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☆ Putin scores a resounding win, but what’s next for Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Nathan Hodge | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Putin poses for a picture with his wife, Lyudmila, and daughters, Yekaterina and Maria. Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images Putin rides a horse during a vacation in Southern Siberia in August 2009. Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/AFP via Getty Images Putin plays with his dogs Yume, left, and Buffy at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo, Russia, in March 2013. Chris McGrath/Getty Images Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Getty Images Putin speaks with American right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson during an interview in February 2024.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, ”, Dmitry Kiselyov, Mikhail Mishustin, Ukraine –, Kiselyov, “, Maria Putina, Archivio GBB, ZUMA Press Wire Putin, Laski, Maria, Vladimir, Anatoly Sobchak, Lyudmila, Yekaterina, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin, Fidel Castro, Reuters Putin, George W, Bush, Stephen Jaffe, Camp David, Brooks Kraft, Alexey Druzhinin, Alexey Nikolsky, Mikhail Metzel, Ivan Sekretarev, AP Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, Dmitry Astakhov, Buffy, Angela Merkel, Jochen Lübke, Thomas Bach, Medvedev, Vladimir Konstantinov, Alexei Chalyi, Sergei Aksyonov, Sergei Ilnitsky, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Alexander Lukashenko, Merkel, Francois Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Lazarenko, Barack Obama, Ban, Chip Somodevilla, Turkey Andrei Karlov, Karlov, Donald Trump, Chris McGrath, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, LUDOVIC MARIN, Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Eliot Blondet, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Biden, Sergey Lavrov, Denis Balibouse, Macron, Sergey Ponomarev, Mikhail Gorbachev, —, Alexander Nemenov, Alexey Danichev, Xi Jinping, Pavel Byrkin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Pavel Bednyakov, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Tucker Carlson, Zuma Press Putin, Maxim Shemetov, – what’s, Alexey Navalny, Navalny, ” Putin Organizations: CNN, coy, Kremlin, Getty, Russian, ZUMA Press, Putin, KGB, ZUMA Press Wire, Getty Images, Reuters, US, White House, Camp, Brooks, Brooks Kraft LLC, RIA Novosti, AP, AFP, International Olympic, Crimean, Ukrainian, United Nations, UN, Assembly, Russian Foreign Ministry, Sputnik, World, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Macron, SPUTNIK, New York Times, Central Clinical Hospital, AP Putin, Belarus, State Russian Museum, AP North Korean, Vostochny, Tucker Carlson Network, Zuma Press Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Putin Russia, Russian, Bakhmut, St . Petersburg, Leningrad, Germany, Moscow, AFP, Kazan, Cuba, Soviet Union, Southern Siberia, Russia's Tver, Novo, Ogaryovo, Hanover, Sevastopol, Crimea, Belarusian, Minsk, Belarus, France, Turkey, Helsinki, Finland, Buenos Aires, Ukrainian, Paris, Geneva, Switzerland, Taganrog, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Tsiolkovsky, Russia's, North Korea, United States

☆ The Saudi humanoid robot incident shows the machines aren't taking over the world anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Saudi Arabia's first male humanoid robot inappropriately touched a female reporter last week. But robots aren't self-aware, so it probably wasn't intentional. Saudi Arabia's first "male" humanoid robot caused a stir after it inappropriately touched a female reporter at an AI conference last week. It's worth pointing out that robots aren't capable of feeling anger or having sexual desires, so it's highly unlikely that Muhammad made a deliberate advance at the reporter. AdvertisementLimited functionalityAI-powered robots remain far from achieving human-like capabilities, as Jeff Cardenas, CEO of humanoid robot maker Apptronik, previously told BI.

Persons: —, Muhammed, QSS, Sergey Lazarev, Muhammad, Gill Spencer, Jeff Cardenas, they're, Cardenas, Damion Shelton Organizations: Saudi, Service, Metro, Moscow Chess Federation, Arts, Agility Locations: Saudi, Riyadh, Russian

☆ From Moscow to Mumbai: Russia Pivots South for Trade
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Ivan Nechepurenko | Sergey Ponomarev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For centuries, trade with Europe was the main pillar of Russia’s economy. The war in Ukraine ended that, with Western sanctions and other restrictions increasingly cutting Russia off from European markets. That southern route has now become a focus of Russian policymakers as they try to build infrastructure for their plans to pivot away from the West for good. The effort faces challenges, including questions over financing, doubts over the reliability of Russia’s new partners, and threats of Western sanctions targeting countries that trade with Russia. “As Russia’s traditional trade routes were largely blocked, it had to look at other options,” said Rauf Agamirzayev, a transport and logistics expert based in Baku, Azerbaijan, referring to the southern route.

Persons: ”, Rauf Agamirzayev Organizations: Iran Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, China, India, Persian, Mumbai, Baku, Azerbaijan

☆ Russian overseas voters have mixed views on whether their ballots are worth casting
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Anna Chernova | Lauren Kent | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Russia’s Central Election Commission said that overseas voting will take place at 288 polling stations in 144 countries, Russian state media TASS reported. During the 2018 presidential elections, 401 polling stations operated abroad and more than 475,000 people voted, according to the Central Election Commission as quoted by RIA Novosti. But this year, many overseas polling stations that operated in 2018 have been closed. Russian citizens at the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, look at a list of candidates in the 2018 Russian presidential election. A mourner lays flowers on the grave of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny at the Borisovo cemetery in Moscow on March 2, 2024, the day after Navalny's funeral.

Persons: Sergey Kulikov, Kulikov, ”, Vladimir Putin, –, Putin –, Joerg Carstensen, Luba Zakharov, ” Zakharov, Boris Nadezhdin, – Vladislav Davankov, Nikolai Kharitonov, Leonid Slutsky –, Alexey Navalny, Navalny’s, Yulia Navalnaya, Zakharov, “, Olga Maltseva, Anna, Putin, ” Anna, Putin …, ” Putin, Callum Fraser, Fraser, ” Fraser, Alexey Navalny’s, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara, Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya, ’, ” Kulikov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, European, Human Rights, Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia’s, Commission, TASS, RIA Novosti, “, Central, Putin, Getty, Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russia, Dubai, Ukraine, Russian, Berlin, Germany, Hamburg, Moscow, AFP, Sheva, Israel

☆ Despite scenes of defiance, plenty of Russians support Putin as election nears
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Matthew Chance | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Even though Alexey Navalny is dead, there is always hope,” she said, “I think there are always people who do not support Vladimir Putin,” she added. But as this election approaches, you can’t discount what so many ordinary Russians tell you, face to face. Asked about the war in Ukraine and if he held Putin responsible for Russia’s involvement, he replied: “No, we support him in it. What is unclear now, though, is how much longer that support will last, especially if Russian war casualties mount, crackdowns on dissent gather pace and economic hardships dig in. Even before the public mourning of Navalny, thousands of Russians came out to support the nomination of an anti-war presidential hopeful, Boris Nadezhdin, whose candidature was ultimately rejected by the Russian election authorities.

Persons: Russia’s, Vladimir Putin, Alexey Navalny, Alexey, “, Vera Savina, Yulia, ”, Putin, Dmitry, CNN “, ” Sergey, Artyom, CNN Artyom, Boris Nadezhdin Organizations: Moscow CNN, CNN, Russia, Getty, Levada Center Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Navalny, AFP, Soviet, Komi Republic, Russia’s, Russian

☆ Russia’s new guided bomb inflicts devastation and heavy casualties on the Ukrainian frontlines
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Frederik Pleitgen | Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It is delivered from above by fighter jets from a distance of some 60-70 kilometers, out of range of many Ukrainian air defenses. Yuri Ihnat, Ukrainian air force spokesman, told CNN: “On the eve of and during the battle of Avdiivka hundreds of air bombs were launched within days. The Ukrainian air force has claimed that it has brought down several Su-34 fighters in recent weeks. But most Ukrainian air defenses do not have the range to hit planes some 70 kilometers away. In the meantime, Ukrainian forces on the frontlines, especially in Donetsk, are exposed to a blitz of Russian air strikes - sometimes more than 100 in a day, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

Persons: Joseph Trevithick, Stringer, ”, Yuri Ihnat, Justin Bronk, Ihnat, Su, Sergey Shoigu, Bronk, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: CNN, FAB, Getty, Airmobile Brigade, Royal United Services Institute, Bomber, Russian Defense Ministry, Russian, JSC Tactical Missiles Corporation, Ministry, US, Patriots, Ukrainian, Staff Locations: Russia, Soviet, Ukraine, Donetsk, AFP, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Moscow, London, Anadolu, Kherson, Kharkiv, Ukrainian, Russian

☆ Why Walmart's quick success in generative AI search should have Google worried
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Michelle Castillo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

During a call with analysts after its February earnings, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon talked about the gen AI search capabilities in its app. As a technology company, Walmart has to experiment a lot, and in the case of adding generative AI search capabilities, there's a very low cost for failure, she said. AI and search, shopping business model shiftsIt's not only Walmart investing in this type of search in the retail sector. Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus lets people have a conversation with the platform about what they need rather than just looking for direct items. "Google is anxious is about search in general, and the question this raises is will it be a death by a thousand cuts for Google Search?"

Persons: Doug McMillon, McMillon, Marc Lore, Sucharita Kodali, Kodali, Sergey Brin, Brin, Rufus, Jacob Bourne, Bourne, it's Organizations: Google, Walmart, Amazon, Insider Intelligence, Ikea, Lowe's

☆ Exclusive: US prepared ‘rigorously’ for potential Russian nuclear strike in Ukraine in late 2022, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Jim Sciutto | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russian officials alleged Ukraine would build and detonate a dirty bomb against Russian forces and then blame the attack on Russia. Western intelligence agencies had received information that there were now communications among Russian officials explicitly discussing a nuclear strike. “It’s never a cut-and-dry, black-and-white assessment,” the first senior administration official told me. Secretary of State Antony Blinken communicated US concerns “very directly” with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, according to senior administration officials. “We conducted a number of quiet conversations with core allies to go through our thinking,” the first senior administration official told me.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Powers, “, ” “, Chris McGrath, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, “ It’s, NurPhoto, Antony Blinken, Sergey Lavrov, Mark Milley, General Valery Gerasimov, Joe Biden, Bill Burns, Sergey Naryshkin, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Alexandr Demyanchuk, ”, … Organizations: CNN, US, National Security Council, Kherson City, “, UN, United Nations, Russian, Russian Armed Forces, CIA, Indian, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, “, Russian, Kherson, Ukrainian, France, Turkey, ”, Kyiv, India, China, Samarkand

☆ Russian oligarch went to Moscow in effort to broker complex prisoner exchange that included Navalny, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Sebastian Shukla | Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A multi-country prisoner exchange that might have freed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was being discussed and progressing when he died last month, multiple sources have told CNN, and included the direct involvement of a Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovich. However, a source close to Navalny’s team told CNN that on the evening of February 15 they had received word that a message had been delivered to Putin. Clinton “initially passed on the message” to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Grozev told CNN. “We had to find a way to package the German asset [Krasikov] into an American negotiation,” the source close to the Navalny team said. Getting the message to Putin was one of the greatest challenges, the individual close to the Navalny team told CNN.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Roman Abramovich, Navalny, Abramovich, Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Maria Pevchikh, “, ”, Dmitry Peskov, it’s, Christo Grozev, Clinton, Grozev, Biden, Viktor Bout, Brittney Griner, Clinton “, Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, Pevchikh, Vadim Krasikov, Krasikov, Tucker Carlson, Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Whelan, Gershkovich, Whelan –, Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, ” Abramovich Organizations: CNN, United Arab, Kremlin, IK, Aspen Ideas, FSB, US National, National Security, Wall Street, Krasikov, Navalny, US Department of Justice Locations: Russian, Moscow, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Siberia, Western, Russia, Aspen, Colorado, Berlin, Chechen, Europe, Germans, Brazil

☆ Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower where big-name guests wore oversized diapers and onesies, book says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower featuring oversize diapers and adult onesies. Brin, who stepped back from Alphabet in 2019, has returned to help shape Google's AI strategy. NEW LOOK 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 . AdvertisementGoogle cofounder Sergey Brin once hosted a bizarre baby shower where guests wore oversized diapers and adult-sized onesies.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Kara Swisher's, Brin, —, Kara Swisher, San Francisco soiree, Swisher, Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch, Anne Wojcicki, Gavin Newsom, Newsom, Larry Page, John Doerr, she'd, Page Organizations: Service, San, Francisco, Business, Microsoft Locations: San Francisco

☆ Google's Gemini firestorm shows the risks of the company's race to catch up with its AI rivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) 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. The company has been defending itself against fierce backlash sparked by its AI chatbot's image-generating feature. The product has landed Google at the center of what was described in some circles as a "woke" culture war. AdvertisementGoogle's 'Gemini era' is all about GPT-4Pichai claimed late last year Google was entering its "Gemini era." The model is widely seen as the company's answer to OpenAI's GPT-4, a product heavily backed by Microsoft and already powering many of the company's AI products.

Persons: —, execs, Critics, Andrés, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, Brin, Alex Heath, Heath, Pichai, OpenAI's, Google's Bard, Bing, Gvirtz, Sandra Wachter, Wachter Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Big Tech, King's Business School, Engineers, Gemini, Microsoft, chatbots, Financial, Oxford Internet Institute

☆ Ukraine said it sank a $65 million warship that Russia planned to use for an antiaircraft missile system
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine said it destroyed another Russian ship in the Black Sea using sea drones. The Sergei Kotov patrol vessel, part of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, cost $65 million, Ukraine said. AdvertisementUkrainian military intelligence said a $65 million Russian warship was the latest to be sunk in the Black Sea. It added that a Ukrainian special unit attacked the Black Sea Fleet vessel in cooperation with Ukraine's navy and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. In December, the UK's defense minister said that "over the past 4 months 20% of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed."

Persons: Sergei Kotov, —, Andrii, Russian Sergey Kotov, 3KPMpgxXD8, 4LGiEYQaEY — Anton Gerashchenko Organizations: Service, Directorate of Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Digital, Kyiv, Radio Free, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, Ukraine, Kyiv Independent Locations: Ukraine, Russia's, Russia, Ukrainian, Kerch, Radio Free Europe, Russian, Sevastopol, Crimea

The Dells contributed nearly $976 million to their charitable funds, which distribute gifts to a wide array of charities. Together, the 50 donors on the list contributed a total of $11.9 billion to charity in 2023. Only 23 of the richest Americans on the Forbes 400 list donated enough to appear on the Philanthropy rankings. 13 on the list, they contributed $210 million to the Institute for Protein Innovation, which shares its data with scientists for free. _____Maria Di Mento is a senior reporter and Jim Rendon is a senior writer at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article.

Persons: Michael Bloomberg, Phil Knight, Penny, Michael Dell, Susan, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Bernie Marcus, Ken Langone, Arthur Blank, “, ”, Renee Kaplan, — Franklin Antonio, Hugh Hoffman, —, Tim Springer, Chafen Lu, Diego’s Jay Kahn, Lauder, Sergey Brin’s, Michael J, Robert Kraft, Lucia Woods, David, Kathleen LaCross, Pierre Omidyar, Pam, They’re, John, Laura Arnold, Laura, ” Laura Arnold, Wendy Schmidt, Eric Schmidt, “ Younger, Kaplan, Jeff Sobrato, _____ Maria Di Mento, Jim Rendon, Kay Dervishi Organizations: New, New York City, Nike, Bloomberg, Knights, University of Oregon, Dells, Forbes, Forward, Qualcomm, Summer Science, SETI Institute, ALS Association , University of Cincinnati Foundation, Cincinnati Zoo, Botanical, Nature Center, Yale University, Institute for Protein Innovation, Price Club, Apple, San Diego Foundation, Discovery Foundation, Google, Fox Foundation, Parkinson’s Research, New England Patriots, Foundation, Combat, Ms, Foundation for Women, Chicago Foundation for Women, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, eBay, District of Columbia, Associated Press, Philanthropy Locations: New York, Portland , Oregon, Ohio, Moderna, California, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts

☆ Google co-founder Sergey Brin says in rare public appearance that company 'definitely messed up' Gemini image launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Brin, 50, spoke to entrepreneurs on Saturday at the "AGI House" in Hillsborough, California, just south of San Francisco, where developers and founders were testing Google's Gemini model. He also commented on the flawed launch last month of Google's image generator, which the company pulled after users discovered historical inaccuracies and questionable responses. Brin was also asked how online advertising will be disrupted considering ad revenue is core to Google's business. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images“I of all people am not too terribly concerned about business model shifts,” Brin said. Beyond AI, Brin was asked about Google's difficulties in hardware given recent advancements in virtual reality.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Google David Paul Morris, Brin, ” Brin, “, Larry Page, He's, ”, Gemini, “ that’s, Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's, Sundar Pichai, Raghavan, Brin didn't, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Elon Musk's, Eric Schmidt, that’s, I'm Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Gemini, Google Inc, Allen & Co . Media, Technology Conference, Apple Vision Locations: Hillsborough , California, San Francisco, Sun Valley , Idaho, U.S

☆ Sergey Brin says Google 'definitely messed up' after its Gemini chatbot caused a firestorm. He has a lot riding on its success — or failure.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sergey Brin says Google "definitely messed up" with Gemini's image generation. The Google cofounder says he came out of retirement because of AI's "exciting" trajectory. AdvertisementGoogle cofounder Sergey Brin has weighed in on the company's Gemini drama. Speaking at San Francisco's AGI House, Brin said the company had "definitely messed up on the image generation." Since then, Brin has been spotted at Google's Silicon Valley headquarters and has been directly involved with developing the company's AI strategy.

Persons: Sergey Brin, —, Brin, Larry Page, Elon Musk, Adolf Hitler, Gemini, Hitler Organizations: Service, Gemini, Google, The New York Times, Big Tech, BI, Business Locations: Francisco's

☆ Russia's new tank — its T-14 Armata — is probably too expensive to use in Ukraine, top weapons maker says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's most advanced tank is likely too costly to use in Ukraine, the head of a top defense firm said. The new T-14 Armata is estimated to cost between $5 million and $9 million. AdvertisementA Russian T-14 Armata tank on display at the International Military Forum Army outside Moscow on Aug. 15, 2023. AdvertisementRussian T-14 Armata tanks drive toward Red Square for the Victory Day parade on May 9, 2015. AdvertisementRussian T-90M and T-14 Armata tanks parade through Red Square during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022.

Persons: —, Sergey Chemezov, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Sean Gallup, Chemezov, Vladimir Putin, Bradley, Kirill Kudryavtsev Organizations: Service, International Military Forum Army, Getty, Abrams, Red, Victory Day, Getty Images Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Moscow, Russian, AFP, NATO, US, Getty Images Moscow, Britain

☆ Why Zuck, Ivanka Trump and the world's rich and famous are flocking to a lavish party in India
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and other CEOs and celebs are at a wedding pre-party in India this weekend. NEW LOOK 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 . The centibillionaire's grip on domestic commerce makes him a powerful partner for Western companies trying to break into the Indian market. Vital growth frontierUS executives are eager to cozy up to Ambani and Reliance because they see dollar signs when they look at India.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Mukesh, —, Sundar Pichai, Ivanka Trump, Mukesh Ambani's, Ambani, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Anant, Radhika Merchant, Mukesh Ambani, Nita, Prodip Guha, Tim Cook, Cook, Apple's, Ted Sarandos, Meta Organizations: Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Service, Reliance Industries, Bloomberg, Qualcomm, Intel, Hindustan Times, Amazon, Indian Locations: India, China, New Delhi

☆ How Google lost its way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Just two months after Google launched Gemini, its flashy new AI model, the company revealed that it had already built a better version. AdvertisementThen, days later, Google scrambled to explain why its image generation tool spit out racially inaccurate depictions of historical figures. Users have long bemoaned — and researchers recently found — a decline in the quality of Google Search results. The fact that Google is not far and away the self-driving-car leader, it's, like, a total joke," the former Google director said, adding that the problem of Google's lost supremacy is "maybe impossible to solve, frankly." Google now is reminiscent of the Steve Ballmer-era Microsoft, which missed the smartphone, search, and cloud waves and was overtaken by Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Persons: OpenAI, Sora, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai's, Pichai, —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Lea Suzuki, Getty Brin, Page, Google, Googlers, Axel Springer, Diane von Furstenberg, Giovanni Giannoni, Michael Avrukin, Vuk Valcic, wouldn't, Patrick Mork, Eric Lehman, Lehman, ChatGPT, Caesar Sengupta, Sengupta, Alexa, Google's, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly Organizations: Google, Hollywood, Industry, San Francisco Chronicle, Business, Penske Media, Microsoft, Amazon, The New York Times, Oracle, YouTube, Apple, IBM, Meta Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, —

☆ Bitcoin ETF 'kicking open an entirely new door': Chainlink co-founder
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBitcoin ETF 'kicking open an entirely new door' for global financial system: Chainlink co-founderSergey Nazarov, co-founder of the Web3 services platform, says bitcoin and cryptocurrency have "reached a certain state of being an inevitable asset class."

Persons: Sergey Nazarov

☆ The Google Gemini conspiracy theory
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google had to pull parts of its fancy Gemini AI model after it spat out inaccurate images and text. To catch you up: Google had to pull part of its fancy new Gemini AI model after it spat out inaccurate pictures, including depicting Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as Asian. One theory is that Googlers are too woke and their biases have infected what could be a powerful and useful AI model. AdvertisementIs this Google future? Probably not as profitable revenue as Google Search, but that's still a lot.

Persons: —, there's, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, it's, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Sundar Pichai, Pichai, that's Organizations: Google, Service

Paris CNN —French President Emmanuel Macron openly discussed the possibility of sending European troops to Ukraine to help Kyiv win the war against Russia, a potential major escalation to the largest ground war Europe has seen since World War II. Macron did, however, announce that a new coalition would be created to supply Ukraine with medium-range and long-range missiles. Macron pointed out that Western democracies have gradually increased their support to levels unthinkable when the war began. Macron warned at the start of the summit that Russia would likely attack beyond Ukraine in the coming years, threatening Europe’s collective security. “This is a European war,” Macron said.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, ”, “, Olaf Scholz, ” Scholz, ” Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, ‘, Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, Sergey Lavrov, Donald Trump, It’s, Anna Chernova, Vasco Cotovio Organizations: Paris CNN —, Kyiv, Ukraine, Russia, Republicans, CNN, European Union, Kremlin, EU Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Europe, Hungary, Slovakia, Russian, Ukrainian, Washington, Germany, Kyiv, ”, Moscow, “, United Kingdom, EU

☆ Google's mission is organizing the world's information. Its 'woke' AI debacle prompted critics to say it's failing.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewSince its inception, Google has had a mission statement that is now practically enshrined as lore: "To organize the world's information and make it accessible and useful." Its AI, critics say, risks suppressing information instead by being too "woke." AdvertisementGoogle's AI troublesGoogle has more than 90% of the search market, giving it dominant control over the world's information flow online. Advertisement"The original mission was to index all the world's information. In a blog published Friday, Google vice-president Prabhakar Raghavan acknowledged some of the images Gemini generated turned out to be "inaccurate or even offensive."

Persons: —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Gemini, Peter Kafka, Adolf Hitler, Elon, David Sacks, Critics, Sam Altman, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Bilal Zuberi, Brad Gerstner, Microsoft —, Elon Musk, OB1CCZHan3, Prabhakar Raghavan, overcorrected, Raghavan Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Craft Ventures, Lux Capital, Microsoft, Elon Locations: Menlo Park, AFP

☆ A Re-established West Bank Settlement Symbolizes Hardened Israeli Views
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Steven Erlanger | Sergey Ponomarev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For an Israeli settlement that has become such a resounding symbol of religious and right-wing politics in the West Bank, Homesh is not much to look at. They live part time here amid the ruins and rubbish of a hilltop settlement ripped down in 2005 by the Israeli army and police. It is one of four West Bank settlements dismantled when Israel pulled all of its troops and settlements out of Gaza. The decision to dismantle them is now being challenged by the more religious and right-wing ministers in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. They are agitating to settle more land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and even remove Palestinians from Gaza to resettle there.

Persons: Homesh, Benjamin Netanyahu Organizations: West Bank Locations: Bank, Israel, Gaza, Washington

☆ Google cofounder Sergey Brin faces wrongful-death lawsuit from pilot's widow over fatal plane crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Camilo Fonseca | Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Google cofounder Sergey Brin is facing a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a plane crash last year that killed two crew members en route to a private island in the South Pacific. The lawsuit also alleges that Brin intentionally delayed the recovery process. The suit identifies Brin, Google, and Bayshore Global Management — Brin's family office — as the "owner/operators" of the aircraft. While the lawsuit does mention various recovery efforts conducted by Brin's team, it alleges frequent and drawn-out delays. Olarte Maclean alleges that Brin's representatives cited weather conditions at the crash site and their interactions with the USCG as excuses.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Brin, Lance Maclean, Dean Rushfeldt, Olarte Maclean, Steven C, Marks, Larry Page Organizations: South Pacific, Business, Coast Guard, Los Angeles Times, Google, Bayshore Global Management, Bayshore, LA Times, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Brin's, Seafly LLC, Southern Cross Aviation, BI Locations: South, California, Hawaii, Santa Rosa , California, Fiji, Honolulu, Fiji's Mamanuca

CNN —The mother of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony last week, said Thursday she had seen her son’s body and was being pressured to hold a secret funeral. Looking into my eyes they say that if I don’t agree to a secret funeral they will do something with my son’s body,” she said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN’s Matthew Chance that he had not seen the comments from Navalny’s mother regarding her son’s body and the issues she claims she is experiencing with investigators. The Russian prison service said Navalny “felt unwell after a walk” in his Siberian penal colony and “almost immediately” lost consciousness. He was initially imprisoned in a penal colony about 150 miles east of Moscow, but his lawyers in December said they had lost contact with him for nearly three weeks.

Persons: Alexey Navalny, Lyudmila Navalnaya, Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, Yulia Navalnaya, Vladimir Putin, Alexey, ”, Navalnaya, Voropayev, “, Dmitry Peskov, CNN’s Matthew Chance, ” Peskov, ” Navalny’s, Joe Biden, Sergey Lavrov, ” Lavrov, Navalny’s, ” Navalny, Putin, Kirill Kudryavtsev, –, Navalny “ Organizations: CNN, YouTube, Russian Investigative, Getty, IK Locations: Salekhard, Kremlin, ” Russia, Russian, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, California, Russia, Germany, AFP, Soviet, Moscow, Kharp

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