Techmeme
June 21, 2023, 12:30 PM

Top News

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
The US FTC files a lawsuit against Amazon over allegedly using “dark patterns” to enroll customers in Prime without consent and “sabotaged” attempts to cancel  —  - The FTC on Wednesday sued Amazon, alleging it tricked customers into signing up for its Prime subscription program …
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
A look at the recent debates in the AI industry over existential risks, as what were once considered extreme views have now become mainstream talking points  —  “Ghost stories are contagious.”  —  Who's afraid of the big bad bots?  A lot of people, it seems.
Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
A look at the White House's urgent push for AI regulation, as Biden meets with a group of AI experts for a non-industry perspective on risks and opportunities  —  President Joe Biden huddled in the Oval Office with several of his top advisers in early April as an aide typed prompts into ChatGPT …
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
A look at the vast and mostly hidden “tasker” underclass, including subject-matter experts, hired by companies like Scale AI to annotate data for AI training  —  As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere.
Zosha Millman / Polygon:
Ali Selim, the director and executive producer of Marvel's Secret Invasion, says Method Studios used AI to design the opening credits scene  —  ‘It just came right out of the shape-shifting, Skrull world identity’  —  The world of Secret Invasion is decidedly sketchy.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon plans to hold Prime Day on July 11 and July 12 and introduce an invite-only Prime Days deals program; an Indian version will be held “later this summer”  —  Amazon will hold its 2023 Prime Day sales event on Tuesday, July 11, and Wednesday, July 12, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant announced tonight.
Kana Inagaki / Financial Times:
Masayoshi Son says SoftBank plans to go on the “counteroffensive” soon by resuming AI investments; the group has $35B+ after halting investments in recent years  —  Billionaire chief talks up AI and reveals he had breakdown in October where he questioned his achievements as an entrepreneur
Sawdah Bhaimiya / Insider:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit suspended some moderators after they changed their subreddits to NSFW as “incorrectly marking a community as NSFW” violates its content and mod policies  —  Reddit has started removing moderator teams managing subreddits that switched the labeling on their communities to Not Safe For Work …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Instagram now lets US users download Reels posted by public accounts, adding a watermark logo and the account name for sharing, which TikTok has done for years  —  Instagram is finally letting users download Reels posted by others so they can share them outside the app.
Kat Bailey / IGN:
In a major reorganization, EA splits EA Games and EA Sports, and renames the former as EA Entertainment, signaling the company's possible expansion beyond games  —  EA is undergoing a major internal reorganization, with EA Games being renamed “EA Entertainment.”
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Twitch plans to require that streamers add new content labels for streams with sexual themes, graphic violence, drug use, gambling, or “significant” vulgarity  —  Twitch is rethinking the way it flags mature content, swapping its existing toggle for a more granular set of topic-specific labels.
Associated Press:
Bernie Sanders opens a Senate investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety practices and writes to Andy Jassy about “egregious health and safety violations”  —  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has opened a Senate investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety practices …
Xinghui Kok / Reuters:
Memo: Grab CEO Anthony Tan tells staff the company plans to cut 1,000+ jobs, or 11% of its workforce, citing costs and ensuring “even more affordable services”  —  Singapore-based Grab Holdings (GRAB.O), Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing and food delivery app …

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