AI Training Data: The New Gold Rush

In the news, companies are scrambling to acquire high-quality training data for their AI models, leading to a new "gold rush" for data acquisition. Some key points:

• Reuters reports that tech giants are actively trying to buy training data from various sources, including scraping public websites, licensing datasets, and more.
• The New York Times highlights companies exploring ways to reinterpret or "clarify" terms of service to gain access to more data.
• However, YouTube's CEO stated that if OpenAI's Sora video model was trained on YouTube videos, it would break the platform's terms of service.

The Impact of AI on Productivity and Employment

As AI continues to advance, news outlets are analyzing its potential impact on productivity and employment across various industries:

• The New York Times examines how AI is initially being used to cut costs through automation, but the long-term effects on productivity and jobs remain uncertain.
• Researchers are exploring new approaches to fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) to reduce "error rates" and improve performance.

AI Ethics and Regulation in the News

The ethical implications of AI and the need for regulation are becoming increasingly prominent news topics:

• Ben Evans shares his perspective on the challenges of writing laws or laying down ethical principles for a rapidly evolving technology like AI.
• The U.S. and U.K. announced a partnership to collaborate on testing AI safety, although Ben Evans expresses little concern about AI safety regulation.

Tech Companies and Business News

Several news stories cover developments and challenges faced by major tech companies:

• The FT reports that Google is considering a paid tier for its AI services due to the high costs of running large language models.
• Amazon is scaling back its "Just Walk Out" cashierless checkout technology due to high error rates and the need for manual review.
• Microsoft agreed to unbundle Teams from Office globally after the EU raised antitrust concerns, a decision that Ben Evans considers too slow for fast-moving tech markets.

Data and Business Analysis News

Several news stories provide data and analysis on various tech and business topics:

• TikTok released a U.S. economic impact report, likely aimed at lobbying against a potential ban.
• Meta revealed Instagram's revenue figures in a court filing, showing its significant contribution to the company's business.
• Apple and Google are highlighting trade-offs and complexities in complying with new competition rules like the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Other Notable Tech and Business News

Additional news stories cover a range of interesting and noteworthy developments:

• Elon Musk made claims about Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" capabilities and the upcoming "Robotaxi" launch, which Ben Evans considers exaggerated or untrue.
• Truth Social, the Twitter clone partly owned by Donald Trump, went public with little disclosed revenue or user metrics, yet has a notional market cap of $5.5 billion.
• Perplexity, an AI search engine, is considering incorporating ads, exploring potential monetization strategies for AI-powered services.