AI

The AFL-CIO is pushing for Disney and Apple to explain how they use artificial intelligence.

OpenAI has offered some media firms as little as between $1 million and $5 million annually to license their news articles for use in training its large language models, according to two executives who have recently negotiated with the tech company. That’s a tiny amount even for small publishers, which could make it difficult for OpenAI to strike deals.

Microsoft is so confident AI is the future of computing that it’s adding a new button to the keyboards of Windows PCs dedicated to its Copilot AI assistant, starting with new machines to be announced at CES next week. It’s the first change to the Windows keyboard in 30 years, and the latest example of hardware makers betting on AI to both create new product categories and breathe life into older ones.

Organizers expect a larger turnout of attendees and exhibitors to CES in Las Vegas next week, where generative AI, IP delivery and new developments in NextGen TV are likely to draw broadcasters’ focus.

The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw legal lines.

Several major publishers have been in talks to license content to the creator of ChatGPT, but agreement on the price and terms has been elusive.

Here’s a look back at some of the biggest stories in social media in 2023 — and what to watch for next year. Pictured: Characters removed from a sign on the Twitter headquarters building are piled on a street in San Francisco on July 24, 2023. (Godofredo A. Vásque/AP)

In what will be a closely watched legal salvo, the publisher claims the generative artificial intelligence giant was using its writing “without permission to develop their models and tools.”

2024 will be the year the AI industry gets serious about trying to deliver results across a wide slice of business and life, moving beyond the hype surrounding the successes of ChatGPT and chipmaker Nvidia. Everyone using AI will be looking for proof that it’s making their life or work better following 2023’s surges of enthusiasm and fear. AI providers are hunting for profitable business models that can support expensive-to-run generative AI systems. Business leaders want to move beyond AI brainstorming and pilot phases and begin offering leaps in efficiency, productivity and creativity.

Experts are warning that the spread of misinformation could get worse in the coming presidential election contest. The safeguards that attempted to counter the bogus claims the last time are eroding, while the tools and systems that create and spread them are only getting stronger.

The company has discussed multiyear deals worth at least $50 million to train its generative AI systems on publishers’ news articles.

Executives from Fox News, Sinclair and Hearst Television discussed efforts underway to organize and capitalize on their massive archives at last week’s NewsTECHForum, where efficient — and more potentially inexpensive — methodologies are beginning to emerge.

This past week, Axel Springer, the German media conglomerate that owns Politico and Business Insider, signed a “multiyear licensing deal” with OpenAI worth tens of millions of euros. According to the company, the deal “will enrich users’ experience with ChatGPT by adding recent and authoritative content on a wide variety of topics,” in the form of “summaries of selected global news content.” Its stories will also be used to train OpenAI’s models. Now, as small startups, open source projects, and tech giants alike start to close the basic performance gap with OpenAI, and simultaneously start to figure out what their users, customers or potential customers actually find valuable — the subject of training data is back at the center of the conversation around AI.

The ChatGPT maker is charging ahead on selling AI. It’s also researching potential harms like helping people make bioweapons.

Top news executives from Tegna, Hearst Television, Spectrum News and The Weather Channel told a NewsTECHForum panel last week that safety, security, mental-health services and higher pay are all top prerogatives in a more dangerous and stressful newsroom environment.

AI is making it easy for anyone to create propaganda outlets, producing content that can be hard to differentiate from real news.

Leading technology executives from the BBC, AP, the Partnership on AI and Adobe said news organizations won’t be able to avoid the profound changes being ushered in by generative AI, and the time to frame up ethical and safe guidelines for its use is today.

The tech giant’s AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm.

Artificial intelligence went mainstream in 2023 — it was a long time coming yet has a long way to go for the technology to match people’s science fiction fantasies of human-like machines. Catalyzing a year of AI fanfare was ChatGPT. The chatbot gave the world a glimpse of recent advances in computer science even if not everyone figured out quite how it works or what to do with it. (Image: Matt Rourke/AP)

A founding editor of Quarta, he will build a small team in the newsroom to experiment with generative AI tools and prototype ideas. He will help design training programs for curious journalists and will partner with colleagues across the company to determine where to incorporate generative AI tools into our publishing tools and digital products.

The sports website created fake author profiles that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence.

Top executives from Tubi, Tegna, Sinclair, Cisco and Lawo told a TVNewsCheck webinar Tuesday that hybrid technology architectures and business models would be a major dynamic in 2024, along with an expanding and promising use of generative AI that also compels great caution. To watch the video of the full webinar, click here.

Google Gemini launched Wednesday in a long-awaited debut of the company’s most powerful artificial intelligence large language model. It is multimodal and capable of reasoning across text, images, audio, video and code. The company said it has started to experiment with Gemini in Search, where it is making Google’s Search Generative Experience faster for U.S. users, with a 40% reduction in latency in English. It also will become available in services like Search, Ads, Chrome and Duet AI.

AI is changing media sales. ChatGPT automates tasks and creates efficiencies, but OpenAI’s leadership changes show the need for a strategic approach to AI integration. ShareBuilders offers tailored AI solutions prioritizing data safety and flexibility.

Campaigns on the state and federal level will be required to clearly say which political advertisements airing in Michigan were created using artificial intelligence under legislation expected to be signed in the coming days by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. It also would prohibit use of AI-generated deepfakes within 90 days of an election without a separate disclosure identifying the media as manipulated. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Sports Illustrated on Monday said it had deleted several articles from its website after a report found the once-celebrated legacy magazine had published the pieces under fake author names and profile images generated by artificial intelligence. The report, which was published by Futurism, found that the magazine had repeatedly published articles whose authors could not be found online outside the Sports Illustrated website. The articles were all accompanied by AI-generated profile photos that Futurism also found for sale on digital marketplaces that sell AI-produced headshots.

San Francisco-based OpenAI said in a statement late Tuesday: “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board.” The board, which replaces the one that fired Altman on Friday, will be led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who also chaired Twitter’s board before its takeover by Elon Musk last year. The other members will be former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella tweeted that the U.S. tech giant is committed to its partnership with OpenAI, whose chatbot kicked off the generative AI craze by producing human-like text, images, video and music. On Monday, Microsoft said it has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team.

Sam Altman, who was forced out of his company on Friday afternoon, was quickly moving to create another company with another OpenAI executive who quit on Friday.