US corporate profits have hit a record high of over $9 trillion the first half of this year, while workers’ slice of the pie has recently sunk to historic lows.
ERYKAH BADU x THE ALCHEMIST 🚨
BEFORE THE WORLD BLOWS 💿
FRIDAY.
16 Tracks. Features:
• Steve Lacy
• Earl Sweatshirt
• Westside Gunn (2x)
• Thundercat
• DRAM
• DJ Creole Princess
• Kamasi Washington
UMG, Warner Music & Sony Music have invested in AI company Stability AI as part of a $76M funding round, alongside Electronic Arts.
The round brings Stability’s total funding to $232M and follows earlier deals for the labels to build AI models trained on their catalogs and intellectual property (via PR Newswire)
“While others are building generalized AI, Stability AI is building creative tools and doing it alongside the artists, studios, and rights holders whose work defines the field.”
The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people. This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel. To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect. Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life.
This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary. The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public a real answer. Until they do, the merger shouldn’t move forward. Now is the time to dive boldly into all these issues, not step back or concede.
The world does not need an artificial intelligence that diminishes humanity; rather, it needs human intelligence enlightened by wisdom, political authority guided by conscience and technological innovation directed by charity. Only then will artificial intelligence become not a rival to humanity but a servant of the common good.