Platforms

Our working definition of a digital platform (with a hat tip to Harold Feld of Public Knowledge) is an online service that operates as a two-sided or multi-sided market with at least one side that is “open” to the mass market

The impact of generative AI on Black communities

Generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) has already initiated a seismic shift in work and value creation. A recent McKinsey report identified up to $4.4 trillion in potential global economic impact from gen AI across functions and industries. With gen AI in its infancy, organizations are just beginning to understand the potential of applying it to their own goals. As often happens, the advent of a new technology can create or exacerbate divides, including the racial wealth gap. This article explores how gen AI may affect Black communities and Black workers.

102 million people eligible for Google’s lawsuit settlement

Tens of millions of U.S. consumers will get a payout as Google shells out $700 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit brought by state prosecutors over the high fees it charges app developers. Google will pay $630 million into a fund that will be divided among an estimated 102 million eligible consumers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the settlement terms for Utah et al v. Google.

Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Economy Staff Report: Perspectives and Takeaways

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a public event for creative professionals entitled, “Creative Economy and Generative AI.” The purpose of this report is to summarize the information provided to the FTC in that roundtable. Some of the issues surfaced at the event implicate the FTC’s enforcement and policy authority, though some certainly go beyond or outside the FTC’s jurisdiction. This report begins by briefly summarizing the technological developments in AI and generative AI that make this roundtable and report timely. Next, it explains the FTC’s jurisdictional interest in AI.

In Prison, Out of Googles

Google is on the long list of things I took for granted prior to prison. Before I was incarcerated in 2014, I used Google often, relying on the search engine to satisfy my random curiosities. When that access was suddenly cut off, I began depending on others to answer my burning questions. Prison is isolating by design, and even things like obituaries are cruelly out of reach. Prisoners' Google requests reflect the whole spectrum of ups and downs you live through in prison.

Nvidia Staffers Warned CEO of Threat AI Would Pose to Minorities

Masheika Allgood and Alexander Tsado left their 2020 meeting with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang feeling frustrated. The pair had spent a year working with colleagues from across the company on a presentation meant to warn Huang of the potential dangers that artificial intelligence technology posed, especially to minorities. The 22-slide deck and other documents pointed to Nvidia’s growing role in shaping the future of AI and warned that increased regulatory scrutiny was inevitable.

TikTok staff told to avoid flagging problems with Amazon accounts

TikTok staff were told they should avoid flagging potential problems on Amazon accounts to protect the video platform’s lucrative commercial relationship with the e-commerce multinational, according to internal communications seen by the Guardian. Some moderators were told in the autumn not to take negative action against a list of more than 60 Amazon-related accounts on TikTok because the US company is a heavy advertiser on the platform.

AI's road to reality

A middle road for AI adoption is taking shape, routing around the debate between those who fear humanity could lose control of AI and those who favor a full-speed-ahead plan to seize the technology's benefits.

For Years, Prison Life Was Isolated From Tech. Now Tech Is Beginning to Define It.

Around 1.9 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States, and an estimated 45 percent of Americans have at some point experienced the incarceration of an immediate family member. For many years, prisons have largely been tech bunkers, keeping incarcerated people isolated from the world outside. But things have started to change. In some cases, they changed because prison leaders recognized the need to connect incarcerated people to their communities.

US is leading "AI for good" push at United Nations

The United States is leading a new diplomatic push at the United Nations to mobilize all governments to support "AI for good and for all," according to US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Despite the need for new tools to tackle urgent problems like climate change, the richest and most powerful governments that back international responsible-AI initiatives have steered away from the deeply divided UN as an AI forum—until now. The US wants the UN to explicitly affirm that AI will be deployed consistently with the UN's founding documents—the 

Sen Edward Markey (D-MA) Introduces Legislation to Mandate Civil Rights Offices in Federal Agencies That Handle Artificial Intelligence

Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems (BIAS) Act to ensure that every federal agency that uses, funds, or oversees artificial intelligence (AI) has an office of civil rights focused on combatting AI bias and discrimination, among other harms. The legislation would also require every civil rights office to report their efforts to Congress and provide recommendations for congressional action. Many federal agencies lack civil rights offices whose principal mission is to protect vulnerable communities across the United States.