, Norm Eisen, ” Eisen, Alvin Bragg, Jack Smith, Michael Cohen, Merchan, Cohen Organizations: CNN, Republican, Trump, Attorney, Democrat, Conservative Political, Conference, Biden, White House, Prosecutors Locations: United States, Manhattan, New York, Pennsylvania, Israel, Iran

☆ Apple's first AI move may be outsourcing the mess to Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Why handle the mess of AI by itself when it can pass it on to someone else? AdvertisementApple does, of course, want an AI strategy, despite all the mess the technology brings with it. Fresh AI features could help Apple boost falling iPhone sales in China. Fresh generative AI features could give iPhones the extra edge they need to boost sales again. In addition, Apple will have several new AI features based on its own, homegrown LLM models we expect to be unveiled at WWDC this June.

Persons: —, Tim Cook, they've, Apple, Perfectionism, Steve Jobs, Cook, OpenAI's GPT, Dan Ives Organizations: Service, Google, Bloomberg, Apple, Business, Publishing, Getty, Worldwide Locations: China, China —

☆ How Google lost its way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Just two months after Google launched Gemini, its flashy new AI model, the company revealed that it had already built a better version. AdvertisementThen, days later, Google scrambled to explain why its image generation tool spit out racially inaccurate depictions of historical figures. Users have long bemoaned — and researchers recently found — a decline in the quality of Google Search results. The fact that Google is not far and away the self-driving-car leader, it's, like, a total joke," the former Google director said, adding that the problem of Google's lost supremacy is "maybe impossible to solve, frankly." Google now is reminiscent of the Steve Ballmer-era Microsoft, which missed the smartphone, search, and cloud waves and was overtaken by Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Persons: OpenAI, Sora, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai's, Pichai, —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Lea Suzuki, Getty Brin, Page, Google, Googlers, Axel Springer, Diane von Furstenberg, Giovanni Giannoni, Michael Avrukin, Vuk Valcic, wouldn't, Patrick Mork, Eric Lehman, Lehman, ChatGPT, Caesar Sengupta, Sengupta, Alexa, Google's, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly Organizations: Google, Hollywood, Industry, San Francisco Chronicle, Business, Penske Media, Microsoft, Amazon, The New York Times, Oracle, YouTube, Apple, IBM, Meta Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, —

☆ A close Russian ally snubbed Putin by announcing military exercises with the US — the latest in a series of embarrassments for the president
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Armenia will host a joint military exercise with the US later this month. The country is a longtime Russian ally but has repeatedly expressed its frustration with it. This includes threatening to leave the Russia-led CSTO and refusing to host its military drills. A US military spokesperson told Reuters that 85 US soldiers and 175 Armenian soldiers will take part in the exercise. Armenia also hosts a Russian military base.

Persons: CSTO, Vladimir Putin, didn't, Nikol, Pashinyan, Putin, Thomas Graham, Jaroslava Barbieri, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: Service, Reuters, NATO, Soviet, Yale, University of Birmingham Locations: Armenia, Russian, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, East, tatters .

On the overall list of the world’s Best Countries, Russia – where the survey was not fielded for the second year in a row – fell one spot to No. Among individuals in specific nations, the percentage of those agreeing this year that Russia is a “threat to the world” eclipsed 90% in several: Denmark, Finland, Japan and Poland. The only other countries with higher majorities agreeing that China is a global threat were Japan (91%) and South Korea (86%). Among respondents who do consider the U.S. a global threat, the highest share of agreement came from China at about 75%, while agreement eclipsed 60% among those from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and New Zealand. Still, the possibility of geoeconomic conflict is troubling, according to Ellissa Cavaciuti-Wishart, head of the Global Risks Initiative at the World Economic Forum.

Persons: ”, Russia ” –, “, Russia that’s, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Joe Biden, Richard Wike, ” Wike, “ They're, Biden, Ellissa Cavaciuti, Wishart Organizations: News, U.S . News, NATO, Wagner, Russia, The New York Times, Wagner Group, U.S, Best, Pew Research Center, Pew, Global, Economic Locations: Russia, Ukraine, U.S, China, United States, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Poland, Russian, Belarus, Moscow, Australia, United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, South Korea, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, New Zealand

Mr. DeSantis’s whirlwind trip abroad this week was meant to elevate his credentials as a statesman and heavyweight, while taking him away from the hurly-burly of a fledgling presidential campaign that he has not officially begun. But if Mr. DeSantis thought it would give him a reprieve from scrutiny, he was mistaken. But his words have been parsed and compared with those of rivals and previous presidential hopefuls. “There are people who will always be critical, but I don’t worry about that,” said Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official who now leads Mr. DeSantis’s super PAC. “He’s showing himself to be a guy who can go toe-to-toe around the world.”

☆ The Clash of Civilizations That Heralded a Rocky Relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Abhishek Kaicker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Das, a professor of English at Oxford University, is the rare scholar who combines a sensitivity to the literature of Jacobean England with a sympathetic and nuanced understanding of the Mughal empire. In Das’s telling, Roe was not a herald of the Company Raj to come as much as a product of 17th-century England, an island nation whose commercial ambitions were beginning to overshadow its royal court. Conflicts over precedence did nothing to advance his mission of securing trade rights, which was the real reason Roe had been sent across the Indian Ocean. The Mughal emperor Jahangir suffered neither James I’s financial embarrassments nor accorded much privilege to traders. Indeed, the court’s sumptuous ceremonies led “mogul” to become a byword for fantastical wealth and overwhelming power.

☆ Balenciaga spotlights craft at first runway show since ad controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 5 (Reuters) - French luxury group Kering's fashion house Balenciaga shifted the focus to fashion construction Sunday for its first catwalk show since a backlash from an advertising campaign last year. The label, which was criticised for a campaign featuring imagery of children, showed a lineup of distinctive tailoring, body-hugging silhouettes with hulking shoulders and full-length, glittering evening wear on a white-carpeted runway in Paris. "Being able to make this happen was a challenge that I knew I had to face," Balenciaga designer Demna Gvasalia, known as Demna, told journalists backstage after the show. "I wanted exactly to make it to be able to move on and do what I do best, which is making clothes," he said. The designer and Kering executives have apologized for an advertising campaign that drew criticism for featuring imagery of children that many considered inappropriate.

☆ America’s World Cup Hopes Depend on Gen Z
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After an infamous loss to Trinidad and Tobago caused the U.S. Men’s National Team to miss the 2018 World Cup, new coach Gregg Berhalter landed in the job with a surprising plan. He didn’t turn to trusted veterans in a bid to steady the ship. As he prepared for the next spin through World Cup qualifying, he did the exact opposite. No team heading to Qatar relied on a younger set of players to get there than the Americans. Most didn’t have the scars of past U.S. embarrassments, simply because they hadn’t even been part of the national team yet.

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