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🚀 Musk's 'X' Intends to Revolutionize Social Media, Unveils Ambitious Features
Today: Tech Salaries Drop 5% for Junior Talent | Bots Attack OpenAI, Strain Resources | Musk's 'X' Unveils Social Media Features
Kristoffer Lindström
September 22, 2023
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Today is Friday, September 22. We have a lot of exciting news to cover. But first, I would appreciate it if you could quickly answer the survey below.
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Now, onto today’s top headlines:
🚀 Musk's 'X' Intends to Revolutionize Social Media, Unveils Ambitious Features
🔍 Google and TikTok Experimenting with Game-Changing Search Partnership
đź’¸ Tech Salaries Plunge: Junior Talent Suffers Most, Sinking 5% Yearly
🎥 Revolutionizing Content Creation: YouTube Launches YouTube Create App with Advanced Editing Tools
🤖 Emerging Attack: Bots Bombard OpenAI, Straining Tech Resources and Wallets
🗨️ Microsoft's AI Chatbot Bing Unveils New Features, Boosts Personalization
đź”’ Cisco's $28B Splunk Acquisition: A Boon for Cybersecurity & AI Innovation
and more...
READ TIME: 5.0 MINUTES
Tech Companies
Elon Musk's trailer for the app X, hints at ambitions to merge functions of YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, LinkedIn, Patreon, Venmo, FaceTime, Amazon, and act as a global social dialogue platform. Features displayed in the trailer range from existing ones, like posting updates and direct messages, to upcoming features like video calling and direct shopping. Availability to non-premium users is yet to be clarified.
đź’ˇ Why does this matter?
The concept of a "everythingapp" that combines multiple functionalities into one platform has been successful in some Asian countries, largely due to the immature markets that existed when these apps were established. However, replicating this model in Western markets poses significant challenges due to the maturity and competitiveness of existing platforms. Elon Musk's ambitious vision for 'X' to merge a wide array of services—from social media to e-commerce—could be a game-changer if executed well, but it's a steep hill to climb.
Additionally, the notion that 'X' might introduce a subscription fee could be a double-edged sword. While it may generate revenue, it could also deter the mass adoption needed to transform 'X' into a everythingapp. This is especially crucial as the availability of features to non-premium users remains unclear, adding another layer of complexity to the app's potential success.
TikTok is trialing a search partnership with Google, integrating Google search into the TikTok app. The move could substantially boost traffic and ad revenue for both platforms. TikTok can also gain insights into its users' search and browsing habits and enhance its e-commerce objectives. The feature is being tested globally, however, it is not an ad unit.
đź’ˇ Why does this matter?
TikTok is testing a search partnership with Google, potentially changing the ways users interact with search engines. This move could increase both platforms’ reach, engagement, and ad revenue, especially among younger demographics. It could also alter data exchange, online ad distribution, and broaden TikTok's e-commerce scope.
Hired's 2023 Tech Salaries Report reveals that tech salaries in the U.S. experienced a significant year-over-year decline, dropping from $161,000 to $156,000. Accounting for inflation, U.S salaries have plummeted by 9% to their lowest in five years. Professionals with less than four years of experience bore the brunt of the decrease, seeing a near 5% salary drop and a decline in demand. Despite this, the average tech industry salary remains competitive at $158,000.
Google has objected to the Department of Justice (DOJ) sharing public exhibits online from the on-going 10-week antitrust trial over search business. The tech giant's lawyer, John Schmidtlein, has expressed alarm over trial exhibits being posted on the DOJ website, from where they are widely shared. One such document, tapped as ""embarrassing"" by Google, has caused Judge Amit Mehta to order the DOJ to remove all exhibits from the aforementioned site. However, as Bloomberg reports, the judge has also acknowledged that once evidence is admitted, it should be publicly accessible.
X plans to deactivate the Circles sharing feature by October 31st, amplifying its focus on the Communities feature, akin to Facebook Groups.
AI Corner
YouTube has introduced YouTube Create, a new, free app featuring easy-to-use tools that address video creators' challenges. After consulting with 3,000 creators, YouTube designed the tool, which includes features like editing, stickers, GIFs and effects, audio cleanup, automatic captions and access to royalty-free music. Initially available for Android, the app is launching in beta across eight global markets.
AI models like OpenAI's GPT-4 are being targeted by new bot attacks. These bots scrape the AI models' outputs to gather intelligence and use it to train their own models. The demand for quality data and the expensive nature of top-performing models have increased such attacks. A developer recently suffered a $35,000 OpenAI bill due to this type of attack.
Microsoft has unveiled key enhancements to Bing Chat during its Surface event. The AI chatbot now features more personalized responses, improved shopping assistance, and integrated OpenAI's DALL-E 3 into its Image Creator tool. Bing Chat also now offers a business-friendly version with built-in privacy features extending to its Edge mobile app.
Markets & Money
Salesforce plans to acquire Airkit.ai, a platform enabling the construction of AI customer service agents. This acquisition will conclude by January 2024, incorporating Airkit.ai into Salesforce's Service Cloud.
Cisco is set to acquire Splunk for $28 billion, marking its largest purchase to date. The deal, focused on enhanced AI-enabled security, awaits regulatory approval.
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