For years, Paramount has been trying to figure out a show centered around Star Trek’s Starfleet Academy—you know, the place where Starfleet educates its captains, science officers, engineers, etc. before sending them out on five-year missions to explore strange new worlds and whatnot. Well, now they’ve found the…
FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF) pleaded not guilty to five additional criminal charges this morning, according toCNBC. Prosecutors accuse the disgraced crypto exec of fraud and bribery for conspiring to send at least $40 million to Chinese government officials so they would unfreeze more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency, which he allegedly used to fund loss-generating trades.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) unsealed the third round of criminal charges against SBF in a superseding indictment; SBF has now pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges. Additionally, he faces civil charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). His attorney, Mark Cohen, claimed he would file a motion that SBF can’t be tried on charges brought after his extradition from the Bahamas in December.
Federal prosecutors allege SBF and his partners tried “numerous” legal and personal methods to unfreeze the funds before moving forward with the bribe. They say SBF directed Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, to transfer more than $40 million to a private wallet. Of course, it’s illegal for US citizens to bribe foreign officials to generate business. The new charges ramp up pressure on the 31-year-old Bankman-Fried, who reportedly “arrived at the courthouse about an hour before the hearing, looking disheveled after an intense media scrum.”
Three former FTX executives, Caroline Ellison, Zixiao “Gary” Wang, and Nishad Singh, have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and have agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. There’s no word yet on the judge’s ruling about whether SBF will be forced to use a feature phone and limit internet access as part of his bail terms. After it was revealed SBF was using a virtual private network (VPN) and possibly tampering with witnesses, District Judge Lewis Kaplan previously said he didn’t want SBF “loose on his garden of electronic devices.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-to-latest-fraud-bribery-charges-165445328.html?src=rss
A prominent AI ethics organization submitted a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission this week urging the agency to investigate ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and halt its development of future large language learning models. The complaint, filed by the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), alleged OpenAI’s recently…
With the AI-arms race in full swing, it’s no surprise that tech giants like Microsoft are shifting their attention to monetization. As with so many struggles, the real question of who comes out winning will probably be determined by who manages to make the most profit. Enter: Bing Chat ads.
In The Power, the Prime Video adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s 2017 sci-fi novel of the same name, women begin to spontaneously emit electricity. Across the world, for seemingly no reason, young girls activate a latent organ–called a skein–in their bodies that allows them to generate and then direct electrical currents.…
Seiichi Sano has just been honored by Guinness World Records as the oldest male to surf.
Not to be confused with the foam pool noodles my brother and I used to whack each other with like we were competing in the joust on American Gladiators, these collab pool floats from Jumbo x The Standard are actually giant inflatables in the shapes of different kinds of pasta. Now just dye all the water in your pool red and you’ve got yourself a giant bowl of pasta marinara!
Available in ravioli, rigatoni, lasagna, macaroni, and tortellini, the floats cost between $70 and $175 depending on the noodle variety and are sure to get a lot of attention at the pool. Just maybe not good attention because if I see one, I will try to take a bite and risk popping it.
Cool, but where are the accompanying meatball beach ball inflatables? I mean, if I’m going to turn my pool into a pasta bowl, I want to go the whole nine yards. Or, in my case, the whole yard and a half because my pool is a kiddy pool. In the summer, I usually fill it up in the front yard and wave at cars going by.
[via DudeIWantThat]
Midjourney is putting an end to free use of its AI image generator after people created high-profile deepfakes using the tool. CEO David Holz says on Discord that the company is ending free trials due to “extraordinary demand and trial abuse.” New safeguards haven’t been “sufficient” to prevent misuse during trial periods, Holz says. For now, you’ll have to pay at least $10 per month to use the technology.
As The Washington Postexplains, Midjourney has found itself at the heart of unwanted attention in recent weeks. Users relied on the company’s AI to build deepfakes of Donald Trump being arrested, and Pope Francis wearing a trendy coat. While the pictures were quickly identified as bogus, there’s a concern bad actors might use Midjourney, OpenAI’s DALL-E and similar generators to spread misinformation.
Midjourney has acknowledged trouble establishing policies on content. In 2022, Holz justified a ban on images of Chinese leader Xi Jinping by telling Discord users that his team only wanted to “minimize drama,” and that having any access in China was more important than allowing satirical content. On a Wednesday chat with users, Holz said he was having difficulty setting content policies as the AI enabled ever more realistic imagery. Midjourney is hoping to improve AI moderation that screens for abuse, the founder added.
Some developers have resorted to strict rules to prevent incidents. OpenAI, for instance, bars any images of ongoing political events, conspiracy theories and politicians. It also forbids hate, sexuality and violence. However, others have relatively loose guidelines. Stability AI won’t let Stable Diffusion users copy styles or make not-safe-for-work pictures, but it generally doesn’t dictate what people can make.
Misleading content isn’t the only problem for AI image production. There are longstanding concerns that the pictures are stolen, as they frequently use existing images as reference points. While some companies are embracing AI art in their products, there’s also plenty of hesitation from firms worried they’ll get unwanted attention.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/midjourney-ends-free-trials-of-its-ai-image-generator-due-to-extraordinary-abuse-153853905.html?src=rss
In a poorly thought out plan to make Twitter as profitable as possible, Twitter has officially unveiled three new tiers of API access: Free, Basic, and Enterprise. Twitter previously backed off from rescinding free access to the platform’s API after public backlash.
With Elon Musk set to pull verification from thousands of users who were verified under the company’s previous leadership, one Twitter alternative is hoping to lure some of those “legacy” checkmarks to its platform. T2, an invite-only service led by two former Twitter employees, says it will allow users to carry over their “legacy” Twitter verification to its site
T2 is part of a growing crop of Twitter alternatives that have sprung up in the wake of Musk’s takeover. The platform is smaller than some more established rivals, like Mastodon, but is intent on recreating the “public square” associated with the pre-Musk Twitter. In fact, founder Gabor Cselle has been pretty clear that he intends to create “a pretty straightforward copy of Twitter with some simplifications” rather than an entirely new experience.
So maybe it’s not surprising that the site now known as T2 — the company is eventually planning on taking a new name — is launching a “Get the Checkmark” feature that will rely on Twitter’s legacy verification program. With it, users can fill out a brief form to go through a fast-tracked verification process for T2. The feature will also work for those on T2’s waitlist.
For now, users only have a couple days to take advantage of the program, since legacy verifications are set to disappear from Twitter on April 1st. But the company has a plan to offer verification via other means once Twitter’s legacy checks go away. (T2’s form-based verification won’t work for those who paid for the new, Twitter Blue-enabled check.)
Along with the new verification features, T2 is also announcing a couple other milestones. The company has hired a former Discord exec as its new CTO, and is launching a much-needed redesign that will look familiar to Twitter users.
As with all of the new Twitter rivals, T2 has a long way to go before it reaches anywhere close to the size of the platform it’s trying to emulate. But, as Mastodon founder CEO Eugen Rochko has pointed out, Twitter’s more influential users — like those with legacy verification — are incredibly valuable to any upstart platform. If T2 can snag more of those users, it could make it easier to recreate the public square they’re looking for.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-twitter-alternative-is-trying-to-lure-users-about-to-lose-their-old-checkmark-160011153.html?src=rss
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