Newsletter
Highlights:
OpenAI employees expose “a culture of recklessness and secrecy” and urge for changes in AI companies.
Apple is reportedly in talks for a partnership with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT into iOS18.
Meta’s new privacy policy is under scrutiny for using Facebook user’s data to train their AI models.
Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI founder and former chief scientist. Credits to Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Business
OpenAI Insiders Warn of a ‘Reckless’ Race for Dominance (NYTimes)
A group of nine current and former OpenAI employees have come together to blow the whistle on what they say is “a culture of recklessness and secrecy” as OpenAI races against the likes of Microsoft and Apple to build the most powerful AI systems. Prioritizing profits and growth, OpenAI discourages workers from voicing concerns and forces departing employees to sign restrictive nondisparagement agreements. The group published an open letter on Tuesday calling for AI companies to establish greater transparency and protections for whistle-blowers.
Apple's Big AI News at WWDC Includes an OpenAI Partnership, Report Says (CNET)
In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased “a huge opportunity” with AI. Recent reports from Bloomberg and other news outlets assert that those plans involve a partnership with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT into iOS 18, Apple’s next operating system. According to Bloomberg, Apple is also in talks with Google to license their Gemini chatbot and may offer a range of third-party chatbots.
Yellen to warn of 'significant risks' from use of AI in finance (Reuters)
It’s expected that today the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will deliver a speech warning about the “significant risks” from using artificial intelligence in finance despite the fact that it could lower transaction costs. Specifically, that “inadequate risk management frameworks” will result in new and perpetuated biases, and that outsourcing work to AI models will amplify existing third-party service provider risks.
Legal
Meta faces call in EU not to use personal data for AI models (Reuters)
Meta’s new privacy policy, slated to come into force on June 26th, would allow them to use the entire backlog of personal posts, images, and online tracking data from Facebook to train their AI. An advocacy group called NOYB (none of your business) is calling on European privacy enforcers to take action against using personal data without consent. Meta asserts that it’s all publicly shared and licensed data, although when a user uploads a photo with others, those other people can’t explicitly consent to be processed by an AI since it’s not their account.
FTC Is Reportedly Probing Microsoft’s Deal With Inflection AI (Forbes)
Microsoft’s recent transaction with Inflection AI, an artificial intelligence startup, is coming under scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for deliberately avoiding an antitrust review. In March, Microsoft hired the Inflection CEO and nearly all of their employees in a $650 million deal that allowed Windows to license their AI models. Because Microsoft did not gain any equity or acquire any intellectual property, they were able to avoid reporting it to federal regulators. Subpoenas have been sent to Microsoft and Inflection to see the “how and why” the deal was struck.
Credits to Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Technology
Humane warns AI Pin owners to ‘immediately’ stop using its charging case (The Verge)
On Wednesday, Humane sent out an email to customers warning them to cease using the charging case for the AI Pin immediately because of a “fire safety risk”. The issue lies with a third-party battery cell in the charging case solely. They are currently switching vendors and offering two free months to their subscription service but have not commented on offering a replacement case.
Credits to Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock
Life
10 generative AI certs and certificate programs to grow your skills (CIO)
The landscape of the workforce is rapidly changing thanks to generative AI. As companies seek to keep up, the demand for AI skills is soaring. This article recommends 10 certification programs ranging from free fundamental programs through Microsoft and IBM to a $4000 16-week bootcamp from Purdue University.
