- Front Research
- Posts
- Tech brief: EU Set to Probe Meta Over Election Disinformation Fears
Tech brief: EU Set to Probe Meta Over Election Disinformation Fears
+ 7 breaking news stories.
Kristoffer Lindström
April 30, 2024
In partnership with
TECH BRIEF
Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, is facing potential investigations by the EU over concerns of inadequate countermeasures against Russian election-based disinformation ahead of the June EU elections. Another issue is Meta's plan to discontinue CrowdTangle, a tool that monitors the spread of fake news. The proceedings come as EU laws now require tech companies to regulate their own content against election interference. The EU recently conducted stress tests on all big social platforms' safeguards against Russian disinformation.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is planning a legal challenge against a US law requiring it to split from ByteDance or face a ban in the US. The challenge will likely cite violations of First Amendment rights. However, TikTok's options may be complex due to China's export restrictions on technology, with ByteDance potentially needing Chinese government permission to sell the software. Additionally, if ByteDance decides to sell TikTok without the algorithm due to these challenges, the value may be significantly reduced.
Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups are under financial stress as costs escalate and profits prove elusive. Inflection AI has ceased its main operations, while Stability AI has downsized and parted ways with its CEO. Even as firms scramble to balance overwhelming expenses with future profits, the high costs of developing AI systems surprise industry veterans. Over the past three years, investors have injected $330 billion into approximately 26,000 AI and machine learning start-ups.
OpenAI is facing another privacy complaint, this time in Austria, filed by advocacy group NOYB. The allegation states that OpenAI's ChatGPT bot disseminates incorrect information about a real person, possibly infringing EU privacy rules. OpenAI's refusal to delete this misleading data has been pointed out, a situation which analysts suggest may lead to violations of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. OpenAI has yet to respond to this latest complaint.
OpenAI has struck a non-exclusive content licensing deal with London's Financial Times, its latest in a series of tie-ups with news publishers. The deal allows for the use of FT's content in training OpenAI's AI models and in the generation of AI responses by tools like their AI chatbot, ChatGPT. Further, the agreement will aid FT's understanding of generative AI and assist in developing new AI features for its readers.
Apple has been mandated by the European Commission to make its iPadOS open, as part of stringent DMA rules. Apple must stop 'locking-in users into its ecosystem and prioritize fairplay over personal gain. This move comes after a lengthy investigation identifying iPadOS as gatekeeper software. Noncompliance could bring severe consequences, and with a six-month deadline, Apple's commitment to 'constructive engagement' with the EU will be tested.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon nearly $200 million combined for allegedly sharing customers' location data illegally. The FCC states that the carriers sold this data to third-party location service providers without obtaining customer consent. Despite these charges, the carriers maintain that they are not at fault and plan to appeal the decision.
YouTube posted a record $8.1 billion sales from ads in Q1 2024, marking a 21% YoY increase, and significantly surpassing Wall Street's prediction of $7.72 billion. Parent company Alphabet also saw a 15% revenue increase to $80.54 billion and plans to accrue a $100 billion combined annual run rate from YouTube and Google Cloud by year-end.
Reply