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☆ Google restricts election-related queries for its Gemini chatbot
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, speaks on artificial intelligence during a Bruegel think tank conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 20, 2020. Google announced it will restrict the types of election-related queries that users can ask its Gemini chatbot, adding it has already rolled out the changes in the U.S. and in India, where voters will head to the polls this spring. "Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses," Google wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. "We take our responsibility for providing high-quality information for these types of queries seriously, and are continuously working to improve our protections." A Google spokesperson told CNBC that the changes are in line with the company's planned approach for elections.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Gemini, Google's DeepMind, Josh Becker, screenshotting, Pichai, Sissie Hsiao, Bard Organizations: Google, CNBC, Gemini, Mobile, Democratic, Microsoft, Amazon Locations: Brussels, Belgium, U.S, India, Barcelona, California

☆ Why Walmart's quick success in generative AI search should have Google worried
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Michelle Castillo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

During a call with analysts after its February earnings, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon talked about the gen AI search capabilities in its app. As a technology company, Walmart has to experiment a lot, and in the case of adding generative AI search capabilities, there's a very low cost for failure, she said. AI and search, shopping business model shiftsIt's not only Walmart investing in this type of search in the retail sector. Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus lets people have a conversation with the platform about what they need rather than just looking for direct items. "Google is anxious is about search in general, and the question this raises is will it be a death by a thousand cuts for Google Search?"

Persons: Doug McMillon, McMillon, Marc Lore, Sucharita Kodali, Kodali, Sergey Brin, Brin, Rufus, Jacob Bourne, Bourne, it's Organizations: Google, Walmart, Amazon, Insider Intelligence, Ikea, Lowe's

☆ AI is not ready for primetime
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, have been alleged to violate copyright. That’s not stopping Big Tech companies and AI firms, which continue to hook consumers and businesses on new features and capabilities. “Access to major generative AI systems in widespread use is controlled by a few companies,” said Venkatasubramanian, noting that these systems easily make errors and can produce damaging content. He believes bolder reforms may be necessary too, such as taxing AI companies to fund social safety nets. For now, current day generative AI users must understand the limitations and challenges of using products that are still quite far from where they need to be.

Persons: ”, Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Mandel Ngan, That’s, OpenAI, Elon Musk, Elon Musk Gonzalo Fuentes, ” Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Venkatasubramanian, ” Arvind Narayanan, CNN he’s, Narayanan, “, ChatGPT, Bard –, haven’t, ” Gemini, Brian Fung Organizations: CNN, Chamber, Getty, Big Tech, Microsoft, Google, Reuters, Brown University, “, White, Office of Science, Technology, Management, Executive, Princeton, “ Tech Locations: Washington ,, AFP, New Hampshire

☆ Google confirmed it 'terminated' an employee who staged a protest against Israel at a tech event
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA Google engineer who publicly protested a talk by the head of Google Israel is now out of a job. Google did not immediately return Business a request for comment from Business Insider on Saturday. Google workers have previously voiced their concerns over fears that Israel could use the contract to support its military. Google workers also flooded the company's employee message board with comments about Project Nimbus on Thursday, CNBC reported.

Persons: —, Barak Regev, Regev, Ariel Koren, Sundar Pichai, Axel Springer Organizations: Service, Google, Business, CNBC, Tech, Nimbus, YouTube, Austin City Council Locations: New York City, Israel, Google's, York

☆ Google fires employee who protested Israel tech event, as internal dissent mounts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ahead of an International Women's Day Summit in Silicon Valley on Thursday, Google's employee message board was hit with an influx of staffer comments about the company's military contracts with Israel. The event on Monday in New York featured an address from Barak Regev, managing director of Google Israel. A Google spokesperson said the employee was fired for "interfering with an official company-sponsored event" in an email to CNBC on Thursday. Unfortunately, before the event a series of off-topic and divisive questions and comments were posted to internal forums. WATCH: Google vs. Google

Persons: “, Sundar Pichai, Barak Regev, Regev, Boycotters, Dory, Gemini, Mai Ubeid, Ubeid, didn't Organizations: Google, CNBC, Israel, Defense Department, Amazon Web Services, Hamas, Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry, Tech, Google Israel, Starbucks, Workers United Locations: New York, Israel, Gaza, Silicon Valley, U.S, France

☆ I worked at Google for 7 years and watched the open culture die. The company is doomed to repeat unnecessary embarrassment if they don't fix it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( David Kiferbaum | Big Technology | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He observed the fall of Google's open culture and its impact on Google's product. His controversial memo questioning Google's diversity practices noted that "Google's political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety." Rather than reaffirm Google's culture of open questioning and psychological safety by actively challenging Damore's assertions, leadership fired Damore and ended the discussion. Google leadership did further damage to the company's open culture following employee protests of military contracts and executives' alleged sexual harassment. AdvertisementThe closing of Google's open culture harmed the product.

Persons: David Kiferbaum, —, Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, James Damore, Damore, Sundar, TGIF, what's Organizations: Google, Big Technology, Service, CNN

So we have to talk about the drama that has been playing out in the past week between OpenAI and Elon Musk. According to OpenAI, Elon Musk wanted majority, equity, initial board control, and to be CEO of this new for-profit subsidiary. It’s basically —casey newtonIt’s like, I’m going to find a way to follow your rule, but in the worst way possible. Like, working was one I thought that, oh, I’m going to work in this all the time. kevin roose[LAUGHS]: Well, I thought, like, I’m going to take some spatial videos.

Persons: casey newton Casey, kevin roose, casey newton, Kevin, casey newton What’s, Kevin Roose, Casey Newton, OpenAI, Will, Joanna Stern, Casey, it’s, kevin roose I’m, Elon Musk, It’s, casey newton Let’s, Elon, he’s, I’ve, casey newton What’d, there’s, you’ve, we’re, GPT, Sam Altman’s, that’s, AGI, Annie “, Sam Altman, who’s, isn’t, “, we’ve, ” casey newton Go, He’s, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Ilya, casey newton Yes, Tesla, casey newton Well, they’ll, casey newton Oh, kevin roose It’s, don’t, kevin roose Will, casey newton Right, casey newton Mhm, kevin roose They’re, Microsoft’s Bing, Microsoft Bing, Bing, Apple, Europe — casey newton, Charles Duhigg, John Gruber, they’ve, casey newton It’d, — casey newton, they’re, They’ve, you’ll, Apple’s, casey newton It’s, I’ll, casey newton Sure, GDPR, you’re, kevin roose Really, let’s, kevin roose Casey, kevin roose —, Jonah Stern, casey newton Wow, Joanna, Let’s, kevin roose Joanna Stern, joanna, casey newton Hi, kevin roose Long, joanna stern, —, kevin roose We’re, Kara Swisher, kevin roose Don’t, I’m, casey newton Don’t, casey newton That’s, Neil Patel, Um, kevin roose That’s, kevin roose Sure, casey newton Great, KEVIN, IV, wearables, Fitbits, kevin roose Oh, hadn’t, casey newton —, casey newton I’ve, Joe Rogan Organizations: The New York Times, Elon, Apple’s, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Google’s, Facebook, Tesla, Big, European Union, Digital Services, Giants, Apple, Digital Markets, EU, Bloomberg, Digital, Spotify, General, Apple Vision Pro, Street, Apple Vision, Vision, New York Times, “, Housewives, Club, Ray, Tesla Chargers, Vision Pro, Apple Watch, Sony Locations: Los Angeles, Europe, what’s, Elon, OpenAI, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Reddit, American, America, California, Florida, United, Mars, The

☆ Microsoft AI employee warns FTC the company’s Copilot Designer AI tool is prone to creating harmful images
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Shane Jones, a Microsoft principal software engineering lead, claimed that the company’s AI text-to-image generator Copilot Designer has “systemic issues” that cause it to frequently produce potentially offensive or inappropriate images, including sexualized images of women. He said he spent months testing Microsoft’s tool — as well as OpenAI’s DALL-E 3, the technology that Microsoft’s Copilot Designer is built on — and attempted to raise concerns internally before he alerted the FTC. He said he found more than 200 examples of “concerning images” created by Copilot Designer. Jones’ letter comes amid growing concerns that AI image generators — which are increasingly capable of producing convincing, photorealistic images — can cause harm by spreading offensive or misleading images. In his letter to Microsoft’s board of directors, Jones called on the company to take similar action.

Persons: Shane Jones, Jones, ” Jones, Lina Khan, “, OpenAI’s DALL, Microsoft “, OpenAI, Jones ’, Taylor Swift, Gemini, Bob Ferguson Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, US Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Copilot, Google, Washington, US, Commerce, Science, Transportation Locations: New York, United States, White

☆ Microsoft engineer sounds alarm on company's AI image generator in letter to FTC
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementJones claimed in the letter that Microsoft's AI image generator can add "harmful content" to images that can be created using "benign" prompts. Jones, Microsoft, and the FTC didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment before publication. AdvertisementThis isn't the first time Shane publicly vocalized his concerns about Microsoft's AI image generator. Microsoft isn't the only major tech company that's been slammed for its AI image generator. "In a competitive race to be the most trustworthy AI company, Microsoft needs to lead, not follow or fall behind," he wrote.

Persons: —, Shane Jones, Jones, Vader, FTC didn't, Shane, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Demis Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, Copilot, Business, LinkedIn, Star, CNBC, FTC, Google, Gemini

☆ 5 cheap stocks to buy on any pullback, according to investor Sarat Sethi
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Stocks have ripped to record highs this year, led by a few major technology names as investors bet artificial intelligence will boost profits. That doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for investors looking for stocks at more attractive valuations, especially during pullbacks, Sethi said. Sethi highlighted several attractively valued stocks to buy on a pullback, including Johnson & Johnson , GSK , Freeport-McMoRan , Schlumberger and Google parent Alphabet . From the health-care sector, Sethi highlighted pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and GSK as "very cheap stocks." When it comes to major technology stocks, Sethi pointed out that Alphabet, one of his firm's core holdings, is currently trading at a discounted level.

Persons: Sarat Sethi, Douglas C, Sethi, FactSet, that's Organizations: Lane & Associates, Federal Reserve, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Johnson, GSK, Schlumberger, Google, Freeport, Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta Locations: Freeport, McMoRan

☆ Google's Gemini firestorm shows the risks of the company's race to catch up with its AI rivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The company has been defending itself against fierce backlash sparked by its AI chatbot's image-generating feature. The product has landed Google at the center of what was described in some circles as a "woke" culture war. AdvertisementGoogle's 'Gemini era' is all about GPT-4Pichai claimed late last year Google was entering its "Gemini era." The model is widely seen as the company's answer to OpenAI's GPT-4, a product heavily backed by Microsoft and already powering many of the company's AI products.

Persons: —, execs, Critics, Andrés, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, Brin, Alex Heath, Heath, Pichai, OpenAI's, Google's Bard, Bing, Gvirtz, Sandra Wachter, Wachter Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Big Tech, King's Business School, Engineers, Gemini, Microsoft, chatbots, Financial, Oxford Internet Institute

☆ Microsoft engineer warns company's AI tool creates violent, sexual images, ignores copyrights
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Jones was noodling with Copilot Designer, the AI image generator that Microsoft debuted in March 2023, powered by OpenAI's technology. "It was an eye-opening moment," Jones, who continues to test the image generator, told CNBC in an interview. watch nowMicrosoft's legal department told Jones to remove his post immediately, he said, and he complied. Jones said the risk "has been known by Microsoft and OpenAI prior to the public release of the AI model last October." "I am certainly convinced that this is not just a copyright character guardrail that's failing, but there's a more substantial guardrail that's failing," Jones told CNBC.

Persons: Jakub Porzycki, Shane Jones, Jones, OpenAI's DALL, Lina Khan, Khan, deepfakes, he's, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Justin Sullivan, Darth Vader, Elsa, Mickey Mouse, guardrail that's Organizations: Microsoft, Nurphoto, Copilot, CNBC, Commerce, Science, Transportation, Federal Trade, Google, Getty, pitchfork, Disney, Wars, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces Locations: Krakow, Poland, Redmond , Washington, San Francisco, hoodies, Gaza

The tool is derived from another AI image-generator, DALL-E 3, made by Microsoft's close business partner OpenAI. His letter to Microsoft urges the company to take it off the market until it is safer. “Many of the issues with Copilot Designer are already addressed with ChatGPT's own safeguards,” he said via text. A number of impressive AI image-generators first came on the scene in 2022, including the second generation of OpenAI's DALL-E 2. Google has temporarily suspended its Gemini chatbot's ability to generate images of people following outrage over how it was depicting race and ethnicity, such as by putting people of color in Nazi-era military uniforms.

Persons: Shane Jones, Jones, Microsoft's, OpenAI, ”, Lina Khan, “, OpenAI's DALL, ChatGPT — Organizations: Microsoft, Associated Press, U.S, Senate, Federal Trade Commission, CNBC, Senate's, Google Locations: “, Washington

☆ Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower where big-name guests wore oversized diapers and onesies, book says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower featuring oversize diapers and adult onesies. Brin, who stepped back from Alphabet in 2019, has returned to help shape Google's AI strategy. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementGoogle cofounder Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower where guests wore oversized diapers and adult-sized onesies.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Kara Swisher's, Brin, —, Kara Swisher, San Francisco soiree, Swisher, Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch, Anne Wojcicki, Gavin Newsom, Newsom, Larry Page, John Doerr, she'd, Page Organizations: Service, San, Francisco, Business, Microsoft Locations: San Francisco

☆ Google can recover from the Gemini flop. Just look at Apple Maps.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google's Gemini flop looks bad from the outside. Ask the folks who worked on Apple Maps. Apple Maps fiasco could point the way forwardBut let's be more positive this time around, with a different echo from the Big Tech Screwups file: Remember Apple Maps? And then, over time, Apple did get its act together, and people did start using Apple Maps, and now there are plenty of normal people who use Apple Maps as a default, and some of them even argue that it's better than Google Maps. Except: The time between Apple Maps' flop and that article I linked to above — headline: "People Have Begun to Love Apple's Most Hated Product" — was more than a decade.

Persons: —, Alex Kantrowitz, wokeness, OpenAI, Hunter, Tim Cook, Cook, Apple's, Gemini Organizations: Google, Big Tech, Apple, Service, Gemini, Microsoft

☆ Google-backed Anthropic debuts its most powerful chatbot yet, as generative AI battle heats up
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

This time last year, Anthropic was seen as a promising generative AI startup founded by ex-OpenAI research executives. "In our quest to have a highly harmless model, Claude 2 would sometimes over-refuse," Amodei told CNBC. Multimodality, or adding options like photo and video capabilities to generative AI, whether uploading them yourself or creating them using an AI model, has quickly become one of the industry's hottest use cases. But multimodality, and increasingly complex AI models, also lead to more potential risks. "Of course no model is perfect, and I think that's a very important thing to say upfront," Amodei told CNBC.

Persons: Anthropic, Claude, Opus, OpenAI's, Asana, It's, it's, Daniela Amodei, Amodei, Moby Dick, Harry Potter, Brad Lightcap, Anthropic's Claude, We've Organizations: Monday, Haiku, Google, ChatGPT, CNBC

☆ Sergey Brin says Google 'definitely messed up' after its Gemini chatbot caused a firestorm. He has a lot riding on its success — or failure.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sergey Brin says Google "definitely messed up" with Gemini's image generation. The Google cofounder says he came out of retirement because of AI's "exciting" trajectory. AdvertisementGoogle cofounder Sergey Brin has weighed in on the company's Gemini drama. Speaking at San Francisco's AGI House, Brin said the company had "definitely messed up on the image generation." Since then, Brin has been spotted at Google's Silicon Valley headquarters and has been directly involved with developing the company's AI strategy.

Persons: Sergey Brin, —, Brin, Larry Page, Elon Musk, Adolf Hitler, Gemini, Hitler Organizations: Service, Gemini, Google, The New York Times, Big Tech, BI, Business Locations: Francisco's

☆ Google co-founder Sergey Brin says in rare public appearance that company 'definitely messed up' Gemini image launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Brin, 50, spoke to entrepreneurs on Saturday at the "AGI House" in Hillsborough, California, just south of San Francisco, where developers and founders were testing Google's Gemini model. He also commented on the flawed launch last month of Google's image generator, which the company pulled after users discovered historical inaccuracies and questionable responses. Brin was also asked how online advertising will be disrupted considering ad revenue is core to Google's business. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images“I of all people am not too terribly concerned about business model shifts,” Brin said. Beyond AI, Brin was asked about Google's difficulties in hardware given recent advancements in virtual reality.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Google David Paul Morris, Brin, ” Brin, “, Larry Page, He's, ”, Gemini, “ that’s, Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's, Sundar Pichai, Raghavan, Brin didn't, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Elon Musk's, Eric Schmidt, that’s, I'm Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Gemini, Google Inc, Allen & Co . Media, Technology Conference, Apple Vision Locations: Hillsborough , California, San Francisco, Sun Valley , Idaho, U.S

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Apple, Super Micro, Eli Lilly, Lyft, DoorDash, Disney & more
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

UBS upgrades Norfolk Southern to buy from neutral UBS said it sees margin improvement for the railroad. Goldman Sachs initiates Super Micro as neutral Goldman said the stock is an "AI winner" but that valuation is full right now. UBS reiterates Eli Lilly as buy UBS raised its price target on the stock to $910 per share from $810. UBS reiterates Nvidia as buy UBS said it's sticking with its buy rating after a series of investor meetings with the company." Argus upgrades New York Times to buy from neutral Argus said it sees revenue growth for the newspaper company. "

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Disney, Piper Sandler, Piper, Guggenheim, Baird, SQSP, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Bernstein, Tesla, underperform Bernstein, Eli Lilly, Wells, Melius, Citi downgrades Ferrari, Jefferies, Evercore, it's, Rosenblatt, Snowflake, Slootman's Organizations: BROS, Guggenheim, GSK, UBS, Norfolk Southern, Micro, JPMorgan, Nvidia, Kyverna Therapeutics, FLT, UDR, Conservative, America Health, RBC, Apple, Citi, Ferrari, Jefferies, BP, Barclays, Barclays downgrades, ISI, Toast Inc, Bank of America, Ball Corp, of America, Broadcom, New York Times Locations: Norfolk, China, New

☆ The rise of 'zombie' VCs puts startups that took funding from them in a difficult spot
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

What's on deckAdvertisementBut first, zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie. AdvertisementThat's why zombie VCs pose such a problem for the industry. Sussing out the prudent investor from the penniless one takes time and effort, two things startups can't necessarily afford when times are tough. AdvertisementIs having a zombie VC as an investor the equivalent of a scarlet letter? If a partner jumps ship from a zombie VC, startups they backed will be in a tough spot.

Persons: —, here's, Insider's Ben Bergman, Ben, it's, Alyssa Powell, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Ray Dalio isn't, Sundar Pichai, Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's, Cory Doctorow, He's, Smashmallow, they've, Jack Teixeira, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover, Grace Lett Organizations: Service, BI, Bridgewater, Bank of America, Trading, Google, Canadian, Singapore Locations: There's, Silicon Valley, British, Singapore, Israel, New York, London, Chicago

☆ My fiancé and I unexpectedly moved into a new apartment a week before our wedding. The stress only made us closer.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Hayley Folk | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Not long before my wedding, I decided to look at an apartment to see what our future could be like. AdvertisementThey say two of the most stressful things you can do in life are moving and getting married, and whoever they are, they're usually right. Hayley Folk and her fiancé — now husband — decided to move just a week before their wedding. Courtesy Hayley FolkMoving so close to getting married is not for the faint of heartOriginally, it was my idea to relocate. When the wedding day arrived, we both felt calm.

Persons: —, Hayley Folk, Hayley, We'd, Kyle wouldn't, hadn't, Kyle, we'd, hitched Organizations: Service Locations: California, New

☆ YouTube Music team laid off by Google while workers testified to Austin City Council about working conditions
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The entire YouTube Music team is out of a job after going on strike last year. AdvertisementThe entire YouTube Music team is out of a job as tensions rise at Google parent company, Alphabet. The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents workers at Google's parent company, Alphabet, said Google laid off the YouTube Music team on Friday. "We just got laid off, our jobs are ending today, effective immediately," one worker tells the city council in video of the meeting. The YouTube Music team previously went on strike in February 2023 over Google's crackdown on remote work.

Persons: —, Cognizant, Sundar Pichai, Pichai Organizations: YouTube, Austin City, Google, Service, Alphabet Workers Union, Twitter, YouTube Music Locations: Texas, Austin

☆ There are growing calls for Google CEO Sundar Pichai to step down
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The slip-up was so bad it sent the company's stock tumbling, and had CEO Sundar Pichai address the troops, calling the situation "completely unacceptable." The debacle has strengthened the narrative that Google is suddenly behind in the AI race, and now there's a growing chorus of voices calling for CEO Sundar Pichai to be replaced. Pichai, who was appointed CEO of Google in 2015, and Alphabet in 2019, has proven a strong peace-time CEO for the company. He's been an effective and steady hand who protects Google's prized search business and deals diplomatically with regulators. Responding to a tweet by Color Health CEO Othman Laraki, who said Google as facing an "unsolvable problem," Mayer defended Google somewhat.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Ben Thompson, Googlers, Mark Shmulik, chatbot, He's, Pichai, Aravind Srinivas, Sundar, Srinivas, Marissa, Marissa Mayer, Othman Laraki, Mayer, They've, Hugh Langley Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Color, Gartner Locations: Silicon Valley

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Google removed the ability to generate images of people from its Gemini chatbot. We talk about why, and about the brewing culture war over artificial intelligence. Then, did Kara Swisher start “Hard Fork”? We clear up some podcast drama and ask about her new book, “Burn Book.” And finally, the legal expert Daphne Keller tells us how the U.S. Supreme Court might rule on the most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, and what Star Trek and soy boys have to do with it. Today’s guests:Kara Swisher, tech journalist and Casey Newton’s former landlordDaphne Keller, director of the program on platform regulation at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy CenterAdditional Reading:

Persons: Kara Swisher, “, Daphne Keller, Casey Newton’s Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Google, Supreme, Stanford Locations: U.S

☆ Google Gemini product lead retreats from social media after troubled AI product launch led to harassment
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Jack Krawczyk, a Google artificial intelligence product lead, has pulled away from social media sites, including X and LinkedIn, after the troubled launch of the company's AI image generator made him the target of online harassment. Krawczyk, who is typically active on social media, where he's known to solicit user feedback and to praise Google products and colleagues, removed identifying information and made some accounts private. Krawczyk's official title is senior director of product management for Gemini, the company’s main group of AI models. Krawczyk has since removed images of himself as well as any identifying information from social media platforms. WATCH: Google vs. Google

Persons: Jack Krawczyk, Krawczyk, Sundar Pichai, Critics, Elon Musk Organizations: X, Gemini, Google

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