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- Microsoft Reportedly Planning A $10 Billion Investment In OpenAI
- Meta Continues to Refine How Teens Experience Ads Across Its Apps
- Instagram to Remove Shop Tab from App Navigation Bar
- Social media platforms brace for hit to user numbers from age checks
- Love Island: Will social media ban protect islanders?
MICROSOFT REPORTEDLY PLANNING A $10 BILLION INVESTMENT IN OPENAI
Microsoft is reportedly making a big step to gain an advantage over its competitors by investing $10 billion in OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT.
OpenAI specialises in creating software that can learn and adapt to various tasks.
The company is gaining the attention of casual users and industry experts with its popular app ChatGPT, which has been met with great acclaim since its latest release last month.
Sources familiar with the matter tell Semafor that Microsoft and other venture firms are in talks to invest an amount that would value OpenAI at $29 billion.
An investment of that magnitude would be a significant step towards the growth of OpenAI, which can further the development of ChatGPT and other AI-related projects.
It also shows the increasing interest in AI among investors and major corporations.
The investment from Microsoft is said to be part of an agreement in which the company will receive 75% of OpenAI’s profits until it has recouped its investment.
It’s not known whether the money OpenAI is spending on Microsoft’s cloud computing arm will be taken into account in the calculation of recouping the investment.
META CONTINUES TO REFINE HOW TEENS EXPERIENCE ADS ACROSS ITS APPS
Meta is making further changes to the way teens experience advertising on its platforms and giving people in that age group more specific controls and resources to better understand why they are seeing certain ads on its applications.
The company explained in a Newsroom post Tuesday, “We recognise that teens aren’t necessarily as equipped as adults to make decisions about how their online data is used for advertising, particularly when it comes to showing them products available to purchase. For that reason, we’re further restricting the options advertisers have to reach teens, as well as the information we use to show ads to teens.”
Starting in February, gender will be removed as an option for advertisers to reach teens, and teens’ engagement on Meta’s apps—such as with pages on Facebook or posts on Instagram—will not be used to inform the ads they see.
Meta said the only information about teens it will use to show them ads is age and location, in order to ensure that teens see age-appropriate ads and products and services that are available where they live.
Starting in March, Ad Topic Controls will give teens more ways to manage the types of ads they see on Facebook and Instagram, enabling them to go to their Ad Preferences within settings on both apps and choose “See Less” or “No Preference.”
INSTAGRAM TO REMOVE SHOP TAB FROM APP NAVIGATION BAR
The Shop tab will no longer appear on the navigation bar at the bottom of the Instagram application, starting next month.
Instagram said it has been testing the redesign for the past few months, and the shortcut for creating content will now appear in the centre, with Reels to the right and home, search and account unchanged.
The platform explained in a help post, “You will still be able to set up and run your Shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences that provide the most value for people and businesses across feed, Stories, Reels, ads and more.”
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS BRACE FOR HIT TO USER NUMBERS FROM AGE CHECKS
Social media companies expect age verification measures in the UK’s Online Safety Bill will reduce user numbers, hitting advertising revenue on platforms including TikTok and Instagram.
The long-awaited legislation, which will begin its final stages in the House of Commons next week, would not only remove underage users from the platforms but also discourage individuals without identification or with privacy concerns, people involved with policy at leading social media companies said.
Fear of falling user numbers comes as the platforms deal with declining ad revenue, their primary source of income, brought on by the global economic slowdown, and as legislation around the world is introduced that places stringent new demands on tech giants to police content on their platforms.
(Via FT)
LOVE ISLAND: WILL SOCIAL MEDIA BAN PROTECT ISLANDERS?
Ex-Radio 1 DJ Maya Jama will be fronting the show’s winter edition – following in the footsteps of Laura Whitmore and the late Caroline Flack.
But for the ninth series there’s more than just a new presenter: there’s a major rule change.
Contestants now won’t have friends and family running their social media accounts – instead, ITV has requested that they stay dormant.
That means no more sharing memes, and no more statements posted on the islanders’ behalf.
Love Island dominates social media feeds whenever it airs, and with contestants shut off inside the villa it’s often left to friends and family to deal with any negativity.
In the past relatives have posted pleas for people to be kinder as islanders face trolling.
ITV’s hoping to change that, and the social media rule is the latest change it’s made as part of efforts to step up support for contestants – and their loved ones.
(Via BBC)
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