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.



Netflix Japan used AI art in the anime short "The Dog & The Boy", citing a "labor shortage" in the industry, which has long faced labor abuses and poor wages (Samantha Cole/VICE)

Samantha Cole / VICE:
Netflix Japan used AI art in the anime short “The Dog & The Boy”, citing a “labor shortage” in the industry, which has long faced labor abuses and poor wages  —  A new short film called ‘The Dog & The Boy’ uses AI-generated art for its backgrounds.  —  Samantha Cole



Sony reports Q3 sales rose 13% YoY to ~$26.4B as operating profit drops 8% YoY to ~$3.3B, beating analyst estimates; PS5 sales were 7.1M, up from 4M YoY (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sony reports Q3 sales rose 13% YoY to ~$26.4B as operating profit drops 8% YoY to ~$3.3B, beating analyst estimates; PS5 sales were 7.1M, up from 4M YoY  —  Sony Group Corp. revised up its full-year profit outlook after earnings beat estimates and the company had its best quarter of PlayStation 5 sales.



Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)

New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...