๐ AI Secrets Theft: Ex-Google Engineer Charged, Microsoft AI Creates Concerning Content, Facebook Enhances Videos with AI
Todayโs pick
Ex-Google engineer charged with stealing AI trade secrets while working with Chinese companies. A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, California, on four counts of federal trade secret theft, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. By Eric Tucker via AP NEWS
๐: A Chinese ex-Google engineer has been arrested for stealing sensitive AI technology on behalf of China. Of course, if companies like SpaceX try to prevent this dangerous technology theft by hiring Americans, the Biden Administration will sue them. - Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11)
Microsoft engineer warns company's AI tool creates violent, sexual images, ignores copyrights. Shane Jones, who's worked at Microsoft for six years, has been testing the company's AI image generator in his free time and told CNBC he is disturbed by his findings. He's warned Microsoft of the sexual and violent content that the product , Copilot Designer, is creating, but said the company isn't taking appropriate action. On Wednesday, Jones escalated the matter, sending letters to FTC Chair Lina Khan and to Microsoft's board, which were viewed by CNBC. By Hayden Field via CNBC
๐: A Microsoft AI engineer has spent months testing its AI image-generator, Copilot Designer. He's disturbed by the violent/sexual content it creates & MSFT's decision not to take it offline to investigate. On Wednesday, he notified the FTC. - Hayden Field (@haydenfield)
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Facebook is using AI to supercharge the algorithm that recommends you videos. Meta is revamping how Facebook recommends videos across Reels, Groups, and the main Facebook Feed, by using AI to power its video recommendation algorithm, Facebook head Tom Alison revealed on Wednesday. The world's largest social network has already switched Reels, its TikTok competitor, to the new engine, and plans to use it in all places within Facebook that show video โ the main Facebook feed and Groups โ as part of a "technology roadmap" through 2026, Alison said at a Morgan Stanley tech conference in San Francisco. By Pranav Dixit via Engadget
๐: My notes from $META call on MS Conference (Tom Alison: Head of Facebook) "Facebook Reels is now about kind of 1/3 of Facebook's video time. Facebook video time is over 50% of our overall time spent. And Facebook Reels has grown something on the order of 70% year-on-year." - Mostly Borrowed Ideas (@borrowed_ideas)
Big American Tech Profits From Chinese Ad Spending Spree. The trade relationship between China and the United States has plenty of friction. But at least one area is booming: Chinese start-ups looking to establish a presence in the West are spending billions of dollars for advertisements on services owned by some of Silicon Valleyโs biggest technology companies. By Daisuke Wakabayashi via The New York Times
๐: wondering why your feeds are flooded w/ ads from Temu and Shein lately? Chinese co's are flooding platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Google with ads to grow their businesses in the USA โ 10% of Meta's revenues come from china now - rat king (@MikeIsaac)
Kuo: Apple actively working on 20.3-inch foldable MacBook. We've been hearing a lot of rumors about Apple working on multiple foldable devices. While most of them refer to devices similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has now reported that Apple has been actively working on a foldable MacBook. Apple aims to launch foldable MacBook in 2027. ย By Filipe Espรณsito via 9to5Mac
๐: Recently, I've received many inquiries about whether Apple plans to mass-produce the foldable iPhone or iPad in 2025 or 2026. My latest survey indicates that currently, Apple's only foldable product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3-inch MacBook, expected to enter mass production in 2027. - Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo)
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