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☆ Coca-Cola causes controversy with AI-made ad
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-18 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Forbes reported that the video was created by three AI studios — Secret Level, Silverside AI and Wild Card — using four different generative AI models. In a statement, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said, "The Coca-Cola Company has celebrated a long history of capturing the magic of the holidays in content, film, events and retail activations for decades around the globe. Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology." This isn’t the first time that Coca-Cola has used AI technology in its marketing strategies and programs. Tim DeStefano, a research professor at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, told NBC News that using AI technology means a significant drop in the price of creating commercials.

Persons: Chris Barber, Alex Hirsch, ”, it’s, OpenAI, Neeraj Arora, ” Arora, Coke, Tim DeStefano, ” DeStefano Organizations: Forbes, Disney, Cola Company, University of Wisconsin, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, NBC News Locations: Madison

On the right, familiar conspiracy theories about voting popularized by President-elect Donald Trump continued to circulate. NewsGuard said there was “no evidence” that Starlink was used to interfere with the presidential election in Trump’s favor. As the 2024 election results were reported, social media users on the left began to speculate about Musk’s role in vote counting. “Kamala Harris left us a breadcrumb,” one TikTok user said about the updated language on the fund’s website in a video that received over 700,000 views. CISA responded to this speculation on its website’s “Rumor vs. Reality” resource, where it has debunked election misinformation.

Persons: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Sam Howard, NewsGuard, Elon Musk’s, Starlink, Max Read, ” Read, “, ”, denialism, ” NewsGuard’s Howard, ” Howard, Howard, Trump, weren’t, Musk, Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Harris, “ Starlink, Elon Musk, Jen, “ Kamala Harris, CISA Organizations: President, Facebook, NBC, Institute for Strategic, NBC News, Trump, Conservative, “, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, Fund, Republicans, Street Journal, Democratic National, Harris, Democratic Party, FBI Locations: NewsGuard’s U.S, U.S, Wisconsin, Trump’s, Pennsylvania, California

☆ Nick Fuentes confronted at his home after 'your body, my choice' refrain goes viral
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

In the video, Fuentes opens the door and points what appears to be a spraying device toward the camera. The Berwyn Police Department confirmed that it got a call Sunday involving Fuentes and Rose. Fuentes has faced a wave of backlash for a post on X on Nov. 5, when he wrote, “Your body, my choice. Afterward, many users on X began spreading Fuentes’ personal information online, including his home address and pictures of his house, writing, “Your house, our choice.” Since then, Google Maps has blurred its picture of Fuentes’ house. Rose wrote that she was inspired to “pop over there” given Fuentes’ history of antisemitic and white supremacist statements.

Persons: Nick Fuentes, Marla Rose, Fuentes, Rose, “, ” Fuentes, Michael Ochsner Jr, Tristan Tate, Andrew Tate’s, ’, Candace Owens, Fuentes ’, ”, ” Rose, John Beske, Beske Organizations: Police, Illinois, Facebook, Berwyn Police Department, Google, Vice, Nazi

☆ Florida's school cellphone ban stokes controversy in Parkland
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-10 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Over the summer, Florida’s Broward County Public Schools made the decision to ban students from using cellphones and other communication devices for the entire school day. It's a particularly sensitive topic in Broward County after the 2018 Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which is in the district. Carline Dumoulin, a mother of two students at Broward’s Cypress Bay High School, is one of those signatories. Broward County school board member Debra Hixon was present at the meeting where the rule was approved, but had left before the vote. Last year, a video of several students fighting at West Broward High School circulated online, gaining thousands of views on X.

Persons: “ I’ve, ” Dominique Mayorga, Marjory Stoneman, Instagram, Dumoulin, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Rhona Wise, Lori Alhadeff, Alyssa, ” Alhadeff, “, Alhadeff, ”, Ron DeSantis, Debra Hixon, Hixon, Chris, Allen Zeman, ” Zeman, Max Schachter, Alex, ” Schachter, Marjory Stone, Leo Jimenez, Jimenez, it’s, ” Jimenez, they’re, ” Hixon, who’s, Zeman, Mayorga, Marlena, she’s, ” Marlena, there’s Organizations: Florida’s Broward County Public Schools, Parkland, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, High, Getty, Broward, Florida Gov, West Broward High School, National, Progress, Marjory Stone Douglas High School Public, NBC News, Cooper City High School, Broward County Schools, South Broward High School, Orange County Public Schools, Broward County Public Locations: Florida’s Broward, Broward County, Cypress, Parkland, Fla, U.S, Indiana, Ohio, California, Florida, Orange, lunchrooms

☆ Billions were bet on election odds using online markets
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-09 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Election betting platforms brought in billions of dollars as users around the world wagered on who would win Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, according to an NBC News analysis of betting platforms. Michigan and Georgia followed close behind, and the rest of the swing states were all in the top 15 states with the highest trading volume. On both Polymarket and Kalshi, bets on swing states alone made up around half of the total trading volume on state outcomes. One Polymarket bettor, who identified himself as “Théo” in an interview with The Washington Post, had bet over $28 million on Trump winning the presidential election using multiple betting accounts. “Théo” had put money down on all the swing states, according to Polymarket’s analytics.

Persons: Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Eric Zitzewitz, “ There’s, Will, ” Zitzewitz, bettor, “, Théo ”, Polymarket, Shayne Coplan, “ Théo, Zitzewitz Organizations: U.S, NBC, Dartmouth University, Republicans, Alabama, Democrats, California, Washington Post, Trump, Futures Trading Commission, Bloomberg Locations: Pennsylvania, Kalshi . Michigan, Georgia, U.S, America

The handful of Americans who have won $1 million checks from tech billionaire Elon Musk’s super PAC have a few things in common. He said he didn’t know the process the super PAC used to pick his name and didn’t ask. He said he believes Democrats are not ideologically predisposed to sign Musk’s petition in support of the First and Second Amendments. NBC News asked the super PAC to share the process Oct. 22 and did not receive a response. All 14 winners have either recorded videos for Musk’s super PAC, been photographed for the super PAC or both.

Persons: Elon, giveaway’s, Musk’s, Donald Trump, Musk, ” Musk, ”, Kamala Harris, “, Larry Krasner, Krasner, who’s, Ron Conwell, Conwell, you’re, he’s, Jared Polis, Bill Maher’s, ” Polis, “ Elon Organizations: Elon Musk’s, Republican, Trump, Musk’s America PAC, Republicans, Plus, PAC, America PAC, “, NBC News, American PAC, Democrat, Republican Party, Musk’s, Federal, U.S, Constitution, ” Locations: Favor, Philadelphia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, ” Colorado, North Carolina, Arizona , Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin

Before that, on Friday, Elon Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, published a video to X calling Harris the “C-word” before going on to call her a “Communist.” The advertisement was deleted from America PAC’s X account Monday. Musk and America PAC did not respond to requests for comment. The video shared by America PAC and Musk is watermarked with the creator’s online handle. And in an advertisement published Friday, America PAC repeatedly emphasized that Harris is a “C-word” — alluding to a vulgar term for women — before going on to call her a “Communist.”“Kamala Harris is a ‘C-word.’ You heard that right, a big old ‘C-word,’” the America PAC video says. Kamala Harris, the ‘C-word’ America simply can’t afford.”America PAC has spent nearly $140,000 on political ads endorsing Trump’s campaign or attacking Democrats, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets.

Persons: Elon Musk, Donald Trump’s, Kamala Harris ’, Elon, Harris, Musk, Trump, Hulk Hogan, —, ” “ Kamala Harris, “, Kamala Harris, he’s, Donald Trump, ”, Joe Biden, Biden, John Kelly, Hitler, Crooked Joe Biden, Adolf Hitler Organizations: Elon Musk’s, PAC, America PAC, Communist, Imperial, Defamation League, Nazi, NBC, ” America PAC, CNN Locations: Pennsylvania, Imperial German, German, America

☆ FEMA conspiracy theories that have stoked chaos in the South date back to the 1980s
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-27 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Unlike with the hurricane rumor response page, FEMA did not appear to respond to the rumors on its page for the wildfires. By 2009, Alex Jones, perhaps one of the most widely known modern conspiracy theorists, was promoting the false FEMA camps conspiracy theory and deriding those who attempted to debunk it. The FEMA camps conspiracy theory continued throughout the height of the pandemic after President Joe Biden signed various executive orders regarding vaccinations and testing. Ron DeSantis said the plan was “not necessary” and referred to the vaccination sites as “FEMA camps.”Although the FEMA camp conspiracy theory has been shot down again and again, Aniano believes this won’t be the last of it. “The conspiracy theory, it’s going to come up again,” Aniano said.

Persons: Helene, Milton, Hurricane Helene, “, Tiffany Walters, Wendy Billot, Ida, Emily Kask, ” Sara Aniano, Fiona, Jimmy Carter, Camille, Carter, ”, Jonathan Drake, Oliver North, Reagan, Rebecca Rouse, ” Rouse, Conspiracism, antigovernment, ’, Alex Jones, Sandy, Jade Helm, conspiracists, insurrectionists, Aniano, ” Aniano, Donald Trump, Covid, Mike DeWine, Trump’s, ” DeWine, Bill Seitz, ’ ” Seitz, Seitz, Joe Biden, Biden, Ron DeSantis, “ Something’s Organizations: Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, NBC News, Defamation League’s, Extremism, NBC, USA, Southern Poverty Law Center, Center for Strategic, International Studies, U.S ., Reuters, Tulane University, Oklahoma City, U.S . Army, The New York Times, Guardian, Ohio Gov, Trump’s FEMA, Ohio Department of Health, Republican, Ohio Public, Florida Gov Locations: Hurricane, North Carolina, ”, Houma, La, Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, Maui, Mississippi, Canton , N.C, U.S, Mexico, Washington, America, Stafford, Ohio, Florida

☆ The Atlantic responds to Elon Musk sharing fake image of magazine
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-24 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Atlantic magazine has found itself in Elon Musk’s crosshairs after it fact-checked a fake image he shared that depicted an article with a headline that never actually ran in the publication. The statement did not mention Musk by name. According to The Atlantic, it is one of several notable instances in the last several years in which faked images of articles from the magazine have gone viral. Both Musk’s and the user’s posts with the fake article were later marked with “Community Note” that clarified that the image was “not a real article.” The Community Note also attributed the edited image to the user and said it was “a satirical edit/photoshop of another article.” Musk did not respond to a request for comment. Forbes reported that in August, Musk reshared a post including a manipulated headline that resembled the British newspaper The Telegraph.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, “ Trump, ”, Musk, “, haring, ake, ike, ould, egan, ince, ike F all” Organizations: The, ats Locations: Elon, tring, ashington, ost, usk

An armed North Carolina man was arrested after it was reported that he had made comments about “possibly harming FEMA employees” involved in hurricane relief efforts in the state, authorities said. William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested Saturday after the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office received a call saying the caller witnessed Parsons making threatening comments about Federal Emergency Management Agency responders in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. He was charged with “Going Armed to the Terror of the Public,” the sheriff’s office said. In Ashe County, FEMA operations were briefly put on pause in response to the threats and resumed today, the county sheriff’s office said on Facebook. “FEMA continues to support communities impacted by Helene and help survivors apply for assistance,” a FEMA spokesperson said.

Persons: William Jacob Parsons, Parsons, “, ‘, ’ ”, Shayne Martin, Hurricane Helene, Donald Trump, Helene, ”, ” Parson, Alejandro Mayorkas, Trump Organizations: FEMA, Sheriff’s, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington Post, U.S . Forest Service, National Guard, ’, NBC News, Forest Service, North Carolina National Guard, Facebook, . Homeland, Institute for Strategic, North Carolina Department of Public Locations: North Carolina, Rutherford, Lake Lure, Rutherford County, U.S, N.C, Lure, Ashe County, Madison County, Asheville, London

☆ False conspiracy theories about Hurricane Milton spread despite outcry from officials
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-10 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Baseless conspiracy theories about weather modification and false claims about disaster relief efforts have continued to spread on X in recent days, with misinformation about Hurricane Milton adding to a mountain of false rumors about Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. Greene has not deleted her posts referencing the conspiracy theories. In response to the challenges to Greene’s false claims, her deputy chief of staff, Nick Dyer, defended them, saying that she was actually the victim of conspiracy theories. “So when these people are espousing misinformation and conspiracy theories, then it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, well, maybe it’s true. FEMA is working to slow the spread of hurricane misinformation online.

Persons: Hurricane Helene, Marjorie Taylor Greene, ”, Greene, ‘, Joe Biden, Greene’s, “ It’s, Hugh Willoughby, “, ” Willoughby, ” Leila, Nick Dyer, Milton, Hurricane Milton, Donald Trump, Jim Jordan, Elon Musk, Angelo Fernández Hernández, Shauna Bowes, ” Bowes, ’ ” Bowes, Helene, Deanna Criswell, ” Criswell Organizations: X, NOAA, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Republican, Florida International University, Hurricane Research Division, NBC, University of Washington’s Center, Hurricane, FEMA, U.S . Ohio, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Services Program, Customs, Disaster Relief, Congress, DHS, Institute, Strategic, ISD, Homeland Security, Vanderbilt University, North Carolina Department of Public Safety Locations: Florida, Saginaw , Michigan, U.S, London, Asheville , North Carolina

☆ Elon Musk's mother, Maye, appears to encourage voter fraud in X post
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, appeared to encourage a form of voter fraud in a post on X. It appeared to echo conspiracy theories about large-scale voter fraud that have been shared by Elon Musk. The code, however, doesn’t appear to forbid Maye Musk’s statements of encouragement, Persily said. Maye Musk’s post was made the day her son spoke at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania — where Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in July. Proponents of the laws say they prevent voter fraud, which studies have found to be extremely rare.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, Maye, ”, ” Musk, Elon Musk, Democrats haven’t, Nate Persily, What’s, Persily, Maye Musk, Gavin Newsom, “, Newsom, ” Persily, Donald Trump, Trump, Musk, Trump’s, ” Elon Organizations: Elon, Democrats, Stanford Law School, NBC, U.S, Social, Democrat, Trump, PAC America PAC Locations: California, New York , Massachusetts, Minnesota, Butler , Pennsylvania, Georgia, “ California

☆ How pagers turned into explosive devices in Lebanon
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Bruna Horvath | Bruna Horvath Is An Intern On Nbc News' Tech Team. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Pagers, devices that are used every day as a crucial form of communication for health care professionals, became a deadly weapon Tuesday as thousands of them simultaneously exploded in Lebanon, killing 37 people and injuring thousands. The explosions targeted the militant and political group Hezbollah, after the devices had reportedly begun beeping and heating up. Pagers are wireless communication devices that receive radio signals from short- or long-range paging networks. The pagers that exploded in Lebanon were made to appear as if they were Gold Apollo’s AR-924 pagers, but The New York Times reported that they were actually created by Israeli intelligence workers. Following the explosions on Tuesday, Hezbollah told Al Jazeera that the “treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly be punished for this aggressive act.”How did the pagers explode?

Persons: Al Jazeera, ” Israel, Mohamed Azakir, Amer Al Sabaileh, Matthew Pines, ” “, John Brennan, ” Brennan, Muhammad Mahdi, Firas Abiad, Mojtaba Amani Organizations: Hezbollah, New York Times, Consulting KFT, Consulting, NBC News, ”, American University of, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Strategic Advisory, CIA, National News Agency, Lebanese, Cross, American University of Beirut Medical Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Hungarian, Hungary, American University of Beirut, Syria

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