The French MistralAI has released a beta version of its chatbot, Elon Musk sued OpenAI, and Google has more troubles. What else did we live through last week?
Elon Musk in a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman argues that the merger with Microsoft was a betrayal of the company's mission in pursuit of profit.
According to the latest forecasts from ABI Research, the augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technology sector is on the verge of a revolution - by 2028, the number of AR/VR sets delivered is expected to increase more than fivefold, reaching 69 million units.
Week in review 28.11: France and Germany block AI Act; another scandal in the crypto world
Another scandal in the world of cryptocurrencies with money laundering in the background, Germany and France block the EU AI Act, and IAA Poland initiates the Round Table of Influencer Marketing. We invite you to another review of the week from the Digitized editorial team.
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Summary
The CEOs of FTX and Binance, Sam Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao, were accused of financial fraud and money laundering. Zhao resigned and admitted guilt, resulting in Binance paying over $4 billion in fines.
The EU AI Act is being blocked by France and Germany, potentially delaying its implementation until after the 2024 EU elections.
Poland is experiencing a high rate of burnout, with one in four people affected. Meanwhile, the IT industry's earnings increased by an average of 19% in 2023.
The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development is running a competition to boost the export potential of SMEs, with a fund of PLN 155 million.
The International Advertising Association (IAA) Poland is initiating the Round Table of Influencer Marketing, aiming to create a Code of Ethics by the end of Q1 2024.
The AI-generated influencer, Aitana Lopez from Barcelona, has gained popularity on Instagram, earning 10,000 euros a month.
Binance was revealed to be a money laundering operation, accepting money from customers in countries under international sanctions. The company will pay a $4.3 billion fine.
Sam Altman has returned as the CEO of OpenAI after a five-day absence, influenced by pressure from shareholders and employees.
AI could potentially reduce the work week from 40 to 32 hours for 28% of workers in the UK and the US, according to a report by the British think tank, Autonomy.
The Google Bard AI chatbot has a new extension that allows it to analyze and understand video content.
NordPass published a list of the 200 most popular passwords used in 2023, with "12345" being the most popular.
The results of patient tests from the ALAB company in Poland have leaked online due to the activities of the ransomware group, RA World.
Sony may face an $8 billion fine for inflating the prices of games on PlayStation, following a class action lawsuit filed by 9 million UK residents.
In 2023, nearly two-thirds of Poles participated in Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, spending an average of a thousand PLN.
The 2023 Web Summit in Lisbon featured 2608 startups from over thirty different industries.
Managerial games are being used to help understand company indicators, plans, and budgets, and to acquire soft skills.
OpenAI experienced a power struggle last week, with Sam Altman being fired from his CEO position, only to return five days later.
From the Editorial Board
Cryptocurrencies have not been doing well recently. Only in November 2023, the founders and CEOs of the two largest crypto exchanges in the world - at the beginning of the month Sam Bankman-Fried from FTXand barely three weeks later Changpeng Zhao from Binance - were accused of financial fraud and money laundering. The latter has already resigned from the position of the company's CEO and admitted his guilt, and the company itself has to pay over 4 billion dollars in fines.
The above cases only show how important top-down regulations of new technologies should be. Unfortunately, they are often hindered by the shortsightedness of politicians, as we are witnessing during the ongoing negotiations on the EU AI Act. You can read about why France and Germany are blocking it in the Weekly News Review section.
In the review, you will also read about: burnout in Poland, the Round Table of Influencer Marketing discussions, new features of Google Bard AI, and the most popular passwords in the world that can be cracked in a second.
Welcome!
Weekly News Review
Work and Business in Poland
Burnout: one in four people in Poland struggle with it. This is a European record
According to the latest study conducted by Jobbli, one in four people in Poland struggle with burnout. 55.5% of respondents stated that the main cause of this situation is a lack of understanding from superiors and the team. 47% of respondents pointed to monotonous duties, 43.5% to a lack of development opportunities, and 37% to personal problems. The data also show that 72% of men and 51% of women believe that their duties are not consistent with their competencies and professional aspirations.
IT industry employees' earnings in 2023 [REPORT]
Earnings in the IT industry in 2023 increased on average by even 19%, but the third quarter shows stabilization and even declines - according to the latest No Fluff Jobs report. In the third quarter of 2023, the median salary ranges for people looking for work in frontend specialization were 16-22 thousand PLN net. This is exactly the same rate as in the second quarter, and only in the lower range slightly higher than at the beginning of the year (then it was 15 thousand PLN net). Similar trends can also be seen in the testing, fullstack or IT administration categories. The No Fluff Jobs report also noted that this year there has been a significant increase in the number of candidates in the IT industry. In the frontend specialization, there are on average 88 CVs sent per offer. This is an increase of 340% year on year.
PARP: Recruitment for the "Promotion of Innovative SMEs Brand" competition is underway
Strengthening the export potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in international markets - this is the main goal of the "Promotion of the brand of innovative SMEs" competition. The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development will support small and medium-sized companies with a sum of PLN 155 million in organizing promotional activities aimed at international markets. The call for applications will last until November 30, 2023.
Influencer marketing
Code of Ethics for Influencer Marketing. IAA Poland initiates the Round Table of Influencer Marketing
The International Advertising Association (IAA Poland) gathered representatives of the largest social platforms, channel networks and advertising groups to work within the Round Table of Influencer Marketing. Among them were YouTube, Meta, TikTok, LifeTube, GetHero, GroupM, Group One, Havas. The Round Table of Influencer Marketing IAA Poland prioritizes the initiative to create a Code of Ethics for Influencer Marketing by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
AI-created influencer earns 10,000 euros a month
Aitana Lopez, a pink-haired influencer from Barcelona, has recently become an Instagram sensation. Her account on the service is followed by 145,000 people, and she earns 10,000 euros a month from her activity. The catch is that Aitana was entirely generated by artificial intelligence. Rubén Cruz from The Clueless agency is behind her project.
Cryptocurrencies
Binance: the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange turned out to be a money laundering operation. There are charges for the CEO
As a result of the investigation by the American prosecutor's office, it was revealed that Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, accepted money from customers from countries subject to international sanctions such as Russia, North Korea and Iran. The company also provided financial services to people involved in child pornography trade and terrorists from Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and Hamas. As part of the agreement reached, the company's CEO Changpeng Zhao and compliance director Samuel Lim will be indicted. Both admitted to the acts committed, and Zhao decided to resign from his position and committed to paying 50 million dollars in compensation. Binance will also pay a fine of 4.3 billion dollars.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
France and Germany block agreement on AI Act
France and Germany are blocking negotiations on an agreement on the final shape of the EU AI Act, which were to end in December 2023. According to Sifted magazine reports, the reason for the blockade is the desire to protect startups Mistral (France) and AlephAlpha (Germany) - two European companies that have made the most progress in the field of generative AI. It is also likely that if an agreement is not reached before December 6, it will have to wait until the elections of the new EU parliament and commission in 2024.
End of drama at OpenAI. Sam Altman returns as CEO after five days
After a five-day media scandal surrounding his dismissal, Sam Altman officially returns to the position of CEO of OpenAI. The company succumbed to the pressure of shareholders and its employees. "We have reached an agreement on Sam Altman's return to OpenAI as CEO with a new board, initially consisting of Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo. We are working to finalize the details. Thank you very much for your patience" - reads the OpenAI company statement published on X.
Revolution in the world of employment. Will AI create a four-day work week?
Artificial intelligence can shorten the work week for 28% of workers in the United Kingdom and the United States. The British think tank Autonomy shows that such a transformation will not only increase productivity, but also help avoid unemployment and improve the mental and physical health of workers. The authors of the report predict that the implementation of artificial intelligence in companies can potentially reduce working hours from 40 to 32 hours per week for 8.8 million workers in the United Kingdom and 35 million in the United States.
Google Bard AI chatbot is getting better at analyzing video content
Thanks to a new extension that allows for the analysis and understanding of video content, Google Bard AI users can now ask the chatbot about the smallest details related to YouTube videos. In practice, this means that the tool will be able to recognize, for example, the type of tools used in DIY videos or specific ingredients in cooking recipes. Bard AI will also be able to create summaries of videos before watching them.
Cybersecurity
Here are the 200 most popular passwords in the world. 70% of them can be cracked in less than a second
NordPass company has published the results of its latest study, which lists the two hundred most popular passwords used in 2023 in selected 35 countries. The most popular password in the world is the phrase "12345". The top three are completed by "admin" and "12345678". As if that wasn't enough, almost one third (31%) of the most popular passwords in the world this year consist of similar numerical sequences. In total, as many as 70% of the passwords on this year's global list can be cracked in less than a second.
Medical test results of tens of thousands of Polish women and men revealed by burglars
The results of patient tests have leaked online, who used the services of the ALAB company in the years 2017-2023. This is one of the most popular laboratory networks operating in our country, so the situation may affect even tens of thousands of people. The incident is the result of the activities of the ransomware group RA World.
Trivia
Sony in trouble. The giant may pay a $8 billion fine for inflating the prices of games on PlayStation
The British Competition Appeal Tribunal has just decided that the class action lawsuit filed against Sony at the end of 2022 has legal grounds and the company must go to trial. The Japanese giant is accused by 9 million people from the UK of exploiting its dominant position in the market and artificially inflating the prices of games for the PlayStation console. These are available exclusively through the PlayStation Store platform, where a 30 percent commission on sales applies. The authors of the lawsuit demand from Sony compensation in the amount of 6.3 billion pounds, or 8 billion dollars.
Cyber Monday and Black Friday. BIG InfoMonitor summarizes the spending of Poles
In 2023, nearly two-thirds of Poles took advantage of promotions related to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On average, they spent about a thousand PLN on these days - BIG InfoMonitor reported. However, these promotions have become more honest this year thanks to the Omnibus EU directive curtailing unethical price presentation practices. It's about regulations in force since January 2023, which impose on sellers the obligation to inform customers about the lowest price of a given product in the last thirty days preceding the promotion.
Digitized Editorial Team recommends
Web Summit 2023: 7 startups that made the biggest impression on us (not only positive)
Web Summit is a good opportunity for startups to promote themselves, gain valuable contacts and attract potential investors. So it's no wonder that during this year's edition in Lisbon, as many as 2608 budding businesses from over thirty different industries appeared. However, quantity does not always mean quality, as we could find out for ourselves during the three days spent at the conference.
Among the startups, we encountered both truly innovative ones, which are trying to tackle humanity's most serious challenges such as food waste through technology, and those that reinvent the wheel or solve a problem they created themselves.
Gamification and managerial games. How to use their potential in managing an organization?
Managerial games are a specific type of games facilitating the mastery of knowledge useful for understanding indicators, plan, mission or company budget, as well as allowing for the acquisition of soft skills, such as team management, communication in a project or the role of a leader. And since in the vast majority of cases the players themselves are the creators of actions, it is easier to remember, feel and understand complex economic phenomena and methods related to them.
While analyzing for the purposes of this article the case study of implementing the aspect of gamification in sales of a well-known chain of construction and decoration stores, I found out that the efficiency of employees performing tasks on the dedicated platform is almost three times higher than those who do not undertake such actions.
Behind the scenes of the OpenAI scandal. Techstorie Podcast
Last week was marked by a power struggle at OpenAI. Sam Altman, who was fired on Friday, November 17, returned to the position of the company's CEO just five days later. But how did it happen that the board of a company valued at tens of billions of dollars can remove its CEO overnight and without any warning? You can listen to more on this topic in the Techstorie podcast.
Editor-in-chief of Digitized. He has been associated with journalism for almost a third of his life; he worked for the Polish editions of Playboy, CKM and Esquire magazines, as well as Well.pl and naTemat.pl services. In his texts, he tries to understand reality and describe it objectively. He remains skeptical about many phenomena, but is not afraid to admit a mistake and change his mind. A native of Warsaw. Privately, he is a seeker of sense in nonsense and order amidst entropy. He likes wise words.
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