DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Windham, New Hampshire, U.S., Aug. 8, 2023. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 13 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his lawyers may only review classified evidence in a secure place as he prepares for a criminal trial over his handling of secret documents after he left office in 2021, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida is a win for prosecutors, who said it would be inappropriate for Trump to be able to review classified documents at the very location where he is accused of illegally and haphazardly storing them. The order requires Trump and his lawyers to review and discuss all classified evidence in what is known as a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied the charges, along with his co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

Persons: Donald Trump, Reba Saldanha, Aileen Cannon, Trump, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, Joe Biden, Jack Queen, Rami Ayyub, Paul Grant, Susan Heavey, Grant McCool, Howard Goller Organizations: U.S, Republican, REUTERS, Former U.S, Trump, Washington , D.C, Democratic, White, Thomson Locations: Windham , New Hampshire, U.S, Former, Lago, Palm Beach , Florida, Florida, Washington ,, Georgia, New York

☆ Trump Must Review Classified Documents Case Evidence in Secure Location, Judge Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Jack Queen(Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump and his lawyers may only review classified evidence in a secure place as he prepares for a criminal trial over his handling of secret documents after he left office in 2021, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been charged along with two aides with illegally storing troves of classified documents at his personal residence and lying to federal investigators who sought to retrieve them. Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida is a win for prosecutors, who said it would be inappropriate for Trump to be able to review classified documents at the very location where he is accused of illegally and haphazardly storing them. The order requires Trump and his lawyers to review and discuss all classified evidence in what is known as a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF. (This story has been refiled to add the dropped word 'not' in paragraph 7)(Reporting by Jack Queen; Additional reporting by Rami Ayyub, Paul Grant and Susan Heavey and Jack Queen; Editing by Grant McCool and Howard Goller)

Persons: Jack Queen, Donald Trump, Aileen Cannon, Trump, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, Joe Biden, Rami Ayyub, Paul Grant, Susan Heavey, Grant McCool, Howard Goller Organizations: Former U.S, Trump, U.S, Washington , D.C, Democratic, White Locations: Former, Lago, Palm Beach , Florida, Florida, Washington ,, Georgia, New York

☆ Argentina's Massa expects IMF board OK for $7.5 bln payout
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa speaks to the media on the day of Argentina's primary elections, near a polling station in Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina August 13, 2023. REUTERS/Mariana Nedelcu/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Tuesday that he expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board to approve the latest reviews of its huge loan program on Wednesday, unlocking $7.5 billion the embattled country desperately needs. The board green light would come after the South American nation reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF in July to unlock the funds and complete the combined fifth and sixth reviews of its struggling $44 billion loan program. "We are convinced that tomorrow the fifth and sixth reviews will be approved, which will allow us to access a disbursement for Argentina of $7.5 billion," he told reporters at an event in Washington. Reporting by Jason Lange; additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sergio Massa, Mariana Nedelcu, Massa, Jason Lange, Rodrigo Campos, Adam Jourdan, Sandra Maler Organizations: Argentine, REUTERS, Rights, Argentine Economy, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Thomson Locations: Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Argentine, American, Washington

☆ Here's how the Bloomberg Terminal is integrating AI to automate tasks for traders and analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The data giant has been using AI to help traders and analysts automate tasks and better use data. Bloomberg is making upgrades to its terminal, a ubiquitous piece of technology that traders and analysts use to access the troves of data that underpin Wall Street. The company has been investing in AI to automate tasks for users of its terminal, making it easier to parse through the mountains of information at their disposal. It has updated its widely popular messenger Instant Bloomberg (IB) to automatically suggest relevant research, order forms, or pricing quotes when a user messages specific keywords like "pricing," "research," or "order information." Bloomberg goes all-in on AIBloomberg has been expanding its data empire, from investing in AI to making alternative data more mainstream.

Persons: Mark Flatman, Goldman Sachs, you've, Flatman, they've Organizations: Bloomberg, CNBC, JPMorgan, Citibank, Disney Locations: Wall

REUTERS/Marco Bello/File PhotoAug 2 (Reuters) - Prosecutors who charged Donald Trump and two aides with mishandling classified documents asked a judge on Wednesday for a hearing over potential conflicts of interest with one of the men's lawyers. Trump is accused of taking troves of classified documents with him upon leaving the White House in 2021 and storing them haphazardly at Mar-a-Lago. Nauta and Oliveira are accused of helping him try to hide the documents from investigators seeking their return. Prosecutors said in a July 27 filing that they are not aware of any case where a defendant was granted permission to review classified documents at home. Trump’s lawyers have argued that forcing them to only review and discuss classified documents in a secure location would be too inconvenient.

Persons: Walt Nauta, Donald Trump, Stanley Woodward, James Lawrence King, Marco Bello, Woodward, Nauta, president’s, Carlos De Oliveira, Trump, Oliveira, ” Nauta, De Oliveira, Prosecutors, Jack Queen, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: James Lawrence King Federal, REUTERS, Prosecutors, Trump, White House, Mar, Thomson Locations: Miami , Florida, U.S, Florida, Miami, Lago

“In the age of AI, where data is the new oil, China is the new Saudi Arabia”, venture capitalist Lee Kai-fu declared in 2018. Washington may soon tighten export restrictions to China by targeting AI semiconductors, according to the Wall Street Journal. A slowing economy and brutal price war in the fiercely competitive cloud market will only make monetising AI products harder. China’s AI moment has arrived, only with far less promise than initially hoped. China wants to become a world leader in AI by 2030, according to a 2017 roadmap released by the State Council.

Persons: Lee Kai, OpenAI's, Xi Jinping, Goldman Sachs, Robin Li, Baidu’s, Bernstein, SenseTime, Xi, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Saudi Arabia ”, OpenAI's ChatGPT, European Union, Baidu, HK, Nasdaq, Washington, Wall Street, Nvidia, AMD, Microsoft, CloudWalk Technology, Cyberspace Administration, China, State, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Republic, Saudi Arabia, United States, Beijing, York, Shanghai

London CNN —The United Kingdom government has been heavily criticized by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee for underestimating the growth of Russia’s Wagner private mercenary group, despite it posing a major threat to the country’s interests. Wagner “essentially operate like a criminal mafia,” Kearns said in an interview with Sky News Wednesday. Barbara Debout/AFP/Getty Images/FILEIt also criticized the UK government for only beginning to seriously monitor the group after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. “It is deeply regrettable that it was not until early 2022 that the Government began to invest greater resource in understanding the Wagner Network, despite Wagner fighters having already conducted military operations in at least seven countries for almost a decade,” read the report. “The Government has not told us anything specific that it is doing to challenge the network’s influence and impunity outside of Ukraine,” the report said.

Persons: Russia’s Wagner, Wagner, ”, Alicia Kearns, Wagner “, ” Kearns, “, Barbara Debout Organizations: London CNN, United, Parliament’s Foreign, “, CNN, Sky News, Getty, Government, Wagner Network, European Union Locations: Africa, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Mali, Bangui, AFP, “, United States

The names of the U.S. senator, the state senator and the state judge targeted were not disclosed. The disclosure by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) followed a secret court order reauthorizing the use of Section 702 - the part of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows the FBI to scour the vast troves of intelligence data for information that might be useful for its own investigations. Despite the missteps, the FBI was praised by the judge involved for doing "a better job" at curbing surveillance abuses. That skepticism only deepened when an earlier court order - declassified in May - revealed that the FBI had improperly searched for the foreign intelligence database more than a quarter million times over several years. Last year, an alleged Iranian agent was charged with trying to arrange the assassination of former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Chris Wray, John Bolton, Raphael Satter, Matthew Lewis Organizations: FBI, U.S, National Intelligence, U.S . Foreign Intelligence, Federal Bureau of, National Security Agency, U.S . House, Microsoft, U.S . National Security, Thomson Locations: U.S, Taiwan, United States, Asia, Washington

☆ This exclusive chart reveals why the groundswell of buzz around 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' could help reverse Hollywood's box-office doldrums in spite of the actors' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This year, a number of films have flopped at the box office, including "Elemental" and "The Flash." A social-media analysis from Diesel Labs points to possible success for "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" — here's why. Temperatures are rising all around the world, with one notable exception: the box office, where this year's film openings have mostly been, at best, lukewarm. Social-media attention on forthcoming and recent film releases looks to be generally trending higher for titles like "Barbie," "Oppenheimer," and "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Pt. This story has been updated to reflect new box office estimates and an estimate of how many moviegoers will see "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" on the same day.

Persons: Barbie, Oppenheimer, Mario Bros, tentpole, Indiana Jones, —, Barbie ”, “ Oppenheimer, Michael O'Leary, David A . Gross, Tom Cruise's, Gross, Screenrant, Ruby Gillman, Mario, America's, Christopher Nolan's, Greta Gerwig's, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Reed Alexander Organizations: Diesel Labs, SAG, Writers Guild of America, www.diesellabs.com Diesel Labs, National Association of Theatre Owners, Warner Bros, Rotten, Entertainment Research, Variety, Disney, Mario Bros, Writers Guild, Wednesday, London Locations: Hollywood, North America

The forceful antitrust posture is a pillar of President Biden’s agenda to stamp out economic inequality and encourage greater competition. “Promoting competition to lower costs and support small businesses and entrepreneurs is a central part of Bidenomics,” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters. The agency has accused Meta of buying Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to prevent future competition. These so-called network effects have helped companies like Meta and Google maintain their dominance in social media and internet search. The agencies also laid out ways in which mergers involving “platform” businesses, the model used by Amazon’s online store and Apple’s App Store, could harm competition.

Persons: Biden’s, ”, Mr, Kanter, “ Organizations: “, Meta, Justice, Google Locations: Bidenomics, WhatsApp

☆ New data reveals why the groundswell of buzz around 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer' could help reverse Hollywood's box-office doldrums in spite of the actors' strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This year, a number of films have flopped at the box office, including "Elemental" and "The Flash." A social-media analysis from Diesel Labs points to possible success for "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" — here's why. Temperatures are rising all around the world, with one notable exception: the box office, where this year's film openings have mostly been, at best, lukewarm. Social-media attention on forthcoming and recent film releases looks to be generally trending higher for titles like "Barbie," "Oppenheimer," and "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Pt. Diesel Labs’ data has found that social-media buzz about the forthcoming launches of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” is trending ahead of last year’s benchmark levels.

Persons: Barbie, Oppenheimer, Mario Bros, tentpole, Indiana Jones, —, Barbie ”, “ Oppenheimer, David A . Gross, Tom Cruise's, Gross, Screenrant, Ruby Gillman, Mario, America's, Christopher Nolan's, Greta Gerwig's, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Reed Alexander Organizations: Diesel Labs, SAG, Writers Guild of America, www.diesellabs.com Diesel Labs, Warner Bros, Rotten, Entertainment Research, Variety, Disney, Mario Bros, Writers Guild, Hollywood Locations: Hollywood, London

☆ Thousands of authors demand payment from AI companies for use of copyrighted works
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Thousands of published authors are requesting payment from tech companies for the use of their copyrighted works in training artificial intelligence tools, marking the latest intellectual property critique to target AI development. In an open letter they signed, posted by the Authors Guild Tuesday, the writers accused AI companies of unfairly profiting from their work. “Millions of copyrighted books, articles, essays, and poetry provide the ‘food’ for AI systems, endless meals for which there has been no bill,” the letter said. “The high commerciality of your use argues against fair use,” the authors wrote to the AI companies. In May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to acknowledge more needs to be done to address concerns from creators about how AI systems use their works.

Persons: Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Philip Pullman, “, OpenAI, didn’t, Sarah Silverman, Margaret Atwood Rich Fury, Monika Skolimowska, Goldsmith, Andy Warhol, Prince, Warhol, Sam Altman, “ We’re, ”, –, Catherine Thorbecke Organizations: Washington CNN, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Warhol

That has set off a hunt by tech companies for even more data to feed their A.I. But it was not well understood or seen as especially problematic by the companies that owned the data. “What’s happening here is a fundamental realignment of the value of data,” said Brandon Duderstadt, the founder and chief executive of Nomic, an A.I. “Previously, the thought was that you got value from data by making it open to everyone and running ads. But as the era of easy-to-scrape content comes to a close, smaller A.I.

Persons: OpenAI’s, ChatGPT, ”, Brandon Duderstadt Organizations: Google, Microsoft Locations: upstarts

☆ You can already buy fake Threads followers for Instagram's Twitter clone
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

You can already buy followers for Instagram's Threads. Insider viewed several websites offering to sell followers for Threads accounts. Screengrab/FameSavyAccording to the influencer-marketing platform HypeAuditor, on average, about 13.8% of influencers' Instagram followers are categorized as "suspicious" accounts. To start, followers aren't as prominently showcased on Threads as they are on Instagram (or Twitter, for that matter). Buying an influx of spam followers on Threads could very well do nothing to help an account grow or find success as a creator.

Persons: Instagram, aren't, Adam Mosseri, Meta

☆ Google hit with lawsuit alleging it stole data from millions of users to train its AI tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Google was hit with a wide-ranging lawsuit on Tuesday alleging the tech giant scraped data from millions of users without their consent and violated copyright laws in order to train and develop its artificial intelligence products. The complaint also claims Google has taken “virtually the entirety of our digital footprint,” including “creative and copywritten works” to build its AI products. The complaint points to a recent update to Google’s privacy policy that explicitly states the company may use publicly accessible information to train its AI models and tools such as Bard. It is also seeking unspecified damages and payments as financial compensation to people whose data was allegedly misappropriated by Google. Giordano contrasted the benefits and alleged harms of how Google typically indexes online data to support its core search engine with the new allegations of it scraping data to train AI tools.

Persons: DeepMind, OpenAI, Bard, “, ’, ” Tim Giordano, Giordano, ” Giordano, Ryan Clarkson Organizations: CNN, Google, Clarkson Law Firm, ChatGPT, Clarkson Locations: California

☆ Use of AI in finance likely to trigger rise in fraud, says UK watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Applying artificial intelligence (AI) to financial services must go hand-in-hand with better fraud prevention and resilience to hacking and outages, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was expected to say on Wednesday. AI's use can benefit markets, such as cutting prices for consumers, but also cause imbalances if "unleashed unfettered", Rathi will say. "This means that as AI is further adopted, the investment in fraud prevention and operational and cyber resilience will have to accelerate simultaneously," Rathi will say. We will remain super vigilant on how firms mitigate cyber-risks and fraud given the likelihood that these will rise." The watchdog has already observed how volatility during the trading day has doubled and amplified compared to during the 2008 global financial crisis.

Persons: Nikhil Rathi, Rathi, Huw Jones, Mark Potter Organizations: Authority, Wednesday, Big Tech, Thomson

☆ Forget the hype: Barclays identifies global 'A.I. winners' for the long term
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Barclays has named several global stocks that are expected to do well as the usage of artificial intelligence-related services evolves. The investment bank acknowledged that hardware and infrastructure giants, most notably Nvidia and Microsoft , are currently seeing the immediate benefits of the AI hype. Still, over the long term, it said businesses in the service sector could cash in significantly. The companies in Barclays' "Global AI Winners" basket include Canada-headquartered Telus and France's Capgemini . The below table highlights non-U.S. stocks in Barclays' basket of AI stocks.

Persons: FactSet, Emmanuel Cau, Capgemini, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Barclays, Nvidia, Microsoft, Telus, France's, Tech, Companies, Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group, SAP, UK's Sage Group, ASM Locations: Canada, U.S, Taiwan, Tokyo, Europe, Amsterdam

☆ Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta alleging copyright infringement
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors are suing Meta and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, alleging the companies’ AI language models were trained on copyrighted materials from their books without their knowledge or consent. A new crop of AI tools has gained tremendous attention in recent months for their ability to generate written work and images in response to user prompts. The large language models underpinning these tools are trained on vast troves of online data. The complaint against Meta similarly claims that the company used the authors’ copyrighted books to train LLaMA, the set of large language models released by Meta in February. The legal action from Silverman isn’t the first to focus on how large language models are trained.

Persons: Sarah Silverman, OpenAI, Silverman, ”, Christopher Golden, Richard Kadrey, ChatGPT, “, Meta, Silverman isn’t, Sam Altman, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, Meta, OpenAI, Facebook Locations: San Francisco federal

July 9 (Reuters) - Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta Platforms (META.O) and OpenAI for allegedly using their content without permission to train artificial intelligence language models. The proposed class action lawsuits filed by Silverman, Richard Kadrey and Christopher Golden in San Francisco federal court Friday allege Facebook parent company Meta and ChatGPT maker OpenAI used copyrighted material to train chat bots. Meta and OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday. Silverman, Kadrey and Golden allege Meta and OpenAI used their books without authorization to develop their so-called large language models, which their makers pitch as powerful tools for automating tasks by replicating human conversation. The lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that summaries of the plaintiffs’ work generated by ChatGPT indicate the bot was trained on their copyrighted content.

Persons: Sarah Silverman, Silverman, Richard Kadrey, Christopher Golden, OpenAI, Kadrey, Jack Queen, Lincoln Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Microsoft Corp, Thomson Locations: San Francisco federal

☆ Amazon's iRobot deal in EU antitrust crosshairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, July 6 (Reuters) - Amazon's (AMZN.O) $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot (IRBT.O) may reduce competition and strengthen Amazon's position as online marketplace provider, EU antitrust regulators warned on Thursday. The European Commission opened a full-scale investigation and will decide by November 15 whether to clear or block the deal. The acquisition announced in August last year would add iRobot's Roomba robot vacuum to Amazon's portfolio of smart devices, which include the Alexa voice assistant, smart thermostats, security devices and wall-mounted smart displays. IRobot made its first Roomba robot vacuum in 2002. The EU competition enforcer's decision confirmed a Reuters story last month and came a month after the UK antitrust agency cleared the deal unconditionally after a preliminary review.

Persons: IRobot, Dow Jones, Foo Yun Chee, Benoit Van Overstraeten Organizations: European Commission, Amazon, Reuters, Antitrust, Big Tech, Dow, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Melinda Gates wants more women in the AI race
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —As Silicon Valley and beyond is gripped by the fervor of artificial intelligence, Melinda French Gates is raising the alarm that more women must be involved in developing these tech tools. AI models have long taken heat for their ability to perpetuate biases, especially around women and people of color. The new crop of generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Dall-E are trained on vast troves of online data – data that often carries the same biases as humans. In her interview with Harlow, Gates also revealed that she never endorses specific candidates because she votes for both sides of the aisle. “Too often we have decisions being made for women, not by women,” Gates said.

Persons: Melinda French Gates, “, ” Gates, CNN’s Poppy Harlow, Poppy Harlow, Melinda Gates, ”, Ed, Roe, Wade, Gates, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we’re Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, Republican, Democratic Locations: New York, “, United States, Harlow

☆ Databricks rolls out AI assistant to help analyze business data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 28 (Reuters) - Databricks on Wednesday introduced an artificial intelligence assistant intended to help business users ask complicated questions about their corporate data in everyday language. Behind the scenes, an AI system will interpret the question, fetch the needed data, read it and produce an answer. Ali Ghodsi, chief executive of Databricks, hopes that the AI system will be especially useful because it will be trained on a company's own data, rather than generic data from the internet. That should get the AI quickly up to speed on relevant information like the dates of the company's fiscal year or industry-specific jargon, Databricks believes. By training on the customer's specific data, the new Databricks offering "understands the jargon.

Persons: Databricks, Ali Ghodsi, Ghodsi, Stephen Nellis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Adobe Inc, Intel Corp, Databricks, Thomson Locations: San Francisco

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 26 (Reuters) - Databricks said on Monday it had agreed to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup MosaicML in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion, marking Databricks' latest efforts to build an ecosystem for enterprises to use open-source AI models. San Francisco-based MosaicML provides software tools designed to make it cheaper to carry out AI work, which often involves training AI algorithms on huge troves of data using expensive computer chips. Databricks said the deal would combine its AI technology with MosaicML's language-model platform, allowing businesses a "simple, fast way to retain control, security, and ownership over their valuable data without high costs". Databricks, which sells software tools for building AI systems, has been an advocate for open-source models, which it argues could rival the models players like OpenAI and Google are offering. Both Databricks and MosaicML have released open-source foundation models, which is the category of core technology behind services like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Databricks, MosaicML, Tiyashi Datta, Krystal Hu, Pooja Desai, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft Corp, Lux Capital, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ Amazon's iRobot deal faces EU antitrust investigation, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, June 22 (Reuters) - Amazon's (AMZN.O) $1.7 billion acquisition of robot vacuum cleaner maker iRobot (IRBT.O) faces a full-scale EU antitrust investigation, people familiar with the matter said, weeks after the U.S. online retail giant won UK approval for the deal. IRobot made its first Roomba robot vacuum in 2002. IRobot shares fell about 10%, their largest percentage drop since February last year, while Amazon shares trimmed gains after the Reuters story was published. Amazon has previously said the vacuum cleaner market is very competitive, with lots of Chinese players. It blocked Microsoft's Activision deal while the Commission cleared the deal conditional on Microsoft's licensing deals with rival streaming platforms.

Persons: IRobot, Foo Yun Chee, Alison Williams, Kirsten Donovan, Jan Harvey Organizations: Amazon, European Commission, Activision, Antitrust, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ Forget about the AI apocalypse. The real dangers are already here
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Left to right: Microsoft's CTO Kevin Scott, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis. Joy Malone/David Ryder/Bloomberg/Joel Saget/AFP/Getty ImagesSome AI industry experts say that focusing attention on far-off scenarios may distract from the more immediate harms that a new generation of powerful AI tools can cause to people and communities, including spreading misinformation, perpetuating biases and enabling discrimination in various services. “Motives seemed to be mixed,” Gary Marcus, an AI researcher and New York University professor emeritus who testified before lawmakers alongside Altman last month, told CNN. In his testimony before Congress, Altman also said the potential for AI to be used to manipulate voters and target disinformation were among “my areas of greatest concern.”Even in more ordinary use cases, however, there are concerns. Influencing regulatorsRegulators may be the real intended audience for the tech industry’s doomsday messaging.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Demis Hassabis, Kevin Scott, Elon Musk, Joy Malone, David Ryder, Joel Saget, ” Gary Marcus, ”, Marcus, Gary Marcus, Eric Lee, Emily Bender, Bender, ” Bender, ’, we’re Organizations: CNN, Google, Microsoft, Bloomberg, Getty, New York University, OpenAI, University of Washington, Laboratory, Washington Locations: Valley, AFP, Washington , DC, Congress

Search resuls for: "troves"

25 mentions found