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Klarna plans to halve workforce with AI, Meta developing headset to challenge Apple Vision Pro

James Pearce — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 10:34:49 +0000

Klarna is leveraging AI to halve its workforce

Payment platform Klarna has unveiled plans to cut its staff footprint by over half as the Swedish firm bets big on AI.

The Stockholm-based ‘buy now, pay later’ firm said it will use an attrition downsizing policy, which means departing staff will no longer be replaced with new hires.

Instead, Klarna plans to leverage artificial intelligence and automation to replace departing roles in various departments. It has already reduced its headcount from 5,000 to 3,800 in the past year.

Chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski heralded the benefits of AI as Klarna revealed its second-quarter results earlier this week.

“Not only can we do more with less, but we can do much more with less. Internally, we speak directionally about 2,000 [employees]. We don’t want to put a specific deadline on that,” he told the Financial Times.

Will Meta’s Puffin be a new competitor to Apple Vision Pro?

Meta has started developing a new mixed-reality headset that is intended to compete directly with the Apple Vision Pro.

According to The Information, the Meta headset, codenamed Puffin, will resemble a pair of glasses more than a traditional VR headset.

The Facebook parent — which already sells headsets following its 2014 acquisition of Oculus — is developing a mixed-reality device that will weigh less than 110g, significantly lighter than the Meta Quest 3’s 515g.

It will achieve this by using a tethered “puck” containing the Puffin’s batter and processor, leaving just the display in the headset, the report claims, although it is unlikely to launch until 2027 at the earliest.

Why Uber was fined $324 million for GDPR violations

According to the Dutch data protection regulator, Uber has been fined $324 million for violating EU data protection rules.

The Dutch DPA accused the ride-hailing firm of transferring the personal data of its European drivers to US servers, calling it a “serious violation” of the EU’s General Data Protection Rule (GDPR).

Uber said it would appeal the fine, which it claimed was “completely unjustified” as the transfer was “compliant with GDPR during a period of immense uncertainty between the US and EU.”

The watchdog claims Uber transferred information, including ID documents, taxi licences and location data, to its US headquarters over a two-year period but failed to safeguard it.

It launched the investigation after more than 170 French drivers complained to a French human rights group, which issued a complaint to France’s data watchdog.

Musk’s Grok chatbot tweaked to address election misinformation concerns

The social media platform X has changed its AI chatbot after five secretaries of state in the United States warned it was spreading election misinformation.

Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to canivote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, “For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit vote.gov.”

The five state secretaries said in a shared statement that both websites are “trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials.”

US TikTok ban looms; Zuck takes a pop at Vision Pro

Ann-Marie Corvin — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 10:38:25 +0000

US closes in on TikTok ban

The US has moved a step closer to banning TikTok if the social media network’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, doesn’t sell its stake in the US version within six months.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applicants Act, which could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban in all US app stores and web hosting platforms.

The legislation will now go through the Senate, with the BBC reporting that President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.

Lawmakers say TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has links with the Chinese Communist Party, which it denies. Meanwhile, the White House says the goal is to end Chinese ownership, not to ban TikTok.

Any forced TikTok divestment from the US would almost certainly face legal challenges, which the company would need to file within 165 days of the president signing the bill.

The TikTok ban is also likely to face challenges on the grounds that it restricts the right to free speech, with civil liberties groups arguing that it infringes on the First Amendment.

Headset Wars: Zuck takes a pop at Vision Pro

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his instant messaging platform, Threads, earlier this week to reiterate his belief that Apple’s Vision Pro headset is inferior to Meta’s Quest 3.

Zuck’s social media outburst followed a comment on the platform by analyst Benedict Evans, who said that Vision Pro (which retails for $3.5K) was “the device Meta wants to reach in three to five years” and that it was confusing for Meta to suggest that Vision Pro had the same specs as Quest.

In response, Zuckerberg said that the Quest 3 (retailing at $500) was better than the Vision Pro and that if the Meta Quest has the “motion blur,” weight, or “lack of precision inputs” as the Vision Pro in the future, then Meta will have “regressed significantly.”

The Facebook founder also took offence to the Meta Quest being called “a games device” and clarified that some of the top apps on the Quest are social, browser, and video player apps.

Year of Elections: Google restricts AI Chatbot

Google is restricting its Gemini AI chatbot from answering election-related questions in countries where voting is taking place this year, the Guardian reports. This will prevent users from receiving information about candidates, political parties, and other elements of politics.

The change applies to the US and India and will roll out in nations where elections are held this year.

“Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” Google’s India team stated on the company’s site.

Nissan’s Aussie arm hit by data hack

Nissan Australia has revealed that it has started contacting customers whose data may have been compromised three months ago when a cyber attack hit the manufacturer’s computer systems.

It’s believed that around 10,000 individuals have had highly sensitive data stolen, such as driving licenses, tax numbers and Medicare cards.

The carmaker added that it was now working with government authorities in New Zealand and Australia as well as external cyber forensic experts to review the compromised data and understand the impact.

“We now know the list of affected individuals includes some of Nissan’s customers (including customers of our Mitsubishi, Renault, Skyline, Infiniti, LDV and RAMS branded finance businesses), dealers, and some current and former employees,” the company added.

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