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☆ Embattled AI firm Appen loses more executives, months after Alphabet cut ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Appen, the embattled artificial intelligence firm that once helped train AI models for tech giants including Microsoft , Nvidia and Google , has lost its executives in charge of revenue and marketing. The departures follow Alphabet 's announcement in January that it was cutting all contractual ties with Appen, which once helped train Google's chatbot and other AI products. Two weeks after that decision, Appen CEO Armughan Ahmad left after just 12 months on the job. After a "strategic review process," Alphabet notified Appen in January of the termination, which went into effect March 19, according to a filing from Appen. Companies are spending far more on processors from Nvidia and less on external AI training from companies like Appen.

Persons: Andrew Ettinger, Alicia Hale, Ryan Kolln, Google's, Armughan Ahmad, Appen's, Kolln, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Appen didn't Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, CNBC, Apple, Amazon, Appen, Australian Securities Exchange Locations: Australian

☆ AI lobbying spikes nearly 200% as calls for regulation surge
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The spike in AI lobbying comes amid growing calls for AI regulation and the Biden administration's push to begin codifying those rules. Until 2017, the number of organizations that reported AI lobbying stayed in the single digits, per the analysis, but the practice has grown slowly but surely in the years since, exploding in 2023. The data showed a range of industries as new entrants to AI lobbying: Chip companies like AMD and TSMC , venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz, biopharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, conglomerates like Disney and AI training data companies like Appen. Organizations that reported lobbying on AI issues last year also typically lobby the government on a range of other issues. In its Request for Information, the Institute specifically asked responders to weigh in on developing responsible AI standards, AI red-teaming, managing the risks of generative AI and helping to reduce the risk of "synthetic content" (i.e., misinformation and deepfakes).

Persons: OpenSecrets, Biden, ByteDance, Andreessen Horowitz, government's, — CNBC's Mary Catherine Wellons, Megan Cassella Organizations: CNBC, Spotify, Samsung, Nvidia, Big Tech, AMD, U.S . Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards, Technology, NIST Locations: U.S

☆ Earnings playbook: Your guide to the busiest week of the reporting season
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Fred Imbert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

What history shows: GM beats earnings estimates 87% of the time, according to data from Bespoke Investment Group. Alphabet is set to report earnings after the close. What history shows: Alphabet averages a 1.45% gain after reporting earnings, Bespoke data shows. What history shows: Amazon exceeds earnings expectations 63% of the time, according to Bespoke. What history shows: Meta shares have risen in three of the last four earnings days, per Bespoke, including a 23.3% rally.

Persons: Bard chatbot, Gus Richard, David Palmer, Palmer, MSFT, Jordan Novet, bode, Leslie Josephs, Max, Alaska's, AAPL, AMZN, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Meta, Apple, ., Motors, CNBC, Tuesday, United Auto Workers, LSEG, Investment, AMD, Starbucks, Microsoft, Management, Wednesday Boeing, Alaska Airlines, FAA, Boeing, United Airlines, Web, Mizuho Securities, Nvidia Locations: Northland, China, Alaska

☆ Alphabet cuts ties with Australian AI firm that helped train Bard and Google Search
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai departs federal court on October 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Appen, based in Australia, has helped train AI models for a star-studded list of tech behemoths. Five customers — Microsoft , Apple , Meta , Google and Amazon — have in the past accounted for 80% of Appen's revenue. Alphabet accounted for roughly one-third of Appen's revenue, meaning the decision to end the relationship will impact "at least two thousand subcontracted Alphabet workers," according to a statement Monday from the Alphabet Workers Union. Alphabet has cut contractual ties with Appen , the artificial intelligence data firm that helped train Google's chatbot Bard, Google Search results and other AI products.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Appen, Bard, Appen's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, didn't, Bard chatbot Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet Workers, Appen, Revenue, Australian Securities Exchange, CNBC, Adobe, Nvidia, U.S . National Labor Relations Board Locations: Washington ,, Australia

☆ Australia's AI firm Appen mulls selling part or whole of business
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Australia's AI firm Appen (APX.AX) said Tuesday it is mulling the sale of a part or whole of its business. Appen, which was one of the world's largest AI training providers, has implemented a raft of cost-saving initiatives and has seen its executive team being entirely replaced over the last two years. The company on Tuesday announced an equity raise of A$30-million ($19.52 million), aimed at boosting its working capital. It also announced an additional $14 million of cost reduction, boosting its cost-saving initiatives this year to $60 million. ($1 = 1.5366 Australian dollars)Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank DhaniwalaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nausheen, Mrigank Organizations: Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ The generative AI boom should have been Appen's time to shine. Here's what went wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

For Appen, that would mean finding specialists in particular types of information that can bolster generative AI systems. Even before the generative AI transition, wages for Appen's data labelers were a sticking point. Kim Stagg, Appen's vice president of product, said the work required for generative AI services was different than what the company has needed in the past. "With generative AI, we see a different demand." The company's plunging stock price suggests that investors don't see the company's business offerings transferring to the generative AI space.

Persons: Jonathan Raa, Mike Monegan, he'd, Appen, it's, Armughan Ahmad, Mark Brayan, Ahmad, Monegan, he's, Appen's, Helen Johnson, Fab Dolan, Sujatha Sagiraju, Elena Sagunova, Jen Cole, Jukka Korpi, Still, OpenAI's, Google's Bard, didn't, Bard chatbot, Ed Stackhouse, raters, Erik Vogt, Vogt, hadn't, Kim Stagg, we've, Stagg, Lisa Braden, Harder, Canaccord Organizations: Nurphoto, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Revenue, CNBC, Australian Securities Exchange, Adobe, U.S . National Labor Relations Board Locations: Seattle, Europe, Middle East, Africa

☆ Australia's Appen slumps to over 7-year low on weak half-yearly results
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Australian artificial intelligence training provider Appen Ltd (APX.AX) on Monday hit their lowest level in more than seven years after reporting a significantly wider half-yearly loss on weak demand. The shares tanked as much as 28%, logging its sharpest losses since May 10. They pared some of the early losses and was down 27.2% at A$1.630 as of 0216 GMT. It also projected its annualised operating cost base on a run-rate basis to be lower than $113 million for fiscal 2023. Reporting by Navya Mittal and Poonam Behura; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Navya Mittal, Poonam, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Appen, Thomson

☆ Google's ChatGPT rival is trained by workers who are under pressure to audit AI answers in as little as 3 minutes, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google's Bard is trained by contractors who are expected to rapidly review answers, per Bloomberg. Instruction documents showed the contractors were given deadlines as short as three minutes. They work under pressure and are given minimal training, Bloomberg added. Google's Bard is reportedly trained by thousands of contractors under pressure to review answers generated by the AI chatbot in as little as three minutes. However, the workload of humans reviewing responses for Bard has become increasingly larger and more complex, Bloomberg reported, citing internal documents and six contractors.

Persons: Bard, ChatGPT Organizations: Bloomberg, Accenture, Google, Microsoft

☆ Google is downsizing its contract workforce that supports YouTube, shortly after one contractor team's union victory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Workers in Austin recently formed a collective bargaining group with the Alphabet Workers Union. The move comes shortly after a group of Cognizant workers supporting YouTube Music voted 41-0 in favor of unionizing with the Alphabet Workers Union, which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, a larger trade union. The cuts did not impact the YouTube Music team, which helps curate themed playlists and review song metadata. The Cognizant team supporting YouTube TV had been in early talks to form their own union following the group at YouTube Music, according to three workers there. Cognizant also confirmed in an email that its contract supporting YouTube TV is ending.

☆ Appen launches cost-cutting plan as earnings drop, expands into generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of the company tanked as much as 19.4% to A$2.570 in early trade. Appen, one of the world's largest AI training providers, announced on Wednesday a raft of cost-saving initiatives expected to deliver annualised cost savings of about $36 million in fiscal 2024. "Going forward, costs will be managed in line with the revenue opportunity and market conditions," it said in a statement. It further launched a set of data products and services in a push to diversify its revenue by tapping into the hot generative AI market, on the back of its partnership with NVIDIA Corp (NVDA.O) to offer AI solutions to the latter's enterprise customers. Appen said it had "multiple projects underway that relate to generative AI model development and evaluation for both large tech and enterprise customers."

☆ Google contractors say they don't have enough time to verify correct answers from the company's AI chatbot and end up guessing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The bot has been tested internally by Googlers, and now contractors are also testing a chatbot. Some contractors say they're not given enough time to rate the most accurate chatbot responses. Because each assigned task represents billable time, some workers say they will complete the tasks even if they realize they cannot accurately assess the chatbot responses. Google raters who work for Appen make between $14 and $14.50 an hour, despite supporting a business that generates most of its revenue from search and advertising. The group estimates that Google employs more than 200,000 people as contractors, who aren't recorded in the company's official headcount.

☆ A man who rates Google search results said he makes $3 less per hour than his daughter working in fast food
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A man who rates Google search results told the LA Times he makes $3 less than his daughter who has a fast food job. "There are times that I have seen some of the graphic content replayed in my dreams," Stackhouse told the Times. Stackhouse didn't tell the Los Angeles Times how much his daughter makes or what her role at her fast food job is. Four Sama workers told Time they were paid $2 or less per hour. Sama also works with Google and Microsoft, and told Time it would stop working with graphic content by March 2023.

☆ Google contractors who rate how effective its search is will visit its headquarters this week to protest 'poverty wages'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google "raters" who test and evaluate search quality say they aren't fairly compensated. This means the raters are not technically Google employees, even though they are tasked with improving its services. In this latest action, workers in the Alphabet Workers Union have organized a visit to Google's headquarters to deliver a petition addressed to Prabhakar Raghavan, the senior vice president at Google overseeing search. Now many tech workers have considered joining unions as mass layoffs have swept the industry in recent months. In 2021, tech workers at The New York Times formed a union.

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