AI Companies Negotiate Landmark Deals To Train Chatbots On MSM News

 When the creators of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google's Bard want to 'teach' them about the world in order to accurately answer questions, they use various news and social media sources to 'scrape' content which then 'trains' said models. This is why Twitter owner Elon Musk just began throttling accounts which consume a massive amount of content on a daily basis - as it became a free and valuable resource for engineers.

It's also why AI can be 'woke' - as it all depends on the data it's being trained on, which as we've seen, can bias the chatbot towards the political ideology of its creators (for which loopholes were quickly discovered).

Now, the Financial Times reports that the world's largest tech companies are negotiation with major media outlets to strike landmark deals for the use of news content to train AI chatbots.

These people said that publishers including News Corp, Axel Springer, The New York Times and The Guardian have each been in discussions with at least one of the tech companies.

Those involved in the discussions, which remain in the early stages, added that the deals could involve media organisations being paid a subscription-style fee for their content in order to develop the technology underpinning chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.

The talks come as media groups express concern over the threat to the industry posed by the rise of AI, as well as fears over the use of their content by OpenAI and Google without deals in place. Some companies such as Stability AI and OpenAI are facing legal action from artists, photo agencies and coders, who allege contractual and copyright infringement. -FT

According to News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, the media industry's "collective IP is under threat," for which news outlets should "argue vociferously for compensation."

In short - use their content to train your AI without paying, get sued.

Current discussions have revolved around a pricing model in the $5 million to $20 million per year level, according to one industry exec.

According to Thomson, AI was "designed so the reader will never visit a journalism website, thus fatally undermining that journalism."

The negotiations, if successful, would establish a blueprint for news organizations dealing with generative AI companies worldwide.

"Copyright is a crucial issue for all publishers," said the FT, which is also in negotiations over the matter. "As a subscriptions business, we need to protect the value of our journalism and our business model. Engaging in constructive dialogue with the relevant companies, as we are, is the best way to achieve that."

According to the report, media industry executives want to avoid the pitfalls of the early internet, when they undermined their own business models by giving away so much news for free, while Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook then accessed that information to grow their multibillion-dollar advertising platforms.

Google recently announced an AI search option, which provides users with an information box above its traditional list of web links. The company has been leading the negotiations with UK news outlets, Guardian and NewsUK - two of many such outlets that parent company Alphabet has existing relationships with.

According to Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Politico-owned Axel Springer, the industry should create a "quantitative" model similar to that used by the music industry to allow nightclubs and streaming services to pay record labels each time a track is played. This would require AI companies to agree to disclose internal metrics on media content usage, which they don't currently do.

"We need an industry-wide solution," said Döpfner, adding "We have to work together on this."

Döpfner, whose Berlin-based media company also owns the German tabloid Bild and the broadsheet Die Welt, said an annual agreement for unlimited use of a media company’s content would be a “second best option”, because that model would be harder for small regional or local news outlets to take advantage of. -FT

"Google has put a licensing deal on the table," said one executive at a newspaper group. "They have accepted the principle that there needs to be payment . . . but we have not got to the point of talking zeros. They have acknowledged that there is a money conversation that we need to have over the next few months, which is the first step."

That said, Google called the report over a potential licensing deal 'not accurate,' adding that it's "very early days and we’re continuing to work with the ecosystem, including news publishers, to get their input."

According to Google, they're in "ongoing conversations" with news outlets, both large and small, in the US, UK and Europe, while it's Bard AI is being trained on "publicly available information," which could include paywalled websites.

Developing a financial model will likely be extremely difficult according to publishing leaders. Senior executives at one major publisher said that the news industry was 'working retroactively' because tech companies had launched these products - which scrape their content - without a heads up.

"There was no discussion, and so now we have to try to get paid after it happened," said one executive. "The way they launched these products, the total secrecy, the fact that there is zero transparency, no communication before it happened, there’s reasons to be pretty pessimistic."

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/ai-companies-negotiate-landmark-deals-train-chatbots-msm-news

"World Is Laughing At Us": U.S. Army Shares Story Of Suicidally Depressed Trans Major

 by Steve Watson via Summit News,

As part of a ‘Pride’ celebration, The U.S. Army shared to social media the story of a transgender Major who now identifies as a woman after previously being suicidally depressed.

The DoD tweeted the following post linking to the story of Maj. Rachel Jones, claiming ‘she’ has ’embraced authenticity’ and should ‘inspire us all’ after becoming head of the U.S. Army Sustainment Command’s Cyber Division:

What a stunning and brave message to send to America’s military enemies.

This comes on the heels of ‘Admiral’ Rachel Levine, The Biden administration’s transgender Assistant Secretary for Health, declaring that puberty blockers and transgender surgeries are necessary to stop kids killing themselves.

Levine also decreed that Pride should now last the entire Summer, during a weird groomer type ‘interview’ with a trans child.

The weirdness prompted Tucker Carlson to respond, “Few Americans in our history have come as far as Rick Levine. Here’s a fat guy in a Halloween costume who somehow became the federal health minister.”

“What we have here is living proof that in this country, you really can be whatever you want to be,” Carlson continued, adding “If Rick Levine can become ‘Admiral Rachel,’ why can’t you be Napoleon? Or Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India? Ever see that guy’s uniform?”

“The point of Rick Levine’s amazing transformation is not to free you from the inflexible husk that you were born in, so you can be more fully yourself, whatever you decide that is. No, that’s not the point,” Carlson said, adding “Rick Levine’s personal journey has nothing to do with you. It’s about him, it’s his journey. Your fantasies about becoming something totally new and different have not been approved yet. In fact, they’re weird.”

“Shut up and be proud of Admiral Rachel,” he continued, further noting “She’s the one who has smashed glass ceilings, and you’ve just got some kind of weird fetish. So actually, now that we’re saying this out loud, it’s pretty clear that Rick Levine has no interest in liberating you from anything. This is not about liberation, it’s just the opposite. It’s just another religious war, same as all the others. The people who think they’re God versus everybody else.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/world-laughing-us-us-army-shares-story-suicidally-depressed-transgender-major

Skittles maker Wrigley settles with cannabis company over trademark

 Wrigley, the maker of multi-colored fruit-flavored Skittles candies, has settled a lawsuit accusing a seller of cannabis-related merchandise of trademark infringement for marketing products under the "ZKITTLEZ" name.

Under a proposed permanent injunction filed on Monday in Chicago federal court, Terphogz LLC agreed not to use Skittles, Zkittlez or similar terms for cannabis-related sales.

Terphogz would stop using slogans such as "Taste the Z Train" and "Taste the Strain Bro," which Wrigley found too similar to Skittles' longtime slogan "Taste the Rainbow."

It also agreed to give up the domain name zkittlez.com, though it may use the letter "Z" if people will not be confused.

The settlement requires court approval. Lawyers for Wrigley and Terphogz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Wrigley is a Chicago-based unit of privately-held Mars Wrigley.

It had accused Terphogz of undermining nearly 50 years of goodwill generated by the Skittles brand with its "freewheeling use" of Skittles marks to sell cannabis, drug paraphernalia and other merchandise, some of which also carried a rainbow theme.

A judge rejected Terphogz' bid to dismiss the case in November 2021.

Terphogz, based in Mendocino, California, claimed it did not sell cannabis, but licensed its intellectual property rights to other companies that sold cannabis legally, court papers show.

Wrigley has filed lawsuits alleging trademark infringement related to other brands, including Life Savers and Starburst.

The case is Wm Wrigley Jr Co v Terphogz LLC, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 21-02357.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/skittles-maker-wrigley-settles-cannabis-210518717.html

‘Mysterious’ brain disorder strikes hundreds — and cases are increasing

 Across the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the number of people afflicted by a mysterious, potentially deadly brain ailment keeps growing.

Neurological symptoms like hallucinations, muscle wasting, vision problems, memory loss and abnormal movements were seen in 2015 in a small cluster of patients, eventually growing to 48 cases.

But some health experts and local residents say the number of people with the condition is much higher — and may exceed 200.

In addition, an unusual number of those cases are in young people, who do not typically show dementia-like symptoms or signs of other neurological problems.

“I am particularly concerned about the increase in numbers of young-onset and early-onset neurological syndrome,” neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero wrote in a Jan. 30, 2023, letter to New Brunswick’s chief medical officer and the chief federal public health officer.

“Over the past year, I have been following 147 cases, between the ages of 17 and 80 years old. Out of those, 57 are early-onset cases and 41 are young-onset cases,” the letter from Marrero said, according to the Toronto Star.

As of 2021, there were nine deaths attributed to the mysterious illness, the Daily Mail reported.

But a government investigation, which was considering environmental toxins as a cause, abruptly shut down in 2021.

The government agency Public Health New Brunswick declared in its February 2022 final report that there was, in fact, “no evidence of a cluster of neurological syndrome of unknown cause,” according to the podcast Canadaland.

“People who were part of this cluster displayed symptoms that varied significantly from case to case, and there was no evidence of a shared common illness or of a syndrome of unknown cause,” the report authors wrote, adding that the organization was “therefore concluding its investigation” into the matter.

Dr. Alier Marrero is one of the few medical experts investigating the baffling neurological condition.

The Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation

But Marrero and patient advocates aren’t giving up, and many suspect the disorder may be linked to the use of pesticides in the primarily rural province.

Glyphosate — an herbicide used in agriculture, the forestry industry and household weedkillers — has come under particular focus.

In Marrero’s letter, he warned that recent laboratory tests on patients showed “clear signs of exposure” to glyphosate, as well as other compounds linked to herbicides, according to the Guardian.

Marrero also noted that the presence of glyphosate could be linked to blooms of blue-green algae in bodies of water.Glyphosate contains phosphorous that can stimulate blooms of blue-green algae, a type of cyanobacteria that can sicken people and kill animals, including pets.

Advocates insist the true number of cases is at least 200, and some of the patients have tested positive for multiple environmental toxins, including glyphosate, at levels up to 40 times higher than the average limit, the Toronto Star reported.

Some patient advocates wonder if pressure from industry or other groups might be behind a political decision to close the case.

But they’re not giving up: A dedicated group of New Brunswick patients and their families are urging the federal and provincial government to conduct a full-scale investigation into the disorder.

“We are formally demanding that federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos unmuzzle Canadian scientists and direct the Public Health Agency of Canada to uphold the Canada Health Act and reinstate federal experts into the investigation,” Steve Ellis, one of the advocates, told the Toronto Star.

Gabrielle Cormier can no longer skate, or even stand unassisted for more than a few minutes.

LadyGaby/TikTok

Cormier now uses a wheelchair to get around.

LadyGaby/TikTok

Ellis’ father, Roger Ellis, was one of the first 48 cases of the neurological condition.

“For almost a year, we were led to believe that a thorough and unbiased public health investigation was in progress,” said Stacie Cormier, another patient advocate. “We are here to tell you that that did not happen.”

Cormier’s stepdaughter, Gabrielle Cormier, had to drop out of college and give up her love of figure skating at 20 when she became ill with memory loss, vision problems and an inability to stand for more than a few minutes.

In 2021, she made a final visit to an ice rink.

“The reason we went to the rink again was because I was afraid that I was going to die and I wanted to be on the ice one last time,” she told CTV News.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/03/mysterious-brain-disorder-strikes-hundreds-cases-keep-growing/

Fresenius Kabi Humira Biosimilar Available in US

 Fresenius Kabi introduces its first immunology biosimilar in the U.S.

CMS grants Fresenius Kabi permanent, product-specific Q-Code for IDACIO^® (adalimumab-aacf)

Commitment to the development of biologic treatments across multiple therapeutic targets in immunology through an expanded pipeline

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/idacio-adalimumab-aacf-now-available-in-the-united-states/

Chicago Pension Debt Rises to $35 Billion as Mayor Hunts for Fix

 Chicago’s pension burden climbed last year after the city’s retirement funds lost money due to volatile markets, deepening the long-standing fiscal woes for new Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The net pension liability across the city’s four retirement funds rose about 5% to $35.4 billion as of Dec. 31 from $33.7 billion a year earlier, according to Chicago’s annual financial report posted to the city’s website.

The amount the city owes to its four pensions that pay benefits to retired firefighters, police officers, municipal workers and laborers increased “due to the short-term impact of the global market volatility on recognized investment income,” the report said. The city’s four funds range from about 19% to about 40% funded, according to the report. That’s far short of other municipal plans: around the US, funding ratios for the largest public pensions average above 70%.

“While the city still faces several long-term structural challenges, we are charting a better path forward for the city’s finances,” Johnson said in a June 30 letter attached to the report, “that will protect working families and develop actionable solutions to meet the city’s obligations to workers, retirees, and taxpayers.”

Decades of chronic underfunding helped balloon Chicago’s pension liability, weighing on the city’s budget and credit ratings. Recent state-mandated contribution increases helped the city earn rating upgrades in the last year, including one from Moody’s Investors Service in November that allowed it to shed its one junk rating.

Johnson, who took office in May, has set up a pension working group that is charged with finding sustainable solutions to the long-term challenge.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chicago-pension-debt-rises-35-203359720.html

More Dedollarization: Indian Refiners Payments To Russia, Argentina Payment To IMF Both In Yuan

 The world continues to chisel away at the dollar's reserve status.

In the first of the two most recent examples of how non-western nations plan to avoid the weaponized dollar, late last week Argentina made a loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund worth the equivalent of $2.7 billion “without using dollars” on Friday, using Chinese yuan and special-drawing rights notes instead, Reuters reported.

The operation is expected to deplete Argentina's $1.65 billion in SDRs, according to a central bank source, "with yuan making up the difference." While Reuters' take home message here is that the "use of yuan underscores how desperate the country's dollar position has become", an alternative conclusion is that when it comes to international obligations - at least as far as the IMF is concerned - the yuan is as good as the greenback, an observation that will make China quite happy.

As a result of the payment, Argentina's foreign currency reserves saw a sharp decrease to around $27.933 billion for end-June, the same source told Reuters, bringing foreign reserves to their lowest since March 2016. Still, the move gave a boost to Argentina's markets on the last day of the month, which overall in June saw the stock index tick up nearly 25% and bonds up almost 13%.

Both parties are now locked in talks to speed up disbursements from their $44 billion program and ease economic targets, as a major drought continues to hammer vital grains exports.

Argentina's economy ministry said a team will travel to Washington early next week to continue negotiations.

"IMF staff and the Argentine authorities will continue to advance their work in the coming days, with the aim of reaching agreement on the fifth review of the Fund-supported program," the fund said separately on Friday, after a "standard informal Executive Board briefing on Argentina" was held Thursday.

But wait, there's more.

Indian refiners have also begun paying for some oil imports from Russia in Chinese yuan, Reuters also reported citing "sources with direct knowledge of the matter" as Western sanctions force Moscow and its customers to find alternatives to the dollar for settling payments.

In other words, it is the weaponization of the dollar that is forcing the world to find alternative to - drumroll - the dollar, something we have been warning would happen ever since Russia was effectively blacklisted and targeted by the entire dollar-based monetary platform.

And just in case there is still some confusion about the long-term viability of the petrodollar, China has also switched to the yuan for most of its energy imports from Russia, which overtook Saudi Arabia to become China's top crude supplier in the first quarter this year.

"Some refiners are paying in other currencies like yuan if banks are not willing to settle trade in dollars," said an Indian government source.

Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, in June became the first state refiner to pay for some Russian purchases in yuan, three sources familiar with the matter said. At least two of India's three private refiners are also paying for some Russian imports in yuan, two other sources said.

According to Reuters, it could not immediately be determined how much Russian oil Indian refiners have bought with yuan, although Indian Oil has paid in yuan for multiple cargoes.

The rise in yuan payments has given a boost to Beijing's efforts to internationalise its currency, with Chinese banks promoting its use specifically for Russian oil trade.

Since the imposition of sanctions on Moscow, Indian refiners have mostly bought Russian crude from Dubai-based traders and Russian oil companies such as Rosneft, the Litasco unit of Russian oil major Lukoil, and Gazprom Neft, according to shipping data compiled by Reuters.

Indian refiners have also settled some non-dollar payments for Russian oil in the United Arab Emirates' dirham, sources have said.

"First preference is to pay in dollars but refiners sometimes pay in other currencies such as dirham and yuan when sellers ask them," said the government source, who did not elaborate further and declined to identify any Indian companies paying in yuan for Russian oil.

Reuters previously reported in March that India had asked banks and traders to avoid using the yuan to pay for Russian imports because of long-running political differences with China. And while it was not immediately clear whether recent purchases represent a change in that view, clearly this "directive" is now being ignored as US influence in the region wanes with every passing day.

Furthermore, India's imports from Russia rose to a record in May, with Russian crude oil accounting for 40% of India's overall oil imports compared with 16.5% a year earlier, denting purchases from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

While Western sanctions against Moscow are not recognized by India and its purchases of Russian oil may not violate them, Indian banks are wary of clearing payments for such imports:

• In May, State Bank of India, the country's top lender and a key banker for state refiners, rejected IOC's planned payment in dollars for a cargo delivered by Rosneft, two sources said. The cargo was loaded on tanker NS Bora, handled by Dubai-based Sun Ship Management, an entity connected to Russia's largest state shipping company, Sovcomflot, which the European Union sanctioned in February and the United Kingdom in May.
• In June, IOC used ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), a private-sector Indian lender, to settle this trade with Rosneft by paying in yuan to Bank of China (601988.SS), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. One private refiner has also been using the same mechanism for payments for Russian oil, one of the sources said.

Since then, IOC has used the same method to pay with yuan for other cargoes from Rosneft, one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

"Whenever IOC will face problems it would push for payment in yuan," the person said, adding that IOC had asked Rosneft to consider supplying oil in vessels not managed by sanctioned entities.

Another state refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL.NS), is also exploring yuan payment for Russian oil, a separate source said.

"Many traders (sellers) are insisting for yuan payments," the source said.

That pretty much says it all.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/more-dedollarization-indian-refiners-payments-russia-argentina-payment-imf-both-yuan