Business News

Study shows AI image-generators being trained on explicit photos of children

Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce realistic and explicit imagery of fake children as well as transform social media photos of fully clothed real teens into nudes, much to the alarm of schools and law enforcement around the world. The Stanford Internet Observatory found more than 3,200 images of suspected child sexual abuse in a database used to train leading AI image-makers.

Stock market today: Wall Street slams the brakes for a rare slowdown following record-setting rally

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street slammed the brakes on its big rally following disappointing profit reports from companies and warnings that the market had simply gone too far, too fast. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Wednesday for its worst loss since beginning a monster-sized run shortly before Halloween. The Dow dropped 1.3% from its record high, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.5%. FedEx tumbled after cutting its revenue forecast. Weakness for FedEx could damage hopes that the economy can conquer high inflation without a recession. But a pair of economic reports were also stronger than expected, and a cooler-than-expected report on U.K inflation helped Treasury yields ease.

Cocoa grown illegally in a Nigerian rainforest heads to companies that supply major chocolate makers

OMO FOREST RESERVE, Nigeria (AP) — As the world’s demand for chocolate grows, farmers in Nigeria are moving into protected areas of a forest reserve that’s home to endangered species like African forest elephants. Over two visits and several days, The Associated Press repeatedly documented farmers harvesting cocoa beans where that work is banned in conservation areas of Omo Forest Reserve. The AP reviewed company and trade documents and interviewed more than 20 farmers, five licensed buying agents and two brokers operating within the reserve. They say cocoa from the conservation zone is purchased by some of the world’s largest cocoa suppliers. Those companies supply Nigerian cocoa to huge chocolate manufacturers, but it’s not clear if cocoa from deforested areas makes it into well-known sweets.

From AI and inflation to Elon Musk and Taylor Swift, the business stories that dominated 2023

The tide turned against inflation. Artificial intelligence went mainstream — for good or ill. Labor unions capitalized on their growing might to win more generous pay and benefits. Elon Musk renamed and rebranded the social media platform Twitter, removed guardrails against phony or obscene posts and ranted profanely when advertisers fled in droves. The American housing market, straining under the weight of heavy mortgage rates, took a wallop. And Taylor Swift’s concert tour scaled such stratospheric heights that she invigorated some regional economies and drew a mention in Federal Reserve proceedings. A year of wide-ranging business stories captured attention in 2023.

Musk and Tesla are battling unions across Scandinavia. What comes next in the labor dispute?

Tesla has found itself locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with union workers in Sweden and neighboring countries. The electric car maker’s CEO Elon Musk is staunchly anti-union. The showdown pits Musk against the strongly held labor ideals of Scandinavian countries. None of Tesla’s workers anywhere in the world are unionized. That raises questions about whether strikes could spread to other parts of Europe where employees commonly have collective bargaining rights. That includes Germany which is Tesla’s most important market. Musk hasn’t obscured his disdain for unions. The world’s wealthiest person has said that unions try to create negativity in a company. Musk denies that Tesla has a wealth hierarchy largely because the company awards everyone stock options.

Three of the biggest porn sites must verify ages to protect kids under Europe’s new digital law

LONDON (AP) — Three of the world’s biggest porn websites face new requirements in the European Union that include verifying the ages of users. The EU’s executive commission said Thursday that Pornhub, XVideos and Stripchat have been classed as very large online platforms under a digital law designed to keep people safe on the internet because they have 45 million average monthly users. They’re the first porn sites to be targeted by the sweeping the Digital Services Act, which imposes tough obligations to keep users safe from illegal content and dodgy products. Pornhub disputed its status as a very large online platform, saying it has fewer average monthly users than the threshold. The other two companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.

AI systems can’t be named as the inventor of patents, UK’s top court rules

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that an artificial intelligence system can’t be registered as the inventor of a patent, denying machines the same status as humans. The U.K.’s highest court said Wednesday that “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of American technologist Stephen Thaler’s long-running British legal battle to get his AI, dubbed DABUS, listed as the inventor of two patents. Thaler claims DABUS autonomously created a food and drink container and a light beacon and that he’s entitled to rights over its inventions. Tribunals in the U.S. and the European Union have rejected similar applications by Thaler.

Meta attorneys ask judge to dismiss suit claiming that directors’ obligations extend beyond company

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for Meta and Mark Zuckerberg are asking a Delaware judge to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit asserting that the loyalties of company directors should not lie exclusively with the social media giant. The lawsuit claims that Meta’s board directors have breached their duties to the company by putting profits over broader societal and economic interests. Those broader interests include the investment portfolios of Meta shareholders who also own stock in other companies. Meta attorneys argued Wednesday that the lawsuit has no legal basis should be dismissed with prejudice. They note that Delaware law does not require corporate directors to consider or protect a stockholder’s investments in other companies.

Takeaways on AP’s investigation into cocoa coming from a protected Nigerian rainforest

OMO FOREST RESERVE, Nigeria (AP) — As the world’s demand for chocolate grows, farmers in Nigeria are moving into protected areas of a forest reserve that’s home to endangered species like African forest elephants. Over two visits and several days, The Associated Press repeatedly documented farmers harvesting cocoa beans where that work is banned in conservation areas of Omo Forest Reserve. The AP reviewed company and trade documents and interviewed more than 20 farmers, five licensed buying agents and two brokers operating within the reserve. They say cocoa from the conservation zone is purchased by some of the world’s largest cocoa suppliers. Those companies supply Nigerian cocoa to huge chocolate manufacturers, but it’s not clear if cocoa from deforested areas makes it into well-known sweets.

Drilling under Pennsylvania’s ‘Gasland’ town has been banned since 2010. It’s coming back.

One of Pennsylvania’s leading natural gas companies is poised to drill and frack in the rural community where it was banned for a dozen years for polluting the water supply. Coterra Energy Inc. has won permission from state environmental regulators to drill 11 gas wells underneath a 9-square-mile rectangle in Dimock Township. The tiny crossroads in northeastern Pennsylvania once found itself in the middle of a national debate over fracking. Some landowners can’t wait for the Houston-based drilling giant to resume gas production. Other residents dread the industry’s return.