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It Was Fun While It Lasted: Elon Musk Suggests At Charging X Users A Fee To Use His Mediocre Platform

September 19, 2023

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Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty / Elon Musk
Elon Musk is not done making X (formerly known as Twitter) one of the worst social media experiences ever.
“I can’t believe this app is free” is starting to look like a phrase that has run its course on X.
Spotted on Variety, the Tesla Chief and current owner of X, Elon Musk, claims he wants to charge X/Twitter users a fee to use the platform.
His excuse is that it’s the only way to combat the bots plaguing the platform.
Per Variety:
Musk brought up the idea of charging all users of X/Twitter during a wide-ranging conversation focused on AI that featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. “We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system,” Musk told Netanyahu, claiming that “it’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.” His comments were initially reported by Bloomberg’s Dave Lee.
As for the price, Musk did not share an exact dollar amount, noting that “a few dollars or something” would stop the creation of bot accounts. Musk also claims X has 550 million monthly active users, and they are sharing between 100-200 million posts daily on the social network, the website also reports.
X Is Still Bleeding Cash
According to Platformer, charging users to use X is not new, and he has been toying with it for some time. Before he begrudgingly bought it, Twitter was not a profitable business, and since his check cleared, ad sales, something the platform depended on tremendously, have plunged 50%.
We guess those Cheech and Chong gummy ads won’t be enough to keep X alive.
As you can imagine, X users are not feeling the news and are once again looking for another app where they take dating debates, sports hot takes, and any other forms of entertainment they came to X/Twitter exclusively for.
You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Anadolu Agency / Getty

1. Exactly

4. Heard you

6. Here’s a thought

HHW Gaming: Massive Xbox Leak Confirms New Series X Console, Phil Spencer Wanting To Buy Nintendo & More

djfrosty

September 19, 2023

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Source: Microsoft / Xbox Series X ‘Brooklin’
Another massive leak, spilling some juicy Xbox details, has the video game world buzzing.
An FTC leak has produced documents detailing some of Xbox’s future plans and another massive acquisition. The biggest news from the leak was that Xbox plans to drop what it calls a “console refresh” of the Xbox Series X called ‘Brooklin.’
It has been confirmed that it was Microsoft were the one’s who “leaked” the information after accidentally loading it onto a government website, per Bloomberg’s reporting.
Anyway, Brooklin is a new Xbox Series X console version that ditches the original “box shape” small fridge look for a new circular design plus a much-needed increased internal storage of 2TB.
Gamesradar reports that the “console refresh” will have the same price as the previous console with tweaks like a faster wireless connection, more storage as mentioned above, eco-friendly features to reduce the console’s carbon footprint, ditching the disc drive, and even an updated controller that could finally bring it on par, or close to the greatness that is the PS5’s DualSense controller.

The new controller, code-named Sebille, is “more immersive” and will feature gyro support, Bluetooth 5.2, and a direct Cloud connection. There will also be “precision haptic feedback” that doubles as speakers.
“Improved longevity” is also a feature of the Sebille controller, thanks to new modular thumbsticks.

According to the leaks, the controller will launch sometime in August 2024, around the same time as E3 2024, when the company was set to reveal its latest offerings to the video game world.
There are also plans for an Xbox Series S refresh due in August, with the Brooklin console coming in late October, right in time for Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season.
Phil Spencer Was Dreaming of Video Game Domination
The new console and controller weren’t the only news about the FTC leak. According to leaked emails, Xbox Chief Phil Spencer wanted to bring Nintendo into the Xbox ecosystem.
In the August 2020 email sent right before Microsoft bought Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax, Spencer called a possible acquisition of Nintendo “a career moment.”
Spencer’s lust didn’t stop there. He also expressed interest in Steam owner Valve and Warner Bros’ collection of game studios like Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios and Rocksteady, the game studio behind the Batman Arkham Series.
Per IGN:
“Nintendo is THE prime asset for us in gaming and today gaming is our most likely path to consumer relevance,” Spencer wrote in the email.
“I’ve had numerous conversations with the LT of Nintendo about tighter collaboration and feel like if any US company would have a chance with Nintendo we are probably in the best position.”
However, Spencer outlined a number of blocks on the merger, including the fact Nintendo seemed uninterested in selling up. Nintendo is “sitting on a big pile of cash”, Spencer said, and was apparently happy with its current position. As a result, Spencer said he couldn’t “see an angle” on a buyout in the short term, adding: “I don’t think a hostile action would be a good move… so we are playing the long game.”
Well damn.
You can see more reactions to the leaks in the gallery below.
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Photo: Microsoft / Xbox Series X ‘Brooklin’

2. Interesting

3. Looks like Tom was right.

TikTok Rolls Out Labels for AI-Generated Content

djfrosty

September 19, 2023

TikTok announced new tools to help creators label content that was generated by artificial intelligence. In addition, the company said on Tuesday (Sept. 19) that it plans to “start testing ways to label AI-generated content automatically.”

“AI enables incredible creative opportunities, but can potentially confuse or mislead viewers if they’re not aware content was generated or edited with AI,” the company wrote. “Labeling content helps address this, by making clear to viewers when content is significantly altered or modified by AI technology.”

As AI technology has become better — at generating credible-looking images or mimicking pop stars’ voices, for example — and more popular, regulators have expressed increasing concern about the technology’s potential for mis-use.

In July, President Biden’s administration announced that seven leading AI companies made voluntary commitments “to help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology.” One key point: “The companies commit to developing robust technical mechanisms to ensure that users know when content is AI generated, such as a watermarking system. This action enables creativity with AI to flourish but reduces the dangers of fraud and deception.”

Voluntary commitments are, of course, voluntary, which is likely why TikTok also announced that it will “begin testing an ‘AI-generated’ label that we eventually plan to apply automatically to content that we detect was edited or created with AI.” Tools to determine whether an image has been crafted by AI already exist, and some are better than others. In June, The New York Times tested five programs, finding that the “services are advancing rapidly, but at times fall short.”

The challenge is that as detection technology improves, so does the tech for evading detection. Cynthia Rudin, a computer science and engineering professor at Duke University, told the paper that “every time somebody builds a better generator, people build better discriminators, and then people use the better discriminator to build a better generator. The generators are designed to be able to fool a detector.”

Similar detection efforts are being discussed in the music industry as it debates how to weigh AI-generated songs relative to tracks that incorporate human input.

“You have technologies out there in the market today that can detect an AI-generated track with 99.9% accuracy, versus a human-created track,” Believe co-founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie said in April. “We need to finalize the testing, we need to deploy,” he added, “but these technologies exist.”

The streaming service Deezer laid out its own plan to “develop tools to detect AI-generated content” in June. “From an economic point of view, what matters most is [regulating] the things that really go viral, and usually those are the AI-generated songs that use fake voices or copied voices without approval,” Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folgueira told Billboard this summer.

Moises, another AI-technology company, dove into the fray as well, announcing its own set of new tools on Aug. 1. “There’s definitely a lot of chatter” about this, Matt Henninger, Moises’ vp of sales and business development told Billboard. “There’s a lot of testing of different products.”

Congressional Bill That Would Enable Indie Artists to Negotiate Better Streaming Rates Takes Aim at AI

djfrosty

September 19, 2023

Independent musicians will have more power to negotiate with artificial intelligence developers over “fairer rates and terms for the use of their music” if a newly introduced version of the Protect Working Musicians Act passes the U.S. House, according to Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.).

“AI threatens the creator — finding the person or entity that has co-opted your work and turned it into something else and then going after them is so onerous,” Ross, who sponsored the revised act and sits on the House Judiciary Committee, says in a phone interview from Washington, D.C. “That’s one of the reasons for this bill — to allow people to do this collaboratively. We need to do this sooner than later. We’re seeing this threat every single day.”

The Protect Working Musicians Act, which Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) introduced in October 2021 a few months before he left Congress, would allow indie artists to collectively bargain for royalty rates with streaming giants such as Spotify and Apple Music. As it stands, the major labels that own most worldwide master recordings have enormous negotiating power to set rates; the act would “give the smaller independent more of a voice,” says Jen Jacobsen, executive director of the Artist Rights Alliance, which worked with Ross on revising the bill.

Ross picked up the bill when Deutch announced he would not return to the House, then held hearings with indie artists in her district, which includes Raleigh. Since then, Ross says, “The AI issue has become even more important.” The revised act would allow artists to behave like plaintiffs in a class-action suit, she adds, “fighting for their rights” with a central attorney.

“Our work is being scraped and ingested and exploited without us even knowing,” Jacobsen says. “Adding the AI platforms seemed like a relevant and important thing to do.”

Writers and artists have warned for months that AI could transform their ideas into new works with no way to get paid for the usage. In April, “Heart On My Sleeve,” an AI-created song that mimics the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, landed millions of TikTok, Spotify and YouTube plays. At the time, Sting told the BBC: “The building blocks of music belong to us, to human beings. That’s going to be a battle we all have to fight in a couple of years: defending our human capital against AI.”

“Musicians are really worried about this — not just the big-name ones, but small artists, too. Small ones, especially,” Jorgensen says. “The most important thing for this bill is that small, independent artists and record labels need to be recognized and have each others’ backs.”

It’s unclear when the House might vote on the revised bill — or if it would pass. “As you can see in Congress, lots of bills aren’t passing — like the budget!” Ross says. “But this has been a very bipartisan issue in the judiciary committee. It’s the perfect time to bring these issues up.”

HHW Gaming: Trolli x ‘PUBG: Battlegrounds’ Link Up For Exclusive In-Game Content

djfrosty

September 18, 2023

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Source: Trolli Candy / PUBG: Battlegrounds
Trolli Candy links up with PUBG: Battlegrounds for a delicious collaboration that also adds flavor to your Battlegrounds experience.
Announced on National Video Games Day, the first-ever partnership between the gummy candy company and popular video game invites gamers to join the Sour Brite Squad.
The collaboration will see four collectible Trolli x PUBG packs featuring iconic PUBG characters on retailers’ shelves nationwide until December.
Gamers will get their hands on the yummy gummies and access exclusive in-game content, including custom Trolli character skins adorned with Trolli’s sour neon Trolli worms.
Source: Trolli Candy / PUBG
“More than 50 percent of Trolli consumers identify as avid gamers, so we know that our Trolli brand is closely connected to the culture,” said Hope Hruska, Brand Manager for Trolli. “We’re always looking for unexpected ways to show up for the gaming community, which is why we’re excited to merge Trolli’s neon brite world with PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and bring to life iconic elements of the game that gamers have never seen before.”
PUBG: Battleground players can grab the in-game content when purchasing four specially marked packs of Trolli gummies, including:

You can see more photos from the collaboration in the gallery below.
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Photo: Trolli Candy / PUBG: Battlegrounds

1. Trolli Candy x PUBG