France Plans a Revolution to Rein in the Kings of Big Tech
8
Dec
Cédric O, the French digital affairs minister, says taxes are just a start; future moves could ban acquisitions or make companies share data with rivals.
Category Archives: Business
How Deepfakes Scramble Our Sense of True and False
7
Dec
Artificial intelligence enables more realistic—but fictitious—images and sounds. Researchers are racing to develop better detection tools.
Bernie Sanders Says Internet Service Should be a Human Right
6
Dec
The Vermont senator and presidential candidate proposed a $150 billion plan to expand broadband, including regulating rates for internet service.
What’s an Influencer? The Complete WIRED Guide
6
Dec
Everything you need to know about what an influencer is, the history of influencers, the difference between influencers and celebrities, and more.
You Can Have Collaborative Software That’s Wary of the Cloud
6
Dec
Research lab Ink & Switch wants to harness the benefits of productivity and communication without forcing users to give up control of their data.
Larry, Sergey, and the Mixed Legacy of Google-Turned-Alphabet
6
Dec
With Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepping back (again\!), Google CEO Sundar Pichai is now in charge of Alphabet—and its dysfunction.
What Happens When Computers Learn to Read Our Emotions?
5
Dec
As sensors connected to artificial intelligence proliferate, machines will see right through our poker face.
Airbnb Purges More Than Half of Its Boston Listings
4
Dec
The home-sharing service is adopting a more conciliatory tone with local regulators ahead of an expected initial public offering next year.
Facebook’s Head of AI Says the Field Will Soon ‘Hit the Wall’
4
Dec
Jerome Pesenti is encouraged by progress in artificial intelligence, but sees the limits of the current approach to deep learning.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin Hand Over Alphabet’s Reins
4
Dec
Google chief Sundar Pichai is now also the CEO of Alphabet, but Page and Brin aren’t totally out of the picture.
Why YouTube Won’t Ban Trump’s Misleading Ads About Biden
3
Dec
Google says it’s against company policies for advertisers to make false claims, but when it comes to politicians, not all lies are created equal.
Senators Protest a Health Algorithm Biased Against Black People
3
Dec
A study found that the formula discriminated against black people by counting health care costs as an indicator of illness.
How Amazon Ended Up With Auschwitz Christmas Ornaments for Sale
3
Dec
The offensive items appear to be the byproduct of an increasingly automated ecommerce landscape.
Fulcrum, which provides freelance placement opportunities for technical projects, raises $1 million
2
Dec
La Jolla, Calif.-based Fulcrum, a job placement company for technical projects, has raised $1 million in a seed round of funding from the local technology investment firm Greatscale Ventures along with several private co-investors, the company said. The company has what it calls a fully compliant service for hiring freelancers onto technical projects that had […]
Amazon Joins Tech’s Great Quantum Computing Race
2
Dec
The company’s AWS unit will allow customers to tap quantum machines from three startups. The offering follows a similar service from Microsoft.
One Free Press Coalition Spotlights Journalists Under Attack
2
Dec
Sophia Xueqin Huang, a journalist who has covered the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong has been detained since October on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
Would You Pay Someone $40 to Keep You Focused on Work?
2
Dec
I procrastinate. I get distracted. This San Francisco startup wants to help me (and everyone else) by coaching its clients through their to-do lists.
Sleepwalkers Podcast: Artificial Intelligence Is Watching Us and Judging Us
1
Dec
In China, ubiquitous cameras surveil restive minorities. In the US, algorithms determine whether people get locked up.
Sleepwalkers Podcast: What Happens When Machines Find Their Creative Muse
29
Nov
Artificial intelligence algorithms are creating portraits, movies, and music, though the results are often … mechanical.
Hey Congress, How’s That Privacy Bill Coming Along?
29
Nov
As the year winds down without any federal online privacy law to show for it, Senate Democrats introduce new legislation and a set of “privacy principles.”
Sleepwalkers Podcast: Rethinking Our Relationship With AI
27
Nov
A podcast series examines AI and its influence on humans.
The Guy Behind Bloomberg2020.org: ‘We Know How to Do Logos’
27
Nov
When an ad exec snagged a key election domain, he shared the news with just one other person: ex-White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci.
Cybertruck Swag Has Flooded Amazon and Etsy
26
Nov
Elon Musk isn’t the only one capitalizing on the Cybertruck’s popularity.
What’s a Digital Bill of Rights Without Enforcement?
26
Nov
Google and Facebook are backers of the Contract for the Web, which lists privacy as a core principle. But the companies continue to slurp up user data.
Think App Updates Suck? Try Upgrading a Programming Language
25
Nov
Coders face their own version of update hell. Users of an old version of the popular Python language face a reckoning at the end of the year.
Tainted Data Can Teach Algorithms the Wrong Lessons
25
Nov
Researchers show how AI programs can be sabotaged by even subtle tweaks to the data used to train them.
Amazon Doesn’t Favor Its Own Brands—Except When It Does
24
Nov
The company told House investigators that it ‘gates’ its own private-label products. Here’s why that matters.
Why Did PayPal Pay $4 Billion for a Coupon Browser Extension?
23
Nov
Honey’s value may be in its mobile app, which solved a problem retailers have struggled with for years—and could give PayPal an edge.
Text-Savvy AI Is Here to Write Fiction
23
Nov
GPT-2 was once considered “too dangerous” to make public. Now it’s taking on National Novel Writing Month.
Google Employees Protest to Fight for the ‘Future of Tech’
23
Nov
A group of 200 Googlers gathered outside the company’s San Francisco office Friday as tensions between management and employee activists show no sign of letting up.