Saturday, February 4, 2023

A viral tweet alleges bias as ChatGPT refuses to write a poem about positive attributes of Trump but writes one about Biden; sources: OpenAI doesn't know why (Reed Albergotti/Semafor)

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
A viral tweet alleges bias as ChatGPT refuses to write a poem about positive attributes of Trump but writes one about Biden; sources: OpenAI doesn't know why  —  Even ChatGPT's creators can't figure out why it won't answer certain questions — including queries about former U.S. President Donald Trump …



A look at T2, a Twitter alternative founded by a former employee of Google's Area 120 to offer a "2007 Twitter" vibe that Musk's platform no longer supplies (Steven Levy/Wired)

Steven Levy / Wired:
A look at T2, a Twitter alternative founded by a former employee of Google's Area 120 to offer a “2007 Twitter” vibe that Musk's platform no longer supplies  —  Cofounder Gabor Cselle says his upstart social network can offer a “2007 Twitter” community vibe that Elon Musk's platform no longer supplies.



Interviews detail the Conti ransomware group's 2021 attack on Ireland's public health system; Conti seemingly called off the hack without receiving a ransom (Ryan Gallagher/Bloomberg)

Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
Interviews detail the Conti ransomware group's 2021 attack on Ireland's public health system; Conti seemingly called off the hack without receiving a ransom  —  At first the attack on Ireland's public-health system fell into a depressingly familiar pattern.



EU sends formal warning to Microsoft over $69 bn Activision Blizzard deal

The report mentioned that in a "statement of objections, a EU officials "laid out the reasons why the deal could threaten fair competition on the video game market". "We are listening carefully to the European Commission's concerns and are confident we can address them," said the company spokesperson. A Microsoft spokesperson said that they are committed to solutions and finding a path forward for this deal. https://ift.tt/mvOcC7w

Close to 1 lakh tech employees lost jobs in January alone globally

It means that more than 3,300 tech employees lost jobs daily on an average by more than 288 companies worldwide. Barring Apple, every other Big Tech firm has slashed jobs, led by Amazon with 18,000 job cuts, followed by Google with 12,000 and Microsoft 10,000 job cuts in January 2023. https://ift.tt/uSCJhLq

After YouTuber MrBeast made a video about paying for 1,000 blind people's eye surgery, critics raise questions about "stunt philanthropy" and "charity porn" (Kelsey Weekman/BuzzFeed News)

Kelsey Weekman / BuzzFeed News:
After YouTuber MrBeast made a video about paying for 1,000 blind people's eye surgery, critics raise questions about “stunt philanthropy” and “charity porn”  —  Is it stunt philanthropy or self-funded charity in the YouTube age?  —  A YouTuber just helped treat 1,000 people with blindness and low vision.



Friday, February 3, 2023

Some US emergency services operators say they are inundated with false calls placed by the Apple Watches or iPhone 14s of skiers and other fitness enthusiasts (Matt Richtel/New York Times)

Matt Richtel / New York Times:
Some US emergency services operators say they are inundated with false calls placed by the Apple Watches or iPhone 14s of skiers and other fitness enthusiasts  —  911 dispatchers are buried under an avalanche of false, automated distress calls from skiers and other Apple device owners who are very much alive.



Big Tech earnings face more heat as cloud cover fades

Alphabet Inc, which has the smallest cloud business among the three, said Google Cloud grew 32 percent, the slowest rise since the company began reporting the measure in 2019. https://ift.tt/yLXCt0b

YouTube rolls out "Go Live Together", which lets creators with 50 or more subscribers co-host livestreams with one guest at a time, on its iOS and Android apps (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
YouTube rolls out “Go Live Together”, which lets creators with 50 or more subscribers co-host livestreams with one guest at a time, on its iOS and Android apps  —  YouTube is rolling out a collaboration feature that allows two users to livestream together.



Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft will collectively incur more than $10B in charges related to mass layoffs, real estate, and other cost savings (Dave Lee/Financial Times)

Dave Lee / Financial Times:
Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft will collectively incur more than $10B in charges related to mass layoffs, real estate, and other cost savings  —  Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft reveal hefty price tag as they rein in spending  —  Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Microsoft …



As the spat between Binance and WazirX escalates, Binance invites the Indian exchange to withdraw its assets held in Binance wallets after February 3 (Amitoj Singh/CoinDesk)

Amitoj Singh / CoinDesk:
As the spat between Binance and WazirX escalates, Binance invites the Indian exchange to withdraw its assets held in Binance wallets after February 3  —  The solution ostensibly ends worries about what would happen to customer funds if Binance and WazirX end their collaboration.



A group of MEPs launches a website for European parliament staff and EU officials to warn about "shady lobbying" by Big Tech and other interest groups (Jennifer Rankin/The Guardian)

Jennifer Rankin / The Guardian:
A group of MEPs launches a website for European parliament staff and EU officials to warn about “shady lobbying” by Big Tech and other interest groups  —  Exclusive: Dutch MEP hopes site will give early warning of suspicious tactics such as use of front organisations



Thursday, February 2, 2023

A brief look at several lawsuits challenging generative AI tools and what music labels suing Napster but making peace with Spotify tells us about the future (Peter Kafka/Vox)

Peter Kafka / Vox:
A brief look at several lawsuits challenging generative AI tools and what music labels suing Napster but making peace with Spotify tells us about the future  —  What can Napster tell us about the future?  —  That was quick: Artificial intelligence has gone from science fiction to novelty to Thing We Are Sure Is the Future.



Chainalysis plans to cut under 5% of its staff as part of a reorganization; in January, its CEO said the company plans to grow staff by 11% and expand globally (Olga Kharif/Bloomberg)

Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Chainalysis plans to cut under 5% of its staff as part of a reorganization; in January, its CEO said the company plans to grow staff by 11% and expand globally  —  Chainalysis Inc., a company that specializes in tracking crypto transactions and the entities behind them, said it's made layoffs affecting less than 5% of staff.



Sony announces a beta version of Discord for the PlayStation 5 in the US, Canada, Japan, and the UK, adds Variable Refresh Rate support for 1440p, and more (Tom Warren/The Verge)

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sony announces a beta version of Discord for the PlayStation 5 in the US, Canada, Japan, and the UK, adds Variable Refresh Rate support for 1440p, and more  —  Beta testers will be able to join Discord voice calls on a PS5 console in the US, Canada, Japan, and UK starting today.



Sources: Samsung raises prices for advanced 4nm and 5nm chipmaking services by up to 15% for new orders in July, driven by AI demand and TSMC's tight capacity (Reuters)

Reuters : Sources: Samsung raises prices for advanced 4nm and 5nm chipmaking services by up to 15% for new orders in July, driven by AI d...