Reddit issues final warning to moderators of private subreddits

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Reddit may have just issued a final warning to moderators of subreddits that are still private. The company has reportedly given those moderators a deadline to confirm if they plan to reopen the communities. The deadline ends later today. The firm hasn’t revealed the next course of action for moderators who keep their Reddit communities closed beyond the deadline. But it has previously threatened to remove those who don’t comply with guidelines defined by the Moderator Code of Conduct.

“Per Rule 4 of the Moderator Code of Conduct, moderators are required to be active and engaged within their communities. Given this, we encourage you to reopen. Please let us know within the next 48 hours if you plan on re-opening,” part of the message moderators received from a Reddit admin reads. “This community remaining closed to its members cannot continue,” the admin added in a separate note to one of the biggest Reddit communities that is still private, The Verge reports.

“Wanting to take time to consider future moderation plans is fine, but that must be done in at least a ‘restricted’ setting. This community will not remain private beyond the timeframe we’ve allowed for confirmation of plans here,” the Reddit admin warned. Another moderator was told that continued violation of the rule “will result in further action.” It sure looks like a final warning. Today’s deadline is notable because several subreddits recently wrote an open letter to the company for a response to their demands and concerns by June 29, i.e., today.

The Reddit community wants third-party apps back

The said open letter asks Reddit to “commit to exploring ways by which third-party applications can make an affordable return,” among other things (via). Several popular Reddit apps are shutting down at the end of this month due to the company’s API updates that require them to pay a hefty fee (about $20 million a year for some) to continue their operations. The firm has so far shown little regard for public disappointment. CEO Steve Huffman has been critical of third-party developers as well as moderators protesting the changes.

More than 8,000 subreddits went dark or private in a mass protest that began on June 12. Most have since re-opened or at least switched from private to restricted. But some moderators are still fighting. Reddit has been pushing them to reopen, threatening to replace moderators who don’t comply. Some have given in under pressure, but the company wants all subreddits back to normal as if nothing happened. It remains to be seen what’s to come next. Reddit’s proposed API updates will go into effect on July 1, 2023.


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Snapchat convinced more than 4 million people to pay for its subscription service

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Back in August, Snapchat announced that 1 million users have decided to pay for its subscription service. Fast forward almost one year and the social company revealed Snapchat+ has more than 4 million subscribers.

It’s an interesting evolution considering that Snapchat+ gained 1 million subscribers only two months after launch. At just $3.99 per month, Snapchat+ offers exclusive features that aren’t available in free version of the social app.

To make things even more appealing for its users and justify the monthly fee, Snapchat promised to bring new features to its premium service quite often. In the last year, Snapchat+ subscribers received access to more than 20 features, including custom app themes, unique app icons, as well as the ability to pin their #1 BFF.

Today’s announcement regarding the number of Snapchat+ subscribers also includes details about what’s coming for those who pay for the subscription service. Apparently, Snapchat plans to add “expressive chat messages” to Snapchat+ in the not-so-distant future. These are messages that allow users to express themselves using big reactions or small notes. Basically, Snapchat+ subscribers will be able to change the font size of their messages.

In addition, custom chat colors will be coming to Snapchat+ too, allowing users to pick the hue want to use when they message their friends. These two upcoming features are teased on Snap’s official website, so check them out if you’re paying for Snapchat+ or plan to become a subscriber.

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Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses

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The top 25 most dangerous software weaknesses impacting software for the previous two calendar years have been published by MITRE as part of the 2023 Common Weaknesses Enumeration (CWE).

Attackers can utilize these flaws to seize control of a vulnerable system, steal data, or disrupt the functioning of certain programs. Because of these flaws, software becomes seriously vulnerable.

“These weaknesses lead to serious vulnerabilities in software. An attacker can often exploit these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system, steal data, or prevent applications from working,” CISA advised.

Software defects cover a wide variety of problems, such as holes, bugs, weaknesses, and mistakes in the architecture, implementation, code, or design of software solutions.

With a focus on the CVE records added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) database, MITRE evaluated 43,996 CVE entries from NIST’s National Vulnerability Database (NVD) for vulnerabilities discovered and reported across 2021 and 2022 to compile this list.

Each weakness was then given a score based on its severity and prevalence.

Following the gathering, scoping, and remapping stages, a scoring formula was used to determine the weaknesses in order of severity. 

This formula takes into account both the frequency (the frequency with which a CWE is the primary cause of a vulnerability) and the average severity of each vulnerability when it is exploited (as determined by the CVSS score), according to MITRE.

Both frequency and severity are normalized concerning the maximum and minimum values recorded in the data set.

Top 25 Software Weaknesses

RankIDNameScoreCVEs in KEVRank Change
1CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write63.72700
2CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (‘Cross-site Scripting’)45.5440
3CWE-89Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in an SQL Command (‘SQL Injection’)34.2760
4CWE-416Use After Free16.7144+3
5CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command (‘OS Command Injection’)15.6523+1
6CWE-20Improper Input Validation15.5035-2
7CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read14.602-2
8CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (‘Path Traversal’)14.11160
9CWE-352Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)11.7300
10CWE-434Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type10.4150
11CWE-862Missing Authorization6.900+5
12CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference6.590-1
13CWE-287Improper Authentication6.3910+1
14CWE-190Integer Overflow or Wraparound5.894-1
15CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data5.5614-3
16CWE-77Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Command (‘Command Injection’)4.954+1
17CWE-119Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer4.757+2
18CWE-798Use of Hard-coded Credentials4.572-3
19CWE-918Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)4.5616+2
20CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Function3.788-2
21CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resources with Improper Synchronization (‘Race Condition’)3.538+1
22CWE-269Improper Privilege Management3.315+7
23CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code (‘Code Injection’)3.306+2
24CWE-863Incorrect Authorization3.160+4
25CWE-276Incorrect Default Permissions3.160-5
Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses

The list highlights the most prevalent and significant software flaws at the moment. These can result in exploitable vulnerabilities that enable adversaries to take over a system entirely, steal data, or stop apps from running.

They are frequently simple to detect and exploit. Successful exploitation can provide attackers access to sensitive data, exfiltrate the data, or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) on the targeted computers.

CISA urges developers and product security response teams to analyze the CWE Top 25 and assess suggested mitigations to choose the ones that are most appropriate for adoption.

“CISA encourages developers and product security response teams to review the CWE Top 25 and evaluate recommended mitigations to determine those most suitable to adopt”, CISA said.

“Over the coming weeks, the CWE program will be publishing a series of further articles on the CWE Top 25 methodology, vulnerability mapping trends, and other useful information that help illustrate how vulnerability management plays an important role in Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk”.

Additionally, CISA, the FBI, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) all released a list of often exploited issues for 2020.

A list of the top 10 most often exploited security issues from 2016 to 2019 has also been provided by CISA and the FBI.

The most hazardous programming, design, and architectural security issues that affect hardware systems are also listed by MITRE in a list.

“AI-based email security measures Protect your business From Email Threats!” – Request a Free Demo.


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How to enter Full Screen Mode on Motorola Razr+ (2023) External Display

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One of the more unique features about the new Motorola Razr+ is the fact that you can run entire apps on the outer display. Unlike other flip-style foldables, the Razr+ is almost all screen on the outside, and even has cutouts for the cameras. Allowing you to run apps on a 3.6-inch 1:1 aspect ratio display.

Now, yes, it’s pretty cramped there. Especially since Motorola does have a status bar on the bottom that lines up with the cameras. However, you can enter full screen mode, and get a bit more display space on that external display. And in this tutorial, we’re going to show you how exactly you can do that.

How to enter Full Screen Mode on Motorola Razr+

There are two ways that you can use Full Screen mode on the Motorola Razr+. One way is pretty easy, while the other is a bit tough. We’re going to go over both ways, however.

Firstly, you can long-press on the status bar at the bottom, and in the right spot, it’ll enter full screen mode. In my experience, this is almost impossible to do. As you do need to do it in the correct spot, for it to work.

The second way to do this is, swipe up from the bottom to enter the Recents screen, like you would on the full screen. Below the app, you’ll see an option for “Full Screen”. Just tap on that, and you’ll be put into full screen mode. Giving you just a bit more space to get things done on that external display.

Screenshot 20230629 102837 Medium

If you want to jump out of full screen mode, you can do this in two ways. The easiest way is going to be to lock your device, and then unlock it. Or you can again swipe up to get into Recents, and tap on “Default View”.

Screenshot 20230629 102845 Medium

The Razr+ will automatically default to the “Default View” each time you unlock it. Unfortunately, there’s no way to set the Razr to automatically open apps in full screen on the external display. The thought process here is likely that, you won’t want to always do this. But in a pinch, you can make it happen.


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Top 5 web development languages 2023

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Web application development is the hottest employment market ever, according to the press. With demand for outsourced web development services rising 14% yearly, it’s little surprise so many tech businesses are spending hard on making sure their technology is competitive.

Job seekers who wish to take advantage of digital transformation’s ability to boost creativity and efficiency must know programming languages. This article discusses the advantages of learning various programming languages and lists our top web development options for 2023.

2023’s Best Web Development Languages

Website construction has progressed. HTML, CSS, ASP, and Adobe ColdFusion used to build websites. Today, organisations construct websites utilising JavaScript, PHP, Python, CSS3, and HTML5. This article discusses 2023’s top web development languages.

Web programming languages

Programming languages let you write computer and web programmes. Java, Python, PHP, and JavaScript are the most popular programming languages. Programming languages vary by development kind. The general-purpose programming languages vary in design, testing, and debugging.

Web programmers fall into two categories. Front-end development creates the interface. The layout and browser-based interface code are designed, developed, and deployed. Server-based back-end development comprises data architecture, development, and deployment.

1. Front-end Development

Front-end development software produces the UI for most web development applications. HTML and CSS codes may design material and add graphics, clickable sections, links, and other helpful features to sites. This front-end development paradigm creates the user interface while preserving the backend code.

2. Backend Development

The back-end development paradigm creates content. This time, you must learn JavaScript, Python, and maybe server-side programming. You’ll also need to understand AI and machine learning methods as much of the material will be developed utilising them. Server work dominates.

3. Full-stack Development

Full-stack developers know front-end and back-end programming. User interface development and server-side programming will be understood. They will organise code utilising many technologies. Full-stack developers have the most growth potential.

Top 5 web development languages

Today, organisations construct websites utilising JavaScript, PHP, Python, CSS3, and HTML5. This article discusses 2023’s top web development languages.

1. HTML & CSS

Creating a website requires coding. Thus, HTML and CSS knowledge is needed. Shortcodes can format most materials. Files in your server’s /www/ directory include these codes. Ask your server administrator where these files are.

HTML and CSS are the most used markup languages worldwide. They make Webmastering easy for developers. JavaScript requires a deeper grasp of HTML and CSS. Few people can develop code with these tools. Fortunately, many additional languages function well with HTML and CSS.

Websites began with HTML. Websites developed with language. CSS and HTML together form a webpage. HTML websites utilise CSS to format information, style navigation, headers, footers, and more. CSS styles pictures, links, and tables. HTML merely styles text.

2. JavaScript

You’ve reviewed the greatest programming languages for web development in 2023, but you haven’t covered the one most websites use. You’ll examine JavaScript’s changes and why.

JavaScript & ES6 Basics for Beginners with Problem Solving and Projects

Modern web app development uses JavaScript. It is an easy-to-learn scripting language for beginners and experts. This language lets anybody build webpages. JavaScript lets you build anything from a portfolio to an application. With proper coding, JavaScript can accomplish almost anything.

JavaScript is a popular programming language. It’s simple and flexible, making it ideal for web development. JavaScript lets you build complex websites and apps like those on your desktop or laptop. JavaScript is quick, making it ideal for web applications and online transactions. JavaScript is ideal for building quick, appealing websites.

3. Python

Python has unequalled flexibility. It is a high-level, general-purpose programming language. It creates websites, web apps, and mobile apps. It has a strong developer community and several successes. It is simple to learn and contains many libraries and tools to help programmers. It handles dynamic material well, making it a popular website backend programming language. The CLDC standard is widely used. Its ease of use makes it a great learning tool.

Python’s syntax and object-orientation make it ideal for website development. Object-oriented programming is best for beginners. It will improve your programming understanding. Python supports current web frameworks and technologies well. It has several useful libraries and utilities. Its syntax is clear and straightforward to understand and write. User-friendly testing and debugging procedures are included in.

Python’s online learning is a plus. There are several online Programming courses in qatar

and programmes. Developers may speak and exchange code in many groups and social media networks.

Python runs on everything, another fantastic feature you may not know about. It operates on smartphones and supercomputers! Python runs on any device. Its adaptability allows for various uses. Your website may talk live. Mobile apps may become decentralised web browsers. Voice-activated purchasing is possible with your web app. This great programming language can do anything.

4. PHP

PHP is popular for web development. It may be used to create basic webpages or sophisticated apps and is straightforward to learn. PHP can do many jobs well. Its popularity stems from its suitability for web development.

PHP includes several programming choices. It can construct practically any website. It manages, develops, and analyses. Its syntax is straightforward and adaptable. It may be used to make apps for scheduling sports teams and managing budgets. A huge community provides help and resources for novice developers.

PHP’s simplicity makes it great. There are several online training programmes that teach PHP concepts and development. This popular programming language has many functionalities, so you’ll never be bored.

5. On Rails

Web application frameworks are not new. Its invention predates 15 years. No one ever considered integrating web and application frameworks into one. Web application frameworks are just that. It helps construct web apps. Language is undoubtedly the most renowned instrument. Ruby on Rails is a general-purpose language for experienced web developers. Simple but effective syntax.

Ruby on Rails simplifies web app development. It’s simple to learn and uses Python syntax. It’s fantastic for web development since you don’t have to learn a new language for each website. Ruby on Rails can also build complicated websites. A functioning website requires a lot of code and can handle vast quantities of data. Ruby on Rails is easy if you know Python.

Web development career reasons

Web development is booming. Web developers are in demand as websites, companies, and apps grow. Web development interest has grown 50% in the previous five years. Web development is adaptable and complex and may be applied in many sectors. It builds websites, apps, and mobile apps.

Web developers require programming abilities, web design and development expertise, and web standards knowledge. Web development is considered the ideal job for web designers and developers. Successful web developers have the proper abilities and expertise.

Web development future

Web development is promising. With new technology and business models, web developers will become more important. As online payment options improve, web development companies will include them. E-commerce companies will need the newest technology to satisfy clients as online buying grows.

Customers nowadays prioritise site speed while shopping. Time is money, and customers are pleased when purchases are processed quickly. Thus, new web programming technologies will emerge daily, requiring expertise to apply it. Thus, web programmers will be in demand.

Web development provides options in business, marketing, and technology. Web development careers are plentiful for anyone with the necessary abilities and education.

As the world gets more connected, web developers need to learn and improve. Web developers help make the world more online-friendly.

Web developer salary

Web developers earn $75,000–$100,000. Web development is a competitive profession. Understanding pay expectations is crucial for web developers. In this instance, you must work to discover your strengths.

Web developer salaries depend on several things. Project size is crucial. Web developers that can accomplish small, medium, and big projects receive comparable salaries. Developers’ hours also depend on project size.

Conclusion

The coming decade will see a huge need for web developers. Because consumers demand more from websites. Technology allows individuals to purchase, socialise, and accomplish other daily duties online. Websites are needed more as the internet grows. A user-friendly, engaging website may be built with the correct tools. Web developer wages will rise with demand.


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Samsung brings its AI image editor app to more premium Galaxy phones

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Initially launched on the Galaxy S22 series last year, and the Galaxy S23 series in 2023, the Galaxy Enhance-X app is now available for a bunch of additional Galaxy premium smartphones, Samsung announced. Along with the announcement, Samsung confirmed its powerful AI image editor app is now out of beta.Officially launched on June 20, the Galaxy Enhance-X app is available for a range of premium Galaxy smartphones, including the Galaxy S23 series, S22 series, S21 series, Note20 series, Z Fold4, Z Flip4, Z Flip3, Z Fold2, Z Flip 5G and Z Flip LTE devices powered by One UI 5.1 or above.

In addition to these premium smartphones, Samsung announced that support for Galaxy Enhance-X on Galaxy A series, Galaxy M series and Galaxy tablets will be available at a later date. However, the company didn’t say if all the features that owners of Galaxy premium users benefit from will also be available to those who own non-premium phones.

If you haven’t used Samsung’s Galaxy Enhance-X app, it’s worth noting that this app promises to automatically refine any visual noise, blur and low details, thus improving the image quality. What makes the app extremely easy to use is that all this is done with a single tap.

That’s not to say that the AI image editor app doesn’t have a wide range of tools that allows users to customize their images. If you want, you can use different levels of HDR intensity, take advantage of the Upscale tool to boost the resolution of images under 1MP by up to four times, as well as remove shadows from certain areas in a picture.

The Galaxy Enhance-X editing functions include a bunch of other features such as Brighten, Fix Blur, Sharpen, Remove Reflection and Fix Lens Distortion. The app is available for download for free via the Galaxy Store.


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Brave New Privacy Feature Limit Access to Local Resources

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Brave New Privacy Feature

Brave version of 1.54 for desktop and Android will include more powerful features for controlling which sites can access local network resources and for how long.

Malicious requests from websites to access local host resources act as a fingerprinting technique which concerns users’ privacy and security at risk.

The conventional desktop version of web browsers like Chrome, safari, firefox, Mozilla, etc., allows secure and nonsecure public sites to access your local host resources.

Local host resources are nothing but images and web pages that are hosted by other software on your local machine.

Reason to Access Local Host Resources:

Browsers allow websites to access localhost resources for various reasons, but the main two reasons are historical legacy and backward compatibility.

Brave New Privacy Feature
Access Local Resource. Image Credits brave

Generally, browsers did not strictly enforce the distinctions between first-party resources (those hosted by the website you’re visiting), third-party resources (those hosted on other public websites), and local-host resources due to a decreased concern for user privacy.

Due to this vulnerability, a significant amount of software has been created to be freely accessible via websites that are invisible to users.

And many of these uses are acceptable. Examples include specific cryptocurrency wallets, security software offered by banks or security firms, and gear whose configuration uses specific Web interfaces.

Unfortunately, a large variety of harmful, user-harming software on the Internet makes use of access to local-host resources for illicit purposes. 

To re-identify you, for instance, fingerprinting scripts look for specific patterns in the other software you have operating on your device. 

Other scripts look for weak or susceptible software on the system and attempt to attack.

About Brave:

Unlike other browsers, Brave puts you in control of your data. The secure browser automatically blocks trackers and unwanted ads while also providing anti-phishing and anti-malware protection.

Brave is the only popular browser to ship multiple protections against sites maliciously accessing localhost resources. Brave currently uses filter list rules to:

  • Block scripts are known to maliciously scan localhost resources
  • Block requests from public sites to localhost resources

Brave has developed a new approach for protecting users against sites abusing local network resources. This new system will have the following parts:

  • Requests to localhost resources from a localhost context are allowed automatically; Brave does not block a locally hosted page from accessing other locally hosted resources.
  • Brave will continue to use filter list rules to block scripts and sites known to abuse localhost resources.
  • Brave will include a new permission called the “localhost” permission. Only sites with this permission will be able to make sub-resource requests to local-host resources. By default, no sites have this permission, and, importantly, most sites have no way to prompt users for this permission. However, advanced users can use the existing site settings interface to grant sites this permission. 
  • Brave will also include a list of trusted sites, or sites known to access localhost resources for user-benefiting reasons. The first time a site on this list initiates a sub-request to a localhost resource, it will trigger a permission prompt of the previously mentioned localhost permission. This list is publicly available and will be maintained by Brave.

Furthermore, Brave enhances its protections deeper in the network stack, so that Brave can protect users against additional, less common methods of sites making localhost requests (including DNS records that refer to localhost).

“AI-based email security measures Protect your business From Email Threats!” – Request a Free Demo.


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Galaxy A32, A32 5G, A31 & A41 get Samsung’s June update

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A bunch of mid-range Galaxy A series phones are getting Samsung‘s June update. The company is pushing the latest security patch to the Galaxy A32, Galaxy A32 5G, Galaxy A31, and Galaxy A41. It has previously updated dozens of other models to the June SMR (Security Maintenance Release), which patches more than 60 vulnerabilities.

The June update for the Galaxy A32 is rolling out widely in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Users in the former three markets are getting the new SMR with the firmware build number A325FXXU5DWE3. The build number in Latin America is A325MUBU5DWF1. The changelog remains the same everywhere, though. Samsung says the device is getting some system stability and reliability improvements along with this month’s security fixes.

Unlike its 4G sibling, the Galaxy A32 5G isn’t getting the June update widely yet. The latest SMR for this phone is available in a handful of Latin American countries, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. For users in Chile, the new firmware build number is A326BXXS6CWF3, but that for users in the remaining countries is A326BXXS6CWF2. This phone isn’t picking up additional goodies anywhere.

The rollout for the Galaxy A31 and Galaxy A41 is even more limited. As of this writing, Samsung has released the June SMR for the two 2020 mid-range phones only in Kazakhstan. The update comes with build numbers A315FXXS3DWF1 and A415FXXS4DWF1 (via SamMobile). Neither model is getting anything else apart from the latest security fixes. A wider rollout of the June update for these phones should follow in the coming days.

Samsung’s June update for Galaxy devices fixes over 60 security issues

The June SMR for Galaxy devices is a pretty big one. This month’s security release contains fixes for more than 60 vulnerabilities. The vast majority of those (50) are Android OS issues, at least three of which were classified as critical flaws by Google. The remaining issues are Galax-specific flaws patched by Samsung.

As usual, not every Galaxy device is affected by all 60 of these security flaws. But every model is vulnerable to a few of those. You should update your phone to the latest security patch as soon as possible to stay clear of these vulnerabilities. If you’re using a Samsung smartphone, you can navigate to Settings > Software update > Download and install on your phone to check for updates manually. You may also get a notification once the latest update reaches your Galaxy device.


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OpenAI employees unhappy with CEO Sam Altman, leaving to join Google

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OpenAI, the startup behind the AI sensation ChatGPT, appears to be having some internal troubles, not with its systems or products, but with employees. Many senior executives are reportedly unhappy with the company’s direction and future strategy, as well as its CEO, Sam Altman. Some of them have left OpenAI to join AI rival Google, while others plan to resign soon.

According to the German publication BR24, OpenAI employees are concerned about the company’s rapid growth. Over the past six months or so, the company’s headcount has reportedly grown 500 percent — from 100 employees in December 2022 to almost 600 now. This growth is fueled by multi-billion dollars of investments led by Microsoft. As part of the deal, the Windows maker is said to be pocketing the vast majority of OpenAI’s profits.

This seemingly hasn’t resonated well with some senior executives at OpenAI. To make the matter worse, CEO Sam Altman has been openly critical of unregulated AI technologies. Some executives feel his statements are “just accessories to appease politicians.” They don’t seem to be liking Altman’s self-critical approach. The OpenAI CEO has warned that future versions of ChatGPT could be too powerful to be entrusted to the general public.

“Employees say that he has only a superficial understanding of many topics and hardly cares about day-to-day business,” the report states. While no names were mentioned, the German publication confirms that many OpenAI employees have already resigned. A few more plan to do so within the next few weeks. Several of them have already signed contracts with Google and will be helping the company in its AI efforts, including ChatGPT rival Bard.

OpenAI originally hired former Google and Meta employees to create ChatGPT

By hiring AI experts from OpenAI, Google is taking back what it lost to its arch-rival in the past. As of February this year, more than 25 percent of OpenAI’s total staff were former Google employees, including some from its AI research lab DeepMind. A Business Insider report said that 59 of the ChatGPT creator’s 200-plus employees previously worked for Google. Another 34 joined from Meta, while OpenAI also hired from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech firms.

Reports suggest that OpenAI continued to poach former Google employees in subsequent months. As the new report said, the company currently has a headcount of around 600 people. This exponential growth is a testament to its ambitions and ChatGPT’s popularity. Its website (openai.com) has reportedly already surpassed two billion monthly visitors. It remains to be seen how or if this brain drain to Google affects OpenAI.


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Google fights back and will stop linking to Canadian news outlets

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The passage of the Online News Act in Canada (Bill C-18) means that online platforms must pay Canadian news outlets whenever their content is being used. But instead of paying these content fees, at least two major tech giants have decided to stop showing links to Canadian news in its products. Kent Walker, the president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, wrote a blog piece all about Bill C-18 (via NBC News).
Walker writes that Google has “now informed the Government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News, and Discover products in Canada and that C-18 will also make it untenable for us to continue offering our Google News Showcase product in Canada.” Google isn’t the only tech firm to be critical of the Online News Act as Meta said last week that it would remove Canadian news from Instagram and Facebook.

Google claims that the links to local Canadian news organizations from its products were valued at $250 Canadian annually

Google called C-18 “the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada.” Last year Google linked to Canadian news publications more than 3.6 billion times without any charge. As a result, these Canadian publications were able to generate more revenue from ads and new subscriptions. The referral traffic from these links alone was valued at $250 million CAD annually.

Walker wrote, “We have successfully collaborated with Governments and news publishers around the world on the shared goal of strengthening the news industry, and we currently have thousands of mutually beneficial agreements with news publications around the world. We tried to take this same approach with Bill C-18. We repeatedly offered constructive feedback and recommended solutions that would have made it more workable for both platforms and publishers, unlocking further financial support for Canadian journalism.”

It doesn’t appear that Google is going to be the one harmed by C-18 according to Walker. The executive says, “We plan to participate in the regulatory process and will continue to be transparent with Canadians and publishers as we move forward. We hope that the Government will be able to outline a viable path forward. Otherwise, we remain concerned that Bill C-18 will make it harder for Canadians to find news online, make it harder for journalists to reach their audiences, and reduce valuable free web traffic to Canadian publishers.”

Canadian ad revenues have shifted away from local news providers to major platform firms say the government

C-18 was based on a law that was passed in Australia in 2021 that demanded Google and Meta pay content fees to Australian news organizations. Facebook originally removed links to local and international news in Australia although it did bring back access to the news after negotiating with the Australian government.

Canadian government figures show that since 2008, more than 450 news outlets in Canada have closed. Government backers of C-18 said back in April, “Digital platforms and social media are now the gateways where people find, read and share news. Because of this, advertising revenues have shifted away from local news and journalists to these gatekeepers, who profit from the sharing and distribution of Canadian news content.”

So the Canadian government says that it is the platforms making money off of local journalists and news publications. The platforms say that it will be forced to stop linking to local news providers which surely will hurt their exposure. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle but it doesn’t seem that either side is ready to make concessions in an attempt to salvage the situation.

The Canadian government believes that the act will bring $329 million into the coffers of Canadian news organizations and out of the pockets of Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram). But whether this is more value than the free publicity that these news organizations get from links on Google and Meta’s online properties is hard to say.

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