The Olympic swimmer’s husband was there with both kids, wearing shirts showing their dad’s face, as he won the silver medal in synchronized swimming.
The Olympic swimmer’s husband was there with both kids, wearing shirts showing their dad’s face, as he won the silver medal in synchronized swimming.
When people type a question into Perplexity, the two-year-old search engine scours the internet and uses information from multiple sources, including online publishers, to synthesize an answer using AI. Soon, Perplexity will start sharing revenue with some publishers as part of an advertising platform it plans to launch around the end of September, the company announced on Tuesday.
The initiative, known as the Perplexity Publishers’ Program, comes less than two months after the San Francisco-based startup backed by investors like Jeff Bezos and NVIDIA, and valued at $3 billion, came under fire from Forbes, Wired, and Condé Nast for allegedly scraping content without permission and ignoring robots.txt, a type of file that websites use to block page-crawling bots.
Perplexity’s initial partners include TIME, Fortune, The Texas Tribune, Der Spiegel and Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. It’s not clear exactly how much revenue Perplexity will share with publishers. Dmitry Shevelenko, the company’s chief business officer, declined to reveal numbers but told Engadget that it would be a “meaningful double-digit percentage shared back with the publishers that contributed source input to the answer.” He also said that the partnership would extend across multiple years without specifying how many. What this wasn’t, Shevelenko insisted repeatedly, was a response to the critical press coverage in the last few months. “We’ve been talking to publishers since January,” he claimed. “No aspect of this program is reactive to these recent accusations.”
For months, publishers around the world have been concerned about the potential of AI-powered search engines and chatbots to decimate traffic by simply sucking up their content and using it to provide people with answers directly instead of having to actually visit their websites. Google has followed suit too — the company now sources answers from search results and displays AI-generated versions at the top of the page. But so far, it doesn’t compensate publishers.
“[Our revenue share] is certainly a lot more than Google’s revenue share with publishers, which is zero,” Shevelenko said. “The idea here is that we’re making a long-term commitment. If we’re successful, publishers will also be able to generate this ancillary revenue stream.” Perplexity, he pointed out, was the first AI-powered search engine to include citations to sources when it launched in August 2022, although the company reportedly redesigned its user interface to show them more prominently after being called out by Forbes in June.
AI companies like OpenAI have struck deals with major publishers including TIME, News Corp, Vox, Axel Springer, the Financial Times and others to use their content to train AI models, writing checks ranging from $5 million to $250 million. Perplexity’s revenue-sharing program, however, is different: instead of writing publishers large checks, Perplexity plans to share revenue each time the search engine uses their content in one of its AI-generated answers. The search engine has a “Related” section at the bottom of each answer that currently shows follow-up questions that users can ask the engine. When the program rolls out, Perplexity plans to let brands pay to show specific follow-up questions in this section. Shevelenko told Engadget that the company is also exploring more ad formats such as showing a video unit at the top of the page. “The core idea is that we run ads for brands that are targeted to certain categories of query,” he said.
This makes sense for Perplexity because it does not train its own AI models. Instead, it lets users choose from leading AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Meta’s Llama 3.1 to summarize answers from the web. “It’s very simple,” Shelevenko said, “if we’re making money and a publisher’s content was used on that ad impression, the publisher will get a cut of that revenue.”
But without knowing how much percentage of ad revenue Perplexity plans to split with publishers, it’s unclear whether the move will help publishers make up for any revenue lost due to declining traffic as AI-generated search engines and chatbots become more popular. And breaking into an online advertising business dominated by Google and Meta isn’t easy. “Setting up an ads business takes time,” Toshit Panigrahi, founder of Tollbit, a startup that lets publishers monetize content by offering it to AI companies for a fee they can set themselves, told Engadget. “Publishers are expected to hand over content today in the hopes that Perplexity sets up a successful ads business and cuts them in.”
Shevelenko refused to comment on the recent controversies that Perplexity has been involved in with publishers but acknowledged that onboarding them had become harder in the last few months. “Some [of our conversations] were in a great place,” he said, “and then the bad press hit and then they kind of, you know raised more questions.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/perplexity-will-put-ads-in-its-ai-search-engine-and-share-revenue-with-publishers-130052289.html?src=rss
The swimmer admitted that he and his wife ‘both thought it was going to be a boy’ until she revealed the big news to him at the Paris Olympics.
The swimmer admitted that he and his wife ‘both thought it was going to be a boy’ until she revealed the big news to him at the Paris Olympics.
The ‘Fuller House’ star shared a sketch from political comedian Walter Masterson after Candace Cameron Bure’s meltdown over the opening ceremony.
The ‘Fuller House’ star shared a sketch from political comedian Walter Masterson after Candace Cameron Bure’s meltdown over the opening ceremony.
In a fireside chat on Monday between NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the SIGGRAPH 2024, the latter dropped the f-bomb. After exchanging leather jackets (apparently two billionaires can’t get custom-made jackets that fit), the two talked about the future of AI, chatbots and open large language models.
Zuckerberg launched into a lengthy rant about his frustrations with “closed” ecosystems, like Apple’s App Store. None of that is new — the Meta founder has been feuding with Apple for years.
Zuckerberg, decked out in the aforementioned leather jacket and chain, said: “There have been too many things that I’ve tried to build and have been told ‘nah, you can’t really build that’ by the platform provider that, at some level, I’m just like, ‘nah, fuck that.’”
It’s the latest public step along his rebrand/ midlife crisis/bit of both. MMA training, “Carthage must die” tees and rebellious banter all have more than a whiff of Succession’s Kendall Roy.
— Mat Smith
Border agents can’t search cellphones of NYC visitors without a warrant, court rules
Instagram creators can now make AI doppelgangers to chat with their followers
Google’s first cross-device sharing features for Android now rolling out
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It’s always fun to do a 180 on a newsletter from the day before. Apple’s long-awaited take on artificial intelligence is, well, rolling out. Whoops.
The developer betas for iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 just dropped, and they include some of the first Apple Intelligence features. If you have Apple developer accounts, you can update software and go into settings to see a new option for Apple Intelligence. There, you’ll have to join a waitlist, but it shouldn’t take longer than a few hours.
The update includes writing tools for proofreading, rewriting or summarizing text. You’ll also gain the ability to create Memories in the redesigned Photos app, as well as transcribe live calls in the Phone app. Features not yet available are Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT integration, Cleanup in Photos and upgraded Siri.
Now there’s more foldable competition than ever, how does Samsung’s latest flip-phone fare? While Z Flip 6’s design has remained largely the same, Samsung made several under-the-hood upgrades this year, with improved battery life and cameras. It makes the best case yet for mainstream foldables, but the company could do more, especially in using the secondary front screen. That said, the new AI features are a lot of fun.
Sony announced a themed PS5 DualSense controller to coincide with its incoming Astro Bot game. The game, like the VR title before it, taps into all the tricks and features of the DualSense controller, so the collab is a no-brainer in a lot of ways. It costs $80 and ships September 6, the same day as the game.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-mark-zuckerberg-is-surprisingly-angry-about-closed-platforms-115711926.html?src=rss
NASA TV is shutting down in August. The space agency is saying goodbye to its cable channel, which is available on Dish, DirecTV and similar services, as well as on local television providers. Going forward, it will put all its focus on NASA+, its on-demand streaming service that will serve as home to all its documentaries and live event coverage.
NASA+ has apparently gained four times more viewership than the agency’s traditional cable channel since it was launched in November last year. “In a universe where the way we consume information is rapidly changing, NASA+ is helping us inspire and connect with our current generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation,” said Marc Etkind from NASA’s Office of Communication
The agency’s streaming service is completely free and doesn’t have ads. Viewers can access it via the official NASA app for iOS and Android when they’re on mobile devices, but they can also get the agency’s app for Roku, Apple TV or Fire TV if they want to watch on a bigger screen. To watch NASA’s coverage and shows on a computer, users can visit the official NASA+ website on their browsers.
In addition to announcing its cable channel’s closure, NASA has also revealed its upcoming lineup for new shows, episodes and live event coverage. One of the upcoming documentaries entitled Planetary Defenders tackles humanity’s efforts at asteroid detection and planetary defense, while Our Alien Earth will show NASA scientists’ field work in the most extreme environments all over the world to aid in the discovery of extraterrestrial life in the universe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-will-shut-down-nasa-tv-on-cable-to-focus-on-nasa-120015334.html?src=rss
Tesla has issued a recall on 1.8 million vehicles across the United States, Reuters reports, a sizeable number even for a company that is no stranger to this turn of events. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall due to a risk of software failure to notify individuals of a detached hood.
A hood that isn’t properly secured could detach while a person is driving and block their view. Tesla has issued an over-the-air software update that should fix the issue. The recall is on select Model 3, Model S and Model X vehicles from 2021 to 2024. It also impacts Model Y vehicles from 2020-2024.
This year has already seen a range of Tesla recalls. In January, 200,000 cars were recalled because of a malfunctioning backup camera, and in February, the number beat even this recall, with two million vehicles flagged for too small warning light text. May saw 125,000 vehicles with seatbelt issues, and June brought faulty windshield wipers and trim for 12,000 of Tesla’s Cybertrucks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-recalls-18-million-vehicles-over-risk-of-detached-hoods-140049560.html?src=rss
In his two decades running the company now known as Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has gone through many transformations. More recently, he’s been showing off a seemingly less filtered version of himself. But during a live streamed conversation with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, the Meta CEO seemed to veer a little more off script than he intended.
The conversation began normally enough, with the two billionaire executives congratulating each other on their AI dominance. Zuckerberg made sure to talk up the company’s recent AI Studio announcement before settling into his usual talking points, which recently have included pointed criticism of Apple.
Zuckerberg then launched into a lengthy rant about his frustrations with “closed” ecosystems like Apple’s App Store. None of that is particularly new, as the Meta founder has been feuding with Apple for years. But then Zuckerberg, who is usually quite controlled in his public appearances, revealed just how frustrated he is, telling Huang that his reaction to being told “no” is “fuck that.”
“I mean, this is sort of selfish, but, you know, after building this company for awhile, one of my things for the next 10 or 15 years is like, I just want to make sure that we can build the fundamental technology that we’re going to be building social experiences on, because there just have been too many things that I’ve tried to build and then have just been told ‘nah you can’t really build that by the platform provider,’ that at some level I’m just like, ‘nah, fuck that,’” Zuckerberg said.
“There goes our broadcast opportunity,” Huang said. “Sorry,” Zuckerberg said. “Get me talking about closed platforms, and I get angry.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mark-zuckerberg-says-fck-that-to-closed-platforms-235700788.html?src=rss
The next time you DM a creator on Instagram, you might get a reply from their AI. Meta is starting to roll out its AI Studio, a set of tools that will allow Instagram creators to make an AI persona that can answer questions and chat with their followers and fans on their behalf.
The company first introduced AI Studio at its Connect event last fall but it only recently began to test creator-made AIs with a handful of prominent Instagrammers. Now, Meta is making the tools available to more US-based creators and giving the rest of its users the chance to experiment with specialized AI “characters.”
According to Meta, the new creator AIs are meant to address a long-running issue for Instagram users with large followings: it can be nearly impossible for the service’s most popular users to keep up with the flood of messages they receive every day. Now, though, they’ll be able to make an AI that functions as “an extension of themselves,” says Connor Hayes, who is VP of Product for AI Studio at Meta.
“These creators can actually use the comments that they’ve made, the captions that they’ve made, the transcripts of the Reels that they’ve posted, as well as any custom instructions or links that they want to provide … so that the AI can answer on their behalf,” Hayes tells Engadget.
Mark Zuckerberg has suggested he has big ambitions for such chatbots. In a recent interview with Bloomberg he said he expects there will eventually be “hundreds of millions” of creator-made AIs on Meta’s apps. However, it’s unclear if Instagram users will be as interested in engaging with AI versions of their favorite creators. Meta previously experimented with AI chatbots that took on the personalities of celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Kendall Jenner, but those “characters” proved to be largely underwhelming.
“One thing that ended up being somewhat confusing for people was, ‘am I talking to the celebrity that is embodying this AI, or am I talking to an AI and they’re playing the character,’” Meta’s Hayes says about the celebrity-branded chatbots. “We think that going in this direction where the public figures can represent themselves, or an AI that’s an extension of themselves, will be a lot clearer.”
AI Studio isn’t just for creators, though. Meta will also allow any user to create custom AI “characters” that can chat about specific topics, make memes or offer advice. Like the creator-focused characters, these chatbots will be powered by Meta’s new Llama 3.1 model. Users can share their chatbot creations and track how many people are using them, though they won’t be able to view other users’ interactions with them.
The new chatbots are the latest way Meta has pushed its users to spend more time with its AI as it crams Meta AI into more and more places in its apps. But Meta AI has also at times struggled to relay accurate information In a blog post, Meta notes that it has “policies and protections in place to keep people safe and help ensure AIs are used responsibly.”
Screenshots provided by the company show that chats with the new AI characters will also have a familiar disclaimer: “Some messages generated by AI may be inaccurate or inappropriate.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-creators-can-now-make-ai-doppelgangers-to-chat-with-their-followers-220052768.html?src=rss
Jason Kelce arm wrestles with Team USA women rugby player Nicole Heavirland.
Jason Kelce arm wrestles with Team USA women rugby player Nicole Heavirland.
