The National Science Foundation (NSF) is launching a pilot program to create the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a shared U.S. AI research infrastructure. The move fulfills part of President Biden’s October executive order on the responsible development of artificial intelligence. Ten other federal agencies have joined the NSF in launching the program, while tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and Google have already pledged their support, along with more than 20 other private organizations across the industry, academic and non-profit sectors. The idea is to create shared access to information and things like cloud computing resources. Continue reading Big Tech Onboard to Advance President Biden’s NSF AI Pilot

Twitter is emphasizing crowdsourced moderation. The launch of Community Notes for images in posts seeks to address instances where morphed or AI-generated images are posted. The idea is to expose altered content before it goes viral, as did the image of Pope Francis wearing a Balenciaga puffy coat in March and the fake image of an explosion at the Pentagon in May. Twitter says Community Notes about an image will appear with “recent and future” posts containing the graphic in question. Currently in the test phase, the feature works with tweets featuring a single image. Continue reading Twitter Community Notes Aim to Curb Impact of Fake Images

Marriott International has teamed with Yahoo to launch what is being called the hospitality industry’s first media platform. The Marriott Media Network aims to help advertisers reach consumers by placing ads on hotel websites with plans to eventually harness the power of TV sets in hotel rooms. Using what is considered “first party data” — interaction derived from consumer interaction with brands (in this case, the hotel chain’s guest data) — the  Marriott Media Network is designed to fill a void left by privacy changes at companies like Apple and Google that will block third-party cookies and ad tracking. Continue reading Marriott Teams with Yahoo on First Hospitality Media Network

Twitter is tweaking its Birdwatch crowdsourced fact-check feature, adding aliases so contributors can conceal their identities when notating someone’s tweet. The company says its goal in having people append anonymously is “keeping focus on the content of notes rather than who’s writing them,” reducing bias and tempering polarization. To ensure aliases don’t overshadow accountability, all Birdwatch accounts now have profile pages that aggregate past contributions, and the ratings those contributions received from other Birdwatchers, accruing credibility to contributors whose notes and ratings are consistently found helpful by others. Continue reading Twitter Formalizes Its Birdwatch Program with Aliases, Profiles

Twitter recently launched its Shop Module pilot, a new feature that will let businesses add a shopping section to their profiles. The feature, introduced initially in the U.S., allows a dozen retailers — including GameStop Corp. and Arden Cove — to market up to five products at the top of their Twitter profiles. Users can swipe between products and purchase them in an in-app browser without having to leave Twitter. With Shop Module, Twitter has revived its e-commerce activity after abandoning the “Buy Now” button debuted in 2015. Continue reading Twitter Revisits E-Commerce with New Shop Module Feature

Autonomous vehicles have been a part of tech culture for so long that it’s hard to realize that only a handful of people have actually ridden in one. So it was with great surprise that our very first Lyft ride out of our Las Vegas hotel on Sunday night was in a “self-driving” vehicle. Lyft partnered with Irish auto-parts-company-turned-autonomous-vehicle-startup Aptiv (formerly known as Delphi) to offer CES attendees and Vegas commuters the option to ride in one of their 30 “self-driving” BMW 5 Series. Continue reading We Were Passengers in a Las Vegas ‘Self-Driving’ Rideshare

Google launched a pilot for Hands Free, a mobile wallet application that allows a buyer to use her phone for purchases without taking it out of her purse. The pilot, conducted in the southern San Francisco Bay area, is available in a few stores and designated McDonald’s and Papa John’s locations. The cashier’s system can detect the user’s phone; to close the transaction, the user asks to pay with Google and gives her initials to the cashier. The cashier can also detect if the user is the same person in the Google profile. Continue reading Google Launches Pilot Program for Hands-Free Mobile Wallet

Google has released a beta Android app for its Google Expeditions Pioneer Program that allows educators to bring their students on a virtual reality field trip. The VR content includes immersive educational experiences in locations such as Machu Picchu, Mars, the Great Barrier Reef and Buckingham Palace. Students use Google Cardboard headsets to view the content while the teacher can use a tablet to guide their students through the location and monitor where each student is looking. Continue reading Google Expands Access to its Educational VR Field Trip App

Groupon may offer much more than a collection of coupons. The company is currently offering discounted products through a new initiative called Groupon Stores. Retailers can set up an online store on the Groupon site to sell their goods, which must be at least 5 percent cheaper than the normal prices. Groupon will take a 15 percent commission of the retailers’ sales. The company is testing the new marketplace model as a way to continue growing its Goods business. Continue reading Groupon Experiments with Online Storefronts for Selling Goods

Google will release an open API for the Google Now dashboard/personal assistant, which will allow developers to integrate their apps into the service. Android users might one day be able to get all of the relevant information from Google Now without ever having to open the apps. Currently, Google Now only pulls notifications from Google-based apps like Maps and Search, but another 40 third-party apps are in a pilot program to integrate their apps with Google Now. Continue reading New Google Now API Could Impact the Future of Android Apps

Apple has launched a pilot program for its HealthKit service with some of the nation’s top hospitals and medical facilities. The service is designed to help physicians better monitor their patients through the use of health-recorded data such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and exercise habits. Doctors can access the data from an iPhone or iPad and use it to detect and address early medical problems. Meanwhile, Samsung and Google have also introduced health services of their own. Continue reading Apple Rolls Outs HealthKit Pilot Program at Leading Hospitals

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) of London has partnered with Project Sunblock, a content verification company, to help take down copyright infringing websites by replacing ads with warnings. The warning, which notifies site visitors that the site is under criminal investigation, serves as an alternative to when an advertisement from a Project Sunblock client is about to be placed on a piracy site. This solution helps keep respected brands off illegal sites. Continue reading UK Police Fight Piracy by Replacing Online Ads with Warnings

Auction and shopping site eBay is taking its Sell For Me service mobile with the launch of eBay Valet, an app that lets eBay handle every step of the selling process. The new iPhone app, designed and developed by the Israel Innovation Center, helps to determine an item’s value and list it online, and even handle the shipping once it is sold. Both the Web-based eBay Sell For Me and mobile eBay Valet are designed to make the online selling process more approachable for buyers and sellers. Continue reading Mobile App eBay Valet Handles the Selling Process for You

Unlike Google, Microsoft is not trying to connect the entire Earth by using drones or balloons. Instead, the company hopes to utilize television white space, an unused part of the broadcast spectrum, to provide more Internet access to people living in Africa. After running cost-effective pilot programs in the U.S. and Kenya, Microsoft has found that the challenge for Microsoft’s 4Afrika initiative is to persuade governments to lift regulations to allow them to utilize white space. Continue reading Microsoft Has Plans to Bring More Internet Access to Africa

Google’s YouTube yesterday unveiled its much anticipated paid-subscription channels, that will enable some of its video content partners to charge a monthly fee for access to programming. The channels could become a new revenue stream for the video site and its content partners. The subscription model has attracted producers who have been seeking an option to YouTube’s online advertising model. Continue reading New Model: YouTube Launches Paid Subscription Channels