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☆ Amazon is trying to make it simpler to sift through thousands of user reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The effort, first reported by CNBC, marks Amazon’s latest attempt to incorporate generative AI into its services and has the potential to help customers quickly determine the pros and cons of various products. “Given that generative AI is based on probability, mistakes are possible … and summaries may not be an accurate reflection of customer reviews,” said Reece Hayden, a senior analyst at market research firm ABI Research. “These reviews will be treated equally and therefore the summary may reflect fake, non-customer reviews,” Hayden said. Amazon isn’t the only e-commerce company blending generative AI into the shopping experience. Some companies such as Shopify and Instacart are using the technology to help inform customers’ shopping decisions.

Persons: ”, Reece Hayden, ” Hayden, Andy Jassy, Dave Limp Organizations: CNN, CNBC, ABI Research, eBay

☆ Thousands of Reddit communities go dark to protest company’s controversial new policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Thousands of Reddit forums are going dark Monday in one of the largest user-driven protests ever to hit the social media platform. For years, Reddit users could browse posts, write comments and share pictures and video on Reddit from third-party apps. Some users have said they were not even aware it is possible to access Reddit from third-party apps. Twitter’s move prompted an outcry from third-party app makers, misinformation researchers and public service account-holders who said the move would harm transparency and accessibility. For Reddit and its future shareholders, the company’s value derives from the infrastructure the site provides for conversation.

Persons: Reddit, Christian Selig, Selig, Steve Huffman, ” Huffman, Elon Musk, Twitter’s, reddit, “ I’ve Organizations: CNN, Twitter Locations: Reddit

☆ Explainer: Reddit protest: Why are thousands of subreddits going dark?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Subreddits such as r/Music, r/gaming, r/science and r/todayilearned - all with more than 30 million subscribers - are participating. Unlike most other social media platforms, Reddit is heavily dependent on community moderators, "or mods", who police their subreddits for free to weed out offensive or illegal content. What are third-party app developers saying? Elon Musk's Twitter in January restricted all third-party clients and apps and updated their rules for developers accessing its APIs. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta, Akash Sriram and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Reddit, Steve Huffman, Christian Selig, Huffman, Elon, Tiyashi Datta, Akash Sriram, Jaspreet Singh, Devika Organizations: Apple Inc, Microsoft, New York Times, Elon Musk's Twitter, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Julian Assange loses US extradition challenge, will renew appeal next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has lost his latest attempt to fight extradition from Britain to the United States where he is wanted on criminal charges, though he will renew his appeal next week. Assange, 51, is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 charges relating to WikiLeaks' release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. Britain has given the go-ahead for his extradition and a judge at London's High Court ruled this week that Assange had no legal grounds to challenge the decision, according to a court order published on Friday. However, his wife Stella Assange said there will be a hearing next week at which Assange will again appeal against the decision to extradite him. The extradition was signed off by the then-British interior minister last June.

Persons: Julian Assange, Assange, Stella Assange, Julian, Sam Tobin, William James Our Organizations: WikiLeaks, U.S, London's, U.S ., Twitter, Thomson Locations: Britain, United States, Australian, Australia, British

☆ Russia is asking its schoolchildren to knit socks for soldiers and write poems about the Motherland in an all-out effort to get support for the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Peter Gelling | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian schools are introducing programs promoting the military to encourage support for the Ukraine war. Russia asked students to knit socks for soldiers and write poems about military history, NYT reported. Russia is now asking its students to knit socks for Russian soldiers, a seemingly antiquated effort that feels like a throwback to the Soviet era. Russian Ministry of EducationWith Russia stagnant on the battlefield, propaganda steps inRussia first invaded eastern Ukraine in February 2022. But much of the Russian military equipment is outdated, and soldiers have complained of equipment shortages.

Persons: —, Wagner, Bakhmut, Alexandra Arkhipova Organizations: Service, The New York Times, The Times, Times, Russia's Ministry of Education, Russian Ministry of Education, Russia, Wagner Group Locations: Ukraine, Russia, The, Soviet, Crimea, Donetsk, Russian, Bakhmut, Ukrainian

☆ National Eating Disorders Association takes its AI chatbot offline after complaints of ‘harmful’ advice
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —An eating disorder prevention organization said it had to take its AI-powered chatbot offline after some complained the tool began offering “harmful” and “unrelated” advice to those coming to it for support. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a nonprofit organization aimed at supporting people impacted by eating disorders, said on Tuesday that it took down its chatbot, dubbed “Tessa,” after some users reported negative experiences with it. (NEDA emphasized in an email that its Tessa tool is “not ChatGBT,” in an apparent reference to the viral chatbot.) Earlier this year, news outlet CNET was called out after it used an AI tool to generate stories that were riddled with errors, including one that offered some wildly inaccurate personal finance advice. Microsoft and Google have also been called out for AI tools dispensing some inaccurate or inaccurate information.

Persons: “ Tessa, ”, Tessa Chatbot, “, ” Liz Thompson, Tessa chatbot, ChatGPT, NEDA, Thompson, Tessa’s, Tessa, ” NEDA, ” Thompson Organizations: New, New York CNN, Eating Disorders, CNN, NPR, Facebook, CNET, Microsoft, Google Locations: New York, chatbots

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon’s guide to AI in different industries, Earth’s neighboring star, and workers look for less stressful jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In other news:Tech workers are searching for low stress jobs on social media. Tech workers are looking for less stressful jobs. But one Amazon worker said there's "no such thing as [a] high pay low stress job in tech." Love Love Love: Award-winning engagement photos from around the world. Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Alistair Barr (tweet @alistairmbarr) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

☆ Explainer: Why are Nvidia's shares soaring and what is its role in the AI boom?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FROM GAMING TO AI: NVIDIA'S FOCUS SHIFTNvidia, known for its chips used in videogames, pivoted to the data center market over the last few years. WHY IS GENERATIVE AI A HOT TOPIC? Viral chatbot ChatGPT has made generative AI a buzzword this year. More recently, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) released details on its new AI chip to try to challenge Nvidia's market share. Nvidia's main competitors include Advanced Micro Devices and AI chips made in-house by companies such as Amazon.com, Google and Meta Platforms.

Persons: Nvidia, ChatGPT, Goldman Sachs, Elon Musk, Chavi Mehta, Sriraj Kalluvila, David Gaffen Organizations: Nvidia, NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Handout, REUTERS, Microsoft Corp, Inc, Google, Devices, Intel, Tesla, Financial Times, WHO, Thomson Locations: U.S, Santa Clara , California, Bengaluru

Hong Kong CNN —China’s Communist Party had “supreme access” to all data held by TikTok’s parent company Bytedance, including on servers in the United States, a former employer who is bringing a wrongful termination lawsuit has alleged. Yintao “Roger” Yu filed a lawsuit of wrongful termination against Bytedance in Superior Court in San Francisco earlier this month. Yu’s lawsuit alleges that the company made user data accessible to China’s Communist Party via a backdoor channel, no matter where the data was located. Yu worked for ByteDance Inc. for less than a year and his employment ended in July 2018,” which Yu disputed in his complaint. So the risk would be similar to any government going to an American company, asking for data,” Chew said at the hearing.

☆ Mass event will let hackers test limits of A.I. technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But now its maker, OpenAI, and other major AI providers such as Google and Microsoft, are coordinating with the Biden administration to let thousands of hackers take a shot at testing the limits of their technology. Some are official "red teams" authorized by the companies to "prompt attack" the AI models to discover their vulnerabilities. Chowdhury, now the co-founder of AI accountability nonprofit Humane Intelligence, said it's not just about finding flaws but about figuring out ways to fix them. Building the platform for the testing is another startup called Scale AI, known for its work in assigning humans to help train AI models by labeling data. "Our basic view is that AI systems will need third-party assessments, both before deployment and after deployment.

☆ Google is bringing an AI chatbot to search results. Here's what it's like
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

With the update, the look and feel of Google Search results will be noticeably different. Users can now sign up for a waitlist for the new Google Search, which will first launch in the United States, via the Google app or Chrome’s desktop browser. The new Google Search also offers a Perspectives feature to showcase what other people are buying or thinking about, and factoring that into results. Like ChatGPT, the new Google Search and Bard are built on a large language model. Google previously told CNN that Bard would serve as a separate, complementary experience to Google Search, and planned to “thoughtfully” add large language models to search “in a deeper way” at a later time.

☆ TV and film writers are fighting to save their jobs from AI. They won’t be the last
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A powerful new crop of AI tools, trained on vast troves of data online, can now generate essays, song lyrics and other written work in response to user prompts. While there are clearly limits for how well AI tools can produce compelling creative stories, these tools are only getting more advanced, putting writers like August on guard. But as part of their demands, the WGA is also fighting to protect their livelihoods from AI. Stephanie Elam/CNNWhile film and TV writers in Hollywood may currently be leading the charge, professionals in other industries will almost certainly be paying attention. “Watch this #WGA strike carefully,” Justine Bateman, a writer, director and former actress, wrote in a tweet shortly after the strike kicked off.

☆ MosaicML launches new service in bid to challenge OpenAI on price
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 3 (Reuters) - MosaicML, an artificial intelligence startup founded by former Intel Corp (INTC.O) executives and academic researchers, released on Wednesday two new products aimed at beating industry giants such as OpenAI on price. The company makes money selling the tools to firms that want to develop their own customized AI systems. But on Wednesday, MosaicML announced several new services that will compete more directly with companies like OpenAI or Anthropic, which build AI systems and then charge for access to them. MosaicML is offering those services at a cost it says is as much as 15 times lower than rival services. They have assurances that the model that's built on the private data is owned by them," Rao said.

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Salesforce, cold plunges, and Tesla's biggest Chinese rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Maybe I'll go to a coffee shop for something stronger than my usual Trader Joe's instant cold brew. How these OnlyFans creators used Reddit to grow their businesses. Tesla's biggest Chinese rival just released an $11,000 EV. Heinz promised to buy the infamous "ketchup boat guy" a boat with a GPS. But he said the money from Heinz only afforded him a small used boat and engines.

☆ Inside LinkedIn's new push to use AI tools to amplify — not replace — creators' voices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

LinkedIn sees potential for AI to amplify — not replace — creators' voices. Firmly of the view that artificial intelligence technology can augment and amplify those users' voices — not replace them — LinkedIn is eyeing opportunities in the burgeoning space. LinkedIn's collaborative articles begin with a thread generated with the help of AI, and then invite select users to contribute their perspective. Enter collaborative articles, which invited the several dozen teachers to offer up ideas like exhibiting "vulnerability" in the classroom. Think of these seminars like LinkedIn's version of Master Classes on topics like generative AI, machine learning with Python, and AI accountability.

☆ Snapchat’s new AI chatbot is already raising alarms among teens and parents
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The feature is powered by the viral AI chatbot tool ChatGPT – and like ChatGPT, it can offer recommendations, answer questions and converse with users. The net effect is that conversing with Snapchat’s chatbot may feel less transactional than visiting ChatGPT’s website. Snapchat's new AI chatbot. “I snapped a picture … and it said ‘nice shoes’ and asked who the people [were] in the photo,” a Snapchat user wrote on Facebook. One user wrote on Facebook that she’s been asking My AI for homework help.

☆ Meta is younger dog learning newer new tricks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is a full generation younger than its Big Tech peers, and it’s looking pretty fresh, too. The company's first-quarter profit announced on Wednesday beat analysts’ expectations, sending shares of the $530 billion company up 12% in after-market trading. A 3% year-over-year boost in revenue, the first such increase the company has had in a while, was a pleasant surprise. In order to grow ads 26%, the company had to slice the average price per ad by 17%. Operating expenses jumped 10% from the same period last year, giving the company a 25% operating margin for the quarter.

That is because algorithms that power generative AI tools like ChatGPT and its successor GPT-4 operate in a somewhat similar way as those that suggest videos to YouTube users, the experts added. While the case does not directly relate to generative AI, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that AI tools that generate "poetry" and "polemics" likely would not enjoy such legal protections. Section 230 protections generally apply to third-party content from users of a technology platform and not to information a company helped to develop. 'CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS'Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who helped draft that law while in the House of Representatives, said the liability shield should not apply to generative AI tools because such tools "create content." They said tools like ChatGPT operate like search engines, directing users to existing content in response to a query.

Community competes with a bevy of different types of services vying for space in your text inbox, from Attentive to Twilio to Zendesk. “With Community, once they text the number, we now have a way to stay in touch directly. Using text messages to connect with customers, for all its promise, poses unique challenges. And customers may want to hear from fewer brands in their text inbox than they do in their email inbox. “As opposed to email, when you have to scroll to the bottom of the thing and hit the link that says unsubscribe, if you don’t like the text messages you’re getting, you only have to write one word: Stop,” Mr. Kutcher said.

☆ Snpachat rolls out My AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT to all users
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Snap, the company behind Snapchat, announced on Wednesday that its customizable My AI chatbot, is now accessible to all users within the app. The feature, which is powered by the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, was previously only available to paying Snapchat+ subscribers. The tool offers recommendations, answers questions, helps users make plans and can write a haiku in seconds, according to the company. The move comes more than a month after ChatGPT creator OpenAI opened up access to its chatbot to third-party businesses. In a blog post on Wednesday, Snap acknowledged “My AI is far from perfect but we’ve made a lot of progress.”It said, for example, about 99.5% of My AI responses conform to its community guidelines.

Fox has argued that Dominion cherry-picked evidence to mischaracterize the network's coverage decisions, which it said were reasonable because election-rigging claims by the president's lawyers were inherently newsworthy. Fox has said it also gave Dominion's side of the story by airing its denials. The Fox Corp chairman is set to take the witness stand, along with other executives including Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott. The trial is also due to include testimony from a parade of conservative-leaning Fox hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro. Fox has attacked the credibility of Dominion's damages estimate, saying it is based upon unrealistic growth projections and faulty assumptions.

☆ Amazon is ‘investing heavily’ in the technology behind ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon wants investors to know it won’t be left behind in the latest Big Tech arms race over artificial intelligence. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “investing heavily” in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, the same technology that underpins ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots. Since ChatGPT was released to the public in late November, Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all talked up their growing focus on generative AI technology, which can create compelling essays, stories and visuals in response to user prompts. With that in mind, Amazon on Thursday unveiled a new service called Bedrock. It essentially makes foundation models (large models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data) from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon accessible to clients via an API, Amazon said in a blog post.

Washington CNN —The Pentagon has begun to limit who across the government receives its highly classified daily intelligence briefs following a major leak of classified information discovered last week. All the email lists have been reviewed, a senior defense official said, and some restrictions may only be temporary. Everyone on the lists had proper clearance, but not everyone needs to receive that information daily, the official added. Previously, slides from the Joint Staff briefing deck could be accessed by hundreds, if not thousands, of people across the government, officials said. “Having to scale that distribution back, even temporarily, is a bitter pill,” said the source familiar with internal joint staff deliberations.

On Monday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) head to trial over Fox's coverage of false election-rigging claims. Fox News had disclaimed that Murdoch was a company officer, which shaped how Dominion litigated the case, according to Nelson. As a Fox News officer, Murdoch would likely have been subject to more probing discovery by Dominion. A Fox lawyer told the hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, that Murdoch disclosed the title in a February deposition and he called the title "honorific." Superior Court Judge Eric Davis called the delayed disclosure "bizarre" and chided Fox attorneys for having made representations that Murdoch wasn't an officer of Fox News, only to reverse on the eve of trial.

☆ Alibaba unveils Tongyi Qianwen, its AI-powered answer to ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Alibaba showed off its answer to the ChatGPT craze on Tuesday, demonstrating new software that it plans to eventually roll out across all its platforms. The Chinese tech giant unveiled Tongyi Qianwen, a large language model that will be embedded in its Tmall Genie smart speakers and workplace messaging platform DingTalk. Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang speaking Tuesday as the Chinese tech giant showed off its answer to the ChatGPT craze, demonstrating new software it plans to integrate across its enterprise and consumer platforms. In draft guidelines issued Tuesday to solicit public feedback, the country’s cyberspace regulator said generative AI services would be required to undergo security reviews before they can operate. Most of those units, including its cloud services business that oversees AI projects, will be authorized to raise capital and pursue public listings.

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