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☆ Meta updates RTO policy with stricter mandate, saying workers could lose their jobs if they don't show up 3 days a week
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Kali Hays | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Meta in June said it wanted workers to come into the office three days a week. Employees already approved for fully remote work do not have to comply with the three-day per week mandate. Managers at Meta will be responsible for following up with workers on a monthly basis, making sure they are complying with RTO. STATUS TOOL• Everyone - both office and remote workers - must keep the Status Tool updated with your work location, ideally 2 weeks in advance. Leaders can include global office locations and remote work (internal only) as part of their strategy.

Persons: Meta, Lori Goler, Goler, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Ferris, Zuckerberg, we're, •, isn't, you'll, Kali Hays, Hugh Langley Organizations: Facebook, Meta, RTO, Workers, Labor, Office, Org, Twitter Locations: that's, khays

☆ ByteDance AI researchers say OpenAI now tries to hide that ChatGPT was trained on J.K. Rowling's copyrighted Harry Potter books
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Companies like OpenAI are under growing scrutiny over their use of copyrighted material. Prompts about Harry Potter books have showed how common the use of copyrighted work is in LLMs. ChatGPT is trying to hide that it was trained on copyrighted material, according to new research. As do many other AI models, given they've been trained on huge swaths of copyrighted material. The researchers suggested that users who prompt these models to show copyrighted work are "misusing" the technology.

Persons: ChatGPT, Harry Potter, OpenAI's ChatGPT, OpenAI, Microsoft –, J.K, Rowling, Kali Hays Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Tsinghua University China, Twitter Locations: LLMs, Meta, khays

☆ An Instagram travel creator who's earned 5 figures this year shares her rates for sponsored content and how much she's been offered on Threads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ufuoma shares her sponsored-content rates for Instagram and what she's been offered on Threads. Some days, Jessica Ufuoma still can't believe brands pay her to travel and post about her trips. Now, 31-year-old Ufuoma is a full-time travel creator with 128,000 followers on Instagram , and who has visited 50 countries. Even though her main platform is Instagram, she's recently started getting requests to post on Threads, as well. Ufuoma turned down the deal because she didn't think it would sit well with her audience, who she said seemed to be enjoying the "ad-free" nature of the app.

Persons: Jessica Ufuoma, Ufuoma, she's, I've, Ufuoma wasn't Organizations: Nokia, Virgin Voyages Locations: Nigeria, Canada, Lagos, British Columbia, Netherlands, Peru, Machu Picchu, Instagram, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro

☆ Meta hired consultancy firm Bain & Co. before Mark Zuckerberg's big 'efficiency' push, foreshadowing layoffs and cost-cutting
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg last year started to get serious about reducing expenses at Meta. Ahead of this shift, Meta hired the large consulting firm Bain & Co. Before Mark Zuckerberg embarked on his "Year of Efficiency" at Meta, the company brought in a well-known consulting firm to look at its costs. Meanwhile, the company published research on the consumer opportunity in Southeast Asia, a project done in partnership with Bain. Despite already letting go more than 20,000 employees, or about 25% of Meta's workforce, the company is poised to get even smaller this year.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's, Bain, Zuckerberg, they'd, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Bain & Co, Facebook, Bain, Twitter Locations: Southeast Asia, khays

☆ Top Meta executive said the company's name change was a success because it beat out coverage of the 'Facebook Papers' revelations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg called it "ridiculous" to connect a new name to ongoing "Facebook Papers" coverage. Cox said the name change was successful, explaining his measure of success was the amount of press coverage of the name change compared to the whistleblower disclosures. "It was more than double the volume of the Facebook Papers coverage," Cox said on the call. "And it was a really big deal because Facebook Papers was a big story, especially inside the US." Are you a Meta employee or someone else with insight to share?

Persons: Meta's, Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Cox, revel, Frances Haugen, Cox, Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schiffer, Kali Hays Organizations: Facebook, Morning, Meta, Wall Street Journal, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse losses pass $40 billion. Here's why that's suddenly OK.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta has so far lost more than $40 billion on metaverse projects and expects to lose more. Wall Street is starting to come to terms with the massive amount of money Mark Zuckerberg keeps pouring into the metaverse. With second-quarter results out, collective losses from Reality Labs, the metaverse unit at Meta, has now surpassed $40 billion and more financial pain is on the way. "There are, you know, a billion or 2 billion people who have glasses today. During the second quarter, profit from that family of apps increased by $2 billion, while losses from Reality Labs came in at $3.7 billion.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, hassled Zuckerberg, Kali Hays Organizations: Morning, Reality Labs, Meta, Revenue, Facebook, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will 'pour enough gasoline' on Threads to make it grow when it's ready for prime time
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Alistair Barr | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg sees an "awesome" and unexpected opportunity with Threads. After the record-breaking launch of Threads, the app has been losing ground in recent weeks. "We have a lot of basic work to do," Zuckerberg told analysts during Meta's second-quarter earnings conference call. There are some recent signs that Threads users and engagement are flagging a bit. Are you a Twitter or Meta employee, or someone else with insight to share?

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Meta's, Musk, he's, We're, Kali Hays Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Facebook Locations: playbook, khays

☆ Police crashed Elon Musk's attempt to take down Twitter's sign with a crane
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

As the new logo debuted on the site, efforts were underway to erase a Twitter sign in San Francisco. Elon Musk spirited the "X" logos onto Twitter's site seemingly overnight, but it may take a while longer to change the sign outside his company's headquarters. The San Francisco police department halted the work on Monday afternoon and spoke to workers tasked with removing the sign, according to the San Francisco Standard. A crane was used to remove some of the letters from the Twitter sign on the company's San Francisco office building. San Francisco Police stand next to the crane used to dismantle some of the letters in Twitter's SF office sign.

Persons: Elon, Elon Musk, Justin Sullivan, SFPD, We'll, Shorenstein, Getty, Kali Hays, Sundar Organizations: Twitter, Police, San, San Francisco Standard, X Holdings, San Francisco Police Locations: San Francisco, khays, ssundar

☆ FTX planned to purchase the Pacific island nation of Nauru to build an apocalypse bunker, lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX is suing Sam Bankman-Fried and other former bosses for $1 billion. SBF's brother discussed turning the island country of Nauru into an apocalypse bunker, the suit says. FTX wanted to purchase the Pacific island nation of Nauru to build a bunker in case of an apocalyptic event, according to a new lawsuit. The complaint says that the FTX founder's brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, discussed with an officer for the FTX Foundation a scheme to purchase the country of Nauru. A spokesperson for Sam Bankman-Fried did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Persons: FTX, Sam Bankman, John J, Ray III —, Gabriel Bankman, Gabe Bankman, Fried Organizations: FTX, EA, FTX Foundation, Twitter Locations: Nauru, It's, Australia

☆ The solution to smart phone addiction may not be ditching your cell but actually getting 2 of them: 'cocaine phone' and 'kale phone'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

George Mack, a newsletter writer and marketing executive, said having two phones helped him fix his phone addiction. He said one phone inspires serotonin, while the phone with social media apps is all dopamine. Mack said he now has two phones: a "cocaine phone" and a "kale phone." His cocaine phone, on the other hand, is "full stack dopamine" — the brain chemical associated with motivation and rewards. Mack's cocaine phone has the time-killing apps you'd expect: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, and allows anyone to call.

Persons: George Mack, Mack, he's, Mack's, you've Organizations: Cleveland Clinic

☆ A man snatched up a website matching the name of Elon Musk's 'Burnt Hair' cologne — and traded it for a family tour of The Boring Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter user Jeromy Sonne said The Boring Company struck a deal with him over a website domain. In exchange for the domain, The Boring Company gave him a tour and company swag, Sonne told Insider. But, when Musk announced The Boring Company planned to sell "Burnt Hair" cologne, Jeromy Sonne said he saw an opportunity. Now, the website domain redirects to The Boring Company's main website. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the billionaire is in the process of building a company town for SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company employees in Bastrop.

Persons: Jeromy Sonne, Sonne, Elon Musk, swag, It's, Musk, Daypart.AI, they'd, —, we've Organizations: Boring, Elon, The Boring Company, Boring Company, burnthair.com, Twitter, Hair, Street, SpaceX, Tesla Locations: cologne, Austin, Bastrop , Texas, Hair cologne, Bastrop

☆ Meta's new 'open source' AI isn't so open after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Kali Hays | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Open Source Initiative is concerned by Meta's improper labeling. These standards are maintained by the nonprofit Open Source Initiative (OSI), which also reviews whether software licenses can be approved as open source. Open source in AIThe OSI is currently leading a series of meetings and debates and accepting proposals to formally define what open source means when it comes to AI and the machine learning it uses. According to the OSI's Open Source Definition, an open source software license "shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources." Companies like MongoDB, Redis, Confluent, and Elastic, which have long maintained open source software, changed their software licenses to restrict companies like Amazon from selling their software (which would be possible with a true open source license).

Persons: Meta, Stefano Maffulli, Maffulli, it's, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Initiative, OSI, Apple, Twitter Locations: US, China, Meta, khays

☆ Meta tells managers promotions will be harder to get, less frequent, and won't be based on team size as much
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Kali Hays | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Managers at Meta have for years been promoted based on the size of the team they built. With an ongoing slowdown in hiring at the company, managers will simply not be able to hire as much as they have in previous years. Another worker commented that taking away team size as a promotion metric means "a manager's career is just up to their ability to navigate politics from now on." For example, to become an engineering manager a person had to show they previously "accumulated" the right size team as a high-level engineer, as Insider previously reported. The new decision to promote fewer managers will make the reduction in Meta's management ranks more permanent.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's, Maher Saba, Mark Zuckerberg, Saba, Headcount, Zuckerberg, It's, Kali Hays, Hugh Langley Organizations: Meta, Facebook, . Company, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ OpenAI executive says the company hasn't 'made GPT-4 dumber,' after Insider reported users complaining about degraded performance
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

GPT-4 users have been complaining about worse performance, Insider reported earlier this week. Several users of OpenAI's GPT-4 have been complaining for weeks that the AI model is performing worse, with some calling the system "lazier" and "dumber." Another user pointed to a recent post from Nihit Desai, a startup co-founder, who reported that performance degraded for data labeling tasks. Yet another user on Twitter pointed to OpenAI's own developer forums, where many GPT-4 users have vented frustrations and posted examples of worse performance. Many hours before publication, Insider asked OpenAI for comment on all this, and the company didn't respond.

Persons: Peter Welinder, OpenAI's, Ethan Harris, Nihit Desai, OpenAI Organizations: Twitter, Army

☆ It's not just tech. FOMO is in full swing across the stock market, and investors are about to be disappointed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The stock market has entered full FOMO territory this year, according to JPMorgan's Marko Kolanovic. And investor enthusiasm is not just concentrated in tech stocks, with broad market valuations appearing stretched. "There is complacency being built into stocks with VIX at the lows of its range," Kolanovic said. That's not cheap, as the historical forward P/E of the index is 15.3x, meaning that current valuations represent a 10% premium. "FOMO is in full swing, there is complacency being built into stocks with VIX at the lows of its range," Kolanovic said in a Monday note.

Persons: JPMorgan's Marko Kolanovic, Kolanovic, it's, Marko Kolanovic Organizations: VIX, Service, Federal Reserve, JPMorgan Locations: Wall, Silicon, 17.4x, Japan

☆ 3D-printing takeover battle misses third dimension
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Stratasys (SSYS.O) for now prefers a merger with peer Desktop Metal (DM.N), but a sweetened bid from Nano Dimension (2N5By.F) complicates matters. A simpler two-dimensional financial analysis suggests a snubbed offer from 3D Systems (DDD.N) may wind up the best option. The company’s nominees favor the Desktop Metal deal, while Nano’s back the alternative transaction. On May 25, Stratasys agreed to combine with Desktop Metal in an all-stock deal valued at $1.8 billion. On the same day, 3D Systems offered to buy Stratasys for $7.50 a share in cash and 1.3223 3D Systems shares for each Stratasys share.

Persons: Stratasys, Nano’s, Jeff Graves, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Systems, Desktop, Twitter, Thomson

☆ Oracle's cloud business, which runs TikTok, could be hurt the most from Biden's new proposed restrictions for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Most US cloud companies won't be too hurt except perhaps Oracle, which runs TikTok. US cloud computing companies are about to be the latest target in the discord between the Biden administration and China. That loophole involves cloud computing companies. They merely have to pay for cloud computing services offered by the largest cloud providers. Chinese companies have plenty of local cloud providers to use for their cloud computing needs, like Tencent and Alibaba Cloud.

Persons: Biden, Bernstein, Mark Moerdler, Moerdler, Moerdler isn't, Ampere, Larry Ellison, Joe Biden, Julie Bort Organizations: Morning, Oracle, Wall Street, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, TikTok, Nvidia, supercomputing, AMD, Twitter Locations: China, Beijing

☆ Chinese automakers are winning in a key area that will make it even harder for American competitors to catch up
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chinese automakers have a better handle on what their customers want than other car companies. Chinese automakers know what their customers want better than others — and that's why they're likely to beat out rival car companies, especially those from the US. Chinese auto players are already growing rapidly: They're expected to outsell foreign brands in China for the first time this year. "This freshness is a really critical buying factor for Chinese brands," Dyer said. "They will become bigger and stronger competitors and players — potentially, a source of disruption for some of the mature market automakers," Dyer added.

Persons: AlixPartners, That's, Stephen Dyer, Dyer, Li Organizations: US, Asia Automotive, Ford, GM, Volkswagen Locations: China, AlixPartners, Japan, Germany, Korea

☆ Elon Musk biographer Walter Isaacson says cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg won't happen: 'It's a metaphor'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Kali Hays | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have tacitly challenged each other to a fight. Musk biographer Walter Isaacson doubts any fight will become a reality. The odds that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg fight in a cage match are nil, according to Musk's biographer Walter Isaacson. The silly talk began when Musk a couple of weeks ago said he would fight Zuckerberg, who has recently gotten very into jiu-jitsu. Isaacson pointed to Threads, the Twitter-like app Zuckerberg is set to launch, as another element of the rivalry between the two.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Walter Isaacson, He's, Isaacson, Musk, Zuckerberg, he's, it's, I've, John Meecham, Elon, Lex Fridman, Fridman, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Creamery, Twitter, PBS Locations: khays

☆ Elon Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino kept Twitter staff in the dark during the days of 'rate limit' chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk abruptly decided to give all Twitter users a maximum amount of access to the site. Twitter workers have received little communication on the change from Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino. The change allows users to view only a certain number of Tweets before being prevented from interacting with the site. "Neither of them have said anything about what's going on," one of the people familiar said, referring to Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino. Once Musk decided to implement the rate limit, many Twitter workers asked in private Slack channels if it was a permanent change.

Persons: Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Chris Riedy, Yoel Roth, Twitter's, Sheldon Chang, Chang, Riedy, Lou Paskalis, Kali Hays Organizations: Twitter, AJL, Reuters Locations: khays

☆ Opinion | Why Platonic Friendships Are So Hard to Keep
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It wasn’t until watching the show that I realized that all the close male friendships I had in my 20s have sort of fallen away. My husband has similar relationships to his opposite-sex friends. Part of this perception is because opposite-sex friendships are so new, historically speaking. As William Deresiewicz wrote in an essay for Times Opinion in 2012, “Friendship between the sexes was more or less unknown in traditional society. But part of the perception that there might be something untoward going to between heterosexual, opposite-sex friends is grounded in psychological reality.

Persons: I’m, hetero, There’s, William Deresiewicz, Deresiewicz, Aleksandra Szymkow, ” Organizations: Center for Research, SWPS University Locations: Warsaw

☆ Some Redditors say they're walking away after Apollo app shuts down
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Redditors said they'll no longer use the site after third-party app Apollo shut down. A popular third-party Reddit app shut down Friday – and some of the social network's users are pledging to walk away as a result. The app, which let Redditors access the platform through its own interface, had more than 1.5 million monthly users in June, Selig said, citing data from analytics firm Mixpanel. The Canadian developer previously said Reddit's demands for compensation were unreasonable compared with how much money Apollo made from paid subscriptions. Are you a Reddit user or employee with insight to share?

Persons: they'll, Reddit, Christian Selig, he's, Selig, I'm, It's, Apollo, I've, Jyoti Mann, Thomas Maxwell Organizations: Reddit Locations: jmann

☆ Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino hosted an office 'Tea Time' with workers in effort to boost low morale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Linda Yaccarino is entering her second month as Twitter's CEO under Elon Musk's ownership. Linda Yaccarino is making an effort to get to know some of her new Twitter staff. The Twitter CEO, who started in early June after being handpicked by owner Elon Musk, has hosted two gatherings with Twitter workers, according to people familiar with the events. This past week Yaccarino hosted one Tea Time in Twitter's New York City office after hosting the first a few weeks ago in the San Francisco office. Her Tea Time gatherings are, in part, an effort to motivate Twitter's employees to want to come into the office.

Persons: Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Elon Musk, Yaccarino, Kali Hays Organizations: Elon, Twitter, NBCUniversal Locations: Twitter's New York City, San Francisco, khays

☆ Elon Musk tried using fear to get Twitter employees back to still 'empty' offices. His new CEO is trying a different approach.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk for months has demanded Twitter workers come in five days a week. Elon Musk instituting a "culture of fear" at Twitter has not been enough to get the remaining employees to return to the office consistently. The new CEO is making a concerted effort to try and get people to want to come into the office, the person familiar said. Musk has been in the process of closing and shrinking Twitter offices for months. Prior to Musk's takeover, Twitter had 18 offices in the U.S.Are you a Twitter employee or someone else with insight to share?

Persons: Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Elon, Jack Dorsey, It's, Yaccarino, Twitter's, Musk, Kali Hays Organizations: Twitter, Workers, New, Twitter's San Locations: San Francisco, New York, Twitter's San Francisco, San Francisco , New York, Los Angeles, U.S, khays

☆ OpenAI is reinventing tech compensation with flat salaries, no bonuses and no negotiation as it banks on untapped potential
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI's buzz has a lot of tech workers eager to join the generative AI company. "Other than them I can't think of any other prominent company adopting this model at this scale," Musa said. Signing bonuses are very rare; there is no target performance bonus; and there is also little to no room for negotiation on compensation, Musa and another person familiar with the company said. All of those things are standard with other tech companies, from startups to Big Tech firms like Meta, Google, and Microsoft. Over the course of four years, the vesting period for the PPU grants, most OpenAI workers can expect to take home at least $2 million in equity pay alone.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Zuhayeer Musa, Musa, Altman, Kali Hays Organizations: Big Tech, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Twitter Locations: Silicon Valley, PPUs, khays

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