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Meta

Parmy Olson
A protester against the arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, near the French Embassy in Moscow on Aug. 25
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024
Telegram’s hands-off approach to content faces a reckoning
The policies of Telegram, a popular social media platform, have allowed abuses to proliferate.
Passengers wait at the international airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 
Friday after airlines grounded flights due to a worldwide tech outage caused by an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor software, which crashed Microsoft Windows systems. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2024
CrowdStrike’s global outage doesn’t have to be a recurring nightmare
This time the scale is unprecedented. That should spur Microsoft and other IT firms to do more than simply administer a band-aid.
Chipmaker Nvidia’s stellar growth to become the world’s most valuable company masks growing skepticism about AI’s usefulness as a general purpose tool.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2024
Nvidia’s explosive growth masks AI disillusionment
Businesses shouldn't believe tech companies' pitch that AI can solve all problems, everywhere, all at once. Figuring out its niche applications is the recipe for success.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which polices deceptive advertising practices, saw a jump in complaints over the past year about ads that either used AI or claimed to use it to lure people into scams.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2024
AI scam complaints are just the tip of the iceberg
The U.S. FTC, which polices deceptive advertising practices, saw a jump in complaints over the past year about ads using AI to lure people into scams.
If OpenAI’s mostly male engineers are trying to build the perfect girlfriend, they are on the right track. If they are trying to build a more reliable AI model, there is still more work to do.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2024
OpenAI's new ChatGPT can flirt. What could go wrong?
What are the social and psychological consequences of regularly speaking to a flirty, fun and ultimately agreeable artificial voice?
AI-powered disinformation campaigns particularly during elections can create varied and nuanced content, making detection more challenging.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2024
If AI wrecks democracy, we may never know
AI-powered disinformation campaigns can create varied and nuanced content, making detection more challenging.
Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which allowed customers to grab grocery items from a shelf and walk out of the store, is reportedly being phased out of its grocery stores.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2024
Amazon's AI stores seemed too magical. And they were.
There are plenty more examples of companies that have failed to mention humans pulling the levers behind supposedly cutting-edge AI technology.
When SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son bought Arm in 2016 for $32 billion, he had grand plans for the company to dominate the nascent market for connected devices, also known as the Internet of Things.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024
Softbank’s Arm is not the AI play most people think it is
Today, GPUs are the gold standard for AI development and thus the equivalent of toilet paper during the pandemic.
OpenAI has announced that it will add a memory feature to its AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2024
The perils of giving ChatGPT more memory
ChatGPT developer OpenAI is rolling out a memory feature that, it says, will improve the bot. But not if it ends up replicating the biases of social media.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose company launched a pair of smart glasses, on stage at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023
Do you want Meta snooping in your closet with AI wearables?
AI wearable devices represent yet another intrusion into our privacy, allowing tech companies to learn even more about who we are — and what we might buy.
Microsoft's artificial intelligence prospects just got a boost from Sam Altman's return to his CEO role at OpenAI.
COMMENTARY
Nov 23, 2023
Altman’s comeback is a strategic triumph for Microsoft
Sam Altman's termination and swift rehiring will shift the dynamics at OpenAI.
Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild take part in a picket line outside Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California, on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023
AI shines a spotlight on Hollywood hypocrisy
Studios haven’t informed or paid background actors properly for being digitally scanned, yet they want the same courtesy from AI companies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2023
Meet the $4 billion AI superstars that Google lost
Eight alumni made one of the biggest discoveries in AI, then left to build their own startups. Why did Google miss the boat?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2023
AI alarmists are dragging us all down a rabbit hole
An AI apocalypse, which was once relegated to the realm of fringe theory, is now getting much more attention than it should.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2023
Your first robot butler will need human eyes
Automatons that clean your house are getting closer to reality, but they’ll still need people to steer them for several years
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2023
Whatever happened to the metaverse?
Following a great deal of hype last year, companies now seem to be reining back their investments in the metaverse.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2023
Elon Musk wants to pause AI? It’s too late for that
A petition on OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology calling for a pause on further development ignores the risk already unleashed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2023
There's no such thing as artificial intelligence
The term artificial intelligence breeds misunderstanding and helps its creators avoid culpability for mistakes.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2022
ChatGPT could soon be the better way to Google
Answers from the AI-powered chatbot are often more useful than those from the world's biggest search engine. Alphabet should be worried.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2022
Our future artificial intelligence overlords need a resistance movement
Improving transparency about how algorithms reach their decisions is essential to keeping humans safe from artificial intelligence.

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep