?? WGA/AI Aftermath, Tom Hanks Deepfakes, OpenAI iPhone Killer

Welcome to the latest edition of the Reality Defender Newsletter.

This week, we learned all about the AI-related items in the new Writers Guild of America contract, the early days of an “iPhone, but for AI,” and a rogue Tom Hanks deepfake currently spamming your Instagram feeds.?

If you have any questions about this news, or if there is anything you would like to see in future issues, please reach out to us here.

Thanks for reading.

- Ali Shahriyari , Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Deepfakes

• Tom Hanks himself has spoken out against a deepfake being used to sell dental services on Instagram. (Variety)?
• AI-generated CSAM is wreaking havoc on a town in Spain. (Metro)?
• Amazon’s measures to prevent AI-generated books on their platform may not be enough. (Wired)?
• AI-powered podcast translations that mimic hosts’ voices are coming to Spotify. (TechRadar)?
• Chinese influencers are now using Deepfakes for nonstop livestreams. (MIT Technology Review)

AI

• ChatGPT’s latest update allows it to “see, hear, and speak.” (Ars Technica)?
• Apple is hiring UK staff for their Generative AI efforts. (BBC)?
• OpenAI’s Sam Altman, ex-Apple Head of Design Jonny Ive, and Softbank are developing an “AI device” of sorts. (NY Times)?
• Jasper, part of the crop of early AI companies, has cut its internal valuation. (The Information)
• Publishers can now opt out of having their content used as training data in Google’s Generative AI models. (Google)?
• Getty Images subscribers can now generate images made using a model trained on the company’s copyrighted images. (Ars Technica)?
• Meta is launching a slew of new AI tools across their social networks. (The Verge)?
• Meta also went live with celebrity AI-powered chatbots. (Variety)?
• Generative AI could be coming to city halls nationwide. (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft’s AI-based image generator blocks requests of Julius Caesar, for some reason. (404 Media)?
• Amazon will invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic. (TechCrunch)

Government

• The NSA just opened a new center dedicated to protecting against AI. (Engadget)
• The DEEPFAKES Accountability Act could criminalize deepfakes at the federal level. (ABC News)?
• The UK Prime Minister’s Office is worried about AI creating weapons that escape human control. (The Guardian)

Arts and Entertainment

• Now that the WGA strike is over, Variety dives into the ways studios and writers can and cannot use AI in their processes. (Variety)??
• Wired also looks at the fine details in the new WGA contract related to AI. (Wired)??
• The Atlantic dives into the 183,000 books used to train some GenAI systems. (The Atlantic)??
• What does the WGA deal mean for the future of music and AI usage? (Pitchfork)??
• A deepfake of President Joe Biden singing a Modest Mouse song was reposted by the band. (Instagram/Modest Mouse)??
• An emo band is under fire for using generative AI to create a music video. (Stereogum)