AI Explicit Girlfriend, Crypto Crimes
02 May 2024: Meta's AI companion ads, crypto laundering detection, AI security breaches, Claude Chatbot app, Google's immigration plea, Ukraine's AI spokeswoman
Good Morning,
Latest in AI,
1. 1-Minute Roundup
2. Headlines
3. AI Investment Deals
4. Other AI News
1-Minute Roundup
Headlines:
Facebook hosts thousands of ads for explicit 'AI Girlfriends' while policing human sex workers.
A new AI model and massive dataset could revolutionise crypto money laundering detection.
AI Investment Deals:
CoreWeave secures $1.1 billion in funding, boosting its valuation to $19 billion.
AiDash secures $58.5M in Series C funding to enhance operations and sustainability efforts.
GrubMarket acquires Global Produce, expanding into South Africa with AI technology.
Rippl acquires Kinto to integrate its AI-enabled dementia caregiver support platform.
Oasis Security raises $35M to advance AI-enabled non-human identity management technology.
Baselayer raises $6.5M to enhance AI-driven business risk management.
Others:
The proposed Secure Artificial Intelligence Act aims to track and prevent AI security breaches.
Anthropic launched the Claude Chatbot iPhone app and enterprise subscription plan.
Concerns over Google's AI lead drive Microsoft's billion-dollar OpenAI investment.
Google urges the US to modernise immigration policies for AI and tech talent.
Ukraine introduced an AI-generated foreign ministry spokeswoman named Victoria.
Headlines
Facebook Hosts Thousands of Ads for Explicit 'AI Girlfriends' While Policing Human Sex Workers
WIRED found that Meta's platforms are inundated with ads for AI-generated, NSFW companion apps, prompting complaints from human sex workers who say their posts are more strictly regulated, highlighting a double standard in content moderation.
Why it Matters: The proliferation of these ads raises questions about the fairness and consistency of Meta's content moderation policies, particularly regarding adult content and the treatment of human sex workers compared to AI-generated services.
Zoom In:
At least 29,000 ads for explicit AI "girlfriends" were found on Meta platforms.
Many ads feature lifelike, stereotypically pornographic AI-generated women
Some apps offer "nudifying" features that allow users to "undress" their AI girlfriend
Big Picture: Anti-sex-trafficking legislation like FOSTA-SESTA has made platforms responsible for posted content. However, the contrasting treatment of human sex workers and AI-generated adult content on Meta's platforms highlights the ongoing challenges and inconsistencies in AI content moderation.
New AI Model and Massive Dataset Could Revolutionise Crypto Money Laundering Detection
Researchers from Elliptic, MIT, and IBM have developed a new AI model trained on a vast dataset of 200 million transactions to spot patterns of Bitcoin money laundering. The release of this model and the unprecedented scale of the training data could trigger a leap forward in automated tools for detecting illicit money flows on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Why it Matters: The release of the AI model and the massive training dataset could advance the fight against crypto money laundering, providing investigators with more efficient tools to identify suspicious transactions and accounts.
Zoom In:
The AI model was trained on 122,000 patterns of known money laundering within a dataset of 200 million transactions.
In a test with one exchange, the model identified 52 suspicious transaction chains, 14 of which the exchange had already flagged.
Elliptic has been using the model privately and says it has helped discover addresses linked to a Russian dark web market, a crypto mixer, and a Ponzi scheme.
Big Picture: The research has the potential to impact the fight against crypto crime significantly and could have implications for other AI research areas, such as healthcare and recommendation systems.
AI Investment Deals
CoreWeave, an AI-focused cloud computing startup led by Coatue and backed by notable investors, secured $1.1 billion in funding in just five months, boosting its valuation to $19 billion.
AiDash, an enterprise SaaS company specialising in satellite and AI solutions for critical infrastructure, secures $58.5M in Series C funding to enhance operations and sustainability efforts.
GrubMarket acquires Global Produce, a fresh produce business, expanding into South Africa and enhancing its global food supply chain presence, reaching over 40 countries with AI technology.
Rippl, a dementia-focused care provider, acquires Kinto to integrate its AI-enabled dementia caregiver support platform, enhancing care for seniors and their families.
Oasis Security raises $35M to advance AI-enabled non-human identity management technology, bringing its total funding to $75M.
Baselayer raises $6.5M in a 5x oversubscribed seed round to enhance AI-driven business risk management, addressing a $500 billion fraud challenge for financial institutions.
Others
Proposed Secure Artificial Intelligence Act Aims to Track and Prevent AI Security Breaches
Sens. Warner and Tillis introduced a bill to establish an AI Security Center at the NSA for counter-AI research.
The bill mandates NIST and CISA to create a database of AI breaches, including "near-misses," to improve AI safety.
Anthropic Launches Claude Chatbot iPhone App and Enterprise Subscription Plan
AI startup Anthropic has released a free iPhone app for its Claude chatbot, with image analysis capabilities.
Anthropic also introduced a new $30 per user/month subscription plan for companies, with collaboration features coming soon.
Microsoft's Billion-Dollar OpenAI Investment Driven by Concerns Over Google's AI Lead
Emails reveal that Microsoft executives have expressed alarm and envy over Google's rapid advancements in AI capabilities in 2019.
Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott admitted the company was "multiple years behind" Google in machine learning scale.
Google Urges US to Modernise Immigration Policies for AI and Tech Talent
Google sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting updates to outdated immigration policies.
The company wants AI and cybersecurity added to the Schedule A list of pre-certified occupations.
Ukraine Introduces AI-Generated Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Named Victoria
Ukraine's foreign ministry unveiled an AI-generated digital spokeswoman called Victoria Shi to read official statements.
The spokeswoman's appearance and voice are modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a Ukrainian singer and reality show contestant.
Like TheAIML?
Please don’t keep it to yourself. Colleagues and friends can sign up here.
For even more,
Our newsletter archive: Click here
Follow us on Linkedin,
Follow us on 𝕏/Twitter
How are we doing? We would like to hear what you think about this newsletter. Let us know.