The News

OpenAI-Microsoft’s relationship is getting really awkward

OpenAI and Microsoft are getting closer to formalising their divorce, allowing the ChatGPT maker to go for-profit, according to a bizarrely vague joint corporate statement (Microsoft). The statement says they’ve signed “a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the next phase of our relationship”, whatever that means. This comes just after OpenAI announced a AU$450B server deal with Oracle (WSJ, gift) and Microsoft told its employees that it’s developing proprietary AI (Business Insider).

The Sizzle: OpenAI is betting a lot of other people’s money that their own LLM tech and products are going to come first in a “winner-takes-all” AI race. Going for-profit is their only path to paying back those debts. Meanwhile, Microsoft seems to be calmly diversifying its risk from OpenAI specifically, while it continues to invest in AI broadly. The fact that these two put this out despite no actual agreement says to me that they — probably OpenAI — need people to believe they will soon have an agreement. That seems desperate.

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Big tech doesn’t really remove misinfo in Australia anymore

Social media companies are removing less fake news, bullshit and conspiracy theories than they have in the past, according to government analysis (ACMA). Regulator ACMA’s analysis of most of the major tech platform’s voluntary annual reports (here) on mis/disinformation found that Meta went from doing 180,000 content removals in 2021 — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — to 250 in 2024 total. The companies say that this is because they are getting better at preventing offending content from being posted in first place. The analysis also says that fact-checking has “stalled”.

The Sizzle: With social media platforms overrun with videos of Charlie Kirk being assassinated yesterday (WIRED, $) — seemingly in spite of their own rules — it feels a bit silly to say this but tech companies have clearly decided that they will happily change their policies to increase the amount of gore, lies, and scams that their billions of users will see, causing untold harm.

It started before Mark Zuckerberg did his embarrassing Trump tribute video at the beginning of this year, but that’s the moment of grovelling that I’ll always associate with it.

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Yesterday’s edition

Thank you all for the kind feedback on yesterday’s edition. I took a risk breaking format, but it seems like people enjoyed it (at least, no one told me otherwise). I already knew Sizzlers were warm, caring and good people, and your response yesterday was more proof of that. It meant a lot to me!

(FYI - don’t forget to join the Sizzle Slack and forum!)

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Leftovers

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Oh, Also

Albania uses AI to appoint imaginary friend as a minister

The Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama says all government tenders will be awarded and managed by AI that he has appointed to the country’s cabinet (Reuters). He said the bot, named Diella, will be the country’s “first cabinet member who isn’t physically present” and will help make notoriously corrupt Albania “a country where public tenders are 100% free of corruption.”

This is at best the technology equivalent of everyone pretending that you can appoint an invisible friend as a minister. At worst? Turning over decisions about a system that’s being rorted to a technology that is vulnerable to exploitation? 👍️ Sounds great!

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Bargains

Electrical & electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.