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Welcome, Tech Leaders.
Perplexity wants to collect user data outside its app to sell premium ads, CEO says.
Intel's CEO announces a change in their hybrid work policy, requiring employees to work from the office four days a week. Let’s dive deeper…
In today's ContentBuffer update:
Perplexity builds own browser, collects data for ads
Intel Mandates On-Site Work
Comments on US AI Policy submitted
Airtime: New Tools for Engaging Meetings
OpenAI to release open AI system, connecting cloud models
Meta cuts jobs in Reality Labs, Oculus Studios
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
More tech news
Latest Development
Digital Marketing
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: Perplexity wants to collect user data to sell premium ads, just like Google did. The company has signed a partnership with Motorola and is in talks with Samsung.
Key Points:
Perplexity's browser, Comet, will be launched in May and will allow the company to collect data on users' activities outside its app.
The data will help Perplexity sell more targeted ads, making them more relevant to users.
This move raises concerns about privacy and Big Tech's ad game.
Why it matters: Perplexity's move highlights the ongoing debate about privacy and the use of personal data in digital marketing.
Remote-work-policies
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: Intel's CEO has announced a shift in their hybrid work policy, requiring employees to spend more time working from the office. The change will take effect on September 1 and is part of Intel's effort to create vibrant hubs for collaboration and productivity.
Key Points:
The new policy requires employees to work from the office four days a week, with local leadership sharing site-specific details and seeking employee input to create the best possible on-site experience.
Intel's CEO believes that in-person collaboration fosters more engaging discussions, drives better decision-making, and strengthens connections among colleagues.
This change comes after Intel previously allowed staff to work from home two days a week, with the company citing uneven adherence to its hybrid work policy as a reason for the shift.
Why it matters: The shift in Intel's hybrid work policy highlights the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of remote work and the importance of in-person collaboration.
Us Ai Policy Updates
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: The White House received over 10,000 comments on its national AI policy, with concerns about bias, copyright, and environmental impacts.
Key Points:
Comments ranged from criticizing the Trump administration's handling of AI to advocating for stronger copyright regulations.
Industry groups and individuals highlighted the need for more research investment in AI.
The Data Center Coalition expressed concern over tariffs on foreign goods potentially harming domestic AI efforts.
Why it matters: This large-scale public input highlights the significance of US AI policy, particularly amid ongoing debates about bias, ethics, and economic competitiveness.
Online Collaboration
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: Evernote founder Phil Libin's video startup mmhmm has launched Airtime, a suite of tools designed to make online meetings more engaging and professional. The toolkit includes Airtime Camera and Airtime Creator. Users can customize their backgrounds, add logos, and react with visuals or GIFs.
Key Points:
Airtime Camera helps users appear more polished on video calls
Airtime Creator allows multiple presenters to appear on screen at the same time
Users can customize their backgrounds, add logos, and react with visuals or GIFs
Why it matters: Airtime's tools aim to make online meetings more engaging and professional, helping users stand out in a crowded virtual space.
Artificial Intelligence
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: OpenAI is releasing a new open AI system that can connect with cloud-hosted models for enhanced performance. The system will be available for download at no cost and not gated behind an API.
Key Points:
The new open AI model will enable users to make calls to OpenAI's cloud-hosted models, providing a substantial computational lift.
The feature was suggested by a developer during one of OpenAI's recent developer forums and has gained traction within the company.
OpenAI is training a new model from scratch rather than repurposing an old one for its open release.
Why it matters: This release could rope more members of the open source community into OpenAI's premium ecosystem, generating incremental revenue.
Metaverse News
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: Meta lays off employees from Reality Labs division due to mounting losses; cuts impact Oculus Studios and Quest products, including Supernatural; laid-off employees will have opportunity to apply for other jobs at the company
Key Points:
Reality Labs has been a massive cost for Meta, losing almost $5 billion in the last quarter of 2024.
The layoffs are intended to help Reality Labs work more efficiently on future mixed reality experiences.
Laid-off employees will have opportunity to apply for other jobs at the company.
Why it matters: The layoffs come ahead of Meta's first-quarter earnings report, which may face scrutiny due to the mounting costs of Reality Labs.
New Tools & Job
🎥 ByteCap - Generate custom video captions with ease
💰 Earnings Insights - Get actionable insights from earnings call summaries and Q&A sessions
🤖 ClearMind - Explore AI-powered therapy for mental health tracking and guidance
💬 Bloom Stories - Discover intimate audio stories and AI-powered chat for pleasure exploration
📸 West Idol - Transform a selfie into a professional photoshoot with AI
Patchstack - Senior Backend Developer (PHP/Laravel)
WebPunch - Mid-Senior Rails Systems Monitoring & Quality Assurance
SimplyAnalytics - Senior Data Engineer
Aurora Payments - Senior Financial Data Engineer (EU/UK/LatAm/UAE)
ZipChat - AI RAG engineer, Ruby on Rails | Earn equity
QUICK HITS
🏛️ Meta leads opposition to kids online safety act, concerns over parental control and free speech.
📱 Meta's social app Threads is relocating from threads.net to threads.com, with some quality-of-life improvements coming too.
🕯️ The funeral of Pope Francis will be livestreamed on YouTube on Saturday, allowing people worldwide to witness the ceremony.
💸 The acquisition aims to help business owners with consumer needs and accelerate shared roadmap, as Fintech deal of the year!.
💻 The growth of AI data centers is expected to strain the power grid, requiring significant investment and infrastructure development, as AI Data Centers' Electricity Demands Explode.
THAT’S A WRAP
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