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For now, tech companies seem to view both trust and safety and AI ethics as cost centers. That included all but one member of the company's 17-person AI ethics team, according to Rumman Chowdhury, who served as director of Twitter's machine learning ethics, transparency and accountability team. Chowdhury referenced an initiative in July 2021, when Twitter's AI ethics team led what was billed as the industry's first-ever algorithmic bias bounty competition. Still, sources familiar with the matter said that following the layoffs, the company has fewer people working on misinformation issues. watch nowFor those who've gained expertise in AI ethics, trust and safety and related content moderation, the employment picture looks grim.

☆ Twitter debuts a mid-tier data access plan, to almost immediate backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —Twitter unveiled a new data access tier on Thursday aimed at attracting startups, after its decision to erect a paywall for developers and researchers prompted widespread backlash. An enterprise plan starts at $42,000 a month and can cost as much as $210,000 a month. Public institutions such as New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority have made headlines for pulling their real-time service alerts from Twitter over the paywall. The replies to Twitter’s announcement are filled with complaints that “the jump to 5k is too much,” as one user responded. “That’s cool, but you already killed most Twitter apps by now,” another user said.

☆ ChatGPT copycats are taking over the App Store — and costing users even more than the real thing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Several apps that seem to rip off OpenAI's ChatGPT are populating Apple's App Store. ChatGPT is now available on Apple's App Store — and so are a lot of similar looking AI chatbots. A slew of apps like "Chat with Ask AI" and "AI Chat — Chatbot AI Assistant" have cropped up on the App Store recently. They're not just dupes: Some are powered by ChatGPT or GPT-4, according to their descriptions on the App Store. Emails sent to the developer contacts for the apps "Ask AI" and "AI Chat — Chatbot AI Assistant" did not receive responses.

☆ Twitter accuses Microsoft of refusing to pay for tweets and abusing its data access
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Twitter is accusing Microsoft of abusing its data access privileges to its platform, in the latest sign of the social network’s owner Elon Musk igniting a feud between the two tech companies. Microsoft refused to pay Twitter to maintain its data access through Twitter’s application programming interface (API) after Twitter erected a paywall seeking to charge for data, according to the letter. The letter called on Microsoft to provide information about its past two years of Twitter API usage, setting a deadline of June 7. “We heard from a law firm representing Twitter with some questions about our previous use of the free Twitter API. Musk’s targeting of Microsoft over its AI investments appears closely linked to his overall criticisms of existing AI models.

☆ Elon Musk's lawyer sent a letter to Microsoft accusing it of misusing Twitter's data after retrieving 26 billion tweets in a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Verge's copy of the letter shows a dispute over Microsoft's use of Twitter's API. The lawyer said Microsoft had retrieved over 26 billion tweets in 2022 alone. Elon Musk's lawyer sent a letter to the Microsoft CEO on Thursday accusing the company of misusing Twitter's data, The New York Times first reported. He wrote that Twitter therefore requests an audit of Microsoft's API use, describing all the Twitter content that was retained and how it was used. Microsoft told The New York Times it no longer pays for Twitter's data.

☆ Twitter alleges "unauthorized" data usage by Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Twitter Inc has alleged that Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) violated an agreement over using the social media company's data, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday. Twitter owner Elon Musk's lawyer leveled accusations of "unauthorized" usage of Twitter's data by Microsoft, including sharing data with government agencies without permission in some cases. A Microsoft spokesperson said the company on Thursday heard from a law firm representing Twitter with some questions about its previous use of the free Twitter APIs. Twitter's accusations come at a time when Elon Musk is at odds with Microsoft over its artificial intelligence platform. Musk said in April he will launch AI platform "TruthGPT" to challenge the offerings from Microsoft and Google.

☆ Twitter Says Microsoft May Have Violated API Policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Google is pressing ahead with its plan to kill off cookies. Advertising and privacy groups aren't convinced its cookie alternatives are ready for public consumption.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google has laid out the latest timeline for its plan to kill off third-party cookies in Chrome. Google will take the next steps in its plan to kill third-party tracking cookies from its Chrome browser, the company said on Thursday. Google has missed previous deadlines to stop supporting third-party cookies in Chrome. Google's blog post also included quotes from adtech companies crediting the tech giant for soliciting feedback from developers who have tested the Privacy Sandbox technology. The Privacy Sandbox proposals have also faced privacy concerns.

Twitter is accusing Microsoft of using the social media company's data in ways that were unauthorized and never disclosed. However, for one of the Microsoft services using Twitter data, "account information outright states that it intends to allow its customers to 'go around throttling limits,'" Spiro wrote. A Microsoft spokesperson acknowledged receipt of the letter and told CNBC the company will review it and "respond appropriately." "Today we heard from a law firm representing Twitter with some questions about our previous use of the free Twitter API," the spokesperson said in an email. Read the full letter from Twitter to Microsoft, here.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude edged down 2 cents to $70.84 as of 0222 GMT. "Crude prices remain heavy as energy traders just can't shake off global demand concerns. U.S. crude stockpiles rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 12, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures. U.S. government data on crude and product stockpiles is due at 1430 GMT. The U.S. Treasury Department has estimated that the United States will go into a crippling default as early as June 1 if Congress does not lift the debt ceiling.

However, an 18.9% year-on-year rise in China's oil refinery throughput in April to the second-highest level on record helped to keep a floor under crude prices. The IEA raised its forecast for global oil demand this year by 200,000 bpd to a record 102 million bpd. It said China's recovery after the lifting of COVID-19 curbs had surpassed expectations, with demand reaching a record 16 million bpd in March. In another bullish development, the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday said it would buy 3 million barrels of crude oil for delivery in August in a move to begin refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Meanwhile, U.S. commercial crude stocks fell by about 1.3 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by Reuters.

☆ Google zeroed in on these 3 categories of climate companies to boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

This year, the 12 companies mostly fell into three broad categories: Artificial intelligence, electric vehicle infrastructure, and providing companies with better data to decarbonize their operations. When I read the headlines about the dangers of the climate crisis, I feel a personal obligation to be a part of supporting innovative climate solutions to scale," Ridenour told CNBC. Google has hosted three climate change startup accelerators for North American companies in the last three years, and all 33 of the participants are all still operating, a spokesperson for Google told CNBC. "Teams are leaning deeper into developing AI and ML models to address climate change," Ridenour told CNBC. Cleartrace is particularly focused on measurement techniques for Scope 3 emissions -- emissions associated with a company's entire supply chain or value chain, which can be fiendishly difficult to track.

☆ Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst lead $50 million seed round in Hippocratic AI to deliver large language models to healthcare providers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Hippocratic AI is a large language model company aiming to serve healthcare providers. Now, the entrepreneur is marrying his interest in healthcare with his experience as a multi-time AI founder to create Hippocratic AI, a healthcare-focused large language model company. First, Hippocratic AI tested its large language model against 114 different healthcare certifications, 105 of which its model outperformed OpenAI's GPT-4 on, Shah told Insider. Despite its intensive model training efforts and recent hefty capital infusion, Hippocratic AI has yet to release a product. "This language model business has turned software development back into a capital intensive business," he said.

☆ Aibidia, a fintech helping multinational giants pay their taxes, just raised $14.2 million using this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Helsinki-based firm helps large multinationals automate and digitize their transfer pricing. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck it used to raise the round co-led by DN Capital and FPV Ventures. Aibidia, a fintech that helps multinational giants pay taxes globally, has raised $14.2 million in funding. Multinationals use transfer pricing to manage their tax exposures by moving transactions between subsidiaries, affiliates, or holding companies to reduce their overall tax burden globally. "The reason no one has done this before is the number of data points and its taxonomy," Leppänen said.

U.S. consumer prices rose in April, potentially raising the likelihood that the Fed will maintain higher interest rates. Rising global interest rates have weighed on oil prices in recent months, with traders concerned about recession. The surprising U.S. crude inventory build, along with lower crude imports and April's softer export growth in China exacerbated worries about global oil demand. The decline in crude prices was, however, limited by a surge in U.S. gasoline demand ahead of the summer driving season. "We are forecasting that oil prices range from $75-95 during 2023 based on fundamental supply and demand and that oil will rally as we head into the summer driving season," Hatfield said.

☆ Early MIT research shows 'Industrial Revolution-level large' leap for workers using ChatGPT, generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

He did say the time-saving component of the tech is among the things that struck him. I mean, the amount of time it could save you, if you were doing all kinds of things, is unbelievable," Buffett said. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told CNBC's Julia Boorstin in an interview after being named the No. 1 company on the 2023 CNBC Disruptor list this year that the legal profession is a good example. "That is a pattern we're seeing again and again in many industries, and I'm super excited about it," Altman said.

☆ Why ChatGPT developer OpenAI is the No. 1 company on the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 list
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Julia Boorstin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Microsoft unveiled new versions of its Bing internet-search engine and Edge browser powered by the newest technology from ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Of the 50 companies on this year's list, 21 told us that AI is critically important to more than 50% of their revenue. Half of the companies in the top 10 of the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 list feature key use of AI, and notably, they represent a diverse range of industries and use cases. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during a keynote address announcing ChatGPT integration for Bing at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, Feb. 7, 2023. The call to slow down is, in fact, less safe than what they're proposing," he said, referring to OpenAI and Altman.

☆ Tweeting at some airlines for customer support won't work anymore. They've stopped using Twitter amid Elon Musk's changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some airlines will no longer handle customer service requests over Twitter. A clever customer service hack for dealing with airlines is becoming harder to do thanks to Elon Musk's changes to Twitter. Both Air France and its sister airline KLM will no longer field customer service requests over the social media platform, the companies announced over the past few weeks. The paywalled API contributed to Air France's decision to suspend customer service through Twitter, the Journal reported. The airline is seemingly still fielding customer service requests over Twitter.

☆ Alphabet to unveil A.I. updates at Google I/O, showing off creative writing and coding capabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

According to internal documents about Google I/O viewed by CNBC, the company will unveil PaLM 2, its most recent and advanced LLM. It's also performed a broad range of coding and math tests as well as creative writing tests and analysis. The updates come as competition ramps up in the AI arm's race, with Google and Microsoft racing to incorporate chat AI technology into their products. Outside of the AI sphere, Google will show off its new foldable phone, The Pixel Fold, as CNBC previously reported. Google plans to market the Pixel Fold as water-resistant and pocket-sized.

☆ OpenAI changed its plans and won't train on customer data, Sam Altman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI hasn't trained its AI large-language models such as GPT with paying customer data "for a while," CEO Sam Altman told CNBC on Friday. "Customers clearly want us not to train on their data, so we've changed our plans: We will not do that," Altman told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. "We don't train on any API data at all, we haven't for a while," Altman told CNBC. OpenAI's business customers, which include Microsoft , Salesforce and Snapchat , are more likely to take advantage of OpenAI's API capabilities. The Guild had been pushing for limitations on the use of OpenAI's ChatGPT for script generating or rewriting.

☆ New York MTA resumes transit alerts on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would resume posting automated transit alerts to Twitter on Thursday after the social media company backtracked on a plan to charge public service accounts for access to the platform. In a statement Thursday, MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said Twitter had tried to charge the MTA more than $500,000 a year for access to its platform, but that the MTA refused. “We’re glad that Twitter has committed to offering free API access for public service providers,” the MTA tweeted, referring to the software interface that enables third parties to create automated posts on Twitter. The paywall’s introduction in March prompted widespread warnings by public services of possible disruptions to weather and transit alerts. Amid the outcry, Twitter changed course on Tuesday and said that verified government accounts would once again be able to post automated tweets for free.

☆ Twitter shifts course, allowing governments to post automated weather alerts and transit updates ‘for free’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Last week, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it would stop posting real-time transit alerts on Twitter, citing reliability issues with Twitter’s platform and saying it does not pay tech platforms for the ability to provide the updates. In recent weeks, multiple regional accounts run by the National Weather Service have also warned followers to expect fewer weather updates in connection with Twitter’s platform changes. The changes, which took effect in March, restricted third parties from easily accessing Twitter’s application programming interface, or the technology that allows outside software to plug into Twitter’s platform. On Tuesday, Twitter’s official account for developers acknowledged the impact the company’s paywall could have on civil society. “One of the most important use cases for the Twitter API has always been public utility,” it said.

☆ Elon Musk's plan to charge for Twitter API access is unraveling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk is beginning to walk back a hardline attempt to make Twitter money through access to its API. The change of heart suggests that Twitter may need reliable real-time information more than the providers need Twitter. "One of the most important use cases for the Twitter API has always been public utility," Twitter said on Tuesday. We're happy that they've committed to making API access free for the MTA and other public sector agencies. It now has the MYmta and TrainTime apps, as well as email alerts and text messages offering service alerts and updates.

☆ How to use ChatGPT to improve your Microsoft Excel skills, from identifying formulas to learning keyboard shortcuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One example is by helping with sometimes tricky programs like Microsoft Excel. One example is by using the generative AI for help with data processing programs workers often struggles with, like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. We asked ChatGPT how it can help alleviate spreadsheet woes — here's what the chatbot had to say about how it can help make your Excel experience easier. According to ChatGPT, it can assist in designing or finding a spreadsheet that fits a specific template with headings and categories already implemented. ChatGPT said it can help users integrate data into other programs, or help with importing and exporting data to an Application Programming Interface, commonly referred to as an API.

☆ How Elon Musk upended Twitter and his own reputation in 6 months as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But it’s not clear just how and when Musk might return Twitter to growth. Musk’s primary plan to grow Twitter’s business through an overhauled subscription strategy has resulted in much chaos but only a limited number of actual subscriptions. In the process, Musk has also upended his own reputation. Disrupting the digital town squareFor years, what differentiated Twitter from other social platforms was that it served as a central hub for real-time news. Tesla (TSLA) shareholders recently complained to the company’s board that Musk appears “overcommitted.”“His reputation has been diminished significantly with Twitter … and once you lose it, it’s very difficult to recover,” Klepper said.

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