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OpenAI announced this week that it was removing Sky, one of the voices used by its new GPT-4o model, after users found it bore an uncanny resemblance to Scarlett Johansson’s AI character in “Her.” The actress released a statement saying she had retained legal counsel to inquire into how the voice was developed. Although the company claims the voice was not based on Johansson’s, the actress said OpenAI had already approached her about using her voice for the model.
The U.S. Department of Justice and 30 state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster’s parent company, for alleged monopolistic practices. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news conference that Live Nation is “stifling its competition.” The lawsuit comes after lawmakers took a closer look at the entertainment giant’s control of the industry, sparked by Taylor Swift fans’ frustrating attempts to buy tickets for the Eras tour in late 2022.
This week also had a big shakeup at Techstars. CEO Maëlle Gavet announced her departure from the company at the end of the month, replaced by David Cohen, co-founder and chairman of the board. Gavet’s leadership style was the subject of controversy during his tenure. A TechCrunch investigation revealed accusations of an “autocratic and punitive” culture that led to a significant exodus of workers.
News
Slack may be training its AI from your messages: Slack leverages its own user data to train some of its new AI services. If you do not want your data to be part of a training set, you must email Slack to opt out. Learn more
Humane may be looking for a buyer: After a bumpy launch of Humane’s Ai Pin at $700, Bloomberg reports that the company may be looking to sell — and it’s been priced between $750 million and $1 billion. Learn more
Microsoft Build explores AI-focused hardware: At its annual developer conference, Microsoft launched Copilot+ PCs and announced new AI capabilities for Windows, including an upcoming “Reminder” feature. Learn more
Spotify is testing a Spanish-speaking AI DJ: Spotify is developing an alternative version of its AI DJ feature that will speak Spanish. References to “DJ Livi” were spotted in the app’s code by tech veteran and reverse engineer Chris Messina. Learn more
Free laundry tip? : Two UC Santa Cruz students discovered a security flaw that allowed anyone to avoid paying for laundry delivered by more than a million internet-connected washing machines. Learn more
Lord memes for Biden: President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is looking to hire a meme manager as it continues to try to attract young voters. Learn more
ChatGPT app sees revenue increase: OpenAI’s launch of GPT-4o resulted in the company’s largest mobile revenue surge ever, despite the model being available for free on the web. The app earned $4.2 million on the App Store and Google Play after its launch. Learn more
FCC Takes On AI-Generated Political Ads: The FCC has issued a requirement that AI-generated content be disclosed in political ads. The proposal would apply to “cable operators, satellite television and radio providers,” but not streamers or YouTube. Learn more
The secret to getting into Y Combinator: Y Combinator accepts less than 1% of the applications it receives. In conversation with General Catalyst’s Teresa Carlson, CEO Garry Tan revealed the “secret sauce” to getting into the startup accelerator. Learn more
Adobe Emulator vs iOS: Adobe threatened legal action against retro gaming emulator Delta because it believed the app’s logo looked too similar to its own. Delta’s icon was supposed to be a stylized Greek letter delta, but the logo was updated to avoid any issues. Learn more
Analysis
Meta’s AI board lacks diversity: Meta announced the creation of a new AI advisory board, made up entirely of white men. Unfortunately, this isn’t all that surprising. Dominic-Madori Davis, Amanda Silberling, and Kyle Wiggers explore how women and people of color have played key roles in the AI revolution, even as they continue to be overlooked. Learn more
Behind the OpenAI resignations: OpenAI’s Superalignment team was created to develop ways to govern and direct “superintelligent” AI systems. The company prevented the team from doing this work and limited its resources, leading several team members to resign, including co-lead Jan Leike. Learn more
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