Proposed new rule: All AI output should rhyme

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I do know I normally lead Startups Weekly with my very own column (and I did write one this week, so in case you are someway a fan of all the things I write, go ham), however Devin’s piece taking a stand in opposition to the pseudanthropy of AI is a must-read. He proposes a brand new algorithm for AIs to observe to protect our humanity:

1. AI should rhyme​​.
2. AI could not current a face or id​​.
3. AI can not “feel” or “think.”​​
4. AI-derived figures, choices and solutions should be marked ‘⸫’ ​​.
5. AI should not make life or loss of life choices​​.
6. AI imagery should have a nook clipped​​.

Sure, these recommendations can’t realistically be carried out, however read the article anyway; it goes deep about a few of the fascinating challenges we face as AIs get extra mature and ubiquitous.

Okay, with immediately’s philosophy lesson out of the way in which, let’s dive in and see what else is up within the Proper Honorable Royal Kingdom of Startups.

Flying excessive, dippin’ deep

Picture Credit: Chicken

The turbulent journey of startups is constant.

Chicken, the as soon as high-flying electrical scooter firm, has crash-landed into bankruptcy. After a wild journey from a $2 billion valuation to a monetary face-plant, this former micromobility poster little one is now restructuring its funds quicker than one among its scooters racing downhill with a tailwind. Now they’re banking on Chapter 11 to maintain their wheels spinning, however solely after shedding some feathers and hoping somebody finds sufficient worth of their belongings to purchase them out. The irony? Their Canadian and European operations are nonetheless scooting alongside as if nothing occurred.

I’m not gonna say “I told you so,” however there was undoubtedly no coincidence that I picked Chicken as the instance for the ‘Undertanding the levers in your business’ submit I wrote again in 2018 . . .

Anyway. Right here’s a number of extra tales that’ve saved y’all clickin’:

Again to startups: Eric Wu, the co-founder of Opendoor, is ditching his executive chair for a bean bag in the startup world again. After a decade of enjoying actual property Tetris, Wu’s prepared to return to constructing issues from scratch, amid the hardest actual property market in additional than 40 years.

Feeling safer but?: In a transfer that’s much less stunning than discovering out your password is nonetheless “password123,” Okta has snapped up security firm Spera for a cool $100 million-ish. The latter is sort of a cybersecurity Sherlock Holmes, sniffing out digital weaknesses earlier than they turn into full-blown disasters.

I guess this article triggers their algorithms: Meltwater, the media monitoring maestro that’s been dancing round print and digital information like a tech-savvy ballerina, simply bought a $65 million pat on the back from Verdane, valuing the corporate at a cool $592 million.

When synthetic intelligence is extra prevalent than actual intelligence

Picture Credit: Getty Photos

Devin breaks open the crystal ball for AI in 2024 and predicts a roller-coaster journey from hype to a actuality verify. He means that OpenAI, post-leadership shuffle, may morph into an Apple-esque “ship it” product powerhouse with its personal AI app retailer. In the meantime, area of interest AI purposes, like agent-based fashions and generative multimedia, may graduate from “meh” to “hmm, interesting,” particularly in monotonous duties like insurance coverage claims. Within the political area, AI might become a tool for misinformation and manipulation within the 2024 elections, with bot accounts and faux information ramping up the chaos.

I can’t say that I disagree. When media literacy hits all-time low and AI is on the upswing, we have a perfect storm.

Cool cool cool. What else has been cookin’ within the AI kitchen?

Composers, composers, composers: Microsoft Copilot, the AI-powered chatbot, is now dipping its digital toes into the world of music composition by way of an integration with the GenAI music app Suno. Customers can immediate Copilot to create full songs, together with lyrics and instrumentals, with requests like “Create a pop song about adventures with your family.”

Hey, Spotify, make me a playlist the place each tune begins with the letters W, T, and F: Spotify is testing an “AI playlists” function that lets customers create playlists using AI prompts. Customers can kind prompts into an AI chatbot-style field or select from recommended prompts like “Get focused at work with instrumental electronica,” or “Songs most likely to drive my parents up the wall.”

Sorry, Charles Ponzi, you possibly can’t store right here: Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition software for five years, after it was discovered that its “reckless use of facial surveillance systems” resulted in buyer humiliation and jeopardized delicate info.

There’s an app for that

Picture Credit: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Apple has been ordered to cough up $25 million to settle a lawsuit over its Family Sharing feature. The Cupertino-based software program large was selling a “share-all-the-things” function for apps that have been . . . not sharable. Regardless of Apple’s “Who, us?” stance, they determined to throw cash on the drawback moderately than endure the limitless courtroom drama. Now, some fortunate Household Sharing customers from the nice ol’ days (2015–2019) may get a whopping $30 payout. That’s three months of a post-price-hike Apple TV+ subscription. Yay.

Apple bought off evenly in comparison with Google’s latest day in courtroom. In a “My bad, here’s some cash” transfer, Google’s digging into its couch cushions for a spare $700 million to settle a lawsuit over its Play Retailer monopoly antics. Of this, $630 million goes to U.S. shoppers and a neat $70 million to U.S. states. The search large, as soon as recognized for its “Do No Evil” motto, apparently didn’t prolong that to app distribution on Android. As a part of the deal, Google’s additionally revamping its person alternative billing program within the U.S., permitting builders extra freedom in billing strategies. They’re even making sideloading (i.e., putting in apps with out Google’s blessing) much less of a digital impediment course. However let’s not get too excited — as Epic Video games’ VP of public coverage factors out, consumers are still likely to overpay for digital goods thanks to Google’s hefty fees. So, whereas Google’s pockets will get lighter, our wallets may not really feel a lot totally different.

Courtroom shenanigans apart . . .

Sharing is caring: Declare, the brand new social media child on the block, is making an attempt to make sharing rewards with buddies the following large factor. They’ve scooped up $4 million from Sequoia Capital to show shopping for stuff right into a multiplayer sport.

Oh, hello, didn’t see you there: Jagat, a location-based social network that’s all about real-life connections, has zoomed previous 10 million customers. Launched in March, this app, which is sort of a social map for buddies and actions, is aiming to make social networking, properly, social once more.

Hyperlink in bio: Linktree, the Australian link-in-bio platform, has scooped up its competitor Koji from GoMeta. On this sport of digital Monopoly, Linktree’s not solely increasing its empire but in addition sending Koji’s product into retirement by January 2024.

High reads on TechCrunch this week

I dipped into our analytics software program to see what else may be value highlighting from the previous week or so. Listed here are a number of extra reads:

Taking the oxygen out of Apple’s Christmas sails: Apple has paused gross sales of its Apple Watch Collection 9 and Extremely 2 as a result of a patent dispute with Masimo, a medical tech agency. The dispute includes the blood oxygen sensor in Apple’s smartwatches.

To Xfinity and past: Comcast’s Xfinity service fell victim to a cyberattack, affecting nearly 36 million clients. The breach probably uncovered buyer usernames, hashed passwords, contact info, dates of beginning, components of Social Safety numbers, and secret questions and solutions.

The place have been you, tho?: Google, in a transfer that might make Huge Brother rather less nosy, introduced plans to store users’ location data on their devices instead of on its servers. This alteration goals to place an finish to the usage of “geofence warrants,” the place police demand Google hand over information from gadgets in a selected space at a sure time. These warrants have been criticized as overly broad and presumably unconstitutional.