Tech

Creatives are suing Nvidia over copyright infringement in AI training

Published

2 months ago

March 11, 2024

Ahron Young

Nvidia finds itself embroiled in a legal battle as three authors, Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian, and Stewart O’Nan, file a lawsuit against the tech giant.

The authors allege that Nvidia unlawfully used their copyrighted works to train its NeMo AI platform without obtaining permission.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court on Friday night, claims that Nvidia utilised a dataset comprising approximately 196,640 books, including works authored by Keene, Nazemian, and O’Nan, to train its NeMo AI platform.

This platform was designed to simulate ordinary written language but was taken down in October due to reported copyright infringement.

The authors argue that Nvidia’s takedown of the NeMo AI platform constitutes an admission of their use of the dataset for training purposes, thereby infringing upon their copyrights.

Seeking unspecified damages, the authors are pursuing legal action on behalf of individuals in the United States whose copyrighted works contributed to training NeMo’s large language models over the past three years.

Ghost Walk

Included among the copyrighted works cited in the lawsuit are Keene’s 2008 novel “Ghost Walk,” Nazemian’s 2019 novel “Like a Love Story,” and O’Nan’s 2007 novella “Last Night at the Lobster.”

Nvidia has chosen not to comment on the matter, while legal representatives for the authors have yet to respond to requests for additional comments.

Tech

Tesla is slashing prices to stay competitive

Published

2 weeks ago

April 21, 2024

Reuters

Tesla cut the U.S. prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles by $2,000 each, days after the first-quarter deliveries of the world’s most valuable automaker missed market expectations.

Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle (EV) maker lowered the prices for its Model Y base variant to $42,990, while the long-range and performance variants are now priced at $47,990 and $51,490, respectively, according to its website.

The basic version of the Model S now costs $72,990 and its plaid variant $87,990. The Model X base variant now costs $77,990 and its plaid variant is priced at $92,900.

Tesla North America also said in a post on X said it would end its referral program benefits in all markets after April 30.

Referral program allows buyers to get extra incentives through referrals from existing customers, a strategy long used by traditional automakers to boost sales.

Musk has postponed a planned trip to India where he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announce plans to enter the South Asian market, Reuters reported on Saturday.

On Monday Reuters reported, citing an internal memo, that the EV maker was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce.

Earlier this month Reuters reported the EV maker had canceled a long-promised inexpensive car, expected to cost $25,000, that investors had been counting on to drive mass-market growth.

The EV maker reported this month that its global vehicle deliveries in the first quarter fell for the first time in nearly four years, as price cuts failed to stir demand.

Tesla is to report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

Tech

TikTok launches Instagram competitor ‘Notes’

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Nathan Langridge

TikTok Notes has launched in Australia & Canada as a formidable competitor to Instagram, offering a unique platform for content creation, text and sharing.

“TikTok Notes is a lifestyle platform that offers informative photo-text content about people’s lives, where you can see individuals sharing their travel tips and daily recipes,” reads the official App Store description.

Take note

The app allows users to create content by combining short videos with text-based notes, closely resembling that of Meta’s Instagram.

Whether it’s sharing a quick tutorial, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking message, TikTok Notes is positioned to be a formidable social media platform.

Currently, the app is only available for download and “limited testing” in Australia and Canada.

As it gains momentum, the platform is poised to contest Instagram’s established reign in the social media landscape.

Tech

Ramifications of a TikTok ban to impact Open Internet

Published

2 weeks ago

April 18, 2024

Ahron Young

The United States’ longstanding advocacy for an open internet faces a critical juncture as Congress considers legislation targeting TikTok.

The proposed measures, including a forced sale or outright ban of TikTok, have sparked concerns among digital rights advocates and global observers about the implications for internet freedom and international norms.

For decades, the U.S. has championed the concept of an unregulated internet, advocating for the free flow of digital data across borders.

However, the move against TikTok, a platform with 170 million U.S. users, has raised questions about the consistency of America’s stance on internet governance.

Read more – Big tech to handover misinformation data

Critics fear that actions against TikTok could set a precedent for other countries to justify their own internet censorship measures.

Russian blogger Aleksandr Gorbunov warned that Russia could use the U.S. decision to justify further restrictions on platforms like YouTube.

Similarly, Indian lawyer Mishi Choudhary expressed concerns that a U.S. ban on TikTok would embolden the Indian government to impose additional crackdowns on internet freedoms.

Moreover, the proposed legislation could complicate U.S. efforts to advocate for an internet governed by international organizations rather than individual countries.

China, in particular, has promoted a vision of internet sovereignty, advocating for greater national control over online content.

A TikTok ban could undermine America’s credibility in urging other countries to embrace a more open internet governed by global standards.