1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: tech are you. It's time for the tech news for 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,600 Speaker 1: the week ending on Friday, October eleventh, twenty twenty four, 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: and this week marked a new stage in the ongoing 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: battle between the United States Department of Justice and Google 8 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 1: slash Alphabet, Alphabet being the parent company of Google. And 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: this is overcharges of Google engaging in anti competitive practices, 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: including how Google pays other companies such as Apple to 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: feature Google Search as the default search tool on devices 12 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: like iPhones. So the stage we are now entering into 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: is the negotiation stage, as the DOJ has released proposed 14 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: remedies to address what it sees as illegal activity. Previously 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: the summer, a judge found that Google had been engaged 16 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: in anti competitive practices. So this is the next step, right, 17 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: what do we do about this now? On the DOJ's side, 18 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: the proposed remedies range from a ban on Google being 19 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: able to broker these kinds of deals in the first place, 20 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: to going so far as to call for breaking up 21 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: the company. Into smaller pieces. Google meanwhile, suggests that the 22 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: DOJ should pound zand at least when it comes to 23 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: stuff like calling for Google to break up or to 24 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: quote Google's Lee and Mulholland quote, this case is about 25 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: a set of search distribution contracts. Rather than focus on that, 26 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: the government seems to be pursuing a sweeping agenda that 27 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: will impact numerous industries and products with significant un intended 28 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness end quote, which 29 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: makes it sound like Google's worried that all of that 30 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: capitalism is going to collapse if the DOJ gets its way. 31 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: Maybe I'm putting too many words in Google's proverbial mouth 32 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: at that point, but anyway, a Casey Newton newsletter, and 33 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: as I've always said, I have no connection to Casey, 34 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: don't know him personally or anything, but his newsletter is fantastic. 35 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: In his newsletter this week, he indicates that this is 36 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: really the starting point that these two parties have when 37 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: it comes to negotiating an actual remediation strategy with Google. 38 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: You know, they got some time to do this. A 39 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: judge isn't going to hear the actual case about proposed 40 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: remedies until next April, and there won't be a ruling 41 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: on the matter until next August. So you could see 42 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,119 Speaker 1: this as both sides taking one of those positions where 43 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: they're asking for way more than they think they're going 44 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: to end up getting, and they know that they're going 45 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: to have to meet somewhere in between these two extremes. Plus, 46 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: we actually do still have a presidential election as well 47 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: as elections for the House and the Senate happening between 48 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: now in April, and those could clearly have a big 49 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: impact on how the government proceeds. I think we may 50 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: see a change in how Google positions itself for the 51 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,119 Speaker 1: search market, but I doubt it's going to go as 52 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: far as forcing Google to break up. We have seen 53 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: cases where the government has come in and forced companies 54 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: to break up. Those don't always take There was a 55 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: famous one with Microsoft that ultimately got reversed, but I 56 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: just don't see that happening here. Maybe it will, and 57 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: maybe by this time next year we'll all be talking 58 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: about how Google is going to get split asunder into 59 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: different companies. I have my doubts about that, but we'll 60 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: have to wait and see. Tesla held its long delayed 61 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: cyber cab event this past week. It was called the 62 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: We Robot Event. WE as inwa E, not WE Robot. 63 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: Musk had previously teased this event earlier in the year, 64 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: initially planning it for August, but that clearly didn't happen. 65 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: As August approached, the date slipped and we got October instead, 66 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 1: and the company showed off a lot of stuff at 67 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: the Wei Robot event. Part of that was a Tesla 68 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: transport vehicle dubbed the robo Van, but apparently it's pronounced 69 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: reboven based upon how Musk said it. Anyway, according to Musk, 70 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: the autonomous vehicle will be able to haul cargo or 71 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: carry up to twenty passengers to solve for high density, 72 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: which I mean, that's kind of what the hyper loop 73 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: was supposed to do, especially like what the hyper loop 74 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: in Las Vegas is supposed to do. These days, we 75 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: just have Tesla's chauffeurs driving people around a fairly limited 76 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: area of Las Vegas through underground tunnels, which I think 77 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: isn't exactly the hyper loop that all of us were 78 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: anticipating when Musk first mentioned it, But what do I know, 79 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: Maybe that'll turn out to be actually a great idea 80 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: in the long run, I've seen a lot of skeptical 81 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: reports about how it doesn't actually solve for any meaningful problems. 82 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: As for the cyber cab itself, tech crunches Rebecca Bellen 83 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: described it as a quote smaller, sleeker, two seater cyber 84 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: truck end quote. Musk claimed that the operation of the 85 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: cybercab would be such as to bring the cost per 86 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: mile traveled to be at around twenty cents according to 87 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: US currency plus. He said the average person will be 88 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: able to buy one of these things, with the projected 89 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: vehicle cost coming in at under thirty thousand dollars. I 90 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,799 Speaker 1: think the vision is to have a citizen owned fleet 91 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: of cybercabs, so you could essentially rent out your cab 92 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: like it was an uber, but you don't have to 93 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: drive the thing, so you're just passive generating income by 94 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: using your car as a transportation vehicle for strangers. I 95 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: don't know if that would actually work. Maybe it would, 96 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: but I suspect you would need to do a lot 97 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: of maintenance and cleaning and that that would start to 98 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: eat into whatever profits you made. But what do I know. 99 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: Musk also claimed the company would be engaged in quote 100 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: unsupervised FSD in Texas and California next year. In the quote, 101 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: that's really ambitious. You know, unsupervised FSD meaning fully autonomous 102 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: driving where you don't have a safety driver there, or 103 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: if you do, they're not actively trying to solve for 104 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: the car's problems. I mean, unsupervised FSD does suggest a 105 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: truly autonomous vehicle. I think that is pretty ambitious, particularly 106 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: since Tesla vehicles and Tesla owners, let's be fair, have 107 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: garnered a reputation for getting into dangerous situations while in 108 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: autopilot or full self drive modes. We've all seen the 109 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: stories of various accidents that have happened while Tesla vehicles 110 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: in these modes have failed to recognize a dangerous situation 111 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: and then gotten into really bad accidents, sometimes with tragic results. 112 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:19,239 Speaker 1: So it does seem pretty ambitious to me to suggest 113 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: that next year there's going to be these unsupervised FSD sessions. 114 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: But I don't know. Maybe they'll be under very controlled circumstances, 115 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: which I could sort of understand, but when they'll I 116 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: last covered all this earlier this year the state of California, 117 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: the regulators there indicated they had not received paperwork from 118 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: Tesla that would be necessary to conduct those kinds of 119 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: operations within the state. Now that may have changed since then. 120 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: I couldn't find anything about it when I did some cursorysearching, 121 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: but I admit I didn't spend a whole lot of 122 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,679 Speaker 1: time looking for it. So I will do that because 123 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: I'm curious to see if perhaps Tesla actually has secured 124 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: the permissions necessary to be able to conduct these kinds 125 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: of operations. And I'm sure a lot of other media 126 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: outlets will follow up on that story as well, so 127 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: perhaps I'll have more to say about this next week. 128 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: Musk says he expects the Cybercab to go into production 129 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: before twenty twenty seven. Now, on top of the cabs 130 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: and the Van, Musk also showed off the company's humanoid robot, 131 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: dubbed Optimus. According to one article I read, robots at 132 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: this event were serving as bartenders as well as dancers, 133 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: and according to Bellin's piece and tech Crunch, the projected 134 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: cost of one of these things is somewhere between twenty 135 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: and thirty thousand dollars, so it's not exactly something the 136 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: average person is going to be able to splurge on 137 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: I imagine, But then keep in mind Elon Musk is 138 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: frequently in the running for richest person in the world, 139 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: so to him twenty or thirty thousand dollars isn't the 140 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: same as it would be for I don't know anybody else. Now, 141 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: the event has only happened since, you know, yesterday it 142 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: was it was on Thursday when the event was held. However, 143 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: there are already pieces about how investors are disappointed in 144 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: the event. Most of the reports I saw said that 145 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,079 Speaker 1: investors felt like it didn't focus enough on the business 146 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: side of things and instead came across as just sort 147 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: of a marketing event. And as I said, Musk already 148 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: has a reputation for talking a big game but then 149 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: failing to follow through. I mean, he's been talking about 150 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: fully autonomous vehicles being a thing since twenty sixteen at least, 151 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: and it's always just been like a year or two 152 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: in the future, and those years come and go and 153 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: we're still not there yet, So maybe that's contributing to this. 154 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: In pre market trading, the share price fell around six 155 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: percent for Tesla, but that could just be a momentary blip. 156 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: In fact, by the time you listen to this episode. 157 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: It could be that the market has completely changed around. 158 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: I don't know, but you know, he could take a 159 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: quick surgency. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. 160 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: When we come back, I've got more tech news to cover. 161 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: We're back. I got a couple of AI related stories 162 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: to talk about this week. First up, Hayden Field of 163 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: CNBC reported on how OpenAI warns that quote bad actors 164 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: are using its platform to disrupt elections, but with little 165 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: viral engagement end quotes. So, in other words, the fear 166 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: that people would turn to AI in order to manufacture 167 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 1: misinformation appears to be well founded. That is what is happening. 168 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: But apparently, while there are people who are using AI 169 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: to generate misinformation, that misinformation isn't getting very much traction. 170 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: So in a pretty long report, open ai said it 171 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,719 Speaker 1: has detected and intervened in more than twenty misinformation campaigns 172 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: that were using open AI's products like chat GPT. These 173 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: campaigns included stuff like, you know, social media posts that 174 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: were made by bots that were asked to create ultimately 175 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: malicious posts to AIG generated web content designed to push 176 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: specific narratives in an effort to shape perception and support, 177 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: and it sounds as though the use of this AI 178 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,760 Speaker 1: for this kind of purpose it's on the rise, and 179 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: that's no big surprise, especially now that the United States 180 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: is about to hold an election. There's a lot of 181 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: stake in the game if open ai is to be believed. However, 182 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: the good news that we can take away from all 183 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,439 Speaker 1: this is that the AI generated stuff isn't getting any 184 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: you know, viral attention. Now, if that is true, that's great, 185 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: but we have to remember that the whole goal of 186 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 1: generative AI projects is to get to a point where 187 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: the stuff that AI is generating is as good, if 188 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: not better, than the stuff that humans make. So at best, 189 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: you could say this is really more of a slam 190 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: against open AI's tools, saying they're not good enough to 191 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: create viral posts like that's a message that I think 192 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,959 Speaker 1: open ai needs to be aware of because if they're saying, hey, yeah, 193 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: sure people are using this to create misinformation, but here's 194 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: the good news, it's not really effective, then you could say, well, 195 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: does that mean that your tools can't make effective persuasive messaging? 196 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: Because if that's the case, why would I use it 197 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: in order to I don't know, design a marketing campaign 198 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: for my product. That's tricky, right, because if you say no, no, no, 199 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: it's good for that, then okay, well why is it 200 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: not good at creating misinformation? Or are you just trying 201 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: to be all things to all people while avoiding as 202 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: much responsibility as possible. I don't know the answers to 203 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: any of that. I just think it's interesting. Meanwhile, The 204 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,200 Speaker 1: Guardian's Ben Macouch reports that Russian campaigns are using AI 205 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: generated images to spread disinformation about hurricanes Helene and Milton, 206 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: which just recently impacted the southeastern United States. For example, 207 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: an account on x the app formerly known as Twitter, 208 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: posted images of a supposed flooded Magic Kingdom at Walt 209 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: Disney World in Florida. Now, any real Disney Parks fan 210 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: knows the Magic Kingdom is actually built on the second story, or, 211 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: if you're from Europe, the first floor, because there's actually 212 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: a series of corridors known as the Utila Doors that 213 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: are underneath areas like Main Street USA. So if you 214 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: had really significant flooding, I'm talking like the stuff so 215 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 1: deep that you're having to wade through it, that would 216 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: be a heck of a thing. In the Magic Kingdom, 217 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,599 Speaker 1: it would probably mean those utilid doors would have to 218 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: be almost totally flooded, which would be absolutely disastrous. Anyway, 219 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: the images were actually created by AI, which many on 220 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: x pointed out, and ex itself relatively quickly acknowledged it 221 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: by tagging the posts saying that the images were AI generated. 222 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: And there's been a lot of misinformation surrounding the hurricane 223 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: season in the United States this year, and it appears 224 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: that Russia is trying to stir the pot further with 225 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: attempts like these, which you could argue are fairly feeble, 226 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: like they're not really effective. But I think the philosophy 227 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: of the Kremlin is if there's already fire, pour some 228 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: gasoline on it. As we get closer to a deadline 229 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: imposed by the United States government on Byteedance, the parent 230 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: company of TikTok, and that deadline is that byte Dance 231 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,280 Speaker 1: must divest itself of TikTok in January or face a 232 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: nationwide ban on the app here in the United States. 233 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: ByteDance has reportedly started to cut staff by the hundreds. Now, 234 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: this plan, according to Reuters, is to lean more heavily 235 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: on artificial intelligence for the purposes of moderating content Reuter's 236 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: reports that according to TikTok, around five hundred positions were 237 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: cut in Malaysia. Other sources told Reuters that was closer 238 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: to seven hundred positions. But yeah, another case of AI 239 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: cutting into the jobs of human beings, in this case 240 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: content moderation, which is already a pretty sensitive topic, right 241 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: because there's a lot of concern that platforms in general, 242 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: not just TikTok, but kind of across the web are 243 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: not doing a good enough job when it comes to 244 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: moderating content, doing things like protecting from harmful content to misinformation. 245 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: TikTok is also in the new here in the United 246 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: States because, after an investigation spanning more than two years, 247 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: legal documents that were supposed to be sealed that are 248 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: connected to a lawsuit that alleged TikTok has engaged in 249 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: practices that put young people at risk in various ways. 250 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: Those documents now reveal the company had its own internal 251 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: investigations that seemed to support those allegations. That is, TikTok 252 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: had conducted research on issues relating to child safety and 253 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: found that indeed the company's practices were likely causing unhealthy 254 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: consequences for younger users and you know, they ended up 255 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: doing that stuff anyway. So this is kind of like 256 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: the whistleblower situation over at Facebook now known as Meta, 257 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: in which internal documents showed that at least some people 258 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: within the company were really concerned about how products could 259 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: affect users, but the company at large seemed to dismiss 260 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: those concerns, and PR reports that the details in these 261 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: documents were intended to be redacted, but that an error 262 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: in publication meant that large portion of the documents were 263 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: not redacted, and before the court could remedy that, the 264 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: Kentucky Public Radio published some of that material. That's where 265 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: it was revealed that executives within TikTok were aware of 266 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: potentially harmful practices and how some remediation strategies were really 267 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: nothing more than lip service, and yet the company promoted 268 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: these features as being a meaningful way to address concerns 269 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: like time management type features, right, the idea of let's 270 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: try and alert people so that they limit their time 271 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: on the app. According to the documents, it shows that 272 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: people within TikTok realized this wasn't actually discouraging people from 273 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: using the app as much. They still were using the 274 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: app a lot, but it did give TikTok a little 275 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: bit of smoke screen to make it look like the 276 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: company was doing something about an issue that was concerning 277 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: a lot of folks. I actually really recommend reading nbr's 278 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: full piece on this story. They go into a lot 279 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: more detail. The story is titled States probed TikTok for Years. 280 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: Here are the documents the app tried to keep secret, 281 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: and you can find that on NPR dot org. It 282 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: originally published earlier this morning, Friday, October eleventh, twenty twenty four. 283 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: Chinese based hackers are said to have successfully penetrated networks 284 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: belonging to US Internet service providers, including Verizon and AT 285 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: and T. And they did it by targeting backdoor surveillance 286 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 1: systems that are meant to allow US agencies, you know, 287 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 1: like the FBI or the NSA a way to conduct 288 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: surveillance across these networks. And it's almost like an entire 289 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: population of people, including myself, have pointed out repeatedly that 290 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: intentionally creating workarounds to secure systems means you've turned them 291 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: into inherently insecure systems. Right. I use an analogy. I say, 292 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: imagine you've got a bank vault and you've got the 293 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: world's most sophisticated, powerful vault door that cannot be breached. 294 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: It is incredibly secure. But you've also put a screen 295 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: door in the back of the vault so that the 296 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: FEDS can sometimes just pop in and out just to 297 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: make sure everything's okay. Well, if the thieves know that 298 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: there's a back door, you know they're gonna dedicate their 299 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: time to finding the back door and using that rather 300 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: than go through the front, because going through the front 301 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: would require way too much time and resources. Just find 302 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: the way through the back. It's already there, you can 303 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: just use that. That seems to be what happened. So 304 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: Chinese hackers being called Salt Typhoon have apparently done this 305 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: and were able to access the various ISPs potentially for 306 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: months before they were detected and they were able to 307 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: be addressed. So yeah, that's a real issue. As to 308 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: how bad that hack was hard to say at the moment. 309 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: There's still investigations that are ongoing, but it's not like 310 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: this was some crazy unforeseen outcome. People have been warning 311 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,639 Speaker 1: for years that these intentional back doors are a bad idea. Okay, 312 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: the one bit of news I missed last week that 313 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: I wanted to mention just to wrap this up, is 314 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: that Microsoft last week announced it had discontinued the HoloLens 315 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: augmented reality headset. It's no longer producing new units, and 316 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 1: it plans to in support for existing devices by December 317 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven. So the hollow Lens launched in twenty sixteen, 318 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: there have been some preview events the year before, and 319 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: it was never a consumer product. Microsoft marketed it more 320 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,439 Speaker 1: as an enterprise product for businesses. The company released an 321 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: updated model in twenty nineteen. The headsets cost around three 322 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 1: thousand to three five hundred dollars, so they weren't cheap, 323 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: and it looks like Meta is going to be the 324 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: one charging ahead with its own AR headset development, while 325 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: Microsoft and potentially Apple take a step back from attempting 326 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,679 Speaker 1: to augment reality. That's it for the news this week. 327 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,439 Speaker 1: I hope all of you out there are doing well, 328 00:19:52,520 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: and I will talk to you again really soon. Tech 329 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 330 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 331 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,399 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.