Technology

DOJ Drops Google AI Divestment Plan but Pushes Forward in Antitrust Battle

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has abandoned a proposal that would have required Alphabet Inc.’s Google to divest from artificial intelligence firms. Despite dropping the AI divestment demand, the DOJ and a coalition of 38 state attorneys general are pushing for a court order that would compel Google to sell its Chrome browser and implement additional measures to address its illegal search monopoly.

Source: DOJ Drops Google AI Divestment Plan but Pushes Forward in Antitrust Battle | PYMNTS.com

EU Lawmakers Push Back on U.S. Criticism of Tech Antitrust Regulation

A group of European Union lawmakers wrote to top U.S. officials to push back on accusations that the bloc is using its new digital competition rules to treat American tech giants unfairly, saying that some U.S. companies are calling for its enforcement. The letter, seen by Dow Jones Newswires, was sent to U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday.

Source: EU Lawmakers Push Back on U.S. Criticism of AI Tech Regulation

Christie’s AI art auction outpaces expectations, bringing in more than $728,000

The sale, which finished earlier today, contained 34 lots dating from the 1960s to today and totalled a middling $728,784 (with fees), against a pre-sale low estimate of $600,000 (calculated without fees). By far the top lot was Machine Hallucinations – ISS Dreams – A (2021) by Refik Anadol, the pioneering Turkish-American artist known for his large-scale immersive installations who plans to open the first AI arts museum, Dataland, in Los Angeles later this year.

Source: Christie’s AI art auction outpaces expectations, bringing in more than $728,000

UK competition watchdog drops Microsoft-OpenAI probe

The UK competition watchdog has ended its investigation into the partnership between Microsoft and the maker of ChatGPT, OpenAI. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded that, despite Microsoft investing billions of dollars into OpenAI and having exclusive uses of some of its AI products, the partnership remains the same, so is not subject to review under the UK’s merger rules. Digital rights campaigners, Foxglove, said it showed the CMA had been “defanged.”

Source: UK competition watchdog drops Microsoft-OpenAI probe

Anthropic Raises $3.5 Billion to Develop Next-Generation AI Systems 

Anthropic raised $3.5 billion in a Series E funding round to expand its artificial intelligence offerings. “With this investment, Anthropic will advance its development of next-generation AI systems, expand its compute capacity, deepen its research in mechanistic interpretability and alignment,” the company said in a Monday (March 3press releaseThe round gave Anthropic a post-money valuation of $61.5 billion, according to the release.

Source: Anthropic Raises $3.5 Billion to Develop Next-Generation AI Systems | PYMNTS.com

Ron Wyden Presses FTC For Disclosure Rules On Ownership Rights Of Digital Purchases

Sen. Wyden (D-Oregon) wants the guidance to include how long a license lasts, what circumstances might expire or revoke the license, and if a consumer can transfer or resell the license. The letter also calls for the information “before and at the point of sale” in a way that’s easily understandable. “To put it simply, prior to agreeing to any transaction, consumers should understand what they are paying for and what is guaranteed after the sale,” Wyden says.

Source: Ron Wyden Presses FTC For Disclosure Rules On Ownership Rights Of Digital Purchases

Podcastle launches a text-to-speech model with more than 450 AI voices 

Podcast recording and editing platform Podcastle is now joining other companies in the AI-powered, text-to-speech race by releasing its own AI model called Asyncflow v1.0. Thanks to the new model, the company is able to offer more than 450 AI voices that can narrate your text. The startup said that it developed the technology and model in such a way that its training and inference costs are low, giving it an advantage against competitors.

Source: Podcasting platform Podcastle launches a text-to-speech model with more than 450 AI voices | TechCrunch

UK unions call for action to protect creative industry workers as AI develops

Action is needed to protect workers in creative industries amid huge changes in technology and artificial intelligence, unions have urged. The TUC said there was an urgent need to put in place “proper guardrails” for workers ranging from artists, writers and journalists to teachers and academics. The union organisation said government proposals for copyright and an AI framework, which are under consultation, needed to go further to protect creative workers.

Source: UK unions call for action to protect creative industry workers as AI develops

$500m-valued Suno has admitted training AI on copyrighted music. 

The platform’s controversial reputation in the music industry doesn’t seem to have prevented tech giant Amazon– owner of Spotify rival Amazon Music– from partnering with it. Amazon has unveiled a new AI-powered version of its Alexa voice assistant, and among the capabilities of the “next-generation” Alexa+ is an integration with Suno. Amazon’s willingness to do business with AI companies at odds with the music industry isn’t limited to the integration with Suno.

Source: $500m-valued Suno has admitted training AI on copyrighted music. 

Snoop Dogg Ditches Spotify After Paltry Royalty Check, Inks Exclusive With Tune.fm

So long, Spotify: Snoop Dogg says he’s “ditching” the streaming service for blockchain-powered competitor Tune.fm, where he’s exclusively released a new single. In no uncertain terms, the longtime crypto enthusiast Snoop Dogg attributed the switch to his allegedly miniscule Spotify royalty payments. And on that front, the rap mainstay said he’d pocketed only $45,000 or so from a staggering one billion Spotify streams.

Source: Snoop Dogg Ditches Spotify After Paltry Royalty Check, Inks Exclusive With Tune.fm

Get the latest RightsTech news and analysis delivered directly in your inbox every week
We respect your privacy.