James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
XAI’s chatbot Grok just went on the fritz and couldn’t stop talking about white genocide in South Africa
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok had a funny turn over the last few days when it started responding to random questions with information about violence against white people in South Africa, which some people have controversially alleged is a “white genocide.” In some cases, the X user was merely asking a question about sports. In ...
After backlash, US scraps Biden administration’s curb on AI chip exports
The Trump administration is planning to overhaul regulations set by the Biden administration that would limit how many artificial intelligence chips countries can purchase from the U.S. The regulations, which were to go into effect May 15, were designed to limit AI advancement in certain nations – “non-trusted actors” – with an emphasis on ensuring ...
Meta and NSO court battle over WhatsApp hack ends with Meta winning $167M in damages
Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group Technologies Ltd. today was ordered to pay $167 million in damages to Meta, ending a six-year court battle after NSO was accused of installing spyware on journalists’ and activists’ WhatsApp accounts. “Today’s verdict in WhatsApp’s case is an important step forward for privacy and security as the first victory against the ...
Waymo will double robotaxi production at new plant in Arizona
Alphabet Inc.-owned Waymo LLC said today it will double robotaxi production in partnership with auto parts maker Magna International Inc. at a new plant in Mesa, Arizona, by 2026. The company currently has 1,500 commercial robotaxis on the streets, operating in the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, together providing about 250,000 ...
OpenAI to make ChatGPT less creepy after app is accused of being ‘dangerously’ sycophantic
OpenAI has pulled a ChatGPT update that users complained had turned the chatbot into a sycophantic yes-man unable to offer intelligent criticism. The company admitted that a recent GPT‑4o update was “overly flattering or agreeable” and that users can now use an older version “with more balanced behavior.” Though some customers might have enjoyed a ...
Congress passes Take It Down Act to combat deepfakes
The Take It Down Act, legislation that criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfake videos and images, passed the House today and is already on its way to President Trump’s desk. “The Senate just passed the Take It Down Act,” Trump said in March. “Once it passes the House, I look forward to signing ...
Former OpenAI staff and AI experts ask Attorneys General to block for-profit conversion
Former employees of OpenAI, along with 30 artificial intelligence experts, have published an open letter that is asking the attorneys general in California and Delaware to stop the company from restructuring into a “for-profit benefit corporation.” Nobel laureate and former Google Brain leader Geoffrey Hinton has joined forces with fellow AI pioneers Yoshua Bengio and ...
Instagram co-founder supports FTC’s case in landmark Meta monopoly trial
Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom today testified in the Meta Platforms Inc. antitrust trial, supporting the Federal Trade Commission’s contention that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg bought Instagram because he saw it as a “threat.” After then-Facebook Inc. acquired Instagram in 2012, tensions between Zuckerberg and Systrom built until the latter resigned in 2018. In court today, ...
Foreign students face deportation under Trump immigration crackdown
An AI doctoral student in California told TechCrunch in a report published today that his immigration status in the U.S. is currently under threat after spending a decade in the country — just one of about 1,000 international students whose visas have been revoked recently. The actions have been seen by some as having a ...
Mark Zuckerberg tried to negotiate settlement with FTC in landmark antitrust trial but failed
Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg put $450 million on the table late in March, hoping it would be enough to settle its antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission, according to The Wall Street Journal. According to people familiar with the matter who spoke with The Journal on the condition of anonymity, the ...
