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Topic: Alphabet

Italian watchdog OKs Google's commitments to end data case (Unsplash) News 

Italian Regulatory Body Approves Google’s Promises to Resolve Data Dispute

Adriana Marais,

Italy’s competition watchdog, AGCM, announced on Monday that it has approved the commitments put forth by Google to resolve a case concerning the company’s alleged misuse of its dominant position in the market for user data portability. The regulator launched an investigation last year following a complaint by Italian startup Hoda, which accused Google of violating the US company’s users’ right to share their personal data with other digital service platforms. In response to the probe, Google proposed some changes to its data backup service to improve users’ ability to…

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Google Street View’s cameras have returned to Germany. (Google) News 

Germany to Receive Fresh Images from Google Street View After 10 Years

Adriana Marais,

After facing privacy concerns in Germany that led to the discontinuation of image updates, Google Street View’s cameras have made a comeback in the country after a gap of over ten years. Alphabet Inc’s update starts with new images of the streets and landmarks of the country’s 20 largest cities and expands from there, the company said in a blog post published on Tuesday. Google voluntarily discontinued Street View in Germany in 2011 after opposition from data protection advocates and regulators. “We’ve been back on the road with our vehicles…

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Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., in Sun Valley, Idaho, US. (Bloomberg) AI 

Licensing Advanced AI Systems Proposed by OpenAI

Febin Mathew, , , , ,

OpenAI’s internal policy memo reveals its endorsement of the notion that individuals seeking to develop advanced artificial intelligence systems should obtain government licenses. Additionally, the document indicates the company’s readiness to disclose the data it employs for training image generators. The creator of ChatGPT and DALL-E outlined a series of AI policy commitments in an internal document following a May 4 meeting of White House officials and technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “We are committed to working with the US government and policymakers around the world to support…

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Race towards 'autonomous' AI agents grips Silicon Valley (REUTERS) AI 

Silicon Valley Accelerates Development of Autonomous AI Agents

Febin Mathew, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A new generation of AI assistants, equipped with advanced technology similar to ChatGPT and its competitors, is emerging, intensifying the competition in the field. This comes approximately ten years after the introduction of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. These new AI helpers possess enhanced autonomy, taking the capabilities of virtual assistants to a whole new level. Experimental systems running on GPT-4 or similar models are attracting billions of dollars as Silicon Valley races to capitalize on advances in artificial intelligence. The new assistants — often called “agents” or “co-pilots”…

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Employees say Roblox’s efforts have not gone far enough to address their concerns (REUTERS) Gaming 

Roblox Confronts Calls for Increased Diversity Among Staff

Adarsh V.K, , , ,

During a virtual all-hands meeting on Zoom in spring 2021, Roblox Corp., a prominent video-game company, addressed the issue of gender diversity among its top leadership. An employee raised the question via text, expressing concern about the limited representation of women in higher positions. Sources present at the meeting reported that David Baszucki, the co-founder and CEO of Roblox, acknowledged the query and explained that the company maintains rigorous hiring standards. Several women said they found the comment disparaging, but not surprising. In public and private forums, Baszucki, 60, and…

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The plan is “to build a good AGI with the overarching purpose of just trying to understand the universe,” Musk said. (REUTERS) AI 

Elon Musk Urges for ‘Secure’ Artificial Intelligence at xAI Startup

Adriana Marais, ,

During a Twitter Spaces discussion on Friday, Elon Musk stated that his new startup is undoubtedly vying with OpenAI. Musk’s latest venture, xAI, is his response to OpenAI, which is presently the most talked-about and well-financed participant in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence sector. During the conversation, Musk and employees of his new startup spoke highly of xAI’s mission. While the startup doesn’t have any products yet, it unveiled a new website this week with the goal of safely developing artificial intelligence, or AGI. The plan is to “build a…

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Seven companies including Alphabet, Meta and Apple surpass the $7.5 billion revenue threshold. News 

Tech Giants Must Abide by EU’s New Digital Market Regulations

Sanjay Patil, , , ,

Seven companies, primarily consisting of major American tech companies, have informed the European Commission that they fulfill the requirements to be categorized as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (the owner of TikTok), Meta, Microsoft, and Samsung have stated that they satisfy the criteria established by the EU when the new legislation was enacted. Additionally, Booking.com anticipates achieving gatekeeper status by the conclusion of this year and plans to inform the authorities accordingly. Gatekeepers are companies with an annual turnover in Europe of at least…

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Based on her public comments, Khan is unlikely to accept compromises from Amazon. (AP) News 

FTC Antitrust Suit to Take Aim at Amazon with Lina Khan at the Helm

Sanjay Patil, , , ,

Lina Khan, who heads the Federal Trade Commission, has initiated legal action against Amazon.com Inc. on three occasions. Currently, she is preparing for a significant legal battle against the company. According to documents reviewed by Bloomberg and three people familiar with the case, the agency plans to file a far-reaching antitrust lawsuit in the coming weeks that focuses on Amazon’s core online store. The main charge is expected to be that Amazon uses its power to reward online retailers who use its logistics services and punish those who don’t. FTC…

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Amazon, Google and Microsoft are just some of those cutting jobs. News 

2023’s Major Tech Industry Job Cuts

Jim Hendler, , , , , , , ,

The tech industry is facing significant challenges due to a struggling economy, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and notable business mistakes. As a result, job cuts were observed in 2022, but unfortunately, the number of layoffs has increased in 2023. Keeping track of these developments can be challenging, so we have gathered all the major layoffs in one comprehensive report, which will be regularly updated as the situation progresses. June Spotify layoffs Spotify continued its January layoff plans and announced in June that it would cut 200 jobs from its podcast…

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Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company, is not the only megacap seeing a moderation in sentiment. Consensus ratings for Apple and Microsoft have dropped too. (Bloomberg) AI 

Bernstein Cautions Alphabet on Rapid AI Development

Febin Mathew,

On Tuesday, Alphabet Inc. experienced another downgrade as Bernstein became the most recent firm on Wall Street to distance itself from the Google parent company. Shares were down 1.5% after the cut as markets outperformed. The stock is on track for its sixth negative session in the past seven, though it’s still up more than 30% this year. Analyst Mark Shmulik wrote that the stock’s narrative “has quickly caught up with fundamentals,” resulting in a balanced risk profile. The firm also noted risks associated with artificial intelligence, an emerging technology…

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the company is delivering internet service to remote areas by using beams of light. (AFP) News 

Alphabet Invests in Laser Technology to Provide Internet to Remote Locations

Nitin Misra

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, attempted to provide internet access to rural and remote regions through the use of high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere, but their efforts were unsuccessful. But now the company is delivering Internet service to remote areas using light beams. The project, called Taara, is part of Alphabet’s innovation lab called X, also known by the nickname “Moonshot Factory”. It was launched in 2016 after attempts to use stratospheric balloons to deliver internet ran into problems due to high costs, company executives said. This time things…

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The stakes are higher for Google in this latest clash with regulators as it concerns the company's biggest money maker News 

EU Regulators Take Action, Google May Have to Sell Adtech Business

Adriana Marais, , ,

EU regulators have warned Alphabet’s Google that it may need to divest a portion of its profitable adtech business to tackle concerns regarding anti-competitive behavior, potentially resulting in the company facing its most severe regulatory punishment yet. The European Commission made its accusations in a statement of objections to Google two years after it opened an investigation into things like favoring its own advertising services, which could also lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of Google’s annual global turnover. The stakes are higher for Google in this…

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Amazon, Google and Microsoft are just some of those cutting jobs. News 

2023’s Major Tech Company Layoffs

Nitin Misra, , , , , , , ,

The tech sector is facing a challenging time due to the convergence of a struggling economy, the COVID-19 outbreak, and some apparent business errors. Unfortunately, the number of job losses has increased in 2023, following the cuts made in the previous year. Keeping track of these developments can be difficult, but we have collated all the significant layoffs in a single location and will keep updating this article as the situation progresses. June Spotify hairstyles Spotify continued its layoff plans in January and announced in June that it would cut…

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Alphabet Inc Chief Executive Sundar Pichai received total compensation of about $226 million in 2022, more than 800 times the median employee's pay, the company said in a securities filing on Friday. News 

Alphabet CEO Pichai will receive more than $200 million in 2022 amid cost cuts

Jim Hendler, , ,

Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai received total compensation of about $226 million in 2022, more than 800 times the median employee salary, the company said in a securities filing on Friday. Pichai’s compensation included about $218 million in stock awards, according to the filing. The pay differences come at a time when Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has cut jobs worldwide. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced in January that it plans to cut 12,000 jobs worldwide in January, or 6 percent of its global workforce. . Earlier this month, hundreds…

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Alarmed at the success of Microsoft-owned OpenAI's ChatGPT, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has created a unit that will help the company build more capable AI systems safely and responsibly. News 

Google CEO Sundar Pichai creates the DeepMind project to develop advanced artificial intelligence systems

Adriana Marais, , , , , ,

Alarmed by the success of Microsoft-owned OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai have created a unit to help the company build more powerful AI systems safely and responsibly. This group, called Google DeepMind, brings together two leading research groups in the field of AI: Google Research’s Brain team and DeepMind. “Their collective achievements in AI over the last decade span AlphaGo, Transformers, word2vec, WaveNet, AlphaFold, sequential sequence models, distillation, deep reinforcement learning, and distributed systems and software frameworks such as TensorFlow and JAX for large-scale detection, training, and…

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The new division will be led by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and its setting up will ensure ”bold and responsible development of general AI News 

Alphabet merges Google Brain and DeepMind to boost artificial intelligence research

Adriana Marais, , , ,

Alphabet Inc is teaming up with Google Brain and DeepMind as it doubles down on AI research in its competition with rival systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. The new division will be led by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and its creation will ensure the “bold and responsible development of general artificial intelligence,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post Thursday. Alphabet said the merging teams have delivered several high-profile projects, including Transformer, a technology that formed the basis of some of OpenAI’s own work. Moving forward, Alphabet’s staff…

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Amazon said it was also updating the Kindle app, without offering specifics, and noted that its terms require parental involvement for users under 18. News 

Porn on Amazon’s Kindle app prompts warnings from Apple, Alphabet

Adriana Marais, , , ,

Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc have raised concerns with Amazon.com Inc after learning that children could access sexually explicit photos on the popular Kindle app, urging Amazon to strengthen its content controls. The warnings stemmed from questions asked by Reuters to spokespeople for the three companies about the ability for users to access and view online volumes of nude women’s photos, such as “75 hot fully nude photos of young people,” through the Kindle app. blonde” and “Real Erotica: Amateur Naked Girls – Vol. 4”. Some appeared to show women…

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First pilot Alex Hoffman seen inside a Waymo autonomous vehicle at a protest in Chandler, Ariz. (File photo) (REUTERS) News 

Waymo begins limited testing of its robot taxi service in San Francisco

Febin Mathew, ,

Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit Waymo said on Wednesday it had started testing in San Francisco. Runner testing will be limited to employee volunteers at the start. It is also the first expansion of robo-taxi service beyond the Phoenix, Arizona area. According to Waymo, its self-driving Chrysler Pacificas and Jaguar I-Pace electric SUVs have now traveled more than 20 billion kilometers using computer simulations. They have also driven 20 million kilometers on public roads in 25 cities since the start of the program. The initial phase of Waymo’s testing will include…

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A Reuters review revealed more than a dozen recently created YouTube channels that promoted Myanmar election-related disinformation while masquerading as news organizations or political programs (PA) News Reviews 

YouTube faces complaints for lax approach to election misinformation abroad

Febin Mathew, ,

After facing stiff criticism for not doing enough to stem disinformation ahead of the US presidential election, YouTube announced last week that it would remove videos that alleged fraud changed the contest outcome. But halfway around the world in Myanmar, which held a general election just five days after the U.S. vote and faced a wave of online disinformation, including unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, the new rules do not apply. Researchers on social media and civil society groups in Myanmar say the uneven standard is emblematic of YouTube’s relatively…

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A decade of antitrust efforts against parent company Google Alphabet Inc, including imposing fines totaling 8.2 billion euros ($ 10 billion), have done little to deter other tech companies to pursue apparently anti-competitive behavior. (AFP) News 

When Google fails fine, rewrite the rules

Adriana Marais, , , , ,

There’s a good reason smashing tech giants is the nuclear option: it’s a deterrent. If everything works as expected, you should never have to. On Tuesday, EU Competition Union chief Margrethe Vestager and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton announced a range of new tools to tackle the excesses of the West Coast’s best, including the possibility of dismantle them. If the legislation has the desired effect, the most extreme measures will remain intact. The EU is right to arm itself. A decade of antitrust efforts against parent company Google Alphabet…

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