Welcome to The Upgrade

Welcome to my weekly newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of AI, media, and storytelling. A special welcome to my new readers from Variety, LA County, Squarespace, and many other top organizations — you’re in good company!

In today’s issue:

• The Week’s Top AI Stories 📰

• 🎓 20% off May 8th Course: AI Upgrade for Creatives⚡️

• 🎙️Podcast: Founder & CEO Jeremy Toeman on the AI Video Revolution

• 💡 The Big Think: OpenAI & Media Companies’ Tug-of-War

The Week’s Top AI Stories

Top AI Headlines

• 8 Daily Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over A.I. — The New York Times

• Adobe unveils AI features for Photoshop — but not everyone is happy about it — Mashable

• Perplexity search AI becomes an AI unicorn with new $63 million funding round — Fast Company

• Ukraine Unveils AI-generated Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman — Barron’s

• Meta’s Open Source Llama 3 Is Already Nipping at OpenAI’s Heels — WIRED

Ethics & Safety

• States Scramble to Block AI Election Meddling — TIME

  

  (Image: Getty Images)

• Scientists create 'toxic AI' that is rewarded for thinking up the worst possible questions we could imagine — Live Science

• Tech Firms Pledge To Eliminate AI-Generated CSAM — Forbes

• AI is about to make the online child sex abuse problem much worse — The Washington Post

Legal & Copyright

• US newspapers sue OpenAI for copyright infringement over AI training — Reuters

• Unauthorized AI Voice Clones of Taylor Swift Face Removal From TikTok — Bloomberg

• Can Copyright Law Save Journalism From A.I.? — The New Republic

AI in the Workplace

• Satya Nadella says Microsoft's AI payoff hinges on other companies doing 'the hard work' of changing their cultures — FORTUNE

• Generative AI is still a solution in search of a problem — Axios

• AI talent wars have Big Tech CEOs recruiting and paying huge packages — Business Insider

🎓Next week: AI Course for Creatives! 💻

I’m thrilled to partner with Kris Krüg, founder of Future Proof Creatives, to offer a special 6-week AI course for creatives of all types! Kris and I met through the Google News Initiative’s Pre-Launch Accelerator and have been guest lecturers in each other’s AI courses for months. Kris is a former tech marketing director, a professional photographer, AI consultant and explorer!

The class starts on Wednesday, May 8th, at 7 pm ET / 4 pm PT. Learn more here!✨The course fee is $1,499 — discounts are available for freelancers, NGOs, and educators.

⚡️For 20% OFF, use code: THEUPGRADE20

💡 Big Think: OpenAI & Media Companies’ Tug-of-War Escalates 🗞️

The recent lawsuit filed by eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital against OpenAI and Microsoft marks a significant escalation in the ongoing debate over copyright in the digital age. This legal battle brings to the forefront the crucial issue of how artificial intelligence utilizes existing copyrighted content without permission. The newspapers, which include prominent titles like The Chicago Tribune and The New York Daily News, accuse the tech giants of using their articles to train AI without compensation, an act they claim dilutes their brand and misappropriates their content​.

This lawsuit is not isolated. It adds to a growing chorus of concerns voiced by publishers about the sustainability of journalism in the age of AI. The use of copyrighted material to train AI systems like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot has become a point of contention. Publishers argue that these AI tools often bypass paywalls, surfacing content freely that was intended to be monetized through subscriptions or licensed agreements. This practice not only threatens the financial viability of the newspapers but also raises ethical questions about the fair use of digital content​.

Moreover, the complaint highlights instances where AI inaccurately represented the newspapers' content, further complicating the issue. Misattributions such as recommending products linked to safety recalls or fabricating news stories can damage the reputation of these institutions, which pride themselves on accuracy and integrity. These errors by AI can lead to misinformation, eroding public trust in the technology and the news organizations it purports to represent. The response from OpenAI suggests a readiness to engage with news organizations to explore how AI can benefit the industry.

Meanwhile, the deals that OpenAI is forging with news organizations like the Financial Times and Axel Springer are ostensibly aimed at creating a new paradigm where AI chatbots enhance news dissemination. These agreements are publicized to allow ChatGPT to summarize news content with links back to the original stories, ostensibly driving traffic to the publishers. However, the actual implementation appears to diverge from this ideal. In practice, when queries about current news are made, ChatGPT often simply directs users to the websites of these publishers, regardless of the supposed integration of their content into its responses. As Pete Pachal of Media CoPilot hypothesized in a LinkedIn Post, OpenAI may be preparing for a more structured "ChatGPT for News" product, which would systematically serve up news summaries within the chatbot interface, linking directly to the stories on partnered publishers' sites.

This approach to handling news suggests a strategic differentiation in how OpenAI uses archived content versus how it plans to deal with current news. Archived articles are used broadly to train the model, leveraging older content that doesn't change and isn't tied to the immediacy of current events. For recent articles, which are more dynamic and drive significant traffic, OpenAI appears to be setting up a system that respects current copyrights through formal agreements, which is evident in its current legal engagements and the establishment of retrieval-augmented generation for real-time content. This strategy reflects a careful navigation of the complex legal landscape surrounding AI and news generation, which is still unfolding as lawsuits from major publishers like The New York Times challenge the bounds of using copyrighted material without direct authorization. The fundamental issue remains: without a clear legal framework that respects copyright laws and compensates content creators adequately, conflicts like this will likely continue and escalate​.

The Takeaway

The new legal action underscores the urgent need for comprehensive copyright reform that addresses the unique challenges posed by AI and digital technology. As AI continues to evolve, so too must our legal and ethical frameworks to ensure that all parties, especially those in the creative and journalistic sectors, are protected against exploitation. This case is not just about the survival of certain newspapers but about setting a precedent for the protection of intellectual property in the digital era, ensuring that innovation does not come at the expense of those who create the content that feeds these advanced technologies.

Don’t be shy—hit reply if you have thoughts or feedback. I’d love to connect with you!

Until next week,

Peter

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