The Prometheus League
Breaking News and Updates
- Abolition Of Work
- Ai
- Alt-right
- Alternative Medicine
- Antifa
- Artificial General Intelligence
- Artificial Intelligence
- Artificial Super Intelligence
- Ascension
- Astronomy
- Atheism
- Atheist
- Atlas Shrugged
- Automation
- Ayn Rand
- Bahamas
- Bankruptcy
- Basic Income Guarantee
- Big Tech
- Bitcoin
- Black Lives Matter
- Blackjack
- Boca Chica Texas
- Brexit
- Caribbean
- Casino
- Casino Affiliate
- Cbd Oil
- Censorship
- Cf
- Chess Engines
- Childfree
- Cloning
- Cloud Computing
- Conscious Evolution
- Corona Virus
- Cosmic Heaven
- Covid-19
- Cryonics
- Cryptocurrency
- Cyberpunk
- Darwinism
- Democrat
- Designer Babies
- DNA
- Donald Trump
- Eczema
- Elon Musk
- Entheogens
- Ethical Egoism
- Eugenic Concepts
- Eugenics
- Euthanasia
- Evolution
- Extropian
- Extropianism
- Extropy
- Fake News
- Federalism
- Federalist
- Fifth Amendment
- Fifth Amendment
- Financial Independence
- First Amendment
- Fiscal Freedom
- Food Supplements
- Fourth Amendment
- Fourth Amendment
- Free Speech
- Freedom
- Freedom of Speech
- Futurism
- Futurist
- Gambling
- Gene Medicine
- Genetic Engineering
- Genome
- Germ Warfare
- Golden Rule
- Government Oppression
- Hedonism
- High Seas
- History
- Hubble Telescope
- Human Genetic Engineering
- Human Genetics
- Human Immortality
- Human Longevity
- Illuminati
- Immortality
- Immortality Medicine
- Intentional Communities
- Jacinda Ardern
- Jitsi
- Jordan Peterson
- Las Vegas
- Liberal
- Libertarian
- Libertarianism
- Liberty
- Life Extension
- Macau
- Marie Byrd Land
- Mars
- Mars Colonization
- Mars Colony
- Memetics
- Micronations
- Mind Uploading
- Minerva Reefs
- Modern Satanism
- Moon Colonization
- Nanotech
- National Vanguard
- NATO
- Neo-eugenics
- Neurohacking
- Neurotechnology
- New Utopia
- New Zealand
- Nihilism
- Nootropics
- NSA
- Oceania
- Offshore
- Olympics
- Online Casino
- Online Gambling
- Pantheism
- Personal Empowerment
- Poker
- Political Correctness
- Politically Incorrect
- Polygamy
- Populism
- Post Human
- Post Humanism
- Posthuman
- Posthumanism
- Private Islands
- Progress
- Proud Boys
- Psoriasis
- Psychedelics
- Putin
- Quantum Computing
- Quantum Physics
- Rationalism
- Republican
- Resource Based Economy
- Robotics
- Rockall
- Ron Paul
- Roulette
- Russia
- Sealand
- Seasteading
- Second Amendment
- Second Amendment
- Seychelles
- Singularitarianism
- Singularity
- Socio-economic Collapse
- Space Exploration
- Space Station
- Space Travel
- Spacex
- Sports Betting
- Sportsbook
- Superintelligence
- Survivalism
- Talmud
- Technology
- Teilhard De Charden
- Terraforming Mars
- The Singularity
- Tms
- Tor Browser
- Trance
- Transhuman
- Transhuman News
- Transhumanism
- Transhumanist
- Transtopian
- Transtopianism
- Ukraine
- Uncategorized
- Vaping
- Victimless Crimes
- Virtual Reality
- Wage Slavery
- War On Drugs
- Waveland
- Ww3
- Yahoo
- Zeitgeist Movement
-
Prometheism
-
Forbidden Fruit
-
The Evolutionary Perspective
Category Archives: Big Tech
Will the stock-market rotation out of Big Tech gain more steam? Here are the key levels to watch. – MarketWatch
Posted: July 25, 2024 at 11:21 am
Will the stock-market rotation out of Big Tech gain more steam? Here are the key levels to watch. MarketWatch
Originally posted here:
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Will the stock-market rotation out of Big Tech gain more steam? Here are the key levels to watch. – MarketWatch
Microsoft outage could hurt trust in Big Tech to safeguard AI – Business Insider
Posted: at 11:21 am
Microsoft outage could hurt trust in Big Tech to safeguard AI Business Insider
Continued here:
Microsoft outage could hurt trust in Big Tech to safeguard AI - Business Insider
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Microsoft outage could hurt trust in Big Tech to safeguard AI – Business Insider
Big Tech’s ad transparency tools especially X’s are failing at their jobs, report finds – Mashable
Posted: April 18, 2024 at 3:39 pm
A newly released report alleges Big Tech's ad transparency tools are failing across the board with X scoring the worst at providing meaningful data that can help users, journalists, and advocates keep a watchful eye on scams and disinformation.
If "ad transparency" isn't a familiar term, that's probably because it's a somewhat counterintuitive concept. With TV ads, you generally know the sponsor it's announced front and center. Digital ads are more slippery. Even when the fact that something is an ad is disclosed, exactly who is advertising what, and why still may not be clear. If a platform fails to provide robust digital ad transparency information to those who request it, it's harder to track hoaxes and scrutinize sketchy or scammy ad practices.
The digital survey was conducted by Mozilla and CheckFirst, a software solutions company providing tools to counter and monitor disinformation. It analyzed a dozen ad transparency tools created by tech platforms to aid advertising monitors, including those on X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Alphabets Google Search, and Meta and Apple sites. Using guidelines from the European Unions 2023 Digital Services Act (DSA) and Mozilla's in-house ad library guidelines, the organizations scanned the platforms' ad repositories for things like public availability, the contents of advertisements, payer details, and user targeting details.
"Ad transparency tools are essential for platform accountability a first line of defense, like smoke detectors," said Mozilla EU advocacy lead Claire Pershan. "But our research shows most of the worlds largest platforms are not offering up functionally useful ad repositories. The current batch of tools exist, yes but in some cases, thats about all that can be said about them.
Not one of the analyzed advertising repositories tested well, and few if any were easy to find to begin with. Before researchers can even begin testing whether ad transparency measures are accurate, they must wade through incompatible, opaque services, the report explains.
X stood out as the worst scorer on data accessibility and search capabilities, only providing watchdogs with a single CSV file. "Xs transparency tools are an utter disappointment," explained Pershan. "Its repository offers no filtering and sorting capabilities; ads can only be accessed through a cumbersome CSV export file; the content of ads is not disclosed (only a URL to the ads), and there are gaps in targeting parameters and recipient data. And searching for historical content is nearly impossible. All this may be why the European Commission has included Xs ad repository in its formal proceedings against the platform under the DSA."
The report also found common, glaring gaps in ad transparency tools across the board, including:
Ads missing from repositories that were visible to users.
Inconsistent public access to ad information.
Poor search functions impeding ad oversight.
Another concerning fact: "Only a handful of the platforms analyzed have a repository for branded or influencer content, even though many allow for influencer content on their services," the researchers report.
These figures are especially worrisome in a contentious election year, one that is already stoking fear about intentional disinformation campaigns, the role of AI, and the influence of Big Tech leaders on candidate advertising and voter awareness.
Last year, X CEO Elon Musk announced the site was reversing its previous election policy banning political advertising from campaigns and political parties. Disinformation watch dogs went on alert immediately. Other platforms, like Meta and Google, have added new advertising policies ahead of the election to assuage generative AI threats.
Advertising across Big Tech platforms has become a hot-button topic in a sporadically regulated industry.On sites like TikTok and X, ads are crowding out user-generated content.
In June 2023, Google's advertising business came under fire from both the U.S. government and the European Union, accused of violating both unions' antitrust laws.In recent months, Google has amped up its advertising scrutiny, most recently announcing a ban on ads that feature fake endorsements, an apparent response to a Mashable investigation.
But there's been a positive shift along this bumpy road: In the five years since Mozilla and a panel of independent researchers released its advertising API guidelines in 2019, 11 of the worlds largest tech companies have introduced ad repositories. According to the report, both Google and Facebook have since updated their services with ad targeting criteria, engagement and historical data, and better filtering.
"Who pays for ads and how theyre targeted is crucial in helping watchdogs look out for the public interest whether that's fair elections, public health, or social justice," said co-founder and chief technology officer for CheckFirst Amaury Lesplingart. "In short, if you see an ad telling you that climate change is a hoax, you might be interested to know if that ads paid for by the fossil fuel industry."
See the original post here:
Big Tech's ad transparency tools especially X's are failing at their jobs, report finds - Mashable
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Big Tech’s ad transparency tools especially X’s are failing at their jobs, report finds – Mashable
Big Tech Taps AI Agents to Drive Revenue Growth – PYMNTS.com
Posted: at 3:39 pm
Big tech companies are reportedlyin a raceto unveil software to fuel AI spending.
For example,Microsoftis at work trying toautomate taskssuch as invoicing or the ability to rewrite code for applications in a different language and then make sure it works as intended, the Information Reported Thursday (April 18), citing company employees.
This software is being powered byOpenAIstechnology and will improve on Microsofts existingCopilot, the report said.Sources said Microsoft could debut the new features at its Build developer conference next month.
As forGoogle, that companys DeepMind arm is developing AI agents to carry out tasks, conceivably doing things like taking over a users computer and working on multiple apps simultaneously, the report said.
While these high-profile artificial intelligence (AI) firms are developing new technologies, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) arestruggling to keep up, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week following the release of the 2024 AI Index report from Stanford University.
Speaking with PYMNTS, that studys editor-in-chiefNestorMaslejunderlinedthe report findings on the growing AI divide between large and small firms. While mammoth tech companies invest billions into AI research and development, smaller firms dont have the resources and talentto directly compete.
A small or even medium-sized business will not be able to train a frontier foundation model that can compete with the likes of GPT-4, Gemini or Claude, Maslej said.
However, there are some fairly competent open-source models, such as Llama 2 and Mistral, that are freely accessible. A lot can be done with these kinds of open-source models, and they are likely to continue improving over time. In a few years, there may be an open, relatively low-parameter model that works as well as GPT-4 does today.
Research last year byPYMNTS Intelligence found that generative AI technologies such as OpenAIs ChatGPT could substantiallyimprove productivity, yet they also risk disrupting employment patterns.
The Stanford report also found that while private investment in AI generally fell last year, funding for generative AI saw a dramatic leap, increasing nearly eightfold from 2022 to $25.2 billion, with companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging FaceandInflectionreporting significant increasesin their fundraising efforts.
Maslej said that while the costs of adopting AI are steep, theyare overshadowedby the expensesthat come withtraining the systems.
Adoption is less of a cost problem because the real cost lies in training the systems. Most companies do not need to worry about training their own models and can instead adopt existing models, which are available either freely through open source or through relatively cost-accessible APIs, he explained.
The rest is here:
Big Tech Taps AI Agents to Drive Revenue Growth - PYMNTS.com
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Big Tech Taps AI Agents to Drive Revenue Growth – PYMNTS.com
National privacy standard eyed by Congress for data harvested by big tech companies Nebraska Examiner – Nebraska Examiner
Posted: at 3:39 pm
WASHINGTON U.S. House members tasked with addressing what happens to loads of user data collected by big tech companies see a long overdue opportunity for a national privacy standard, particularly for children and teens.
Lawmakers on a subpanel of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce met Wednesday to hear from advocates and online safety experts on a series of data privacy bills that are drawing rare bipartisan and bicameral support.
The 10 bills discussed by six witnesses and members of the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce would regulate how data is collected and stored, allow users to opt out of algorithms, and ensure safeguards for minors on the internet.
The hearing came on the heels of widespread bipartisan support for a bill that would force the popular video platform TikTok to split from its Chinese parent company ByteDance. The legislation passed the House in March in a 352-65 vote.
Today we find ourselves at a crossroads, said Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers. We can either continue down the dangerous path were on, letting companies and bad actors continue to collect massive amounts of data unchecked, or we can give people the right to control their information online.
The Washington Republicans discussion draft of the American Privacy Rights Act was a focus of the Wednesday hearing.
The bipartisan, bicameral proposal, introduced alongside Senate Committee on Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, would shrink the amount of data companies can collect, regulate data brokers, allow users to access their own data and request deletion, and empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to enforce the policies.
Placing the burden on consumers to read notice and consent privacy agreements simply does not work, said Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey.
By contrast, data minimization limits the amount of personal information entities collect, process, retain and transfer to only what is necessary to provide the products and services being requested by the consumer, Pallone said, praising provisions in the American Privacy Rights Act.
Rodgers said the foundational legislation would protect minors and establish a national standard to quash a modern form of digital tyranny where a handful of companies and bad actors are exploiting our personal information, monetizing it and using it to manipulate how we think and act.
One national standard would preempt the patchwork of state laws, so when consumers and businesses cross state lines, there are consistent rights, protections and obligations, GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, the subcommittees chair, said during his opening remarks.
Seventeen states have enacted their own privacy laws and regulations with another 18 states actively pursuing various pieces of legislation, creating a complex landscape of state-specific privacy laws, testified Katherine Kuehn, chief information security officer-in-residence for the National Technology Security Coalition, a cybersecurity advocacy organization.
Among the other proposals the panel discussed was an update to the 1998 Children and Teens Online Privacy Act, co-sponsored by Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg and Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat.
The bill aims to ban targeted advertising to children and teens, prohibit internet companies from collecting the data of 13-to-17-year-olds without consent, and require direct notice if data is being stored or transferred outside of the U.S.
Ava Smithing of Nashville, Tennessee, described for the committee her teen years spent on Instagram and the body image issues and eating disorder that ensued after repeated targeted content.
The companies abilities to track engagements, such as the duration of time I looked at a photo, revealed to them what would keep me engaged my own insecurity, she testified.
They stored my insecurity as data and linked it to all my other accounts across the internet. They used my data to infer what other types of content I might like, leading me down a pipeline from bikini advertisements to exercise videos to dieting tips and finally to eating disorder content, Smithing, director of advocacy for the Young Peoples Alliance, said.
Bilirakis is a sponsor of the similarly named Kids Online Safety Act, along with fellow Reps. Erin Houchin, an Indiana Republican, Washington Democrat Kim Schrier and Castor.
We know that big tech has failed, ladies and gentlemen, to prioritize the health and safety of our children online, resulting in a significant increase in mental health conditions, suicide and drug overdose deaths. Weve heard stories over and over and over again in our respective districts, Bilirakis said.
Bilirakis bill would outline a set of harms to children under 17 and require big tech and video game companies to mitigate those harms. The bill also aims to increase parental protections on platforms and commission a study of age verification options.
A companion bill in the U.S. Senate has been introduced by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn.
Samir C. Jain, of the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the House panel that some proposals, including the Kids Online Safety Act, while well-intentioned and pursuing an important goal, do raise some concerns.
Legislation that restricts access to content because government officials deem it harmful can harm youth and present significant constitutional issues, said Jain, vice president of policy for the civil liberties advocacy organization.
Further, requirements or strong incentives to require age verification systems to identify children often require further data collection from children and adults alike, and thereby can undermine privacy and present their own constitutional issues, Jain testified.
However, Jain praised provisions in the American Privacy Rights Act that would increase transparency into the algorithms employed by large data companies and prohibit using data in a way that perpetuates or exacerbates discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, religion, or disability status whether a Black person looking for a job, a woman seeking a loan to start a business, or a veteran with a disability trying to find housing.
During questioning, Bilirakis asked each panelist: Yes or no, do you think this is the best chance we have to getting something done on comprehensive data privacy?
All witnesses answered yes.
Meta, which owns Instagram, did not respond to a request for comment.
See the article here:
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on National privacy standard eyed by Congress for data harvested by big tech companies Nebraska Examiner – Nebraska Examiner
Betting on US Big Tech? Top Earnings Reports to Watch in the Coming Week – FX Empire
Posted: at 3:39 pm
Daily Microsoft Chart as of the 17/04/2024 Source: ActivTrader
These earnings reports are like X-rays for the tech industry, revealing the health of these leading companies. The data and guidance provided can significantly impact both short-term trading and long-term investment strategies.
For active traders, these reports often create periods of higher volatility, presenting opportunities for strategies like scalping and day trading. News-based trading becomes particularly relevant, allowing traders to capitalise on price movements in either direction (up or down) using financial instruments like CFDs (Contracts for Difference).
Long-term investors can leverage these reports to reassess their asset allocation. The new information can help ensure their portfolios are aligned with their risk tolerance and current market conditions.
Disclaimer
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 66% and 83% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
ActivTrades Corp is authorised and regulated by The Securities Commission of the Bahamas. ActivTrades Corp is an international business company registered in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, registration number 199667 B.
The information provided does not constitute investment research. The material has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is to be considered to be a marketing communication.
All information has been prepared by ActivTrades (AT). The information does not contain a record of ATs prices, or an offer of or solicitation for a transaction in any financial instrument. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information.
Any material provided does not have regard to the specific investment objective and financial situation of any person who may receive it. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. AT provides an execution-only service. Consequently, any person acting on the information provided does so at their own risk.
Read more from the original source:
Betting on US Big Tech? Top Earnings Reports to Watch in the Coming Week - FX Empire
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Betting on US Big Tech? Top Earnings Reports to Watch in the Coming Week – FX Empire
Google fires 28 workers in aftermath of protests over big tech deal with Israeli government – The Bakersfield Californian
Posted: at 3:39 pm
State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada
Zip Code
Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
The rest is here:
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Google fires 28 workers in aftermath of protests over big tech deal with Israeli government – The Bakersfield Californian
Big Tech offices are getting smaller and that spells trouble for landlords – Quartz
Posted: at 3:39 pm
An empty office Photo: Justin Sullivan ( Getty Images )
Alongside layoffs that have roiled tech companies in the last few months, the office market is also feeling the effects of a right-sizing in the wake of massive expansions that happened at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What's wrong (and right) with Neuralink?
The Wall Street Journal reports that so-called Big Tech firmsa cohort that includes the likes of Google, Amazon, Meta, and Salesforcehave been shrinking their real estate presences. Sometimes that means putting office space up for sublease. Sometimes it means pausing construction on new offices. When it presented its latest annual report in January, Google parent company Alphabet noted that it had paid $1.8 billion in exit charges on leases last year as part of efforts to optimize its global office footprint.
Even after years of work-from-home culture slowly yielding to a return-to-office orientation, commercial real estate vacancies are still highly elevated. Tech companies, which in many cities had come to rival the footprints of industries like finance, are a big contributor to that supply glut.
Still, SL Green Realty Corp CEO Marc Holliday thinks there might be some hope that the booming artificial intelligence sector might help spur a broader tech real estate recovery.
AI is something that I think is going to awaken the slumbering tech market, Holliday said at a recent Citi real estate conference. Tech has not been a big contributor to incremental demand after about a decade of rapid growth. And I sort of am looking forward to and await their return.
AI companies havemore than doubled their footprint in San Francisos tech-heavy office market, up to 4.8 million square feet this year from just 1.9 million square feet in 2019. But per the Journal, the brokerage firm CBRE says the office-vacancy rate jumped to a record 36.7% this year from just 3.6% in early 2019.
See the original post here:
Big Tech offices are getting smaller and that spells trouble for landlords - Quartz
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Big Tech offices are getting smaller and that spells trouble for landlords – Quartz
Asking Big Tech to police AI is like turning to ‘oil companies to solve climate change,’ AI researcher says – Fortune
Posted: at 3:39 pm
Managing artificial intelligences impact on society isnt the responsibility of private companies, noted the founder of a nonprofit AI research lab. Instead, its elected governments that should regulate the sector adequately to keep people safe.
Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm AI London conference on Monday, Connor Leahy, cofounder of EleutherAI, said the onus of how transformational technologies will impact the public shouldnt be placed on the tech industry.
Companies shouldnt even have to answer society-wide questions about AI, Leahy told Fortunes Ellie Austin.
He explained: This might be controversial but its not the responsibility of oil companies to solve climate change. Instead, he said, it is the role of governments to stop oil companies from causing climate change or at least make them pay to clean it up after theyve caused the mess.
Rather than guardrails coming from within the industry, they should cascade down from the government levelat least when it comes to society-wide issues, he added.
The boss of EleutherAIwhich launched in 2020 and operates primarily through an open Discord serversaid responsibility does lie with businesses, however, when it comes to expectations of how much AI can do.
At present the tech is super unreliable he continued, adding it does not have a human level [of] reliability.
Some of the most prominent voices in the tech industry agree with Leahy, with even disrupters in the sector imploring the government for some safety nets.
Sam Altman, boss of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, tolda Senate Judiciary subcommittee in May of last year that the regulation of AI is essential.
He came out in favor of appropriate safety requirements, including internal and external testing prior to release for AI software and also urged some kind of licensing and registration regime for AI systems beyond a certain capability.
However, the fired-and-rehired billionaire CEO also called for a governance framework that is flexible enough to adapt to new technological developments and said that regulation should balance incentivizing safety while ensuring that people are able to access the technologys benefits.
Likewise Tesla CEO Elon Muskwho is utilizing AI for everything from large language model Grok to humanoid robot Optimus and autonomous drivingsaid that regulation will be annoying but necessary.
During a conversation with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the U.K. AI Safety Summit, Musk said: I think weve learned over the years that having a referee is a good thing.
CEOs pining after some regulation that will be suitable for multiple markets may have had their wishes granted in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, the U.S. and U.K. governments signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to a shared approach for AI safety testing and guidance.
The governments will work closely with each other and seek other nations to join their approach.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at the time: Our partnership makes clear that we arent running away from these concernswere running at them.
By working together, we are furthering the long-lasting special relationship between the U.S. and U.K. and laying the groundwork to ensure that were keeping AI safe both now and in the future.
Go here to see the original:
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Asking Big Tech to police AI is like turning to ‘oil companies to solve climate change,’ AI researcher says – Fortune
Big Tech Comes to Small Town: A Bitcoin Mining Story in Spur – CoinDesk
Posted: at 3:39 pm
When you go through Spur, you go through uh East Texas and these sort of places, you'll often find that there have been companies out there, but they've come and gone. And I think that's the concern with Bitcoin. Like, are you going to stay over the next 1520 plus years and be a part of this community? And I think from Galaxy Side, they are and they've built out 100 50 or so megawatts of the facility, they have another 650 to build out. So there's a lot of growth there. But I think for the entire industry, the question is like, are you going to uphold your promise? Will you be here in 1520 years? Are you going to help us get to the next place? Are you going to help our kids go to college ahead of the upcoming Bitcoin? Having we've been talking a lot on the show about Bitcoin miners and their business models and the readiness for mining rewards being cut in half. But there's a human impact to mining that we haven't covered yet. Large mines are often set up in rural areas where the people living there have very little knowledge about the impacts of mining on their environment and society. Reports have outlined how miners in small towns have driven up the price of power provided few jobs and created tensions between locals and the mining companies themselves. A new film tells a different story. The big empty goes to the town of Spur Texas, a town with a pop of 863 people in a total land area of 1.6 square miles. The film focuses on the people of the small town and their positive views of their new neighbor Helios Galaxy Digital holdings. 800 megawatt Bitcoin, mine, my good friend, former co-host of the HASH R IP, founder of Vox Space Media and the creator of this film Will Foxley joins first mover. Now it tell us all about it. Will, what's going on? Good morning. Good to see you again. I know. Good to see you again. It has been not that long, but long enough, it's been a few weeks and I was so excited to watch this film. I just, you know, love anything that has your name on it. So talk to me about the story. How did you find the story and why did you set up to tell it? Definitely. Yeah. Thanks for having me on. Uh the story came up through a good friend, Amanda Fabiano. She was formerly the head of mining at Galaxy Digital. Uh She left last summer to start her own consulting business, uh which plug seems to be doing pretty well. Uh And so she created this, you know, helped make this, this mine possible. Argo Blockchain was the former owner of the Bitcoin mine. Galaxy Digital, bought the Bitcoin mine when Argo went through some financial troubles during last Bear Market. And then she went down there, she saw a story and she hit me up. I've done a few of these different mining films and we kind of worked together on scouting what a possible film could look like. We went down last June to talk with people basically did like 48 hours of random side interview with people just in street corners, people in gas stations, people on tractors and be like, hey, like, what do you think about Spur, what do you think about the Bitcoin mine? And we try to flush out there was a story there. Uh Before you knew it, we did find this story. It was a lot different than we thought when we first went down there, thought there was gonna be like more about Bitcoin and energy and maybe like politics like Texas politics. But we ended up finding a story about small town USA in the intersection with big tech. Well, 863 people live there, which was wild for me to read. Sitting in New York. Tell me a little bit about the town. What does it feel like being there. Yeah. No, it's small town. USA. And I have a lot of family who grew up in small town. Uh, so I've been to the small towns and I like highlighting those places because I do think there's an authenticity and sort of like an Americana that you can't get in other places. Uh, so with Spurs specifically, I mean, they have a lot of hometown pride. Uh, we were able to film over homecoming weekend and everybody shows out. So the population probably quadruples if not more during that period, it's in Dickens County and like the, the county around Spur and the entire county shows up for that homecoming game. You have people coming back from generations. There was the float parade that we got to film and there's people from the 19 fifties uh from their class, graduating classes in the 19 fifties who showed up just to go back to the small town. And there was even a few residents from Spur who have been there since the 19 fifties. You know, they graduated, maybe they're a farmer or maybe they worked in a store in town and they're still there and they're enjoying being a part of their community. Uh And just as like a filmmaker and as a storyteller, it's, it's hard to find those places. It's rare to find those places, but I do think it's central to not only the American story, but also what's going to happen with digital currency as it starts to seep into these different corners and pockets of the US. Well, tell me about those people, people who have been there since the fifties living in this small town, very small. Um, I guess area in the, in the US. What was their perception of the Bitcoin Mine? What was their more broad perception of crypto in general? Yeah, it's a great question. And even just as a filmmaker, you still scratching my head being like, is everyone giving me like their honest opinion about this? Could you put a camera? I was wondering when I was watching that? Yeah, when you put a camera in front of someone and you don't always know what you're gonna say. Some people are very honest. Some people maybe not so much because they're not sure. I do think we did capture probably like 90 95% of what's actually going on down there. And that's as much as you probably can hope for. Uh a lot of people are pretty scared about it. They don't know what it means. Uh There's a really great line at the beginning of the film where we talk with someone just walked up to them at a pig roast. So like, what do you think about Bitcoin mining? And they said, you know, where are all these coins going? How do you get them? How do you get paid? I don't understand it. And I think that's a perception of a lot of people down there. Now, on the other hand, people who interact with Galaxy, the Bitcoin mine down there either have like friends and family working there, work there themselves or get like paid as contractors through Galaxy. They're much more open to Bitcoin. They're much more open to Bitcoin mining and they're starting to trust a little bit more because they're interacting with it, which I think is a threat. We're gonna start pulling on a little bit more in the Bitcoin mining industry next few years is that these rural communities that have Bitcoin present in the town are going to be places for adoption versus, you know, the San Francisco and New York of the world where oftentimes we think of those places as being like the bleeding edge tech areas of the world. I know you mentioned uh just a few minutes ago that the story came to you from a former Galaxy employee. What was Galaxy's involvement in the film? Definitely. Yeah. So Galaxy was the investor for this piece. So I set up a contract for, you know, they gave me a lump sum to go make a documentary and then uh they worked with me a little bit at the end of the film and basically it was done to like Polish some lines. So uh nothing looked too bad if it went out the door. They're a publicly traded company uh for media. This might even be just like an interesting side angle, you don't see a lot of films made in Bitcoin or in crypto in general. And when you generally see them, they're paid for by the industry. And so we sort of have like these two sides, right, where it's like we have the antithesis with mainstream media or with people who don't like crypto and they're paying for film projects or media projects and the way people within the industry, they're also doing that and trying to find a way between it is increasingly difficult. I would like to find a way to do it. Uh I think you have to do something like a coin desk or something else where you're doing it as an independent company. Uh But until we see that we have to work with the providers and partners out there, I think Galaxy did a really good job of allowing me to go down there in the first place. Like they opened up the facility, there wasn't even anyone from the corporate side of Galaxy down there. It was just like people at the Bitcoin mine and they give us full access to film for two weekends and then also a stint in New York. Uh So I think overall yes, it would be great to have like a truly independent film, but the industry is not quite there yet where that's able to happen. And I think this is the best we could get. Uh as, as far as money comes comes to it. I mean, you know, this, but I've gone through the same process and trying to get, uh films or projects made that are about the industry. Why do you think it's so hard? Hey, money, I mean, film projects are expensive. A good camera person costs a lot. A good director costs a lot and they're time intensive. I mean, the amount of weekends I spent just shuffling through different music selections for, you know, a 32nd piece. Uh It's worth it in the end. And I, at least, I think it is because you get a little pat on the back from friends. You're like, ok, maybe that wasn't worth it. But I do think when it all comes together, you can kind of see like a whole narrative unfold. We get a story of people who oftentimes don't have the voice to tell other people and it's worth it for film directly. I think it's going to happen more. Uh I'm working on a few different film projects at the moment and if you're interested in doing more films, let me know. Yeah, totally, you know, rare audience member out there. But there's a lot of Bitcoin mining stories to be told because they're about people and people can, we can always tell more stories about people. You can always tell so many stories about digital currency and what the next Bitcoin is, but you can always tell more stories about people. Well, OK, let's get back to those people and talk about it. Um I watched the film last night. There are a bunch of positive impacts that are mentioned in the film that the people of Spur are experiencing now that this Bitcoin mining facility is there in their town. Talk to me about some of the ones that stood out for you. Yeah. Uh The easiest one to point to from the numbers perspective is just the standard of living rising because Galaxy showed up. So Galaxy pays about 30% over the average minimum wage in town for basic jobs. And that kind of creeps up between like all the other different positions in town. So if you work at Galaxy, like you're getting paid 30% more than your next door neighbor and that money can flow back into the community. So why is that? Well, because you're basically just buying things from the town store right there, from the grocery store, things like that. So Galaxy coming in had an immediate economic impact that you can actually measure. The second thing that, you know, the film really zeroes in on is this concept of the town pool. And I like kind of like to think of the town pool in this story as like the promise of Big tech. We, we get these promises from Big Tech, whether it be like, make your life faster, make your life easier, connect you with more people for the people of Spur Texas. And often these small towns where big tech is moving into, the promise is very physical and it comes down to infrastructure or helping kids get uh loans to go to college or grants. And for Spur Texas, they have a swimming pool that was out of commission for about 15 years. Uh The previous Bitcoin mining company had tried to fix it but have financial problems. So they weren't able to galaxy, came in, had to set up and fix the Bitcoin mine before they could fix the pool. Uh And so it became sort of like this uh conflict between the town and Galaxy. When is this pool gonna be finished? Is it going to be finished? And at the end, we see spoiler that the, the pool is, is finished and fixed and I think that represents like a promise that big tech and especially Bitcoin companies that uh uphold their promises can be good neighbors and can uplift these rural communities that haven't had anything in 6050 plus years. They haven't had anything to hang their hats on. Uh with Bitcoin moving in these large data centers, uh There's promise of rejuvenation and more people being able to have higher standards of living. I mean, you've been in the mining industry for a little bit now. I know you're very knowledgeable about it. You talk about it on your podcast that's also on the Quin desk, uh podcast network. What challenges do you anticipate firms like galaxy experiencing in the years to come. Like it sounds all really positive now. But what challenges do you think that they will experience in the next two or three years? Yeah, definitely. I think we didn't gloss over some of the expectations and fears that townspeople have about Bitcoin mining. So let's focus on those. Again. The film, we talked with uh the editorial staff, the Texas Spur and I have a soft spot for media. So we made sure to go and talk to them just as like the eyes and ears of the town and they definitely have concerns. Uh I think the pool was the biggest thing. They want the pool to be done. They wanted that promise to be kept. But even past that, like saying that there's jobs now doesn't mean there's always going to be jobs and especially in such a volatile market like Bitcoin, I think the concern is big company comes to town prices go down, big company leaves and the town is kind of back in square one. It might even be a worse off position because as all this old infrastructure can't really sell it, sort of an eyesore. So when you go through Spur, you go through uh East Texas and these sort of places, you'll often find that there have been companies out there, but they've come and gone. And I think that's the concern with Bitcoin. Like, are you going to stay over the next 1520 plus years and be a part of this community. And I think from Galaxy Side, they are, they've built out 100 50 or so megawatts of the facility, they have another 650 to build out. So there's a lot of growth there. But I think for the entire industry, the question is like, are you going to uphold your promise? Will you be here in 1520 years? Are you going to help us get to the next place? Are you gonna help our kids go to college, those sort of things and just to round this up, I know the having is happening on Friday or Saturday. We don't know exactly when uh yet, but from a mining company perspective, what do you expect to see after the having is done in terms of consolidation? You just mentioned, you know, do we know if this company is going to be around in 15 or 20 years? What do you expect to see? Yeah, I mean, I think probably see about 10% of network cash rate go offline. Uh Just you can think of that in terms of numbers, like that's gonna be like 10% of facilities or 10% of Bitcoin miners won't be able to operate profitably. And so they might turn off for a little bit in order to like not have to pay for the price of electricity. Uh Maybe they'll come back online in a little bit typically. Do you see Bitcoin price go up after Bitcoin happening, whether it be three months later to nine months later, it's typically the trend we see. So I do think a lot of people in the Bitcoin mining industry are sort of banking on number go up theory. But even past that, there is a lot of exciting stuff with like Bitcoin and FTS or ordinals, which I'm sure you guys talk a lot about on this show and there's a lot of speculation around those fees moving into miners pockets and enabling them to stick around. The last thing I'll say is a lobby of miners has spent the last four years making their entire fleets more efficient. So I think we'll see less hash Ray come offline than in the previous happenings. Colin Harper over Alexir Tech had a great piece in this. I think in a coin desk article you guys published yesterday talking about how we'll probably have the least amount of hash ray come offline this having compared to all the other ones. So generally bullish. Hash ray definitely going to be a pain point for a few miners. But I think a number goes up across all metrics and will just to wrap us up here. I don't let anyone do this on the show, but you are a special case. How can people watch the film? Love it. Thanks for your uh plug there. Yeah, you can go to block space dot media and go over to our film section. You can watch it there, uh, or just go to the Big empty.xyz and you'll find the film there as well. We'll do a few screenings, I think, maybe down in Texas and then fingers crossed one in New York in May. So few places to watch it.
See the rest here:
Big Tech Comes to Small Town: A Bitcoin Mining Story in Spur - CoinDesk
Posted in Big Tech
Comments Off on Big Tech Comes to Small Town: A Bitcoin Mining Story in Spur – CoinDesk