Matt O’Brien | The Seattle Times

June 23, 2022 at 10:34 am

Instagram tests using AI, other tools for age verification

Instagram is testing new ways to verify the age of people using its service, including a face-scanning artificial intelligence tool, having mutual friends verify their...

Business

June 6, 2022 at 1:39 pm

EXPLAINER: Is Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter falling apart?

Elon Musk on Monday threatened to walk away from his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, the latest sign that his plan to overhaul the...

Business

FILE – Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, on March 9, 2020. Tesla shares tumbled more than 7% in early trading on Friday, June 3, 2022, on a report that Musk is considering laying off 10% of the electric automakersâ€™ workers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) NYDD210 NYDD210

June 6, 2022 at 6:39 am

Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal

Elon Musk is threatening to end his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam...

Business

June 5, 2022 at 8:31 am

Autonomous Mayflower reaches American shores — in Canada

A crewless robotic boat that had tried to retrace the 1620 sea voyage of the Mayflower has finally reached the shores of North America —...

Business

June 3, 2022 at 10:43 am

Firm proposes Taser-armed drones to stop school shootings; its advisers are alarmed

Taser developer Axon said this week it is working to build drones armed with the electric stunning weapons that could fly into schools and “help...

Business

May 25, 2022 at 3:34 pm

EXPLAINER: Social media and the Texas shooter’s messages

Could technology companies have monitored ominous messages made by a gunman who Texas authorities say massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school.

Business

FILE – Part of the Twitter page of Elon Musk is seen on the screen of a computer, on Monday, April 25, 2022. The Tesla CEO gave the strongest hint yet Monday, May 16, 2022, that he would like to pay less for Twitter than his $44 billion offer made the previous month. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) NY729 NY729

May 17, 2022 at 1:31 am

Musk wars with Twitter over his buyout deal – on Twitter

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter can’t “move forward” unless the company shows public proof that less than 5% of the...

Business

May 17, 2022 at 1:01 am

Livestreamed carnage: Tech’s hard lessons from mass killings VIEW

Experts are calling for a broader discussion around livestreams after a white gunman killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket.

Business

FILE – Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke speaks at a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. The federal government said Thursday, May 12, 2022, that artificial intelligence technology to screen new job candidates or monitor their productivity at work can unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities, sending a warning to employers that the commonly used hiring tools could violate civil rights laws. The U.S. Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jointly issued guidance to employers to take care before using popular algorithmic tools meant to streamline the work of evaluating employees and job prospects but which could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) NY111 NY111

May 12, 2022 at 3:40 pm

U.S. civil rights enforcers warn employers against biased AI

The federal government said Thursday that technology used to screen new job candidates or monitor worker productivity can unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities.

Business

FILE – A student colors in a fox during during Quechua Indigenous language class focusing on animal names at a public primary school in Licapa, Peru, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. About 10 million people speak Quechua, but trying to automatically translate emails and text messages into the most widely spoken Indigenous language family in the Americas was nearly impossible before Google introduced it into its digital translation service Wednesday, May 11, 2022. The internet giant says new artificial intelligence technology is enabling it to vastly expand Google Translateâ€™s repertoire of the worldâ€™s languages, adding 24 more this week including Quechua and other Indigenous South American languages such as Guarani and Aymara. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File) NYBZ320 NYBZ320

May 11, 2022 at 12:42 pm

Google gets more multilingual, but will it get the nuance?

Google says new artificial intelligence technology is enabling it to vastly expand Google Translate’s repertoire of the world’s languages. It added 24 of them this...

Business

Matt O'Brien