DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Congress hasn’t been able to make social media safer. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

This has been true since the early 2010s, when tech companies began realizing the benefits of influencing policymakers on issues including net neutrality and privacy. This week, Microsoft announced its support for the Kids Online Safety Act, a leading social media bill. Even when lawmakers can agree on what the problem is, they often disagree on how to solve it, creating a smorgasbord of half a dozen or more social media bills floating around Congress. That would be a huge down payment on a future social media law, said Balkam. But even that proposal is still subject to many of the same dynamics that make social media regulation hard.

Persons: Washington CNN —, ”, Danny Weiss, Ben Thompson, Adam Kovacevich, “ That’s, hasn’t, Republican stonewalling, Weiss, Kovacevich, ” Kovacevich, I’m, ” Weiss, Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson, Schumer, Nancy Pelosi’s, “, Johnson didn’t, Evan Greer Organizations: Washington CNN, Big Tech, Tech, Sense, Microsoft, Kids, LinkedIn, of, Republican, CNN Locations: Washington, United States

☆ Opinion: The chilling lesson of the Taylor Swift deepfakes
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Opinion Laurie Segall | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Sexually explicit AI-generated photos of pop superstar Taylor Swift have flooded the internet, and we don’t need to calm down. Now, you can digitally undress her or create your own explicit deepfake starring her. Imagine an immersive environment where a scorned ex invites others to collectively view a sexually explicit deepfake video of the girl who rejected him. They never taped a video, but due to advances in deepfake technology, it’s impossible to distinguish whether it’s real or fake. From a policy perspective, a handful of states have laws against the creation or sharing of these types of sexually explicit deepfakes.

Persons: Laurie Segall, Taylor Swift, Laurie Segall Angie Speranza Swift, I’ve, Swift, Mary Anne Franks, we’re, “ We’ve, ” Franks, —, Franks, Don’t Organizations: Tech’s Titans, CNN, George Washington University, ”, “ Locations: New York, Vermont

☆ A year after ChatGPT’s release, the AI revolution is just beginning
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Seemingly overnight, the user-friendly generative AI technology enraptured the globe. It also promised to revolutionize the future of white-collar work — so long as it didn’t cause an AI apocalypse in the process. ‘The world woke up to the AI revolution’And one year since ChatGPT’s public release, the fervor around AI is still at a fever pitch. And AI’s long-prophesied impacts to the labor market is also beginning to emerge, both inside and outside the tech industry. “Many, many, many jobs that are currently done by humans, AI will be able to do,” said Clune, the AI researcher at the University of British Columbia.

Persons: New York CNN —, Sam Altman, ChatGPT, ” Jeff Clune, hasn’t, ” Clune, ”, OpenAI’s, Jakub Porzycki, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, ” Venkatasubramanian, “ It’s, it’s, Venkatasubramanian, Clune, we’re, ChatGPT’s, OpenAI, David Paul Morris, “, CNN’s Kara Swisher, Altman, —, ” Altman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Big Tech, Tech, University of British, CNN, ChatGPT’s, Brown University, Economic Cooperation, Bloomberg, Getty, Microsoft — Locations: New York, University of British Columbia, Krakow, Poland, OpenAI, Asia, San Francisco , California

NEW YORK (AP) — It's been quite a week for ChatGPT-maker OpenAI — and co-founder Sam Altman. And as he became Silicon Valley’s most sought-after voice on the promise and potential dangers of this technology, Altman helped transform OpenAI into a world-renowned startup. WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI? Unlike traditional AI, which processes data and completes tasks using predetermined rules, generative AI (including chatbots like ChatGPT) can create something new. Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Joe Biden signed an ambitious executive order last month seeking to balance the needs of cutting-edge technology companies with national security and consumer rights.

Persons: — It's, OpenAI —, Sam Altman, Altman, what's, —, Greg Brockman, Brockman, “, OpenAI, ”, Johann Laux, Enza Iannopollo, Forrester, Iannopollo, they’ve, Chatbots, Joe Biden Organizations: OpenAI, WHO, ALTMAN, Microsoft, Twitter, Oxford Internet, Tech, European Union Locations: San Francisco, Brussels, U.S

Microsoft announced Monday that it has hired Sam Altman and another architect of ChatGPT maker OpenAI after they unexpectedly departed the company days earlier in a corporate shakeup that shocked the artificial intelligence world. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella tweeted that the U.S. tech giant is committed to its partnership with OpenAI, whose chatbot kicked off the generative AI craze by producing human-like text, images, video and music. Microsoft invested billions of dollars in the startup and helped provide the computing power to run its AI systems. “We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” Nadella said. The Associated Press and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Emmett Shear, OpenAI's, Greg Brockman, ” Nadella, Altman, Brockman, Mira Murati, It's, Shear, didn't, “, Valley’s, ” OpenAI Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI, Associated Press Locations: U.S

☆ Silicon Valley saw OpenAI with eyes wide shut
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Silicon Valley’s weekend episode with artificial intelligence company OpenAI seems much like the technology: the input is a mishmash, so the output is flawed. The Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) company’s board fired boss Sam Altman, and now, according to reports, may bring him back. OpenAI has been the leader in AI technology, which is bolstering valuations in the face of slowing growth in Silicon Valley. By September, OpenAI was seeking a valuation of nearly triple that, according to Reuters. Yet with or without Altman, OpenAI’s issues are clear and abundant.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, ’, OpenAI’s, chipmaker, chatbot, Brockman, Greg, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, Stanford, UC Berkley, OpenAI’s, San Francisco, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Silicon Valley, U.S

Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube Listen to and follow ‘Hard Fork’The tech start-up Humane launched a new device, an A.I. pin meant to be worn on our clothing. The pin allows users to take phone calls, catch up on messages and get answers to questions, all without ever looking at a screen. Then, why YouTube is bucking the trend on deepfakes. Plus: We eat a Thanksgiving meal made with meat that was grown in a lab.

Organizations: Apple, Spotify, YouTube

Sitting beneath a palm tree on a cliff above the ocean at Mr. Benioff’s Hawaiian home in 2018, they explained both devices. “This one,” Mr. Benioff said, pointing at the Ai Pin, as dolphins breached the surf below, “is huge.”“It’s going to be a massive company,” he added. They experimented in secret with hardware components and built a virtual assistant, like Siri or Alexa, working with customized language models based, in part, on OpenAI’s offerings. The device’s most sci-fi element — the laser that projects a text menu onto a hand — started inside a box the size of a matchbook. It took three years to miniaturize it to be smaller than the size of a golf tee.

Persons: Mr, Benioff, “, ”, Siri, Altman Organizations: Apple

☆ The AI Deals Enriching Silicon Valley’s Tech Giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Berber Jin | Tom Dotan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Amazon is investing $4 billion into Anthropic which committed to spending the same amount on AWS, the tech giant’s cloud platform, over the next five years. Photo: NOAH BERGER/REUTERSAmazon , Google and Microsoft have spent the past year investing billions of dollars in artificial-intelligence startups—while also charging those fledgling companies a similar amount to use their cloud platforms. The deals are making the big tech firms both the largest backers and most direct beneficiaries of these startups, reflecting how some of the AI boom’s biggest rewards keep going to the most powerful players. The value of the tech giants’ stakes could shoot up if the startups take off. And if not, they still will have turned chunks of cash into revenue.

Persons: NOAH BERGER Organizations: Amazon, REUTERS, Google, Microsoft

☆ Silicon Valley Shrugs Off Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Erin Griffith | More About Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the four weeks that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was on trial on fraud charges, the tech industry:Reacted to the war in Israel and Gaza, including protesting a tech conference organizer’s social media posts about the conflict. Buzzed over a manifesto from a top venture capitalist outlining a list of enemies to technological progress. Scrambled to invest money in the hottest artificial intelligence company, OpenAI, at triple its valuation earlier this year. Hotly debated the new features on Threads, a social media site owned by Meta. But a simpler answer could be that the tech industry has again done what it does best: move on to the next thing.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Bankman Organizations: Meta Locations: Israel, Gaza, FTX

☆ George R. R. Martin, Jodi Picoult and other famous writers join Authors Guild in class action lawsuit against OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —A group of famous fiction writers joined the Authors Guild in filing a class action suit against OpenAI on Wednesday, alleging the company’s technology is illegally using their copyrighted work. Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen are among the 17 prominent authors who joined the suit led by the Authors Guild, a professional organization that protects writers’ rights. “Generative AI threatens to decimate the author profession,” the Authors Guild wrote in a press release Wednesday. Two other authors sued OpenAI in June over the company’s alleged misuse of their works to train ChatGPT. Authors should have the right to decide when their works are used to ‘train’ AI,” author Jonathan Franzen said in the release on Wednesday.

Persons: OpenAI, George R.R, Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, Mary Rasenberger, “, Sarah Silverman, Silverman –, ” Sam Altman, Rasenberger, James Patterson, Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood —, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, OpenAI, Authors, of, CNN, Amazon, Meta, San, Microsoft Locations: New York, Southern, of New York, San Francisco federal

☆ Unity discovers how real the revenue struggle is
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Edgar Su Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Unity Software (U.N) is finding out just how hard the revenue game will be. The $14 billion company’s new plan to climb out of an unprofitable hole makes sense, but also faces considerable pushback. The strategy seeks to impose fees on video-game developers after certain revenue and install thresholds are met, eliciting a harsh response on social media on Tuesday. Unity may retain its customers, as switching suppliers can be a pain, but deeper-pocketed rivals such as Epic Games may see an opportunity to pounce. Silicon Valley’s revenue struggle is real.

Persons: Edgar Su, Robert Cyran, BoE, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Unity Software, Apple, Unity, X, Treasury, UBS, Thomson Locations: Pico, Singapore, Asia

☆ A Who’s Who of Silicon Valley Will Convene With Lawmakers on A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Cecilia Kang | More About Cecilia Kang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ever since ChatGPT exploded in popularity last year, Silicon Valley’s titans have been embroiled in a race to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence. Yet in Washington, lawmakers have struggled to keep up with the technology, which they are only beginning to understand. On Wednesday, both sides are set to collide in one of the tech industry’s most proactive shows of force in the nation’s capital. Insight Forum, organized by Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, along with labor union leaders and civil society groups. The closed-door meeting is the first in a series of crash-course lessons on A.I.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Jensen Huang, Chuck Schumer Organizations: Silicon Valley’s, Elon, Tesla, SpaceX, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Insight Locations: Washington, New York

☆ American economic power is potent but unstable
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - For the past 15 years, the iPhone has been a totem of U.S. economic power. If the country is cooling on the $2.8 trillion company, it’s a potent indicator of increasingly frosty relations with the United States. Perhaps most significantly, the U.S. government realised it could use the internet to spy on adversaries and the financial system to subdue them. The tendency of capitalism to produce a handful of giant companies, many of them headquartered in the United States, helped successive administrations exert their authority. A complete severing of economic links between China and the United States is hard to imagine.

Persons: Norman Angell, Thomas Friedman, Vladimir Putin, Edward Snowden, Henry Farrell, Abraham Newman, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Putin, Biden, ”, Farrell, Newman, Donald Trump, ” Farrell, Allen Lane, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Apple, World Trade Organization, New York Times, National Security Agency, U.S . Treasury, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown University, WTO, Huawei, BNP, Biden Administration, Intel, U.S ., European, United, Thomson Locations: China, Beijing, United States, France, Russian, U.S, North Korea, Iran, New York, Washington, Sudan, Cuba, Ukraine, America, Russia, Germany, United, Europe

Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Amazon | Google Listen and follow ‘Hard Fork’Are New York City’s new rules for short-term rentals like Airbnb effectively a ban? And will they accomplish what proponents want them to? Then, The New York Times tech reporter Erin Griffith on Silicon Valley’s mad dash for GPUs. And finally, we take stock of the A.I. songs of the summer and discuss YouTube and Universal Music Group’s plan to make synthetic voices profitable.

Persons: Erin Griffith Organizations: Apple, Spotify, York, The New York Times, Silicon, YouTube, Universal

ESPN has been Disney’s financial engine for nearly 30 years, powering the company through recessions, box office wipeouts and the pandemic. With its dual revenue stream — fees from cable subscribers and advertising — the sports juggernaut continues to earn billions of dollars for Disney. In the first six months of the 2023 fiscal year, Disney’s cable networks division, which is anchored by ESPN and its spinoff channels, generated $14 billion in revenue and $3 billion in profit. Disney is now exploring a once-unthinkable sale of a stake in ESPN. Disney has held talks with the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball about taking a minority stake.

Persons: Century Fox, ESPN’s, Robert A, ” Organizations: ESPN, Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Century, CNBC, National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball

☆ It’s official: Silicon Valley’s entire business model is a scam
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The problem is, conservative economists at the University of Chicago have spent the past 50 years insisting that under capitalism, predatory pricing is not a thing. Predatory companies could never recoup their losses, which meant predatory behaviors are irrational. Lots of economists have come up with solid counter-counterarguments to the Chicago School's skepticism about predatory pricing. A company that engages in predatory pricing and its late-stage investors might not recoup, but the venture investors do. "If people in Silicon Valley start thinking about this as a predatory pricing scam, then I think the late-stage investors will start asking questions."

Persons: Matt Wansley, Wansley, we're, Uber, Cardozo, Sam Weinstein, gobs, you've, —, Brooke, Spencer Waller, Matsushita, Weinstein —, Justice Department —, it's, Weinstein, Matt, that's, Will Uber, Waller, David, Maurer, they've, Adam Rogers Organizations: Lyft, Big Tech, Cardozo School of Law, Justice Department, University of Chicago, Chicago School, Supreme, Matsushita Electric Industry Co, Zenith Radio Corp, Brooke Group, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp, United, Loyola's School of Law, Venture, Matsushita, VCs, Chicago, Loyola, pharma, aha, Wansley Locations: United States, Chicago, Silicon Valley, Silicon

☆ Samsung’s A.I. Moment Is Here, but Is It Ready?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The introduction of ChatGPT has lit a fire under the shares of companies that produce microchips, the brains of artificial intelligence. Bets on the potential of so-called generative A.I. Samsung Electronics, the South Korean giant, is hoping to get in on the action. At an event in California last week, Samsung detailed what it called its “vision in the A.I. era.” Samsung believes it can snatch market share from the leading chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, but recently the trend has gone the other way.

Persons: Samsung, TSMC Organizations: Nvidia, Samsung Electronics, Samsung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Counterpoint Research Locations: Hong Kong, California, TSMC

☆ Bill Gates-Backed Mining Company Is Silicon Valley’s Newest Unicorn
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Julie Steinberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/silicon-valleys-newest-unicorn-is-a-mining-company-9d22ea6c

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Silicon Valley’s Newest Unicorn Is a Mining Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Julie Steinberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Dow Jones

NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sequoia is blazing another new trail in venture capital. As one of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, Sequoia Capital has backed everything from Apple (AAPL.O) to Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) over the past half-century, and many others in between, including Instagram, 23andMe (ME.O) and DoorDash (DASH.N). The world has changed, however – and changed yet again – since Sequoia opened its doors. Valentine named Sequoia after a tree that lives thousands of years, signifying a plan to survive and grow through any sort of climate. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterFollow @anshumandaga on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSVenture capital firm Sequoia Capital said on June 6 that it would separate its China, India and Southeast Asia, and U.S. and European arms into three businesses.

Persons: Don Valentine, – Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh –, Valentine, Sequoia, ByteDance, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Sequoia Capital, Apple, Video Communications, Investments, HK, Sequoia, Venture, Thomson Locations: China, India, U.S, Sequoia, Southeast Asia, United States, Mumbai, Shanghai

☆ Venture Capital Giant Sequoia Spins Off China and India Units
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firms, is breaking itself up, spinning out its Chinese unit into an independent company at a time of rising tensions between China and the United States over investment and access to advanced technologies. The firm announced on Tuesday that it planned to split into three independent partnerships, with its businesses in China and India adopting new brands and the firm in the United States and Europe retaining the Sequoia name. The firm’s global footprint had become “increasingly complex” to manage, said a statement from Sequoia’s managing partner Roelof Botha; the firm’s China head, Neil Shen; and its India head, Shailendra Singh. “Increasingly, we deal with portfolio conflicts across entities because founders really now have global ambitions,” Mr. Botha said. “And the brand confusion was just starting to chafe at everybody.”

Persons: Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Shailendra Singh, Botha, ”, “, ” Mr Organizations: Sequoia Locations: China, United States, India, Europe

☆ Apple WWDC 2023: What to expect at Apple's big developer event
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The highly anticipated release of an AR/VR headset would be Apple’s biggest hardware product launch since the debut of the Apple Watch in 2015. Here’s a closer look at what to expect:A ‘mixed reality’ headsetFor years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed interest in augmented reality. Apple’s new headset is expected to pack apps for gaming, fitness and meditation, and offer access to iOS apps such as Messages, FaceTime and Safari, according to Bloomberg. New MacBooksA mixed reality headset may not be the only piece of hardware to get stage time this year. New features for iPhone, iPad and Apple WatchConsidering WWDC is traditionally a software event, Apple executives will likely spend much of the time highlighting the changes and upgrades coming to its next-generation mobile operating systems, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

Persons: Tim Cook, it’s, Siri, Justin Sullivan, Apple Organizations: CNN, Apple, Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple Watch, YouTube, Bloomberg, VR, MacBook, Wall Street, Big Tech Locations: Cupertino , California, Silicon Valley

☆ Peter Thiel Is Latest Billionaire Said to Have Met With Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | Ryan Mac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2014, the venture capitalist Peter Thiel was gaining prominence as one of Silicon Valley’s most successful entrepreneurs and investors. That made him an ideal contact for Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender with a knack for cultivating the rich and powerful. Mr. Thiel apparently had several meetings with Mr. Epstein that year, according to scheduling records of the disgraced financier that were reviewed by The New York Times. The records — in the form of emails that Mr. Epstein’s assistant sent to remind him of upcoming events — show that in September 2014 Mr. Thiel was scheduled to meet with Mr. Epstein on at least three occasions, either in one-on-one meetings or with others over lunch or dinner. Two other times, Mr. Thiel was listed among more than a dozen other well-known people Mr. Epstein should try to see while at his New York mansion.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes Must Report to Prison on May 30 and Pay Restitution
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Lora Kelley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The LatestElizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of the failed blood testing start-up Theranos, who was convicted last year on charges that she defrauded investors of more than $100 million, has lost her latest bid to stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction. Ms. Holmes, whose case cast a harsh light on Silicon Valley’s culture of hubris, must report to prison on May 30, a judge ruled after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected her attempt on Tuesday to remain free on bail. Ms. Holmes and her top lieutenant at Theranos, Ramesh Balwani, who was found guilty of fraud in a separate trial and who began serving his prison sentence last month, were also ordered to pay $452 million in restitution to victims of the company’s fraud. Of that total, the judge, Edward J. Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who oversaw both trials, determined that Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani should pay $125 million to the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who invested in Theranos. Walgreens and Safeway, which had entered into business deals with the company, were also identified as victims for the purposes of restitution.

Search resuls for: "Silicon Valley’s"

25 mentions found