Principles For Music Creation With AI now has backing from more than 50 music industry organizations, according to a news release. The statements, which urge responsible use of AI in music creation, were initially published by Roland Corp. and Universal Music Group in March. Organizations that have endorsed the principles include the Virgin Music Group, National Association of Music Merchants, the University of Sydney and music creation software Landr.
The FTC wants to make “clear” that sharing certain types of sensitive data is “off-limits,” and the agency is paying close attention to AI-driven business models, Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said Wednesday. Speaking at the Future of Privacy Forum’s D.C. Privacy Forum, Levine highlighted instances where the FTC has reached settlements with data privacy violators that include prohibitions on sharing certain types of data. He noted five cases where the FTC banned sharing of health information in advertising, another case banning sharing of browsing data for advertising and at least two other cases in litigation in which the agency wants to ban sharing sensitive geolocation data. “We have made clear in our words, in our cases, complaints that certain uses of sensitive data can be off-limits.” FTC Chair Lina Khan has made similar remarks in the past (see 2401090081 and 2208290052). Levine said banning those practices will depend on the agency’s three-part FTC Act test for unfairness. Data sharing practices violate the FTC Act if they cause or are likely to cause substantial consumer injury, can’t be reasonably avoided by consumers and the potential harm isn’t outweighed by “countervailing” benefits to consumers or competition. So much of how “people experience” social media platforms and how data is handled is driven by behavioral advertising business models, said Levine. Some companies are clear about the business model incentives for AI, while other companies are “not being as clear,” he said. “It’s not illegal to want to make money. We want that in this country, but we do want to think about how these business models shape development of the technology and contribute to some of the harms we’ve seen.” It makes sense the director has a “strong view” there’s a “wide range” of statutory authority for the FTC when it comes to AI-driven data practices, said FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky. The FTC already has a “substantial ability” to enforce against AI-related abuse under its consumer protection regulations, Polonetsky told us. However, hard societal questions surround the technology that only Congress can answer, and that starts with a federal data privacy law, he said.
Lenovo and Cisco Thursday said they are collaborating on AI solutions for businesses. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding “to jointly establish design, engineering, and execution plans for accelerating digital transformation with turnkey solutions that extend world-class networking and purpose-built AI infrastructure solutions from edge to cloud for customers worldwide.”
OpenAI signed separate agreements with The Atlantic and Vox Media, allowing the AI developer to use their news content to train models for products like ChatGPT. The Atlantic and Vox will use OpenAI technology to enhance advertising and news products. Vox said it will use OpenAI tools to “enhance” its Strategist Gift Scout, a user search tool, and improve Forte, its targeted advertising platform. “Advertisers will benefit from the OpenAI partnership through stronger creative optimization and audience segment targeting, leading to even higher campaign performance,” Vox said. The Atlantic said it will have “privileged access” to OpenAI tech and will help shape “news experiences” on ChatGPT and other OpenAI services. The magazine will use OpenAI tools to develop Atlantic Labs, an experimental “microsite” using AI to build “new products and features to better serve” the platform’s “journalism and readers.” Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson said the partnership will make the company’s “reporting and stories more discoverable to millions” and give the company a “voice in shaping how news is surfaced” on OpenAI platforms. Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff said the agreement “aligns with our goals of leveraging generative AI to innovate for our audiences and customers, protect and grow the value of our work and intellectual property, and boost productivity and discoverability to elevate the talent and creativity of our exceptional journalists and creators.” OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said the company is “dedicated to supporting high-quality journalism and the publishing ecosystem.”
The EU is failing to keep pace with the U.S. and global leaders on AI development, the European Court of Auditors said in a report Tuesday. The EU’s independent auditor concluded the European Commission is failing to properly coordinate with member states on a strategic AI plan. EU plans are suffering because the commission didn’t set up a system for monitoring how AI investments are performing, the ECA said. EU investment targets “remain too vague and outdated: they have not changed since 2018, and the lack of ambition for investment targets contrasts with the objective of building a globally competitive AI ecosystem,” the ECA said. “The US has long been a front runner in AI, while China plans to become the global AI leader by 2030, with both countries relying on substantial private investment through their tech giants.” According to the ECA, the EU expected 20 billion euros ($21 billion) in public and private AI investment between 2018 and 2020. It projected 20 billion euros per year between 2020 and 2030. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in October called for at least $32 billion annually in U.S. nondefense spending to maintain the lead in AI innovation (see 2310250034).
With the EU AI Act set to become law soon (see 2405210001), the European Commission launched an internal AI Office expected to play a major role in implementing the measure. The office includes a regulation and compliance unit to ensure the act is uniformly enforced across the EU; a unit on AI safety to identify systemic risks of very capable general-purpose models and possible mitigation measures; an AI for societal good unit to deal with international engagement on issues such as weather modeling and cancer diagnoses; and a unit for AI innovation and policy coordination to oversee the EU's AI strategy and AI take-up. The office will be led by an AI Office head under the guidance of a scientific and an international affairs advisor. The organizational changes become effective on June 16; the act itself is expected to take effect in July, after which businesses have two years to comply.