Apple battles $2bn lawsuit for ‘throttling’ iPhones
The tech giant is facing a mass lawsuit worth up to £1.6bn plus interest as Apple users in the UK accuse it of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones by “throttling” them with software updates. Consumer champion Justin Gutmann, leading the public’s accusation, argued that Apple concealed issues with batteries in certain models and installed a power management tool which limited performance.
Apple replied in written form that the lawsuit is “baseless” and strongly denies both claims, apart from in a small number of iPhone 6s models which it offered battery replacements at the time.
Google AI pioneer says he quit to speak freely about technology’s ‘dangers’
The so-called ‘Godfather of AI’, Geoffrey Hinton, said that he left his role at Google to spread awareness about the “dangers” of the technology and his role in advancing it.
In the interview with the New York Times, Hinton echoed concerns about AI’s potential to eliminate jobs and create a world where many will “not be able to know what is true anymore”.
“The idea that this stuff could actually get smarter than people – a few people believed that. But most people thought it was way off. I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away. Obviously, I no longer think that,” he said.
IBM puts the brakes on hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI
IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna admitted some 8,000 jobs could be replaced by AI in the coming years, specifically in back-office functions. Hiring in human resources will slow or even be suspended, and Krishna warned that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced by AI and automations in five years.
His comment comes at a time when AI is advancing rapidly, with the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard dominating the tech space.
The White House to host AI meeting with Google, Microsoft top execs
In further AI news, top executives from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic have planned to meet with US Government to discuss ways to ensure consumers benefit from AI while staying protected.
A copy of the invitation said that US President Joe Biden expects tech companies to make sure products are safe before being released to the public.
Biden has urged Congress to pass laws putting stricter limits on the tech sector, but these efforts have little chance of making headway given political divisions among lawmakers. Given the country trails internationally in regulating AI, all eyes look to the meeting for regulation.
