James Farrell
Latest from James Farrell
That was a long wait, but TikTok US is finally a done deal
After years of high drama, the joint venture to keep the TikTok in the U.S. has been finalized. In a public announcement, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC said the 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses that use TikTok in the U.S. can rest easy. The deal is done. The announcement comes on the cusp ...
Palantir CEO says AI will eliminate the need for mass immigration
Palantir Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp said he believes that when the world hits peak artificial intelligence, there will be so many jobs on offer that mass immigration will be obsolete. “There will be more than enough jobs for the citizens of your nation, especially those with vocational training,” Karp (pictured) said at ...
UK mulls social media ban for kids under 16
In an effort to protect children online, the U.K. is considering initiating a social media ban in line with a similar ban already in place in Australia. Ministers were originally opposed to such a ban, but with pressure from backbenchers and campaigners, Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured) has softened on the ban and launched a ...
After backlash, X restricts Grok from generating sexualized images of real people
Elon Musk’s X Corp. today responded to a wave of international criticism over the company’s Grok chatbot, saying the bot will no longer generate artificial images of real people in a state of undress where it is illegal. This follows a barrage of concern from all corners of the world. In California, Attorney General Rob ...
TikTok just signed the deal to hand US operations to Oracle-led investor group
TikTok’s chief executive told employees today that the company has signed agreements that will ensure it can continue operating in the U.S. In a memo, Shou Zi Chew said that parent company ByteDance Ltd. and TikTok have signed binding agreements. Oracle Inc., private equity firm Silver Lake Partners LP, and Emirati-backed investment firm MGX will ...
Trump administration takes aim at EU over treatment of US tech giants
The Trump administration today issued a warning that the U.S. may strike back against European service providers for what it called “discriminatory” actions against U.S. Big Tech. “If the EU and EU Member States insist on continuing to restrict, limit and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers through discriminatory means, the United States will ...
Trump is recruiting tech personnel for government Tech Force
The Trump administration today announced it’s in the process of hiring an “elite corps of engineers” to join federal agencies and work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects. The corps of about 1,000 engineers and other tech specialists will form the “U.S. Tech Force.” Throughout the two-year program, they will work in collaboration ...
Trump pushes back against states regulating AI with executive order
President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that will limit the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence while attempting to address state AI laws already in place. “To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order says. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.” In order ...
Not ready? McDonald’s AI-generated ad taken down after public backlash
McDonald’s has pulled a Christmas ad that was produced with artificial intelligence after the fast-food chain came under fire from much of the public. The 45-second film was released publicly on McDonald’s Netherlands YouTube channel on Dec. 6. Comprising a sequence of AI-generated clips, the ad featured people having a tough time at Christmas – ...
EU will investigate Google over how it uses online content for AI training
The European Commission has launched a probe into Google over concerns it may be breaching EU competition laws by extracting content from websites without compensation to produce AI-generated search summaries. “The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers’ content without appropriate ...