James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Meta will start mining AI chatbot conversations to target users with ads and content
Meta Platforms Inc. announced today that, in an effort to improve its targeted advertising across all its platforms, it will start analyzing users’ conversations with AI chatbots. Users will receive a notification about the change on Oct. 7, while Meta’s privacy policy will be updated on Dec. 16. The new policy will apply to most ...
California Governor Gavin Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill into law
California Governor Gavin Newsom today signed into law a sweeping measure requiring major artificial intelligence developers to meet state-mandated safety standards and disclose potential risks associated with their products. The Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, SB 53, also strengthens protections for employees and executives who blow the whistle on harms or unsafe practices. Though ...
TikTok will stay: Trump signs executive order to keep app in the US
President Donald Trump signed an executive order today, sealing the deal that will keep the app in the U.S. Though there will still be some regulatory hurdles to jump, it appears that Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Trump are both on board to separate the app from its Chinese owner, ByteDance Ltd. As reported earlier ...
Trump to sign off on TikTok deal Thursday
The Trump administration says it has brokered a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., which the president is expected to sign Thursday, a White House official said. As reported earlier this week, Oracle Corp. will serve as the app’s data and security provider, which, together with private-equity firm Silver Lake, will own a ...
Secret Service disrupts plot to cripple New York cell phone system
The U.S. Secret Service today announced that it recently disrupted a hidden telecom network in the New York Tri-State Area that had the potential to wreak havoc on New York’s telecom systems and posed a threat to United Nations General Assembly meetings this week. As about 150 world leaders were preparing to arrive in Manhattan ...
Oracle to oversee TikTok algorithm in Trump-backed deal
After months of negotiations between the U.S. and China, a preliminary agreement apparently has been reached over the fate of TikTok, with Oracle Corp. set to oversee the app’s algorithm. The White House today explained that under the terms of a proposed deal, Oracle will audit the algorithm, while a newly formed joint venture — ...
Meta whistleblowers claim company buried information on child safety
Meta Platforms Inc. reportedly suppressed internal research into safety concerns on its virtual reality platforms, including findings that a child under the age of 10 had been sexually propositioned in-app. “Meta knew that underage children were using its products, but figured, ‘Hey, kids drive engagement,’ and it was making them cash,” Jason Sattizahn, one of ...
Melania Trump invites tech CEOs to White House to inaugurate education AI task force
The first lady today invited some of the U.S.’s foremost tech leaders to the East Wing of the White House to inaugurate a task force on artificial intelligence with an emphasis on integrating AI into the education of children. “I predict AI will represent the single largest growth category in our nation during the Trump ...
Disney agrees to pay FTC $10 million over YouTube videos for children
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations that the entertainment company had engaged in the “unlawful collection” of children’s personal data on the YouTube platform. Regulators at the FTC said the company failed to flag certain videos on its platform as “Made ...
Landmark AI wrongful death lawsuit alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT played major role in teen’s suicide
The parents of a teenage American boy who died by suicide today filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, whose ChatGPT chatbot they say helped their son “explore suicide methods.” According to the New York Times, which today laid out the case, the victim, 16-year-old Adam Raine, was found hanged in his bedroom closet in ...