“It is clear that the organization is not in a hurry to spend its money.” Mr. Miser The holidays may be approaching, but it appears that SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is remaining a total scrooge. The New York Times reports that the centibillionaire’s charity, the Musk Foundation, failed to give away the minimum… Continue reading Elon Musk’s “Charity” Is Hoarding Money Instead of Giving It to the Needy
Author: Futurism_Magazine Online News
BuzzFeed Sells “Hot Ones” as It Pivots to AI-Generated Content
“Couldn’t we make even more money if we had AI do it?” Cold Product Embattled media company BuzzFeed is selling off First We Feast, the company behind the extremely popular interview show called “Hot Ones,” for $82.5 million to save itself from a mountain of debt. The deal will bring down the media empire’s debt… Continue reading BuzzFeed Sells “Hot Ones” as It Pivots to AI-Generated Content
Controversial Chatbot Company Character.AI Appears to Have Accidentally Let Users See Each Others’ Chat Histories
A large number of Character.AI users are reporting that they were unexpectedly signed into a stranger’s account, allowing them to see their entire chat history, personas, and even identifying information. “This is one hell of a mess the devs need to fix ASAP,” one alarmed Reddit user wrote. The Google-backed startup “did an oopsie, and got… Continue reading Controversial Chatbot Company Character.AI Appears to Have Accidentally Let Users See Each Others’ Chat Histories
Texas Attorney General Investigating Google-Backed AI Startup Accused of Inappropriate Interactions With Minors
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that he’s launched an investigation into the Google-backed AI chatbot startup Character.AI over its privacy and safety practices for minors. The news comes just days after two Texas families sued the startup and its financial backer Google, alleging that the platform’s AI characters sexually and emotionally abused their… Continue reading Texas Attorney General Investigating Google-Backed AI Startup Accused of Inappropriate Interactions With Minors
UnitedHealth Is Asking Journalists to Remove Names and Photos of Its CEO From Published Work
In the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder last week, the insurer’s parent company is now asking journalists to remove photos of its remaining executives’ names and faces. After Futurism published a blog about “wanted” posters appearing in New York City that featured the names and faces of the CEOs of UHC’s owner UnitedHealth Group… Continue reading UnitedHealth Is Asking Journalists to Remove Names and Photos of Its CEO From Published Work
OpenAI’s Sora Is Generating Videos of Real People, Including This Unintentionally Demonic Version of Pokimane
OpenAI has long refused to say whether its Sora video generator was trained on YouTube content — but its propensity for generating videos that look a whole lot like real gaming streamers suggests it did. When TechCrunch put Sora to the test, its reporters found not only that it could generate videos that were strikingly similar… Continue reading OpenAI’s Sora Is Generating Videos of Real People, Including This Unintentionally Demonic Version of Pokimane
Americans Point Out That UnitedHealthcare Tried to Kill Them First
Image by Getty / Futurism The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week has sparked a fiery debate over what’s clearly a widespread hatred of the health insurance system in the United States. From skyrocketing bills to repeatedly being denied coverage, Americans have long struggled to get the care they need to survive. As… Continue reading Americans Point Out That UnitedHealthcare Tried to Kill Them First
Companion Chatbot App Makes Its AI’s Personalities Horrible, Saying It Engages Users More Effectively
While AI chatbots keep making headlines for their bad behavior, one company is leaning into that propensity — and then some. As the Verge reports, the AI companion company Friend, which launched its Omegle-style chatbot “matching” site last month under the expensive domain name of Friend.com, has intentionally given its companion chatbots bad attitudes because,… Continue reading Companion Chatbot App Makes Its AI’s Personalities Horrible, Saying It Engages Users More Effectively
Google-Backed AI Startup Announces Plans to Stop Grooming Teenagers
Content warning: this story discusses sexual abuse, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and other disturbing topics. Earlier this week, Futurism reported that two families in Texas had filed a lawsuit accusing the Google-backed AI chatbot company Character.AI of sexually and emotionally abusing their school-aged children. The plaintiffs alleged that the startup’s chatbots encouraged a teenage boy… Continue reading Google-Backed AI Startup Announces Plans to Stop Grooming Teenagers
Congress Introduces Bills to Break Up UnitedHealth Group
Image by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty / Futurism Congress is pushing to break up the nation’s biggest insurance monopolies after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder last week sparked widespread anger. As the New York Times reports, a pair of bipartisan bills seek to force insurers and other healthcare companies to sell off their so-called… Continue reading Congress Introduces Bills to Break Up UnitedHealth Group