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A study has confirmed what we all suspected: K is officially the worst text you can send. It might look harmless enough, but this single letter has the power to shut down a conversation and leave the recipient spiraling. According to a study published in the Journal of Mobile Communication, K was ranked as the most negatively received response in digital conversationsworse than being left on read or even a passive-aggressive sure. The study found that the single-letter reply often signals emotional distance, passive-aggressiveness, or outright disinterest. Despite its brevity, K carries surprising emotional weight. Adding an extra lettermaking it kksoftens the tone of the reply entirely. Variants like ok or okay, while still cold, tend to be interpreted as neutral or merely formal. Many of our day-to-day conversations happen over text, which means there are now unspoken codes of conduct to follow. Opening up about your emotions but dont want to sound too serious? Make sure to add lol to the end of those texts to show youre just in a silly, goofy mood and not suicidal. Giving advice to a friend that you dont want to be held accountable for? Add an idk at the end of the sentence to mitigate culpability. Non-verbal cues like tone, facial expressions, and body language can be difficult to convey via our phones, leaving the door wide open for misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Sometimes generational differences also impact how we send and interpret texts. In some cases, textual miscommunications can be relationship killers, research has found. Some texters recognize the power of k and are willing to weaponize the letter to serve their own motives. One X user called it the digital equivalent of slamming the door while making dead eye contact. Another added: K is short for youre dead to me. Others advocate for the convenience of the single-letter response: Ive learned that rather than replying with a wall of text explaining how you feel, you should just type K and hit send. No sense in wasting your valuable words. Many suggested other similarly anxiety-inducing replies. Text her hes busy see how triggered she gets lol, one X user suggested. No lies told there Thumbs up is a very close second for me, another added. A third countered: I raise you we need to talk.
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E-Commerce
SoundCloud is facing backlash after creators took to social media to complain upon discovering that the music-sharing platform uses uploaded music to train its AI systems. According to SoundClouds terms of use, unless a separate agreement states otherwise, users explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop, or serve as input to artificial intelligence or machine intelligence technologies or services as part of and for providing the services. These terms appear to have been added to SoundClouds website in February 2024. Futurism was the first to report on artists concerns. Musical duo The Flight brought attention to the terms this week, alerting fellow creators. Ok then . . . deleted all our songs that we uploaded to SoundCloud and now closing account, the duo posted on Bluesky. Another user replied: Thanks for the heads-up. I just deleted my account. A SoundCloud spokesperson says the company believes AI can help expand artist’s creative output, but must be used with consent, attribution, and fair compensation. “SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a ‘no AI’ tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use. The February 2024 update to our Terms of Service was intended to clarify how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundClouds own platform. Use cases include personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification with the help of AI Technologies.” Tech companies have increasingly relied on public and private content to train AI systems, which require vast amounts of data to function effectively. To reflect this, companies have been revising their terms and conditions to include clauses about artificial intelligence and generative AI. In November, X updated its terms of service to allow training of its machine learning and AI models on user content. The Federal Trade Commission warned in February 2024 that companies risk violating the law if they quietly alter their privacy policies to use customer data for AI training without proper notice. “It may be unfair or deceptive for a company to adopt more permissive data practicesfor example, to start sharing consumers data with third parties or using that data for AI trainingand to only inform consumers of this change through a surreptitious, retroactive amendment to its terms of service or privacy policy,” the agency said in a post. Critics of such AI policy changes are urging companies to implement more transparent opt-out options or, ideally, require users to opt in. Like many other tech firms, SoundCloud has been embracing AI. In November, it launched six new AI tools designed to meet a wide range of creative needs. At that time, SoundCloud also announced it had joined AI For Musics Principles for Music Creation With AI” pledge, committing to uphold ethical and transparent AI practices that respect creators rights. SoundCloud is paving the way for a future where AI unlocks creative potential and makes music creation accessible to millions, while upholding responsible and ethical practices,” CEO Eliah Seton said in a November blog post. “Were proud to be the platform that supports creators at every level, fuels experimentation, and empowers fandom.” Update: This article has been updated to include comment from SoundCloud.
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E-Commerce
Switzerland’s president lamented disappointing talks Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s treasury secretary that did not ease stiff U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods, but she expressed hope for a solution to a more consequential U.S.-China face-off on tariffs in Geneva this weekend. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, who also serves as finance minister, said she was nonetheless encouraged by the talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as Switzerland tries to wriggle out of hefty 31% U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods as part of Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs on countries around the globe. Their meeting was only an appetizer for the potentially market-moving talks Saturday and Sunday between Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva. Keller-Sutter also met with the Chinese envoy, but said it was merely a courtesy. As for the U.S.-China talks, the Swiss leader alluded to the election of the first U.S.-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, and quipped: “I said to Secretary Bessent that apparently the Holy Spirit was in Rome yesterday, and I hope that he will come to Geneva over the weekend. The talks have been shrouded in secrecy and the Chinese and U.S. sides have declined to specify where they will take place other than somewhere in Geneva, which hosted U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021before Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While the U.S. administration has temporarily suspended the most severe tariffs against every target country except China, the 31% rateif restoredwould put Switzerland in a worse position than its neighbors in the European Union, which are to face 20% U.S. tariffs on EU goods. The Swiss government said its talks Friday with Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were convivial and constructive and were aimed to lay out the guidelines for a deal on the issue of customs duties to be discussed again in coming weeks. On April 9a week after Trump announced the U.S. reciprocal tariffshe spoke with Keller-Sutter by phone and later announced a pause in their implementation for 90 days and capped the additional U.S. tariffs at 10% for most countries, with the notable exception of China. Of course, it is disappointing,” Keller-Sutter said when asked about the lack of a deal in talks with Bessent, before alluding to her earlier phone conversation with Trump. I also told President Trump that this was not fair. But on the other hand, you know, I mean, were not looking back, we are looking forward. “And were really encouraged by the talks we had that were going to find a solution, and the U.S. side really engaged with Switzerland also to find a swift solution, she told reporters. Keller-Sutter trumpeted Swiss investment in the United States, saying it has created 400,000 jobs and average salary $130,000, which is a lot in the United States. She said she didn’t know whether her call with Trump on April 9 convinced him to ease back on the tariffs, before adding with a laugh: He should listen to women. Going into the weekend talks between Bessent and He, the U.S. slapped 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, and Beijing has responded with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods. Earlier Friday, Trump floated the prospect that those could be lowered sharply in a social media post. 80% Tariff on China seems right!” Trump wrote on his social media account, before alluding to Bessent. “Up to Scott B. Jamey Keaten, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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