Wikipedia is attempting to dissuade artificial intelligence developers from scraping the platform by releasing a dataset that’s specifically optimized for training AI models. The Wikimedia Foundation announced on Wednesday that it had partnered with Kaggle — a Google-owned data science community platform that hosts machine learning data — to publish a beta dataset of “structured Wikipedia content in English and French.”
Source: Wikipedia is giving AI developers its data to fend off bot scrapers
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the world is three to five years away from “artificial general intelligence” that will be equal to, if not better, than any human thinkers or creators today. It’s a prediction that, if true, could have tremendous consequences for music and other creative industries. “What happens when every single one of us has the equivalent of the smartest human [working] on every problem in our pocket?” he asked.
Netflix is building a new search experience aimed at improving the discovery experience, and it’s going to use AI to do it, the company’s CEO Greg Peters said during its first-quarter results conference call. Peters said Netflix is working on “interactive search that’s based on generative technologies” to help people find different titles.
Source: Netflix is revamping search with AI to improve discovery | TechCrunch
Asked on Thursday’s earnings call about the current worldwide economic uncertainty, which for lay people means President Trump’s tariffs, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters acknowledged he is “playing close attention, clearly, to the consumer sentiment and where the broader economy is moving.” Not that he and his fellow co-CEO Ted Sarandos are worried.
Source: Netflix Is “Paying Close Attention” to Tariffs Talk, But Believes It’s “Less Exposed” Than Others
A recession now could be the thing that pushes linear TV off the edge. “Given the ongoing secular headwinds facing the linear TV ecosystem, we worry that television could mirror the fate of radio and newspapers during past recessions,” MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson wrote in an April 9 report, adding that $45 billion in ad revenue could be lost in a recessionary situation.
Source: Volatility Bites: Why Hollywood Is Terrified of Tariffs
Los Angeles-based Pex, an audio content identification platform, has been acquired. Pex’s new owner is a company called Vobile, which offers digital content protection and transaction services for entertainment companies, platforms, sports leagues, music labels, and publishers. Vobile has confirmed that Pex COO Amadea Choplin has joined the company as Head of Music Business, while founder Rasty Turek, formerly CEO, will act as a consultant to Vobile going forward.
Source: Pex acquired by copyright protection and content monetization company Vobile
The strongest argument artists can make is that the unfettered advance of AI technologies that experts can neither understand nor control won’t greatly benefit humanity on balance — it’ll harm us. And for that reason, forcing artists to be complicit in the creation of those technologies is inflicting something terrible on them: moral injury. Moral injury is what happens when you feel you’ve been forced to violate your own values.
Source: The real argument artists should be making against AI
The last time the courts seriously weighed the wisdom of breaking up a giant technology company was a quarter-century ago, after Microsoft was found to have illegally stifled competition in personal computer software. A Federal District Court judge said yes to forcing Microsoft to split in two. But an appeals court threw out the order, calling the breakup option “a remedy that is imposed only with great caution, in part because its long-term efficacy is rarely certain.”
Source: Why Antitrust Breakups of Google and Meta Could Be Difficult
The BBC’s recent study into AI-generated news summaries is a sobering reminder of the potential and profound limitations of generative AI. While artificial intelligence is often lauded as the inevitable next step in media evolution, the findings from this trial expose a more unsettling truth: AI, in its current form, is incapable of reliably processing and presenting accurate news.
Deepfake detection and takedown service Loti AI has secured an additional $16.2 million in series A funding led by Khosla Ventures with additional investments from FUSE, Bling Capital, and Ensemble. This brings the startup’s total raised to date to $23 million. Loti AI is working to drive development and market expansion of its likeness protection technology, which initially launched for public figures and celebrities.
Source: Deepfake Detection Startup Loti AI Secures Additional $16.2 Million in Series A Funding