The power grid has an AI problem

March 24, 2024

(Morning Brew) AI data centers are sprouting up across the United States at a rate not seen since fro-yo took over strip malls in the 2000s. And their staggering growth is causing alarm that the country’s power grid doesn’t have the electricity capacity to absorb them without breaking. Read more here.

Stability AI CEO resigns because you’re ‘not going to beat centralized AI with more centralized AI’

March 23, 2024

(TechCrunch) Stability AI founder and chief executive Emad Mostaque has stepped down from the top role and from the unicorn startup‘s board, the buzzy firm said Friday night, making it the second hot AI startup to go through major changes this week. Read more here.

This Week in AI: Midjourney bets it can beat the copyright police

March 16, 2024

(TechCrunch) Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable research and experiments we didn’t cover on their own. Last week, Midjourney, the AI startup building image (and…

The delivery rider who took on his faceless boss

March 15, 2024

(Financial Times) On the morning of August 12 2020, the day he decided to fight the Uber Eats algorithm, Armin Samii woke earlier than usual. He dressed, made coffee and sat down at his computer where he remained for the next 16 hours, coding a web application and filming videos to show other couriers how…

Florida Man Sues G.M. and LexisNexis Over Sale of His Cadillac Data

March 14, 2024

(NYT) Romeo Chicco’s auto insurance rate doubled because of information about his speeding, braking and acceleration, according to his complaint. Read more here.

Amazon, Google Quietly Tamp Down Generative AI Expectations

March 12, 2024

(The Information) In the past year, major technology firms have championed generative artificial intelligence as the next big thing, boosting the stock market to new highs. But behind the scenes, representatives of major cloud providers and other firms that sell the technology are tempering expectations with their salespeople, saying the hype about the technology has gotten…

Should artists be paid for training data? OpenAI VP wouldn’t say

March 11, 2024

(TechCrunch) Should artists whose work was used to train generative AI like ChatGPT be compensated for their contributions? Peter Deng, VP of consumer product at OpenAI — the maker of ChatGPT — was loath to give an answer when asked on SXSW’s main stage this afternoon. Read more here.

Our faith in technology officially died this week

March 8, 2024

(Washington Post) I felt relieved when I started writing about technology full time more than 12 years ago. Many industries and people were still reeling from and angry about the Great Recession. The technology industry felt like an island of bubbly optimism about its future and ours. Faith in the magic of technology was painfully…

Microsoft’s AI Tool Generates Sexually Harmful and Violent Images, Engineer Warns

March 6, 2024

(WSJ) An artificial intelligence engineer at said the company’s AI image tool generated violent and sexual images that could pose a danger to society. In letters to the Federal Trade Commission and to Microsoft’s board on Wednesday, Shane Jones, a principal software engineering manager, addressed concerns he said he has about the tech giant’s “approach to responsible…

AI is Taking Water from the Desert

March 1, 2024

(The Atlantic) One scorching day this past September, I made the dangerous decision to try to circumnavigate some data centers. The ones I chose sit between a regional airport and some farm fields in Goodyear, Arizona, half an hour’s drive west of downtown Phoenix. When my Uber pulled up beside the unmarked buildings, the temperature was…