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As OpenAI rolls out its new social media app Sorawhich allows users to prompt the companys Sora 2 model to produce fantastical videos of almost anythingthere are obvious concerns that the platform could be used to generate deepfakes and otherwise misleading content. To combat this problem, the company says it adjusted its systems to prevent users from manipulating images of other people, including political leaders like Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, or Emmanuel Macron. If you try to generate an image of a public figure, the Sora appwhich is still invitation-onlywill generally tell you your prompt violates the platforms guidelines. But OpenAI is also using a more analog method of preventing celebrity impersonation: blocking users from even signing up for the platform with certain usernames. The company appears to have blocked users from signing up with usernames that reference major political figures and other celebrities, including Trump, Katy Perry, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Kim Jong Un. While some account names are flagged as already taken, these usernames trigger a specific notice: This username is not allowed. The company did not directly answer Fast Companys questions about how it determines which public figure usernames should be blocked. OpenAI is already selling its ChatGPT technology to U.S. federal agencies, but the company wouldnt say much about whether it might eventually welcome government officials, or the government more broadly, to the Sora app. We don’t have anything else to share right now on future plans, an OpenAI spokesperson told Fast Company. Public figures cant be generated in Sora unless theyve uploaded a cameo themselves and given consent for it to be used. Whether youre a public figure or not, Cameo puts you in control of your likeness, with options to decide who can use it and how. (Cameo is the Sora feature that allows you to upload recordings of yourself to the app and create a highly realistic avatar, and then use that likeness in a variety of AI-generated scenarios.) OpenAI is relatively new to the social media business, but the battle over username ownership is nothing new. Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter have long dealt with the challenge of social media users claiming to be celebrities online, as well as the question of how to grant coveted handles. Control over accounts that appear to belong to government officials is particularly sensitive, and social media companies often tout steps they take to prevent their platforms from misuse during campaign season. But the challenge becomes far more complicated with generative artificial intelligence and generated AI videos, which are premised on inviting people to create doctored content. While President Trump doesnt seem to have an active Sora account right now, he is a devoted social media poster with a growing penchant for AI-generated video memes that mock his political opponents. Soras technology has also gotten significantly better, which means its far more likely that people might get dupedand that they might need to rely on a username to verify the source of a particular piece of generated content. The levels of realism and the number of visible artifacts have both been improved over the previous version and other state-of-the-art video generation apps, Siwei Lyu, a computer science professor at the University of Buffalo, whose team studied the latest Sora model, told Fast Company. Despite visible watermarks on generated videos and other invisible watermarks deployed by the company, to ordinary viewers the generated videos are very challenging to tell apart from real ones, Lyu said. Its still possible for people to circumvent or manipulate the technology, he warned, noting that he wasnt sure how OpenAI developed the list of people whose likenesses cant be generated on the app. OpenAI has released general usage policies on what people arent allowed to do with its models. That includes depicting real people without their consent and producing content thats designed to mislead others. But while the username not allowed message seems to imply that OpenAI wants to specifically limit the ability of people to represent themselves as public figures, its not clear how exhaustive that policy actually is or who its designed to cover. For instance, the username JD Vance is already deployed. And theres a barely followed account that represents itself as Education Secretary Linda McMahon, with her face as the profile picture, as well as one for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, also with a profile picture. Neither has verified check marks, which some influencers on the app now display. Its theoretically possible these accounts actually belong to those individuals, but unlikely. Right now, the Sora app is only available to users in North America, but the names of some public figures outside the U.S. and Canada seem to have been proactively protected by the company. The name Sara Duterte, the name of the Philippines current vice president, produces a not allowed notice, as does Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Palestinian politician Mahmoud Abbas, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Netanyahu. The names Maha Vajiralongkorn, the king of Thailand, and Anutin Charnvirakul, the countrys prime minister, were both blocked. William Ruto, the name of the president of Kenya, is also blocked. But not every head of state is automatically protected from any common user using their name. Fast Company was able to successfully edit a Sora account username to the names of leaders of Guyana, Niger, and Angola: Irfaan Ali, Abdourahamane Tchiani, and Joo Lourenço, respectively. An account has already taken the name Ibrahim Traoré, the interim president of Burkina Faso. The username for Prabowo Subianto, the name of the president of Indonesia, has also been nabbed. The name of Peter Pellegrinithe leader of Slovakia, a nation that saw a deepfake video of a candidate spur confusion during an election just last yearis now being used, too. A former State Department official told Fast Company that, on its own, blocking certain usernames is not even a barely acceptable minimum. For now, the username function doesn’t seem to recognize at least some Cyrillic characters, but its possible that someone could try to take advantage of those to make it appear like they already have blocked usernames, the person added. As for leaders in some non-Western countries not having their names reserved, the person said: These companies never care about the Global South until someone gets hurt.
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On Thursday October 16, New Yorkers and people across the country who have been watching the city’s mayoral race will tune in as Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa face off in the first of two mayoral debates, ahead of New York City’s upcoming election on November 4. The debate is set to take place in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center starting at 7:00 p.m. ET this evening. NBC 4 New York/WNBC, Telemundo 47/WNJU, and POLITICO New York are partnering to host the debate. The hotly contested three-way race is between Mamdani, a state assemblyman; Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary; and 71-year-old Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, a group that patrols the city for crime. Mayor Eric Adams, a former independent candidate, ended his bid for re-election at the end of last month. A win for Mamdani could offer insight into how Democrats will fare in upcoming national elections and next year’s midterms. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, was able to clinch the nomination back in June over Cuomo, a household name in New York, and currently maintains a double-digit lead in polls. (Both Cuomo and Sliwa are hoping to gain back some of that ground tonight and connect with voters.) Mamdani is running on a platform that addresses some of the key economic problems plaguing Trump’s second term: high inflation, the soaring cost of living, and high housing prices. Mamdani wants to lower housing costs in New York City by freezing rent, building more affordable housing, and holding bad landlords accountable. He also wants to tackle rising food prices with a network of city-owned grocery stores. How can I watch the NYC mayoral debate? Traditional television subscribers can catch the debate, which will take place at WNBCs studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, on WNBC-TV and across WNBC’s and WNJU-TV’s streaming and digital platforms, including the NBC 4 New York and Telemundo Noreste streaming channels. Only the first of the two hours will air live on WNBC and WNJU. The debate will be streamed in its entirety on NBC 4 New York and Telemundos streaming platforms. Each broadcast will be translated into Spanish for WNJU audiences, and will also include a sign-language interpreter and closed captioning access for the hearing impaired, for both WNBC and WNJU audiences. Many news outlet websites will also livestream the debate, including POLITICO and the New York Times, which will also provide real-time commentary and analysis from its reporters.
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E-Commerce
As we scroll through our feeds, its not unusual to stumble upon AI-generated slopthe kind of empty, nonsensical content thats unmistakably artificial. You click on one, and before you know it, your feeds flooded with more of the same. Its left users craving the authenticity they once savoreda pervasive frustration spreading across social media Pinterest has not been immune to the phenomenon. Described by Futurism as strangled by AI slop, the platform has been “engulfed in a torrent of uncanny AI-generated content, drowning out the human-made inspiration that once thrived there.” Amid a surge of complaints, the platform has rolled out new generative AI controls that let users dial downor uphow much artificial intelligence-produced content appears in their feeds. Accounts can now manage their preferences in Pinterest’s settings under Refine Your Recommendations or tweak individual Pins on the fly. The feature allows users to adjust settings for “eligible” image Pins a variety of categories, including entertainment, beauty, health, and fashion. Matt Madrigal, Pinterest’s chief technology officer, said in a statement that the feature strikes the right balance “between human creativity and AI innovation” and ensures that “every feed truly reflects what inspires them most. “AI is not inspirational” The move is an apparent response to the undercurrent of bitterness that has been pouring in across social media. And Pinterest is hardly alone. AI slop is everywhere online, competing for clicks and views. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok were quick to introduce ways to reset feeds and filter out unwanted content. Yet the frustration with the “Pin giant” has reverberated loudly and clearly. In one viral post on X, a user complained, I hate how Pinterest is just AI and ads now. Its just unusable. The beauty of seeing an outfit on a real person . . . AI is not aspirational at all. Another chimed in, The amount of AI thats on Pinterest now is depressing.” Reddit users have echoed the sentiment: AI is ruining Pinterest. Im about to delete the app! and Is there a good alternative to Pinterest? AI & ads are driving me nuts. In an effort to humanize the experience, the newly released updates build on Pinterests earlier GenAI tools, including labels that identify image Pins likely generated or modified with AI. These labels will become more prominent in the coming weeks as detection improves, and the platform has committed to ongoing iteration to grant its audience greater control over feeds. Social media companies have had a mixed year While Pinterest is making moves to win back its users trust, the business itself is showing growth, but the company posted mixed results for its most recent earnings in August. It reported adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents, below consensus estimates of 35 cents. Revenue came in above expectations at $998 million versus the expected $975 million. At the same time, it hit a new milestone with 578 million global monthly active users, an 11% increase over the same period last year. Pinterest stock (NYSE: PINS) has seen middling growth this year, with shares up roughly 7.26% year to date. That’s not as quite as high as its larger competitor Meta Platforms, whose stock is up 18.83% this year, but it’s better than Snapchat owner Snap Inc., whose shares have tumbled 31% over the same period.
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