DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ 'Hawk Tuah Girl' has our attention. Next, she would like our money.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe "Hawk Tuah Girl," Hailey Welch, has quit her day job in a Tennessee spring factory and announced plans to ride out her viral fame. But what does cashing in on viral fame look like in 2024, and how is that different from the other kinds of Viral Humans who have come before? "Hawk Tuah Girl" may discover that viral fame alone is not an instant windfall — capitalizing on social media popularity requires hard work. Accidental memedom is very different from social media stars who can make their (sometimes lucrative) living by grinding out content for years and studying platform mechanics. Jake Paul raps, "It's every day, bro," when it comes to managing his viral fame.

Persons: —, Hailey Welch, Welch, hasn't, Jonnie Forster, Forster, You've, Jake Paul doesn't, Jake Paul, Cooper Neill, Antoine Dodson, Sweet Brown, Dodson, Daniel, Alex, Lars Niki, Brian, Max Read, Ellen DeGeneres, Alex Cooper, Tana Mongeau, Bobbi Althoff, Brianna LaPaglia, Welch's, LaPaglia, Dave Portnoy, Zach Bryan, She'd, what's Welch, — I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Penthouse, Target, People Magazine, UPS, Josh, Barstool Sports Locations: Tennessee, fratty, Miami

☆ Why doesn't Facebook just ban AI slop like Shrimp Jesus?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-30 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AI "slop" images all over Facebook. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This is all "AI slop," the new term describing the sudden flood of garbage AI-generated content, from ebooks to viral photos. This is the Shrimp Jesus kind of slop: bizarre, obviously fake, and sometimes vaguely unsettling in a trypophobia-triggering way. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Jesus Organizations: Facebook, Service, Business

☆ How Glossier's perfume saved it from the millennial dustbin
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) 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. But the recent success of Glossier's "You" perfume — which isn't new, but has been introduced to a new Gen Z audience thanks to a viral TikTok — is helping pull the brand back to life. The TikTok wasn't part of some big plan of Glossier to get back into the graces of the younger crowd. Related storiesA single viral TikTok, in theory, might fade away, but Glossier reacted to the successful viral moment among Gen Z buyers. AdvertisementFor the record, as a dutiful millennial woman, I own and enjoy several Glossier products (I personally love their mascara).

Persons: —, Glossier, Kyle Leahy, Mack, TikTok, Emily Weiss, Marisa Meltzer Organizations: Service, Business, Bloomberg Locations: Sephora

☆ I'm delighted by this car dealership's parody of 'The Office'
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The workplace drama I'm now highly invested in is from the Mohawk Chevrolet dealership in Ballston Spa, New York. The three-person marketing team in charge of posting on social media would sometimes try to jump on a TikTok trend or some other kind of lighthearted fare. So far, nothing out of the ordinary for a car dealership, this one founded in 1919 with the slogan "We go out of our way to please you." But then, somehow, they made a masterpiece — a mockumentary about the dealership in the style of "The Office." But is a viral video from a local car dealership actually good for sales?

Persons: —, I'm, Nathanael Greklek, Ben Bushen, Grace Kerber, Bushen, Guy Fieri, Kerber, They've Organizations: Service, Mohawk Chevrolet, Business, Chevy, Chevrolet, Honda, BMW Locations: Ballston Spa , New York, Saratoga

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's PR team can't stop him from posting, internal texts reveal
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewIn September 2021, Mark Zuckerberg threw his PR team into a crisis situation. The story said part of the strategy involved Zuckerberg posting more lighthearted content to help rehab his image, and cited a video he had posted of himself riding a hydrofoil while holding an American flag. In those messages, you can see how the PR team agonized over Zuckerberg's desire to post a zinger about the misidentified hydrofoil. Nick Clegg, head of public policy at Meta, was also strongly against Mark posting something flippant about the hydrofoil. A warning label is a misguided idea, in my opinion, but it is a pesky public problem for Meta.

Persons: —, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Ryan Mac, Tucker Bounds, John Pinette, Pinette, I'm, Nick Clegg, Clegg, Meta Organizations: Service, New York Times, Business, Meta, The New York Times, Twitter, Facebook, US, MZ, Street Locations: New York, EU

☆ Reddit's traffic is way, way up. Like, banoodles up.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Reddit's traffic is up 39% year over year this month, according to Similarweb. Reddit's big boost is likely from Google traffic. AdvertisementHave you seen more Reddit results in your Google searches lately? Way, way, not alone. Reddit's traffic has surged in the last few months, largely because of its increased prominence in Google search results.

Persons: —, Hugh Langley Organizations: Service, disney, Google, Business Locations: That's

☆ Social media isn't like cigarettes, and a warning label won't help much
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is recommending a warning label on social media sites cautioning that "social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents." This label would warn teens and their parents of the potential risk of harm from using social media. But is social media really comparable to cigarettes? So far, the government's approach to social media regulation has been somewhat chaotic. A surgeon general warning label that pops up when you open Instagram is probably going to be annoying, but it can't really hurt.

Persons: Vivek Murthy, Murthy, There's, Meta, Tipper Gore, Nikki, John Denver, Frank Zappa, Dee Snider Organizations: Service, The New York Times, Business, Big Tech, Social Media, Apple, Music Resource, Recording Industry Association of America Locations: New York

☆ Social media has gotten so bad that America's top doctor is intervening
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at the surgeon general suggesting warning labels for social media . The big storyA solution for socialsAnna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Chesnot/Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BISocial media has gotten so bad that the country's top doctor is intervening. AdvertisementIn his piece, Murthy said social media is a key culprit of the mental health crisis young people are facing. Generative AI adds more fuel to the misinformation fire social media platforms have been battling for years. Many of them are making fast use of social media platforms like TikTok and investing heavily in AI.

Persons: —, Anna Moneymaker, Chelsea Jia Feng, Vivek Murthy, Geoff Weiss, Murthy, It's, Katie Notopoulos, isn't, Adam Kovacevich, Dan Whateley, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Danielle DiMartino Booth, Instagram, Larry Fink, Dave Calhoun, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover, Annie Smith, Amanda Yen Organizations: Service, Business, US, The New York Times, of Progress, Getty, Meta, Bank of America, AIM, Apple, Apple Watch, Adobe, Justice, Marketing's, District of Columbia, DC, Boeing Locations: China, Schonfeld, New York, London

☆ ALICEs, DINKs, HENRYs, and More: a Complete Guide
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

But the terms' recent popularity suggests people want to understand how they fit into the broader economy beyond standard measurements. But that, too, is uncertain: She said she was "dangerously close" to losing the aid because her income is too high. ALICEs tend to be older or younger workers, and while they're represented across racial groups, they're more likely to be Black or Hispanic. HIFI: High Income, Financially InsecureHIFI is the latest acronym to join the club. In a 2021 Medium post, Erica Dhawan defined "geriatric millennials" as millennials born in the early 1980s.

Persons: ALICE, HENRY, Kory, Anthony Klotz, Kantenga, DINK, They've, they've, Eric Anicich, Henry, Alice, haven't, Sarah, she's, — there's, they're, Carrie, Gen Zers, Brenton, Mirlanda, Neiman Marcus, Katie Notopoulos, Paige Connell, Connell, Chrissy Arsenault, Arsenault, Jimmy Simpson, who've, Rich, Christopher Stroup, Stroup, HIFIs, Erica Dhawan, Dwahan, Louis, —, Jewel Benjamin, Benjamin, micromanaging, Erin Snodgrass, Jacob Zinkula Organizations: FIRE, Business, LinkedIn, Texas, USC Marshall School of Business, : Asset, SNAP, Los Angeles Times, DINKs, Public School, Financial Independence, Sherwood News, Federal Reserve Bank of St, Federal Reserve, University of Michigan Health, Social, Social Security Locations: POLK, City, Dallas, Boston, Massachusetts, Colorado, Santa Monica , California, millennials, Georgia

☆ Insider Today: Meta's manager squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Matt Turner | ) 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. Apple announced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024. CEO Tim Cook unveiled Apple Intelligence, a generative AI system partly powered by ChatGPT (for now). Assuming Apple Intelligence works as intended, there will be even more reason to switch to or stay with Apple. Add it all together, and, as Linette Lopez writes, Apple may be the one Big Tech company getting AI right.

Persons: —, there's, Jimmy Donaldson, Justin Sullivan, Apple, Tim Cook, Katie Notopoulos, OpenAI, Linette Lopez, Alyssa Powell, Fitch, it's, Abercrombie, Mark Zuckerberg, Michel Shvo Patrick McMullan, Chelsea Jia Feng, Michael Shvo, Shvo, he's, Grace J, Kim, Gen Zers, There's, isn't, Z Organizations: Service, Business, Apple, Apple Intelligence, Google, Microsoft, Big Tech, Getty, Abercrombie, Fitch, GameStop Locations: cologne, New York City

☆ The most important advancement in AI is making Travis Kelce pregnant
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-15 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Wombo AI is an app that makes generative images of celebrities. It's gone viral for making images of Donald Trump, Drake, and Travis Kelce — with pregnant belliesYes, this very stupid. 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 . Read looked at some of the early AI things that had delighted us: the pope in a puffer coat and Will Smith eating spaghetti.

Persons: It's, Donald Trump, Drake, Travis Kelce —, —, Joe Biden, Max Read, Read, Will Smith Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Apple is introducing a kinder, gentler AI. Just don't call it artificial intelligence.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementIt's not 'artificial intelligence,' it's 'Apple Intelligence'And in Apple's new AI world, we start with one rule: Don't call it "artificial intelligence." It's "Apple Intelligence." Apple Intelligence can perform simple and useful functions. Apple Intelligence wasn't mindblowingStill, some of the other generative things were purely goofy/cutesy, like the AI version of Memoji. AdvertisementNothing was mindblowing or a totally radical new way of using artificial Apple Intelligence.

Persons: —, Scarlett Johansson's, Scarlett Johansson, Siri, It's, Apple Organizations: Service, Business, Apple, Apple Intelligence, Gmail Locations: —

☆ Apple wants to put a friendlier spin on artificial intelligence, but many users could miss out
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at all the takeaways from Apple's big event , including its friendlier spin on artificial intelligence . Related VideoBut first, it's not AI; it's Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence — it's AI, just not that AI — is the company's first big swing in the space. Data is the name of the game when it comes to AI, and Apple's iPhones are full of it. However, the Apple Intelligence news and partnership with OpenAI is what really set the billionaire off.

Persons: —, we've, it's, Andrew Burton, Justin Sullivan, Rebecca Zisser, Tim Cook, Apple, Apple's, Insider's Jordan Hart, Katie Notopoulos, Pro Max, BI's Peter Kafka, Max —, wasn't, Elon Musk, Chelsea Jia Feng, Grzegorz Wajda, Elon, Bernstein, Toni Sacconaghi, Point72, Steve Cohen's, WallStreetBets, Tyler Le, OpenAI, Sarah Friar, Kevin Weil, who's, Sam Altman's, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover, Annie Smith Organizations: Service, Business, Tech, Apple Intelligence, Washington, Getty, Apple, Pro, Elon, OpenAI, Academy Investment, GameStop, Planet Labs, Oracle Locations: Apple's, Chelsea, Silicon, New York, London

☆ Facebook has a plan to win over Gen Z. Don't laugh.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In a 2023 Pew survey on teen internet use, only about one-third of US teens ages 13 to 17 said they used Facebook. Compare that with Pew's 2014 survey, when 71% of teens said they used Facebook. AdvertisementSecondly, Facebook is hoping to lure back young adults with offerings like Marketplace, Dating, Groups, and Events. And I don't think Facebook Dating is a huge hit. I know it seems improbable that Facebook could become cool for Gen Z, but don't count it out — they just might pull this off.

Persons: Meta, —, Elon Musk's, I'm, Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Service, Facebook, Pew, Facebook —, Meta, Craigslist, mojo, TikTok

☆ Sometimes to save the internet, you must eat glue
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The glue pizza search result was traced back to a comment from a Redditor who went by "fucksmith" making an obvious joke on the subreddit r/Pizza. Because I'm both brave and a genius, naturally, I had to try to make the glue pizza myself. Was Google's response to tamp down its big AI search ambitions just because a few jokesters on X made silly queries? The ridiculousness of those AI answers does call into question the entire concept of using AI for Google search results. And I like to convince myself that my eating glue pizza was part of the noise that prompted Google to act.

Persons: I'm, Barack Obama, Katie Notopoulos, Liz Reid, Reddit, Sundar Pichai, Max Read, John Herrman Organizations: Service, Google, Business, New York Magazine

☆ Parents banned phones. Their teens somehow survived.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Haidt describes exactly what parents fear: that social media and phone use are contributing to the malaise of young adults. The idea that phones are bad for younger teens has hit a crescendo — and parents are taking action. The teens have been told that phones are bad for teens, so they've convinced themselves that their friends who had phones earlier are now addicted and worse off. But there's also pushback on the overall idea that scientific evidence points to social media and phones being bad for teens' mental health. And yet, even if academic studies are lacking, it is really hard to ignore common sense about teens and phones.

Persons: Jonatha Haidt, Haidt, they've, —, there's, Candice Odgers Organizations: Service

☆ Google announced a smartwatch for kids — and it looks pretty good
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google just announced a new smartwatch aimed at kids ages 7 and up — the Fitbit Ace LTE. The watch can call and text parents over LTE service (with a data plan), and parents can track their kids through GPS. Lots of parents are looking for a way to be able to call or track their kids — without giving them an actual phone. Related storiesThe Fitbit Ace LTE works over LTE and requires a data plan, but not an extra phone line. The Fitbit Ace LTE is $229, which is more expensive than some of its competitors.

Organizations: Service, Google, LTE, Verizon, Garmin, Apple

☆ Gmail is stuck in the Stone Age. It needs to update its tabbed inbox.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewI don't think I know anyone who feels good about their email inbox. When Google introduced the tabbed inbox in 2013, I was in heaven. Since then, the tabbed inbox has fallen behind, unable to keep up with the ways that email has changed since 2013. Screenshot / Business InsiderGoogle has apparently noticed that the tabbed inbox isn't meeting today's needs, and will soon roll out an update meant to alleviate the burden of the swollen Primary inbox. I demand a Newsletters tabBut this still isn't what I dream of getting out of a tabbed inbox.

Persons: —, it's, Merrell, I've Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Old, Facebook, Boston Globe, Gmail, BI Locations: TikTok

☆ Why Google is (probably) stuck giving out AI answers that may or may not be right
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

And that most people don't know or care about search answers that tell people how many rocks to eat. Many of the examples we've seen have been uncommon queries, and we've also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn't reproduce. What happens if people keep finding Bad Answers on Google and Google can't whac-a-mole them fast enough? Because that would be a really, really big problem. And the thing that's very different between the old Google results and the new ones is the responsibility and authority Google is shouldering.

Persons: —, we've, Katie Notopoulos, Katie, it's, Lara Levin, I've, We've, they'd Organizations: Service, Google, Business Locations: ChatGPT

☆ Google AI said to put glue in pizza — so I made a pizza with glue and ate it
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

I knew my assignment: I had to make the Google glue pizza. But now I'm an adult and can't be shamed for eating glue pizza.) AdvertisementIt appears that the origin of the pizza glue was a joke made on Reddit 11 years ago about adding glue to sauce. Presumably, Google AI search results will improve, and these weird flukes of bad results will become increasingly rare. DO NOT EAT GLUE PIZZA.

Persons: —, it's, It's, minty, Katie Notopoulos, DKdCa6LUap, Scarlett Johansson Organizations: Service, NHL, University of Wisconsin, Business, Google

☆ I went to the NYC-Dublin Portal looking for filth and debauchery. All I got was some tourists and kids.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The first thing to know about The Portal is that you will feel a strange, overwhelming urge to take out your phone and gaze at it through your phone's screen. Isn't it more interesting to try to interact with those people instead of staring at them through your phone? It feels almost protective — like The Portal is a light so bright you have to view it only through a phone screen, like looking at a solar eclipse through a hole in a cereal box. The Dublin Portal had a bigger crowd than the one in NYC. The Portal in New York is right on 23rd and Broadway, near some seating and a coffee stand.

Persons: Katie Notopoulos Organizations: Service, Business, New, Dublin, Broadway, Yorkers, Dubliners Locations: New York City, Dublin, Flatiron, Manhattan, New York, —

☆ Scarlett Johansson says she declined Sam Altman's offer to voice ChatGPT. Now she's lawyered up after an 'eerily similar' voice was released.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice — Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," the blog post said. AdvertisementIn a statement provided to BI, Altman said the Sky voice is not Johansson and was not intended to be similar to hers. "We cast the voice actor behind Sky's voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky's voice in our products," Altman said. "We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn't communicate better."

Persons: —, Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, Sam Altman's, Johansson, Altman, Sky's, Katie Notopoulos, Sam Altman Organizations: Service, Business, BI

☆ Sam Altman's self-own with ScarJo reveals a troubling question about OpenAI: What's with these clowns?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewOpenAI's fight with Scarlett Johansson isn't just a PR disaster (and a big one at that). Most of all, it shows there's just really, really bad judgment going on at the highest levels of Sam Altman's company. But everyone immediately noticed that the "Sky" voice that ended up on ChatGPT reminded them of ScarJo. And then Sam Altman, in one of the greatest self-own moves of the generative AI era, tweeted out "her" during the product demo last week. The OpenAI team used a Scarlett Johansson sound-alike voice — also completely avoidable.

Persons: —, Scarlett Johansson isn't, there's, Sam Altman's, ScarJo, Johansson, OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Altman, wasn't, Johansson's, Altman, it's, Ilya Sutskever Organizations: Service, Business, Hollywood, SAG, CNN, Reuters, Marvel, tech's, Facebook, Microsoft, eventual Locations: Turkey

☆ Belle Delphine earned over $90K selling jars of her bathwater in 2019. PayPal only released her money this week.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. But PayPal went beyond just shutting down her account. Each jar of bathwater Delphine sold counted as a violation. A PayPal spokesperson said they could not comment on individual accounts but told Business Insider that PayPal dropped its policy on the $2,500 fines about a year ago. Advertisement"If I didn't have any [social media] following, they wouldn't have given my money back," Delphine contended to Business Insider.

Persons: —, Belle Delphine, Delphine Organizations: Service, Business, PayPal

☆ For working moms, it's some good news and some bad news
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewFor working mothers, it can sometimes feel like even when there's good news, there's also bad news. Just this week, several stories drove home some of the things that parents and working women already have sensed. But it's a good signal for working moms. The chart shows that since 2015, the percentage of women working across all those groups has gone up in the last 10 years. It's that same mix for the state of working moms — not all good, but not all bad.

Persons: —, there's, Emily McCrary, Ruiz, Esparza, Hewlett Packard, That's, it's, Rachel M, Cohen Organizations: Service, Business, Hewlett, Bloomberg, Free, New York Times Reading

Search resuls for: "Katie Notopoulos"

25 mentions found