James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
Meta whistleblowers claim company buried information on child safety
Meta Platforms Inc. reportedly suppressed internal research into safety concerns on its virtual reality platforms, including findings that a child under the age of 10 had been sexually propositioned in-app. “Meta knew that underage children were using its products, but figured, ‘Hey, kids drive engagement,’ and it was making them cash,” Jason Sattizahn, one of ...
Melania Trump invites tech CEOs to White House to inaugurate education AI task force
The first lady today invited some of the U.S.’s foremost tech leaders to the East Wing of the White House to inaugurate a task force on artificial intelligence with an emphasis on integrating AI into the education of children. “I predict AI will represent the single largest growth category in our nation during the Trump ...
Disney agrees to pay FTC $10 million over YouTube videos for children
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that the Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle allegations that the entertainment company had engaged in the “unlawful collection” of children’s personal data on the YouTube platform. Regulators at the FTC said the company failed to flag certain videos on its platform as “Made ...
Landmark AI wrongful death lawsuit alleges OpenAI’s ChatGPT played major role in teen’s suicide
The parents of a teenage American boy who died by suicide today filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI, whose ChatGPT chatbot they say helped their son “explore suicide methods.” According to the New York Times, which today laid out the case, the victim, 16-year-old Adam Raine, was found hanged in his bedroom closet in ...
Microsoft AI chief tells us we should step back before creating AI that seems too human
Microsoft AI Chief Executive Mustafa Suleyman published an essay this week on the development of AI, and it comes with a warning: We should be very cautious about treating future AI products as if they possess consciousness. Suleyman (pictured) said in his essay Tuesday that his “life’s mission” has been to create AI products that ...
US spy chief says UK has dropped backdoor order for Apple
The U.S. director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said earlier today that the U.K.’s controversial order to mandate Apple Inc. to open a backdoor to user data has been dropped. Gabbard wrote on X that after working with U.K. authorities to “ensure Americans’ private data remains private” and “constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,” ...
AI chatbot scrutiny intensifies: Texas AG launches probe of Meta and Character.AI over misleading mental health claims
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced plans to launch a probe into Meta Platforms Inc. and Character.AI over the companies’ chatbots being used by young people as mental health tools. Paxton (pictured) believes that the AI tools could be utilized by vulnerable children who may believe the bots represent professional care. In a press ...
Workday acquires Flowise to boost AI-powered workflows
Workday Inc., the human resources and finance software giant, announced today that it has acquired Flowise, an open-source, low-code platform for building artificial intelligence agents and workflow automation. Workday provides cloud-based software for human capital management and financial operations, serving more than 11,000 customers worldwide, including over 60% of the Fortune 500. The company has ...
Igor Babuschkin, co-founder of Elon Musk’s xAI, is leaving the company to focus on AI safety
Igor Babuschkin, a founding member of Elon Musk’s xAI, today announced that he is departing the company to focus on artificial intelligence that is “safe and beneficial to humanity.” “Today was my last day at xAI, the company that I helped start with Elon Musk in 2023,” Babuschkin wrote on X. “I still remember the ...
High Court rejects Wikipedia’s challenge to UK online safety laws
The High Court in the U.K. today dismissed Wikipedia’s challenge to the country’s far-reaching online safety laws, rejecting its claim that the rules were flawed. The Online Safety Bill, or OSA, which the government has vowed will tame the “Wild West” of the internet, has been controversial since it was first proposed. It’s viewed by ...