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Amrapali Gan, CEO at OnlyFans, addresses the audience during the second day of the Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon.
Hard Numbers: OnlyAI, Raw deal for media companies, AGI approaches, Less work and more money
10: OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan said in an interview that verified creators on the platform need to provide 10 different pieces of personal information in the US — nine everywhere else — including government ID, which she claims will help prevent the site from being overrun by AI porn bots. She admitted that sex workers may use AI tools on the platform but emphasized that their work can't be “wholly AI.”
2,500: Media outlets Raw Story, Alternet, and The Intercept sued OpenAI last week for copyright infringement, following the leads of the New York Times and others. The companies are seeking $2,500 per violation — that would add up quickly — in addition to the removal of the violating material. “Big Tech has decimated journalism,” Raw Story founder John Byrne said. “It’s time that publishers take a stand.”
5: AI-focused chip maker Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, says we’re just five years away from artificial general intelligence, where AI systems can outperform humans in most cognitive tests.
90: JPMorgan Chase claims its new AI-powered cashflow management tool was able to help clients cut back on manual labor by 90% and made it easier to “analyze and forecast cashflows.” The tool is currently free, though the company is considering charging in the future.FILE PHOTO: Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk pauses during an in-conversation event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, Britain, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
Musk takes OpenAI to court
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman late last week, saying that they breached the terms of a contract by prioritizing their profits over the public good. In 2015, Musk helped found and fund OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research lab-turned-industry leader. He resigned as co-chair of the company’s nonprofit board of directors in 2018, citing conflicts of interest with his own company, Tesla, which was investing heavily in AI.
Now, Musk alleges that OpenAI violated the terms under which he gave money to OpenAI, but no one seems to have written down those terms.
The Verge points out that the complaint hinges on the violation of a “Founding Agreement,” an alleged oral contract that Musk feels was formed in the course of business discussions. If a court finds that a contract was formed – and courts aren’t usually friendly to oral contracts – Musk is requesting that the court compel OpenAI to revert back to its original nonprofit mission, including making research data publicly available, instead of the profit-motivated one that’s turned it into a $80 billion juggernaut.
There’s one other thing that Musk-watchers should keep in mind: Musk currently runs an AI startup of his own, xAI, which has a chatbot called Grok. This means his business directly competes with OpenAI. Is it any wonder he’s resorting to litigation that could take OpenAI down a peg?
The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022.
The FTC takes on Amazon, Canadian investigation ongoing
The FTC says the online mega-retailer has engaged in a “pattern of illegal conduct” that includes blocking competitors, inflating prices, crushing innovation, and reducing market quality.
In essence, the FTC claims that Amazon traps consumers and sellers in its orbit, dominating market share and exploiting its position to undermine independent sellers and reduce choice for consumers while also using its position to drive up prices. It also alleges that Amazon games its search results to push its own products.
Amazon denies the allegations and says the lawsuit would hurt businesses and consumers alike, sending prices higher and slowing delivery speeds. It’s ready to fight back, and as a company valued at roughly $1 trillion, it has the resources to do so.
Anyone looking for a quick resolution is going to be disappointed. Canada launched an antitrust investigation into Amazon in August 2020. That probe is ongoing, and the Competition Bureau has not said when it expects to complete its work, which would precede any further action.
In 2022, the Canadian government amended its Competition Act to introduce stiffer fines and penalties for businesses that violated the law. Under the new rules, businesses like Amazon could be on the hook for as much as 3% of their annual gross revenues worldwide if found to be abusing their dominant market position, which is a lot more than the previous cap of CA$10 million.
We’re keeping an eye on how the FTC and Competition Bureau lawsuits and investigations proceed, and whether Amazon adjusts any of its practices in the meantime. It’s doubtful they will. In 2022, in Canada, the company threatened to shutter Marketplace if the government strengthened competition regulations, though it didn’t go through with the plans.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at a joint press conference with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup in Seoul, South Korea, 31 January 2023.
What We’re Watching: Pentagon leak fallout, Manhattan DA sues House Republicans, new source of tension in Ethiopia
The fog of leaks
Fallout continues from the leak of secret US documents related to the war in Ukraine. The leaked info suggests that Egypt, one of the world’s largest recipients of US military aid, planned to secretly supply Russia with tens of thousands of rockets for use in Ukraine and that the United Arab Emirates, also a key US ally, would help Russia work against US and UK intelligence. Egypt and the UAE say these reports are false.
Another document suggests that US eavesdropping on its ally South Korea indicated that aides to South Korea’s president had discussed sending artillery shells to the US or Poland for use by Ukraine, a move that would violate South Korea’s policy of refusing to export weapons to any country at war.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has claimed that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated,” but he isn’t saying what’s true and what isn’t. The world may never know who leaked these documents, why they were leaked, and which parts of them, if any, were entirely fabricated or partially altered. But the headaches for those who must now repair damaged international relationships are real, and the domestic political fallout for leaders of some of these countries, particularly South Korea, will continue.
Manhattan DA sues House Republicans
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday that he’s suing House Republicans for allegedly interfering in the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
Bragg’s lawsuit is focused on the actions of Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. In the 50-page suit, Bragg accuses Jordan of “a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” the district attorney as his office pursues criminal charges against the former president for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws by making a hush-money payment to a porn star.
House Republicans have demanded that Bragg’s office hand over documents and testimony related to the Trump case, insisting that the committee has oversight rights. Crucially, Jordan had issued a subpoena for Mark F. Pomerantz to deliver a closed-door deposition. Pomerantz is a former assistant DA who left his job last year after Bragg reportedly opposed a wider tax-and-insurance fraud prosecution of Trump, which Pomerantz favored.
Bragg has sued to block the subpoena saying it amounts to “an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation.”
Whatever happens, as this case makes its way through the courts, Jordan will be delayed in getting his hands on the documents and testimony he is seeking.
Fresh unrest hits Ethiopia
For almost a week now, protests have raged in the Ethiopian region of Amhara over a federal government plan to absorb local security forces into the national army.
The tensions are only the latest example of how fragmented Africa’s second most populous country has become. It was just months ago that the government finally reached a peace deal with separatist militants from the region of Tigray, ending a gruesome civil war that had displaced millions.
In that conflict, as it happens, Amhara’s local forces fought alongside the government, pursuing long-standing grievances and territorial claims against their Tigrayan neighbors.
Now Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed wants to eliminate all regional forces of that kind. For Abiy, it’s necessary to strengthen national unity. He won’t back down, he says, even if a “price needs to be paid.” But the Amharas worry that without those forces, they’ll be vulnerable to fresh attacks from other ethnic groups or the federal government itself.
That puts Abiy in a familiar bind. Five years after popular protests swept him to power with a mandate to liberalize Ethiopia’s political system, he is still struggling to master the country’s ferocious ethnic and regional rivalries.