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You know things are messed up when a Big Tech company fights accusations of union-busting by insisting it was only AI layoffs. That's where things stand after a group of fired TikTok moderators in the UK filed a legal claim with an employment tribunal. The Guardian reported on Friday that around 400 TikTok content moderators who were unionizing were laid off before Christmas.The workers were sacked a week before a vote was scheduled to establish a collective bargaining unit. The moderators said they wanted better protection against the personal toll of processing traumatic content at a high speed. They accused TikTok of unfair dismissal and violating UK trade union laws."Content moderators have the most dangerous job on the internet," John Chadfield, the national officer for tech workers at the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said in a statement to The Guardian. "They are exposed to the child sex abuse material, executions, war and drug use. Their job is to make sure this content doesn't reach TikTok's 30 million monthly users. It is high pressure and low paid. They wanted input into their workflows and more say over how they kept the platform safe. They said they were being asked to do too much with too few resources."TikTok denied that the firings were union-busting, calling the accusations "baseless." Instead, the company claimed the layoffs were part of a restructuring plan amid its adoption of AI for content moderation. The company said 91 percent of transgressive content is now removed automatically.The company first announced a restructuring exercise in August, just as hundreds of moderators in TikTok's London offices were organizing for union recognition. At the time, John Chadfield, CWU's National Officer for Tech, said the workers had long been "sounding the alarm over the real-world costs of cutting human moderation teams in favour of hastily developed, immature AI alternatives.""That TikTok management have announced these cuts just as the company's workers are about to vote on having their union recognised stinks of union-busting and putting corporate greed over the safety of workers and the public, Chadfield said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/tiktok-sued-by-former-workers-over-alleged-union-busting-170446921.html?src=rss
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Apple's next-gen Siri is still far off, but this week the company announced that it'll be using Google's Gemini AI for its new foundation models. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Igor Bonifacic discuss why Apple teamed up with Google again, instead of OpenAI or Anthropic. Also, they chat about Meta's Reality Lab layoffs, which is refocusing the company on AI hardware like its smart glasses.Subscribe!iTunesSpotifyPocket CastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsTopicsMeta announces 1000+ layoffs, closes 3 VR studios as it shifts focus to AI hardware 2:12Gemini can now pull context from the rest of your Google apps including photos and Youtube history 12:31Framework raises the price of its desktop by $460 because of the global RAM shortage 18:36NVIDIA may revive the RTX 3060 and kill off 5070 Ti due to its VRAM demands 21:57Apple creates a subscription bundle for Pro creative apps like Final Cut Pro, Logic, and others 23:00Teslas Full Self Driving is also going subscription only, a year costs $999 29:15Matthew McConaughey trademarks himself to fight unauthorized AI likenesses 33:27Apple announces that its long delayed smarter Siri will be powered by Google Gemini 35:15X finally responds to Groks CSAM and nudity generation with limits 51:46Cursor claims their AI agents wrote 1M+ lines of code to make a web browser from scratch, are developers cooked? 57:52 CreditsHost: Devindra HardawarGuest: Igor Bonafacic Producer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence OBrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-why-did-apple-choose-gemini-for-next-gen-siri-150000993.html?src=rss
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The fate of Warner Bros. Discovery remains the biggest story in Hollywood, with Paramount Skydance refusing to back down from its rival bid to the proposed Netflix acquisition of the company. If the Netflix deal does go through, the companys co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos, has attempted to ease concerns around what that could mean for theaters. In an interview with The New York Times, Sarandos responded to a question about his companys commitment to the theatrical business by insisting that he has no interest in bringing a swift end to it. "We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows," he said. "Im giving you a hard number. If were going to be in the theatrical business, and we are, were competitive people we want to win. I want to win opening weekend. I want to win box office." Prior to this new NYT interviews publication, Deadline reported that it had been told by sources that Netflix was supportive of a 17-day window, which would obviously be far more damaging to theaters. This came after the Stranger Things finale reportedly banked north of $25m during its brief theatrical run over New Years Eve and New Years Day. Sarandos was also asked if he regretted saying the theatrical business as we know it today is an "outmoded" idea. He told the NYT: "You have to listen to that quote again. I said 'outmoded for some.' I mean, like the town that 'Sinners' is supposed to be set in does not have a movie theater there. For those folks, its certainly outmoded. Youre not going to get in the car and go to the next town to go see a movie." (Movies are actually nascent technology in Sinners, which is set in the 1930s. Bad example, Ted!) He went on to explain that for someone like his daughter, who lives in Manhattan and has a number of theaters within walking distance of her home, the term does not apply in the same way. The Netflix co-chief execs latest comments seem to be designed to appease theater owners as much as the movie-going public, after a number of chains opposed the proposed WBD sale. "Such an acquisition will further consolidate control over production and distribution of motion pictures in the hands of a single, dominant, global streaming platform in a market that is already highly concentrated," said trade organization Cinema United in a statement to Congress.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflix-will-give-wbd-movies-45-day-theater-exclusivity-if-deal-goes-through-141223786.html?src=rss
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