Five Top Tech Takeaways: Twitter $20 Billion Brand Bonfire, No Bard for Canada, Apple's GPT and AI Regulations

 

Bonfire of Billions

Musk's Twitter Rebrand: Lighting Up $20 Billion in Brand Value?

Elon Musk's recent decision to rebrand Twitter as "X" and eliminate the iconic bird logo has sparked controversy and is estimated to have wiped out between $4 billion and $20 billion in brand value. The move, which includes a shift in focus towards audio, video, messaging, payments, and banking, has been criticized by analysts and brand agencies who argue that Twitter's brand recognition and cultural influence are invaluable assets. The rebranding has also led to a significant drop in advertising revenue, with advertisers wary of Musk's controversial persona. Despite the backlash, some believe that Musk's personal brand may be powerful enough to carry the new "X" platform forward. (Source: BNN)

Google's Bard Expansion: Canada Left Out in the Cold

Google's AI-powered chatbot, Bard, has expanded globally but has notably excluded Canada, along with countries like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Cuba. This move comes amidst Google's ongoing dispute with the Canadian government over the Online News Act, which mandates tech giants like Google and Meta to negotiate compensation deals with media outlets. The Act aims to balance online advertising revenues, a sector dominated by Google and Meta. In response to the Act, both companies have threatened to block news links from their platforms in Canada. Google's Bard, now available in over 40 languages and more than 230 countries, has not clarified if its exclusion of Canada is directly related to these regulatory disputes. (Source: CTV)

Sam Altman's Eyeball Scans: A New Frontier in Crypto or Privacy Breach?

Worldcoin, a project by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has launched a global initiative offering free cryptocurrency in exchange for an eyeball scan to create a digital ID. The project aims to establish a new "identity and financial network" and to verify users as human, not bots. Despite privacy concerns, people in countries like Britain, Japan, and India have participated, with Worldcoin claiming to have issued IDs to over two million people in 120 countries. Critics have raised concerns about potential privacy breaches, but Worldcoin insists that the project is "completely private" and that biometric data is either deleted or stored encrypted. The promise of free cryptocurrency has attracted many participants, despite the potential risks. (Source: CTV)

Apple's AI Ambitions: The Birth of 'Apple GPT'

Apple is reportedly developing its own AI-powered chatbot, internally referred to as "Apple GPT", using a large language model (LLM) framework named "Ajax". The project, which runs on Google Cloud and is built with Google JAX, is still in its early stages with no confirmed plans for public release. Multiple teams within Apple are working on the project, including addressing potential privacy issues. Despite Apple's relative silence in the generative AI space, the company has been integrating AI into its software for years, most notably with Siri. Apple's AI initiative is led by John Giannandrea and Craig Federighi, and a significant AI-related announcement is expected from the company next year. (Source: TheVerge)

AI Giants Commit to New Safety Measures Amid White House Initiative

In an effort to manage the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), the Biden administration has reached an agreement with seven major AI companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and OpenAI. The companies have voluntarily committed to implementing more safeguards around AI, such as developing a watermarking system to help users identify AI-generated content, testing their AI systems' security and capabilities before public release, investing in research on the technology's societal risks, and facilitating external audits of system vulnerabilities. While these commitments largely reflect existing safety practices, they lack enforcement mechanisms. The White House is also developing an executive order to govern the use of AI, emphasizing that these commitments are not a substitute for federal action or legislation. (Source: WSJ)

Author: Malik Datardina, CPA, CA, CISA. Malik works at Auvenir as a GRC Strategist that is working to transform the engagement experience for accounting firms and their clients. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent UWCISA, UW, Auvenir (or its affiliates), CPA Canada or anyone else. This post was written with the assistance of an AI language model. The model provided suggestions and completions to help me write, but the final content and opinions are my own.