Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com

[ad_1] Federal judge William Alsup ruled that it was legal for Anthropic to train its AI models on published books without the authors’ permission. This marks the first time that the courts have given credence to AI companies’ claim that fair use doctrine can absolve AI companies from fault when they use copyrighted materials to train large language models (LLMs). This decision comes as a blow to authors, artists, and publishers who have brought dozens of lawsuits against companies like OpenAI, Meta, Midjourney, Google, and more. While the ruling is not a guarantee that other judges will follow Judge Alsup’s…

[ad_1] AI has venture capitalists back on the prowl for new consumer social startups.”We’re on the brink of another big consumer wave,” Vanessa Larco, a former NEA partner, told Business Insider. She’s launching a new consumer-focused venture firm called Premise.Larco’s eyeing consumer-focused AI startups like Midjourney (a generative AI image maker), Tolan (an AI companion platform), and Sitch (an AI-powered dating app). Larco said she is not an investor in Midjourney or Tolan, but is an angel investor in Sitch.For some consumer startup founders, AI feels like a must-have in any pitch meeting.”There’s been no real crazy big raises in…

[ad_1] A heat wave across much of the country is delaying transit systems, scorching outdoor workers, and slowing down commuters.The National Weather Service (NWS) issued heat advisories and warnings to at least 26 states and Washington, DC, this weekend. Monday and Tuesday are expected to reach near-record temperatures in much of the Northeast and Midwest.Temperatures in the Northeast and DC area are expected to reach 100 degrees while much of the Midwest will feel high to mid-90 degree temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday.Public transit commuters are feeling the effects already since the heat wave began Sunday afternoon. Trains are often forced…

[ad_1] The Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates steady last week, drawing ire from the president and administration officials — but this week, more central bankers appear to be on the same page as Donald Trump. Trump, who had repeatedly called for interest rate cuts, took to Truth Social to air his displeasure with the Fed’s decision. “We will be paying for his incompetence for many years to come,” he stated, adding that he believes rates should be “at least two to three points lower.” Vice President JD Vance has also joined the debate, accusing the Fed of “monetary…

[ad_1] JPMorgan isn’t convinced that Bill Ackman’s vision to transform real estate developer Howard Hughes Holdings into a “modern-day” Berkshire Hathaway will soon prove fruitful. The Wall Street investment bank downgraded its rating on Howard Hughes to neutral from overweight Monday after Ackman’s Pershing Square struck a deal in May to boost its holding to nearly 47% through a new investment of $900 million. “Pershing Square and Bill Ackman’s intention is to use the cash infusion into the company to make investments outside real estate (perhaps into insurance) and turn HHH into a diversified holding company,” JPMorgan analysts led by…

[ad_1] Google DeepMind on Tuesday released a new language model called Gemini Robotics On-Device that can run tasks locally on robots without requiring an internet connection. Building on the company’s previous Gemini Robotics model that was released in March, Gemini Robotics On-Device can control a robot’s movements. Developers can control and fine-tune the model to suit various needs using natural language prompts. In benchmarks, Google claims the model performs at a level close to the cloud-based Gemini Robotics model. The company says it outperforms other on-device models in general benchmarks, though it didn’t name those models. Image Credits: Google In…

[ad_1] Gamers can’t get enough of the Switch 2 — and demand for the new console has boosted Nintendo stock too.Shares in the Japanese company hit new highs this month and have gained 39% this year, adding $39 billion to its market cap that stands at about $115 billion.The Switch 2 was released at the start of June and has been a huge hit with gamers. Nintento said earlier this month it had sold 3.5 million consoles in the first four days — the fastest-selling system it’s ever released.US retailers have kept running out of stock, making it hard to nab.…

[ad_1] New York CNN  —  The US economy needs the fragile ceasefire President Donald Trump brokered in the Middle East to hold. If the pause in fighting between Israel and Iran fails and major hostilities resume, oil prices would likely spike again. And surging gasoline prices are the last thing the US economy needs right now. Inflation is already expected to heat up this summer because of Trump’s massive tariffs on imports. An oil shock would make matters worse — perhaps much worse. “It would be a bit of a double-whammy. First there’s the stagflationary shock from tariffs. And then…

[ad_1] A faster growth outlook could translate into sizable gains ahead for Electronic Arts shares, Roth Capital wrote Tuesday. The research firm upgraded the video game company to buy from neutral and hiked its price target 6%, to $185 from $175, implying about 20% upside from Monday’s close. “Sports remains a blue-chip cornerstone for the company’s growth story, but a successful release of a new Battlefield game could materially change investor sentiment,” analyst Eric Handler wrote on Tuesday. “We see EA at an important inflection point setting it up well for an elevated, multi-year growth trajectory. With multiple gaming projects…

[ad_1] When Eventual founders Sammy Sidhu and Jay Chia were working as software engineers at Lyft’s autonomous vehicle program, they witnessed a brewing data infrastructure problem — and one that would only become larger with the rise of AI. Self-driving cars produce a ton of unstructured data from 3D scans and photos to text and audio. There wasn’t a tool for Lyft engineers that could understand and process all of those different types of data at the same time — and all in one place. This left engineers to piece together open source tools in a lengthy process with reliability…