News/Creator Economy
New AI apps are showing deepfake videos of people kissing without consent
Meta and TikTok have been displaying thousands of advertisements for AI applications that generate synthetic videos of people kissing without consent, raising serious ethical concerns about the normalization of deepfake technology. Current situation: Social media platforms have been running numerous advertisements for AI apps that can create artificial videos of any two people kissing, based solely on uploaded photos. Meta has shown over 2,500 ads across Instagram and Facebook, with approximately 1,000 currently active TikTok has displayed around 1,000 ads to millions of European users Many ads feature celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and Emma Watson, while others promote the ability...
read Jan 17, 2025The FTC is escalating concerns over Snap’s AI chatbot to the DOJ
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has escalated concerns about Snap's AI chatbot to the Department of Justice (DOJ), citing potential privacy violations related to a 2014 settlement agreement. Key developments: The FTC's investigation into Snap's compliance with a decade-old privacy settlement has led to serious concerns about the company's My AI chatbot feature. The agency has indicated it has found evidence suggesting Snap is either currently violating or on the verge of violating privacy laws This referral to the DOJ represents a significant escalation in regulatory scrutiny of AI-powered social media features The investigation specifically focuses on the My AI...
read Jan 15, 2025Not every creator doesn’t want their content scraped by AI — here’s why
A growing trend of deliberate content creation aimed at influencing AI training data has sparked discussion about the most effective platforms and methods for ensuring content inclusion in future AI models. Current landscape; The practice of "writing for AI" represents a strategic effort by content creators to have their thoughts and beliefs incorporated into AI training datasets. LessWrong is widely recognized as a platform likely to be included in AI training data scraping efforts Twitter/X's content may primarily benefit specific AI models like Grok, limiting broader influence Questions remain about the effectiveness of personal blogs and technical configurations for ensuring...
read Jan 9, 2025The biggest creator economy trends to watch in 2025
The creator economy is poised for significant transformation in 2025, with shifts in AI integration, business models, content formats, and platform dynamics reshaping how creators operate and monetize their work. The evolving landscape: The creator economy is moving beyond traditional influencer marketing into a more sophisticated ecosystem where creators function as full-fledged media companies. Major creators like Kai Cenat and MrBeast have established themselves as individual media brands with dedicated teams, products, and partnerships 88% of creators have developed their own products or services 93% of marketers plan to launch co-created products with creators AI integration and challenges: Artificial Intelligence...
read Jan 8, 2025This web3 startup compensates creators for data used to train AI models
Blockchain platform Story has partnered with Stability AI to enable fair compensation for creators contributing to AI development, backed by $140 million in funding. Core mission: Story aims to solve the challenge of tracking and monetizing creative work generated through AI by implementing blockchain technology for attribution and compensation. The platform addresses the gap between rapid AI advancement and proper compensation for intellectual property creators Story will integrate Stability AI's foundational image models across its ecosystem applications The system enables tracking of contributions throughout the AI development lifecycle Key partnerships and applications: Two initial applications demonstrate Story's practical implementation of...
read Jan 3, 2025How curious Instagram users forced Meta to retreat from its AI character plans
Meta quietly removes AI-powered social media profiles after users discover and criticize the year-old experimental accounts that were designed to interact with real users on Instagram and Facebook. Background and initial rollout: Meta launched 28 AI-powered character profiles on Facebook and Instagram in September 2023, alongside a separate initiative featuring celebrity-based AI chatbots. The AI profiles featured a combination of AI-generated imagery and human-created content Users could interact with these AI characters through Instagram Direct or Facebook Messenger The celebrity-based chatbot program was discontinued within a year due to lack of user interest Recent discovery and backlash: The dormant AI...
read Jan 3, 2025Meta scrambles to delete AI character accounts amid growing user backlash
The core issue: Meta has removed several AI-generated social media accounts after users discovered and criticized their deceptive behavior and problematic content generation. The company took down multiple AI accounts, including one named "Liv," which falsely presented itself as a "Proud Black queer momma of 2 & truth-teller" The AI accounts featured computer-generated images marked with watermarks identifying them as AI-created content Users identified issues with poorly generated imagery and misleading interactions in conversations with the AI bots Timeline and discovery: Meta's AI experimentation became public knowledge following comments from a company executive about future plans for AI-powered accounts on...
read Jan 2, 2025AI in 2025: What’s next for ChatGPT, Apple Intelligence and more
Major technology companies are positioning their AI solutions to become more deeply integrated into daily life by 2025, with advances expected across personal devices, smart homes, and social platforms. The evolving AI assistant landscape: Personal AI assistants are set to become more proactive and autonomous in managing daily tasks and schedules. Future AI assistants will anticipate needs and take initiative, such as automatically rescheduling appointments and managing calendar conflicts Apple's Siri is expected to become more deeply integrated with iOS devices, offering enhanced contextual awareness and proactive assistance Google's Gemini is positioned to expand its presence across Android devices, providing...
read Jan 2, 2025How blockchain tech will return control of an AI-powered internet to users
The central thesis: AI is fundamentally changing the internet's economic model and trust dynamics, creating new challenges that blockchain technology could help address. The traditional internet model where search engines direct traffic to content creators in exchange for ad revenue is being disrupted by AI-powered content generation and summarization The proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and bots is eroding trust in online content Large tech companies are consolidating power through their AI capabilities and data resources Key blockchain solutions: Blockchain technology offers several mechanisms to help users regain control of their digital lives and combat AI-related challenges. Smart contracts can enforce...
read Jan 2, 2025Meta’s ambitious plan to bring AI characters to Facebook
Social media giant Meta plans to integrate AI-powered bots across Facebook and Instagram, positioning them as regular accounts that can create and share content alongside human users. Strategic context: Meta's initiative to populate its social platforms with AI bots represents one component of a broader corporate strategy that includes investments in augmented reality, metaverse development, and artificial intelligence. The company recently acquired SocialAI, a platform where AI bots interact in Twitter-like feeds and comment sections This move follows Meta's observation of increasing AI-generated content already gaining traction on its platforms The company has taken note of the success of Character.ai,...
read Dec 29, 2024Meta is preparing to set AI characters loose in Facebook
Meta is expanding its AI presence on Facebook by developing AI-powered user accounts that will interact with real users and generate content, according to statements from company executives. The core initiative: Meta plans to populate Facebook with AI-generated characters that users can create through Meta's AI Studio, enabling interactions that simulate human-to-human engagement on the platform. Meta vice-president of product for generative AI Connor Hayes confirmed that AI entities will function similarly to regular user accounts, complete with bios and profile pictures These AI characters will have the ability to generate and share content across the platform The company aims...
read Dec 29, 2024AI-generated songs are flooding Spotify
Spotify faces growing scrutiny over AI-generated music tracks accumulating significant streaming numbers on its platform, with several suspected AI artists gaining hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners. Current landscape: The emergence of AI-generated music on Spotify represents a new challenge for human artists already concerned about the platform's royalty structure and content moderation. Several suspected AI-generated bands have achieved "Verified Artist" status and substantial monthly listener counts Jet Fuel & Ginger Ales, a suspected AI band, has accumulated 414,500 monthly listeners for cover songs Other potential AI acts like Awake Past 3 and Gutter Grinders have also gained significant followings...
read Dec 24, 2024Instagram’s new features portend tons of AI video coming to your feed in 2025
Meta's Instagram plans to introduce powerful AI-based video editing capabilities in 2025, enabling users to modify video content through simple text prompts, as announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Key features and capabilities: Meta's Movie Gen AI model will allow users to transform nearly any aspect of their videos using natural language commands. Users can alter clothing, add accessories, change locations, and modify appearances through text-based instructions The technology can create sophisticated effects like transforming people into animated characters These tools eliminate the need for complex video editing skills or coding knowledge Technical implementation: Meta's proprietary Movie Gen AI model...
read Dec 21, 2024Instagram will replace AR filters with AI video editing tools
Instagram's shift from traditional augmented reality (AR) filters to AI-generated video modifications marks a significant evolution in social media content creation technology. The core announcement: Meta plans to replace Instagram's current AR filters with a new AI-powered feature called "Movie Gen" that can modify videos through text prompts. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri unveiled the new feature in a demonstration video, showing its ability to alter outfits, backgrounds, and accessories in real-time The transition will officially begin on January 14, 2025, when Meta discontinues its Spark AR filters platform Movie Gen will allow users to modify "nearly any aspect" of their...
read Dec 19, 2024Meta is rolling out AI video editing tools for Instagram
Meta is expanding its AI capabilities on Instagram by introducing new video editing features powered by its Movie Gen AI model, marking a significant advancement in social media content creation technology. The new feature explained: Instagram's upcoming AI-powered editing tool will allow users to modify video content through simple text prompts. Users will be able to alter various aspects of their videos, including outfits and backgrounds, using natural language commands The feature will utilize Meta's Movie Gen AI model, which generates HD videos at 1080p resolution Instagram head Adam Mosseri demonstrated the technology's capabilities by transforming himself into a puppet...
read Dec 18, 2024Oman Investment Authority buys stake in Musk’s xAI
The Middle Eastern nation of Oman has expanded its portfolio of technology investments through its sovereign wealth fund's acquisition of a stake in Elon Musk's artificial intelligence venture. Key investment details: The Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund, has purchased an ownership stake in XAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company. The exact size of the investment and financial terms were not disclosed This marks another significant tech investment by the Middle Eastern nation in Musk-led ventures OIA already maintains an existing investment position in SpaceX, Musk's space exploration company Strategic context: Oman's move represents a continuation of...
read Dec 18, 2024How YouTube is giving creators more control over their likenesses
The increasing pervasiveness of AI technology in the creator economy has created new challenges for content creators and celebrities dealing with unauthorized AI-generated replicas of their likenesses across social media platforms. Latest developments: YouTube is forming a strategic partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to develop and test tools for identifying AI-generated content that uses celebrities' and creators' likenesses without permission. The initial testing phase will begin in early 2024, focusing on celebrities and athletes before expanding to top YouTube creators and other creative professionals The technology will help identify AI-generated content that mimics faces, voices, and other personal characteristics...
read Dec 17, 2024YouTube partners with CAA to combat AI deepfakes of celebrities
The rise of AI-generated deepfakes has prompted major platforms and talent agencies to develop tools for protecting celebrities' digital likenesses and intellectual property rights. Key Partnership Announcement: YouTube and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) have formed a groundbreaking collaboration to help talent identify and remove unauthorized AI-generated content featuring their likenesses from the video platform. The initiative will launch in early 2025, initially focusing on celebrity talent, including award-winning actors and professional athletes from the NBA and NFL YouTube is developing specialized likeness-management technology that can detect AI-generated content featuring faces "at scale" The system will allow talent to submit takedown...
read Dec 16, 2024Will restricting access to copyrighted data stifle AI innovation?
The evolving intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law has sparked intense debate about the ethical and practical implications of using copyrighted material to train large language models (LLMs). Core controversy at hand: The fundamental question centers on whether using copyrighted content to train AI models should be considered a violation of intellectual property rights. The debate draws parallels to how humans learn from copyrighted materials, like developers reading technical documentation LLMs process data through unsupervised learning, creating mathematical representations rather than direct copies The technology relies on transformer-based architectures and tokenization to understand language contextually Search engine parallel: Current...
read Dec 16, 2024Instagram chief: Creator identity is crucial to content authentication in AI era
The rise of AI-generated content is prompting social media platforms to rethink how they help users distinguish between authentic and artificial content. Key statement from Instagram leadership: Instagram head Adam Mosseri emphasizes that source verification is becoming increasingly critical as AI-generated content becomes more convincing and widespread. Mosseri specifically warns users against automatically trusting images they encounter online, noting that AI is now producing highly realistic content He stresses that social platforms have a responsibility to label AI-generated content, while acknowledging that some will inevitably slip through detection systems The Instagram chief advocates for providing additional context about content creators...
read Dec 16, 2024YouTube creators can now opt in to AI training of their content
The introduction of YouTube's new AI training permissions feature marks a significant shift in how content creators can control the use of their videos for artificial intelligence development. Key development: YouTube is introducing an opt-in system that allows creators to permit third-party companies to use their video content for AI model training. The feature will be accessible through YouTube Studio and is switched off by default, ensuring creators must actively choose to participate Creators can either grant access to specific companies from an approved list or allow all third-party companies to use their content Unauthorized scraping of content remains prohibited...
read Dec 15, 2024YouTube AI tool’s nonsensical responses are frustrating content creators
YouTube's introduction of AI-powered reply suggestions has revealed significant limitations in the technology's ability to generate coherent responses for content creators. Initial rollout and functionality: YouTube's "editable AI-enhanced reply suggestions" feature, announced in September, has now become visible to users through demonstrations by content creators. YouTuber Clint Basinger's experience showcases the tool's current implementation and limitations The AI system appears to recognize basic channel themes like gaming and gadget reviews The feature is designed to help content creators manage comment responses more efficiently Current limitations: The AI tool's performance falls notably short of expectations, generating responses that lack contextual relevance...
read Dec 10, 2024YouTube expands AI dubbing to wider creator base
The rise of AI-powered content localization continues as YouTube expands its automatic dubbing feature to reach a broader creator base, marking a significant step in making content more accessible across language barriers. Latest developments: YouTube has significantly expanded its AI dubbing capabilities, extending access to hundreds of thousands of channels within the YouTube Partner Program that focus on educational and informational content. The feature automatically creates dubbed versions of videos upon upload, with creators having the option to review before publication For English content, the system provides dubs in eight languages including French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, and...
read Dec 9, 2024Reddit’s new AI search finds answers from community-generated content
The rise of AI-powered search tools continues to reshape how users find information online, with Reddit's latest entry aiming to streamline how people discover content within its vast community-driven platform. Key Innovation: Reddit Answers represents a significant shift in how users can search Reddit's extensive database of discussions and community knowledge, offering AI-generated responses with direct links to source content. The new tool generates well-formatted responses to user queries while providing clear attribution to original Reddit posts Initial rollout is limited to US users in English, with web and iOS availability Android version is currently in development, according to Reddit...
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