Reddit said on Friday that the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter to the company about its data licensing business related to training AI systems.“On March 14, 2024, we received a letter from the FTC informing us that FTC staff was conducting a non-public investigation focused on our selling, licensing, or sharing of user-generated content with third parties to train artificial intelligence models.” Reddit said in its updated IPO prospectus. Reddit filed to go public in February, and plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “RDDT.”Although Reddit's core business is online advertising, the company…
Author: ricardofrancois
Animal welfare activists on Friday pressed the Los Angeles City Council to make changes to the Department of Animal Services, saying its network of shelters faces “deplorable” conditions and an overcrowding crisis.Activists called for stricter enforcement of the city's mandatory sterilization and neuter policy, a halt to breeding permits and increased transparency from animal services.Local groups, including Take Me Home Rescue and Animal Rescue Mission, said animal services care more about their reputation than the well-being of the animals in their care. They said that dogs and cats live in feces and go months without walking.Rescue groups have also claimed…
Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creatives, has updated its rules to more strictly restrict NSFW content, citing restrictions imposed by payment processors like Stripe and PayPal. For creators selling adult artwork, such as explicit comic books or raunchy cosplay, these sudden policy changes can be detrimental, resulting in an unexpected loss of income. “I worry on a number of levels about my livelihood and the livelihoods of all kinds of creative people in my field: artists, writers, sex workers, and content creators of all kinds,” Sleepingirl, a queer educator and writer, told TechCrunch. “This is clearly not the first site…
Apple has agreed to pay $490 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that CEO Tim Cook misled investors about a sharp decline in iPhone sales in China that culminated in a stark revision to the company's revenue forecasts.The preliminary settlement filed Friday in Oakland federal court stems from a shareholder lawsuit that focused on the way Apple conveyed information about how iPhone models released in September 2018 performed in China, one of the company's largest markets.Cook noted that the new iPhones were off to a good start during an investor conference call in early November 2018, according to the…
California's property insurer of last resort told lawmakers it is not financially prepared to cover the costs of a major disaster in the state.The plan now faces potential losses of $311 billion, compared with $50 billion six years ago, Victoria Roach, head of the California FAIR plan, said at a state legislative hearing on Wednesday.“We don't have a lot of money,” she said. “Our prices are not enough. If we have a big event, we will look to the voluntary market – which is already in a risky situation – to cover our losses.The state-sponsored plan has grown rapidly as…
Former US Vice President Mike Pence arrives to speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, October 28, 2023.Steve Marcus | ReutersWASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he will not endorse his former boss for president in the 2024 election.Pence revealed the decision during an interview on Fox News. “I will not support Donald Trump this year,” the Republican said.Pence's announcement came as Trump secured enough Republican delegates this week to win the party's nomination.Pence said Trump “is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is inconsistent with the conservative agenda by which…
Workers assemble cars on the line at Tesla's factory in Fremont. David Buteau (Photo by David Buteau/Corbis via Getty Images)David Buteau | Corbis News | Getty ImagesElectric vehicle maker Tesla It settled a racial discrimination lawsuit in which a federal jury previously awarded $3.2 million in damages to Owen Diaz, a Black man who worked as an elevator operator at its factory in Fremont, California, in 2015.“The parties have reached an amicable resolution of their disputes,” attorney Lawrence Organ of the California Civil Rights Law Group, who represented Diaz, told CNBC via email. “The terms of the settlement are confidential…
Update: Starbucks announced on Friday that it will discontinue its NFT program, which was in beta, “to prepare for what comes next as we continue to develop the program,” according to an FAQ page. We spoke with Steve Kaczynski, the program's lead, on Chain Reaction last month. On Friday, he tweeted that his future at the company was uncertain: Below is our original interview with Kaczynski on February 22: The NFT space may be down significantly from its all-time highs, but brands and loyalty programs looking to reach fans in new ways can still find value, said Steve Kaczynski, co-author…
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Geron Inc. – Shares of the biotech company rose 92% after an FDA advisory panel voted in favor of Geron's treatment for blood disorders, imetelstat. Geron expects a regulatory decision to be issued in June. Micron Technology – The semiconductor stock rose 2% after Citi named Micron as one of its top picks and increased its price target by $55 to $150. The bank said the shares deserve a premium given the company's growing exposure to artificial intelligence. Rivian Automotive – Shares rose 3.3% after Piper Sandler upgraded the electric automaker…
Bitcoin offices in Istanbul, Türkiye, on February 28, 2024. Umit Turhan Coskun | norphoto | Getty ImagesBitcoin suffered a sharp decline in overnight trading, showing that the world's largest cryptocurrency has not shaken its tendency toward major declines despite continuing to gain acceptance within the mainstream financial world.Shown are data from Coin Metrics Bitcoin It traded at more than $72,000 late Thursday night before falling to about $67,000 on Friday, a roughly 7% decline. The price rebounded to around $68,900 on Friday afternoon. Stock chart icon Stock chart iconBitcoin fell sharply overnight after trading above $72,000 on Thursday.It was not…