The SEC charged Abraham Shafi with fraud and “concealing his and his fiancée’s extensive use of company credit cards to pay for personal expenses,” according to a press release.
IRL was shuttered in June 2023 after its board of directors found that 95 percent of the app’s users were fake. Two months before that, Shafi had been suspended by the board after reported misconduct.
The statement was included in a larger Associated Press report about the controversies MrBeast is dealing with:
“When Jimmy was a teenager he acted like many kids and used inappropriate language while trying to be funny,” a spokesperson for the YouTuber said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Over the years he has repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language. After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world.”
Peacock is no longer developing the Battlestar Galactica reboot from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, Variety reports. The show is apparently being shopped around, but given that it’s already been in the works for years, I’m not getting my hopes up for an imminent release.
While I wait, I’ll just have to watch the best moment of the show on YouTube again, darn.
That growth puts it on track to becoming “another major social app,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the company’s earnings call today. Threads reached 175 million users earlier this month.
Android Authority details Google’s G4 Tensor chip with seemingly minor changes from the previous generation, along with the addition of Samsung’s Exynos 5400 modem that could enable satellite connectivity for Pixel 9 phones.
It looks like the upcoming lineup may start with 128GB of storage as well, with options for up to 1TB on the pricier Pixel 9 Pro, according to Android Headlines.
The US Copyright Office spent a good chunk of last year soliciting comments from the public about AI and intellectual property, and it’s out today with the first part of the resulting report. The takeaway? Digital replicas and deepfakes of people are a big problem, and the patchwork of existing IP laws won’t be enough to solve it.
Based on all of this input, we have concluded that a new law is needed. The speed, precision, and scale of AI-created digital replicas calls for prompt federal action. Without a robust nationwide remedy, their unauthorized publication and distribution threaten substantial harm not only in the entertainment and political arenas, but also for private individuals.
Notable timing here: we just saw the No Fakes Act reintroduced in the Senate earlier today.
[www.copyright.gov]
The principles have helped define Amazon and many of the company’s huge successes. But how the principles are used may be shifting, according to a report from Fortune:
Several longtime managers told Fortune that they felt the overall intent of the leadership principles has now shifted in many situations from guidelines on how to make the right decision, to more punitive usages that come across mainly intended to point out flaws.
Amazon reports its latest earnings tomorrow.
