Notices by Flipboard Tech Desk (techdesk@flipboard.social)

Google recently launched Veo 3, an AI video-generation tool. What could possibly go wrong? The team at @time was able to use the tool to create realistic videos, "including a Pakistani crowd setting fire to a Hindu temple; Chinese researchers handling a bat in a wet lab; an election worker shredding ballots; and Palestinians gratefully accepting U.S. aid in Gaza." While there were inaccuracies in each video, experts said they could potentially fuel social unrest or violence if shared on social media during a breaking news event. After TIME contacted Google, the company has added a visible watermark to Veo 3-generated videos, however it is small and relatively easy to crop out. Here's more.

https://flip.it/T_FdY8

#Google #Veo3 #Video #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Misinformation #Disinformation #News #Tech

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants to build the everything app.

Check out the latest Decoder podcast from @theverge: https://flip.it/XDFrWV

#Airbnb #App #Tech #Technology #Travel

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok appeared to experience a bug that caused it to reply to dozens of posts on X with information about “white genocide” in South Africa, even when the user didn’t ask anything about the subject. Via @Techcrunch. #Grok #AI #X #Twitter #ElonMusk #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/1ZlJMT

A massive aviation industry clearinghouse that processes data for 12 billion passenger flights per year is selling that information to the Trump administration amid the White House’s new immigration crackdown. Read more at The Lever. #DataPrivacy #ICE #AirlineReportingCorporation #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/FlCyYi

Tech Dirt's @mmasnick says that President Donald Trump answers questions in the same way as some AI bots: "The facts don’t matter, the language choices are a mess, but they are all designed to present a plausible-sounding answer to the question, based on no actual knowledge, nor any concern for whether or not the underlying facts are accurate."

He provides examples of when that's happened, and asks Google's Gemma2 to answer questions as if they are "the President of the largest country on earth ... a blatant narcissist who believes he can do no wrong."

Masnick says: "What’s particularly notable is that the AI’s response is actually more coherent than Trump’s — it maintains a more consistent narrative structure while hitting the same rhetorical points. This suggests that Trump’s responses are even less constrained by reality than a typical LLM’s output."

https://flip.it/8P6YAv

#Tech #Technology #ChatGPT #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #LLMs #TrumpAdministration #DonaldTrump

The DOJ wins its antitrust case against Google. The company was accused of operating a monopoly in the advertising technology industry. Read more at @theverge. #DOJ #Monopoly #Google #Antitrust #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/FWwV7a

Starting on March 28, Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. In other words, everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon. @ArsTechnica reports:

https://flip.it/cGX-fa

#Tech #Amazon #AI #Alexa #Echo

Meta is facing an AI copyright lawsuit in France brought by authors and publishers who are accusing the company of economic “parasitism.” Read more at @Techcrunch. #Meta #Instagram #Facebook #AI #Copyright #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/mSO6-8

AI agents can book holidays, schedule meetings, sell stocks and much more, but Signal President @Mer__edith
mastodon.world at SXSW says that we could be risking our privacy and security.

@Techcrunch reports:
https://flip.it/m-_q9z

#AI #AIAgents #Privacy #OnlineSecurity #SXSW

A well-funded Moscow-based global "news" network has infected Western artificial intelligence tools worldwide with Russian propaganda.

From NewsGuard: "An audit found that the 10 leading generative AI tools advanced Moscow’s disinformation goals by repeating false claims from the pro-Kremlin Pravda network 33 percent of the time."

https://flip.it/PkXZXs

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Disinformation #Propaganda #Facts #Russia

At the same time as Meta decided to stop working with U.S. fact checkers, it revamped a program that rewards creators with high engagement. What could possibly go wrong? @ProPublica spoke to experts about how this will fuel viral hoaxes, as well as to the manager of the NO Filter Seeking Truth page, who has shared so much false information she's currently banned by Meta from earning money. She described the news about the end of fact-checking as "great information."

https://flip.it/E-VMhf

#Meta #Facebook #Internet #SocialMedia #ViralHoaxes #FactChecking

Mastodon is working to add the controversial "quote posts" feature.

@Sarahp reports for @Techcrunch: "Some Mastodon users feel strongly that quote posts don’t belong on Mastodon, as the feature is often used to 'dunk' on another person’s post, ... [but other] users [say] the feature makes it easier to reference another person’s post and its content when making a response."

https://flip.it/kC7XHk

#Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialMedia #Tech #Technology

Hundreds of thousands of people are taking the risk and choosing to sideload TikTok, while the Apple Store and Google Play continue to block the app in the U.S.

@BBCNews explains:
https://flip.it/.Lybxs

#TikTok #GooglePlay #Apple #US #Tech

PowerSchool, a provider of K-12 software to more than 18,000 schools to support some 60 million students across North America, confirmed in early January that it was hit by breach at the end of 2024. Despite the passing of an entire month, many questions remain unanswered. Read more from @Techcrunch:

https://flip.it/35QmSl

#Tech #Hacking #Cybersecurity #Technology

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sought so much computing power to train the company’s AI models that, according to one report, Japanese officials actually laughed at the amount of electricity he demanded. It’s not laughable anymore after Altman secured a staggering $500 billion commitment from SoftBank, Oracle, and the Abu Dhabi fund MGX. @theverge has more, including why Stargate, OpenAI’s data center empire, could be one of the biggest private computing infrastructure projects in history — or a disaster.

https://flip.it/lAEyWn

#Tech #AI #OpenAI #Altman #StarGate

Government website reproductiverights.gov appears to have gone offline as of yesterday. The site was launched in 2022 and contained information on reproductive healthcare, referencing the overturning of Roe v. Wade and clarifying that abortion is legal in many states. Here's more from @CBSNews.

https://flip.it/7PIgVv

#USGovernment #ReproductiveRights #RoeVWade #TrumpAdministration

A group of researchers at France's CNRS public research body have developed an app to help users migrate from X to other platforms. The "HelloQuitX" campaign (a play on "Hello Kitty," since the letter Q sounds like K and X is pronounced "eeks" in French) allows users to transfer the lists of people they follow and their followers to Bluesky or Mastodon. The CNRS says it will delete personal information after migration. David Chavalarias, a mathematician at CNRS, says more than 5,000 people and organizations have signed up so far. Here's more from France 24.

https://flip.it/0hAJWn

#Technology #OpenSocialWeb #HelloQuitX #France #Xodus

Investor Mark Cuban shared on TikTok that he's ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on the AT Protocol. "If you’ve got that ability, let me know in the comments. If you create an MVP — a minimum viable product — so I can see it, that’s all the better, because obviously, I think you’d have a whole lot of support,” Cuban said in the video where he also explained the advantage of building on an open protocol. "It’s extensible, so that means nobody can just buy it, nobody can just close it,” he said. Here's more from @Techcrunch's @Sarahp.

https://flip.it/HXI-O7

#ATProtocol #Bluesky #TikTok #MarkCuban

When is Threads going to allow account portability so folks can move their accounts if they want to? We don't know. A Meta spokesperson couldn't confirm that the topic was on the Threads roadmap, but said it was "top of mind." Here's @Sarahp's story.

https://flip.it/9.k.KG

#Threads #Meta #Fediverse #Federation #OpenSocialWeb

OpenAI has cut off a developer who built a device that could respond to ChatGPT queries to aim and fire an automated rifle. Read more at @Gizmodo. #AI #OpenAI #ChatGPT #Tech #Technology #GunControl https://flip.it/8539J8