Technology

Europe prepares AI charm offensive as industry trembles from tariff shocks

The European Commission is finalizing a plan to make its artificial intelligence rules more palatable to companies, as they scramble to adapt to American tariffs that have sent shockwaves through the global economy. The EU executive will launch a new “AI Continent” plan on Wednesday. According to an undated draft of the plan, the executive wants to “streamline” rules and get rid of “obstacles” that it feels are slowing companies in Europe down in competing with the U.S. and China.

Source: Europe prepares AI charm offensive as industry trembles from tariff shocks

Lowry: AI companies commiting mass theft and hiding behind the language of ‘training’

Ursula K. LeGuin once wrote, “There is no right answer to the wrong question.” And while AI might struggle to understand the quip, we human readers get the point immediately. To solve a problem, you have to focus on what really matters about it. That’s a big problem with the ongoing debate, most recently joined by Professor Nicholas Creel, over whether artificial intelligence models “learn” the same way as humans.

Source: Opinion – AI companies are commiting mass theft and hiding behind the language of ‘training’

Creating and sharing deceptive AI-generated media is now a crime in New Jersey

Creating and sharing deceptive media made with artificial intelligence is now a crime in New Jersey and open to lawsuits under a new state law. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Wednesday making the creation and dissemination of so-called deceptive deepfake media a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, and establishing a basis for lawsuits against perpetrators.

Source: Creating and sharing deceptive AI-generated media is now a crime in New Jersey

OpenAI and Google don’t like UK’s ‘opt out’ AI training plans either

OpenAI has published its response to the government’s consultation on the plans, and it calls for “a broad text and data mining exception” minus the opt-out aspect. Why? OpenAI cites the way the European Union’s AI legislation works, criticising it for having “created uncertainty about what opt-out methods are workable and valid, causing uncertainty for both AI companies and rightsholders”.

Source: OpenAI and Google don’t like UK’s ‘opt out’ AI training plans either

NAB Speakers Debate AI’s Impact On Jobs And Artists: ‘This is The Age of The Generalist’

The Future of Cinema Summit at the NAB Show opened Saturday morning with speakers who agreed that AI can make production faster and cheaper, but it can’t do everything. Meanwhile, the issue of jobs remained murky. “This is the age of the generalist,” suggested Eric Shamlin, CEO of AI-driven production studio Secret Level and co-chair of the TV Academy’s AI Task Force, during the SMPTE-produced summit.

Source: NAB Speakers Debate AI’s Impact On Jobs And Artists: ‘This is The Age of The Generalist’

The Silent Collapse: Generative AI’s Erosion of Photo Licensing Revenue 

Shutterstock reported full-year 2024 revenues of $935.3 million (up 7%), partly driven by the acquisition of Envato and $104 million in AI content licensing revenue—a figure projected to rise to $250 million by 2027. Meanwhile, Getty Images’ Creative revenue declined by 4.5% in 2024 despite overall corporate growth. This decline in core stock licensing, offset by growth in editorial and AI-related services, suggests an internal shift rather than expansion.

Source: The Silent Collapse: Generative AI’s Erosion of Photo Licensing Revenue – Kaptur

Perhaps Google is really worth nothing to the news industry

The era of Google’s dominance in search and advertising hasn’t been one in which the news sector has thrived. In fact, it has coincided with a calamitous collapse in revenues and a dramatic contraction of the industry overall. What they’re worth to us has been, overall, less than zero. The news industry has gone backwards. Yet news businesses still can’t conceive of managing without them.

Source: Perhaps Google is really worth nothing to the news industry

Runway, best known for its video-generating AI models, raises $308M 

Runway, a startup best known for its suite of generative AI media tools, has raised $308 million in a new funding round. “Today marks an important milestone as Runway announces a significant next step towards our goal of creating a new media ecosystem with world simulators,” the company wrote in the press release. “[Our recent] advancements aren’t merely incremental improvements; they form the foundation for an entirely new approach to media.

Source: Runway, best known for its video-generating AI models, raises $308M | TechCrunch

No, We’re Not Running Out of Training Data

While privacy, security, and technical challenges limit access to valuable private data, the biggest hurdle is commercial. There is no established system for companies to securely share proprietary data. Without a structured system for data sharing, vast amounts of valuable information will stay locked away, stifling AI-driven advancements and slowing innovation across industries.

Source: No, We’re Not Running Out of Training Data

Researchers suggest OpenAI trained AI models on paywalled O’Reilly books 

OpenAI has been accused by many parties of training its AI on copyrighted content sans permission. Now a new paper by an AI watchdog organization makes the serious accusation that the company increasingly relied on non-public books it didn’t license to train more sophisticated AI models. The new paper, out of the AI Disclosures Project, draws the conclusion that OpenAI likely trained its GPT-4o model on paywalled books from O’Reilly Media.

Source: Researchers suggest OpenAI trained AI models on paywalled O’Reilly books | TechCrunch

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