Google's Dodgy Data + GC's Forgotten Rental Riches + Elon's xAI and more
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Google's Dodgy Data + GC's Forgotten Rental Riches + Elon's xAI and more
Today’s newsletter is 982 words: 3.5 minute read.
Thursday, July 13.
📚 Need a read? Here’s a quick guide on what AI is actually all about
In today’s email
Google in Hot Water: Accused of cooking up stolen data
Too busy to bond: Over 15,000 Gold Coasters have forgotten rental bonds
xAI: Elon’s new AI start-up to understand reality
Trending: The new fastest-growing software of all-time
Around the Web (Snippets): 3D-printed toilet block, cheques get cancelled, Twitter fights back and more.
Live Gold Coast Housing Prices
GC weekend weather and surf:
1 Big Thing: Google In Hot Water
Happening now
In a tech whirlwind, Alphabet's Google stands accused of an intriguingly intrusive AI faux pas - using private and copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence algorithms.
Heating up
Eight individuals, who have kept themselves almost anonymous, are standing up for millions of web users and copyright holders by aiming a legal salvo at Google.
The claim
Google’s uninvited data harvesting trespasses their privacy and their property rights.
Uncharted Web Waters
The legal tussle puts the spotlight on Google’s controversial 'data scraping' habits.
A collection of content, from social media posts to full-length books, has allegedly been utilised to train Google’s AI systems like the chatbot Bard.
Legal Twister
The accusers, keeping it cryptic with just initials, demand that Google let users opt out of the supposed "illicit data collection."
They also want Google to remove the data in question or cough up "fair compensation".
What to look for next
The names of those in pursuit and the potential compensation figures for what will be millions that are impacted.
2. GC's Forgotten Riches
Happening now
Right now, there's a hidden fortune out there.
Over 100,000 Queenslanders, including many from the Gold Coast, have overlooked a whopping $52 million in outstanding rental bonds sitting there just waiting to be claimed.
Numbers in View
The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) has laid the stats bare.
Of the 114,000 unclaimed bonds scattered across Queensland, more than 15,000 originate from the Gold Coast alone, particularly from Surfers Paradise and Southport.
Initiative in Action
Prompted by this unexpected stockpile of unclaimed funds, the RTA has swung into action, launching a campaign encouraging tenants to reclaim their lost bonds.
They're making it easy, too, with a new online form to streamline the process.
Time to Collect
With the average value of these forgotten bonds sitting at $454.99, it’s time to figure out if you've left a rental bond unclaimed.
Your share of this $52 million fortune might be a few clicks away.
3. Elon’s xAI Venture
AI Unwrapped
Skilled at disrupting the tech world, Elon Musk unveils his latest brainchild: xAI.
This shiny, new artificial intelligence (AI) firm draws its brainpower from the likes of Google and OpenAI and is supposedly set on a mission "to understand reality".
An All-Star Roster
Not operating in isolation, xAI will collaborate with Musk's other ventures like Tesla and Twitter.
In the driver’s seat
An elite team of 11 researchers sourced from the heavyweights—Microsoft Research, DeepMind, Google, and more.
Cosmic Calculations
A mysterious Tweet with the 7-12-23 launch date, adding up to 42, sparks connections to Douglas Adams' famed answer to life's meaning from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Safety First
xAI is under the advisory of Dan Hendrycks, an advocate for AI safety, bringing his existential warnings about AI to the company's core vision.
In Pursuit of Truth
Borrowing Musk's words, xAI aims to be a "maximum truth-seeking AI."
By understanding humanity, Musk contends, AI can be designed less likely to destroy it, which echoes his long-standing caution against unbridled AI.
4. Trending
The fastest-growing app of all time..
5. Around The Web (Snippets)
Chequing out: With a 90% decline in the use of cheques over the past ten years alone, the death of the cheque in Australia has been set for 2030.
Kirra Hill: Stabilisation works kick off in August
Twitter Attack: The lawsuit over new Meta-launched rival Threads
Dubbo’s 3D-printed Toilet: Could be the solution to the housing crisis
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