Technology
Elon Musk Criticized for Posting AI-Generated Kamala Harris Ad
The situation could quickly get uncontrolled…
Tech guru and X owner Elon Musk is faced criticism after retweeting an AI-generated version of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign adwhich raises concerns concerning the role of artificial intelligence in politics.
The altered video features images from a recent YouTube campaign ad by which Harris speaks to a crowd and videos of her supporters. The fake video includes a voiceover that sounds exactly just like the vice chairman. “I, Kamala Harris, am your Democratic nominee for president because Joe Biden finally revealed his senility during the debate,” the voiceover says. “I was elected because I am the best candidate for office in terms of diversity. I am both a woman and a person of color. So if you criticize anything, you are a sexist and a racist.”
Originally posted on YouTube account named “Mr. Reagan,” the video was flagged as a parody. According to the Associated Press, AI-generated media experts confirmed that most of the video was generated using AI technology. Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, said the film shows how powerful generative AI and faux depths might be.
“The AI voice is very good,” he said. “While most people won’t believe it’s Vice President Harris’ voice, the video is much more powerful when the words are spoken in her voice.”
Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Safety, Trust, and Security Initiative at Cornell Tech, believes that given the recognition of the altered videos in other countries, it was only a matter of time before they made their solution to the U.S.
“We saw in recent elections in Argentina, India and elsewhere that deepfakes were primarily used for the kind of surface-level deception that’s more like meme trolling than legitimate disinformation,” Mantzarlis said. “I expect we’ll see a ton of that in the U.S. over the next 100 days leading up to the election in November.”
More importantly, the film shows an absence of federal laws and motion to manage such a use, leaving it as much as states and social media platforms to set the foundations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom reached out to X to specific his displeasure with the fake ad. “Voice manipulation in an ‘ad’ like this should be illegal,” he said. “I’ll be signing a bill in a few weeks to make sure that’s the case.” Musk responded partially by saying that “parody is legal in America.”
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar stressed that Musk’s post could violate his company’s policies. “If @elonmusk and X let it go and don’t mark this as AI altered content, they will not only be violating X’s own policies, but they will also be unleashing an entire election season of fake AI voice and image altered content without any restrictions, regardless of party,” the lawmaker wrote on the platform.
“You may not share synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may mislead or confuse people and lead to harm (so-called “misleading media”)” Policy X is“In addition, we may label posts containing misleading media to help people understand their authenticity and provide additional context.”
Chipotle President and CEO Brian Niccol has apparently seen and heard quite a few complaints from franchise customers about portion sizes; during a July 24 earnings conference call with investors, he said: drew attention to the corporate’s culture based on “generous portions.”
According to Niccol, he wasted no time getting straight to the purpose in the course of the call, and was reported to have reminded investors early on in the decision:[T]There has never been a directive to supply our customers with less. A generous portion is a core value of the Chipotle brand. It at all times has been and at all times will likely be.”
Niccol continued, “With that in mind, the feedback we received caused us to re-evaluate how we deliver our entire system with the goal of continuing to serve our guests delicious, fresh, personalized burritos and bowls with generous portions.”
Niccol’s comments come long after many social media users have joked for years that the chain’s servers don’t serve enough meat. Those complaints recently gained more attention after online food critic Keith Lee posted a TikTok video in May detailing a Chipotle quesadilla hack that went viral, with Lee half-jokingly asking, “Where’s the chicken?”
That same month, after Lee and other social media users documented instances where they felt servers weren’t generous with their portions, Niccol defended the restaurant, insisting and showing that customers can take a have a look at their servers in the event that they weren’t satisfied with the portions served at Chipotle.
During a conference call on financial results, Niccol acknowledged that portion sizes were inconsistent, but said about 10% of the corporate’s restaurants require retraining or bringing them as much as Chipotle standards, in keeping with The Hill.
“To be more consistent across all 3,500 restaurants, we’ve focused on those that have shown outliers in our customer surveys for portion sizes, and we’re putting a renewed emphasis on training and coaching to make sure we’re consistently getting bowls and burritos right,” Niccol said.
Niccol added that positive customer feedback, each online and offline, is sufficient to spread the word about changes at some chains.
“Look, I’m already seeing it on social media, people commenting on the burritos, the bowls that they’re getting,” Niccol said. “And, you know, I think the best source of marketing is word of mouth because people have that experience with Chipotle.”
Although the corporate has raised prices in recent times, investors indicated in the decision that there are currently “no plans” to boost prices further as Chipotle saw an 11% increase in sales in the most recent quarter, which was reportedly because of faster and more efficient store operations in addition to a limited-time promotion for chicken al pastor.
Technology
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.
Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.
Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.
Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”
Technology
The company is currently developing washing machines for humans
Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.
According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.
The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.
Apparently a version for home use is within the works.
Technology
Zepto raises another $350 million amid retail upheaval in India
Zepto has secured $350 million in latest financing, its third round of financing in six months, because the Indian high-speed trading startup strengthens its position against competitors ahead of a planned public offering next yr.
Indian family offices, high-net-worth individuals and asset manager Motilal Oswal invested in the round, maintaining Zepto’s $5 billion valuation. Motilal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal, family offices Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram’s, Sekhsaria and Kalyan, in addition to stars Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are amongst those backing the brand new enterprise, which is India’s largest fully national primary round.
The funding push comes as Zepto rushes so as to add Indian investors to its capitalization table, with foreign ownership now exceeding two-thirds. TechCrunch first reported on the brand new round’s deliberations last month. The Mumbai-based startup has raised over $1.35 billion since June.
Fast commerce sales – delivering groceries and other items to customers’ doors in 10 minutes – will exceed $6 billion this yr in India. Morgan Stanley predicts that this market shall be value $42 billion by 2030, accounting for 18.4% of total e-commerce and a pair of.5% of retail sales. These strong growth prospects have forced established players including Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa to cut back delivery times as they lose touch with specialized delivery apps.
While high-speed commerce has not taken off in many of the world, the model seems to work particularly well in India, where unorganized retail stores are ever-present.
High-speed trading platforms are creating “parallel trading for consumers seeking convenience” in India, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note this month.
Zepto and its rivals – Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy-owned Instamart and Tata-owned BigBasket – currently operate on lower margins than traditional retail, and Morgan Stanley expects market leaders to realize contribution margins of 7-8% and adjusted EBITDA margins to greater than 5% by 2030. (Zepto currently spends about 35 million dollars monthly).
An investor presentation reviewed by TechCrunch shows that Zepto, which handles greater than 7 million total orders every day in greater than 17 cities, is heading in the right direction to realize annual sales of $2 billion. It anticipates 150% growth over the following 12 months, CEO Aadit Palicha told investors in August. The startup plans to go public in India next yr.
However, the rapid growth of high-speed trading has had a devastating impact on the mom-and-pop stores that dot hundreds of Indian cities, towns and villages.
According to the All India Federation of Consumer Products Distributors, about 200,000 local stores closed last yr, with 90,000 in major cities where high-speed trading is more prevalent.
The federation has warned that without regulatory intervention, more local shops shall be vulnerable to closure as fast trading platforms prioritize growth over sustainable practices.
Zepto said it has created job opportunities for tons of of hundreds of gig employees. “From day one, our vision has been to play a small role in nation building, create millions of jobs and offer better services to Indian consumers,” Palicha said in an announcement.
Regulatory challenges arise. Unless an e-commerce company is a majority shareholder of an Indian company or person, current regulations prevent it from operating on a listing model. Fast trading corporations don’t currently follow these rules.
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