Google appears to be in control of a major television network. According to internal data obtained by The Information, nearly half the time spent viewing the Alphabet company’s YouTube platform — 45 percent — now takes place on TV screens. That’s a significant increase from the 30 percent viewership the company reportedly logged for 2020. Coming on the heels of the IAB NewFronts, where digital platforms including Meta, TikTok and Snap were among those vying for advertiser attention, the story is well timed to help YouTube distinguish itself from competitors that seem focused largely on reaching mobile viewers. Continue reading Almost Half of YouTube Viewers Watch Video on TV Screens

In the wake of Microsoft’s phenomenal success with Bing Chat powered by OpenAI, Google is restyling its search platform to be conversationally driven using artificial intelligence. It also plans to add more social media posts and short videos to its search results, a significant shift from the “10 blue links” of website results that have traditionally served as the Google Search template. At its Google I/O developer conference today, Google is expected to showcase new AI features that it will incorporate into search as part of a new project code-named “Magi.” Continue reading Google to Restyle Search with a More ‘Snackable’ AI Touch

For those worried about AI creep — the insidious influence of artificial intelligence over everything from school classwork to career aspirations — Princeton University undergrad Edward Tian has an app for that. Tian has received $3.5 million in funding for an invention called GPTZero, which analyzes text to identify the work of generative AI. The 10-person team claims the tool has a 99 percent accuracy rate for human text and can score at about 85 percent when it comes to text written by AI. The company is now talking to media leaders about partnerships for AI detection and analysis. Continue reading GPTZero Fights Online AI Disinformation, School Plagiarism

Snap is testing sponsored links for My AI, the chatbot introduced a year ago with Snapchat+ and made available free to all users last month. “We’re experimenting with new ways that My AI can surface useful information at the right moment during conversations. This includes early testing of sponsored links to connect our community with partners relevant to the conversation in the moment,” Snap said as part of its NewFronts announcements, emphasizing paid chat links are in “an early, experimental phase.” Messaging is a core Snapchat functionality, making conversational AI a natural enhancement, Snap Americas president Rob Wilk said. Continue reading Snap Promotes ‘My AI’ Sponsored Links Tests, New Ad Slots

The Biden administration has committed $140 million to create seven new artificial intelligence research hubs, bringing the national total to 25. The announcement coincided with Vice President Kamala Harris’ Thursday meeting with representatives from Alphabet, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI and new White House guidance on AI development. The developments are part of an effort to curtain security risks associated with AI and ensure that it is implemented responsibly. “The private sector has an ethical, moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of their products,” Harris said following the meeting, which included a drop-in by President Biden. Continue reading Biden Administration Hosts Tech Elite at White House AI Meet

NBCUniversal unveiled four new ad formats that brands can use to reach Peacock Premium subscribers, including in-show shopping opportunities that leverage artificial intelligence. At its IAB NewFronts presentation, the company demonstrated Must ShopTV, which lets viewers buy products featured in Peacock content, such as the cookware and utensils featured in “Top Chef.” Peacock is working with KERV Interactive, which uses an algorithm trained to tag shoppable products with an onscreen QR code that viewers can snap on a mobile device to buy items using payment information saved to the Peacock app. Continue reading Peacock Introduces New Ad Formats Including ‘Must ShopTV’

YouTube is branding itself to advertisers as the “home of Gen Z.” At the streaming platform’s NewFronts event at parent Google’s Pier 57 complex in lower Manhattan, the message was plastered across numerous signs and in videos. The company had creator Jon Youshaei, a former Instagram product marketer, deliver a presentation entitled “What Matters to Gen-Z” at the Monday event. Apparently Gen Z likes quick hits, making them a natural audience for commercials. At the NewFronts presentation, YouTube explained it is expanding its AI-driven video reach campaigns to include YouTube Shorts. Continue reading YouTube Debuts Ad Tech at Gen Z-Themed NewFronts Event

The European Union’s Digital Markets Act, applicable as of May 1, finds tech giants scrambling to anticipate regional compliance. The regulatory framework aims to ensure tech giants don’t abuse their clout by taking advantage of consumers and smaller companies. Within two months, companies providing core platform services will have to notify the European Commission and provide all relevant information. The Commission will then have two months to identify companies that fit the DMA definition of “gatekeeper.” Those that do will be subject to DMA rules and have six months to conform. Continue reading Big Tech Braces for Potential Impact of EU Digital Markets Act

The proliferation of websites spewing misinformation as a result of chatbot-powered “content farms” is creating increased concern. Misinformation tracker NewsGuard has identified 49 websites publishing falsehoods authored by generative AI. The discovery is raising questions as to the technology’s role in turbocharging existing fraud techniques. Several of the offending websites sprang up this year, just as AI tools were made widely available for use by the public. Some of the sites take the approach of masquerading as breaking news sites, while others have adopted tactics such as using generic-sounding names. Continue reading AI Content Farms Spreading Fake Stories and Misinformation

Amazon is giving Alexa an AI update, with a “more generalized and capable” large language model in development to power the device, CEO Andy Jassy told investors on the company’s Q1 earnings call. While Jassy addressed updates to the company’s AI and machine learning tech that is now facing increased competition, it was actually advertising that gave the company bragging rights this quarter. Amazon’s ad products had 21 percent revenue growth year-over-year, totaling $9.5 billion. As many digital companies struggle to maintain ad momentum in a restrained market, the results are impressive. Continue reading Amazon Has Ad Surge, Looks to Better LLM to Power Alexa

The European Union, which has been working on artificial intelligence legislation for the past two years, is playing last minute catch-up with rapidly evolving technology as it retools a final draft law that can be adopted, possibly by the end of the year. While the European Council in December thought it had completed its framework in all but the details, that version largely deferred attaching specific rules to generative AI, which having since exploded, has triggered a movement among member states to add those guardrails along with rules for general purpose AI. Continue reading EU Considers Technology Updates for Next Draft of the AI Act

The U.S. and a coalition of international government agencies have issued joint guidance that aims to get software companies to heighten security for their products. “Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk: Principles and Approaches for Security-by-Design and -Default” takes the position that today’s software is insecure by default and it is the customer’s burden to take steps to make it safe. Manufacturers should make their products safe before they ship by taking steps including deprecating the “default password,” writing their programs using only secure coding languages, providing free patches and setting up vulnerability reporting programs. Continue reading U.S. Agencies Join Global Coalition in Secure Software Push

Amazon is offering a new service called Bedrock that offers foundation models from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon, which is introducing two of its own models under its new brand, Titan. The models, which are accessible via API, will allow customers to build and scale generative AI-based applications using pre-trained, off-the-shelf systems that can be customized. Amazon’s Titan line includes a generative LLM that outputs text, the other is an embeddings LLM that translates text to numeric representations that carry the semantic meaning of the text. Embeddings are typically helpful when bridging concepts, like words and images. Continue reading Amazon Intros GenAI Service Bedrock and Its Own Titan LLM

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has formed a new artificial intelligence company called X.AI Corp., which was reportedly incorporated in Nevada on March 9. Analysts are suggesting that Musk will use the new company to help launch the “everything app” called X that he’s referred to numerous times. Most media reports have also focused on the startup as a potential rival to OpenAI, a company Musk helped found. For now, X.AI has a handful of staff and 10,000 Nvidia GPUs, but the joint chief of Tesla and Twitter is said to be busy assembling investors and recruiting AI researchers and engineers. Continue reading Elon Musk Announces New Artificial Intelligence Venture X.AI

Agencies across the federal government are actively exploring steps to regulate artificial intelligence, seeking to ensure it is safe now while minimizing future harms. The Commerce Department this week issued a public request for comment to be accepted within the next 60 days, then used by U.S. policymakers as they consider new rules for a consumer technology sector that has exploded globally in 2023. The move by Commerce comes on the heels of a scathing advisory by the Federal Trade Commission, which has been examining ways generative AI could be misused for scams or fraud. Continue reading Federal Government Continues to Grapple with AI Guidelines