 |
|
|
|||||
The Internet Archive has often been a valuable resource for journalists, from it's finding records of deleted tweets or providing academic texts for background research. However, the advent of AI has created a new tension between the parties. A few major publications have begun blocking the nonprofit digital library's access to their content based on concerns that AI companies' bots are using the Internet Archive's collections to indirectly scrape their articles."A lot of these AI businesses are looking for readily available, structured databases of content," Robert Hahn, head of business affairs and licensing for The Guardian, told Nieman Lab. "The Internet Archives API would have been an obvious place to plug their own machines into and suck out the IP."The New York Times took a similar step. "We are blocking the Internet Archive's bot from accessing the Times because the Wayback Machine provides unfettered access to Times content including by AI companies without authorization," a representative from the newspaper confirmed to Nieman Lab. Subscription-focused publication the Financial Times and social forum Reddit have also made moves to selectively block how the Internet Archive catalogs their material. Many publishers have attempted to sue AI businesses for how they access content used to train large language models. To name a few just from the realm of journalism:The New York Times sued OpenAI and MicrosoftThe Center for Investigative Reporting sued OpenAI and MicrosoftThe Wall Street Journal and New York Post sued PerplexityA group of publishers including The Atlantic, The Guardian and Politico sued CoherePenske Media sued GoogleThe New York Times and the Chicago Tribune sued PerplexityOther media outlets have sought financial deals before offering up their libraries as training material, although those arrangements seem to provide compensation to the publishing companies rather than the writers. And that's not even delving into the copyright and piracy issues also being fought against AI tools by other creative fields, from fiction writers to visual artists to musicians. The whole Nieman Lab story is well worth a read for anyone who has been following any of these creative industries responses to artificial intelligence.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/publishers-are-blocking-the-internet-archive-for-fear-ai-scrapers-can-use-it-as-a-workaround-204001754.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
As fans and media prepare to descend on the Bay Area for Super Bowl LX, what does a high-tech city like San Francisco do? Why, call in the robotaxis, of course. On Thursday, Alphabet's Waymo began offering fully autonomous rides at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).There are some limits. For now, SFO access is restricted to "a select number of riders." However, access will gradually expand over the coming months. The service is also limited to the SFO Rental Car Center (pickups and drop-offs) at launch. Waymo says it will expand to other airport locations, including terminals, "in the future."The San Francisco Standard notes that SFO is now the third airport in Waymo's repertoire. The San Francisco launch follows the company's service at Phoenix Sky Harbor and San Jose Mineta. As for the Bay Area, Waymo now serves more than 260 square miles in the region.Unfortunately, this isn't Waymo's only appearance in the news this week. On Wednesday, the company said one of its robotaxis struck a child, who sustained minor injuries. The incident took place on January 23 in Santa Monica. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/waymo-begins-service-at-san-francisco-international-airport-192913050.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Apple has acquired Israel-based startup Q.ai, a move that could provide a much-needed boost to the tech giant's capabilities in artificial intelligence. Although Apple has not disclosed terms of the deal, sources told Financial Times that the arrangement is reportedly valued at nearly $2 billion. If that figure is accurate, the Q.ai acquisition marks Apple's second largest acquisition to date, followed by its purchase of Beats for $3 billion back in 2014.Johny Srouji, Apples senior vice president of hardware technologies, said in a statement that Q.ai "is a remarkable company that is pioneering new and creative ways to use imaging and machine learning." Apple hasn't shared any specifics about how it plans to leverage the startup, but its past work indicates the possibility of Apple moving deeper into AI-powered wearables. "Patents filed by Q.ai show its technology being used in headphones or glasses, using 'facial skin micro movements' to communicate without talking," the Times reported. The startup's founding team, including CEO Aviad Maizels, will join Apple as part of the deal. This acquisition marks Maizels' second sale to Apple; he previously founded a three-dimensional hearing business called PrimeSense that Apple bought back in 2013.For several months, many tech insiders have speculated that an acquisition might be Apple's best path forward to catching up in the AI race. In the company's Q3 earnings call in July 2025, CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that "Were open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap." A deal like this one could eventually lead to Apple developing its own fully in-house AI chatbot rather than relying on a competitor like Google to power artificial intelligence in its Siri assistant.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-acquires-qai-for-a-reported-2-billion-190017949.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||