Plus: Internet subsidy program ends for 23 million U.S. households.
| For June 03, 2024 |  |
| Here’s a look at today's tech briefing: - Russian influence campaign targets Paris Olympics.
- Donald Trump joins TikTok.
- Spotify raises prices of U.S. premium subscriptions.
- U.S. internet subsidy program ends for 23.2M households.
- AMD announces latest AI chips to compete with Nvidia.
- Tribeca to debut short AI-generated films.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Russian influence actors are intensifying an online disinformation campaign targeting France and the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics. Russia is banned from this year's Olympics due to the Ukraine war. Russian actors mounted the campaign to incite fears of terrorism and discredit the Games using fake videos, images, and articles, according to Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center. More: - The campaign aims to tarnish the International Olympic Committee's reputation and foster expectations of violence at the Olympics, according to Microsoft.
- The campaign has been primarily led by Russian actors "Storm-1679" and "Storm-1099."
- "Storm-1679" launched a disinformation effort a year ago with a fake documentary, "Olympics Has Fallen," using AI to mimic Tom Cruise's voice to mock IOC leaders.
- More recently, the actors posted digitally-generated images of graffiti in Paris threatening violence against Israelis at the Olympics, referencing an attack on the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Zoom out: - Microsoft warned that the influence campaign could escalate before the Paris Summer Games begin on July 26.
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| 2 | | Former President Donald Trump joined TikTok on Saturday, gaining over 4 million followers in two days. The launch comes after Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban TikTok via executive action in 2020, citing national security concerns. More: - Trump debuted on TikTok with a 13-second clip alongside UFC CEO Dana White.
- The presumptive Republican presidential nominee gained 2.1 million followers in a day, over six times more than Biden's campaign account, which launched in February.
- Trump joined days after he was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his criminal trial in New York.
- Trump, the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, intends to appeal the conviction.
Zoom out: - Biden's election campaign already has a TikTok account with over 340,000 followers.
- However, Biden signed a law that could ban TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, unless its owner ByteDance sells the U.S. app.
- Trump has criticized Biden for "banning TikTok," despite previously attempting to force its sale as president.
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| 3 | | Spotify announced another price hike for its U.S. Premium subscriptions, the second increase within a year. The audio streamer said it's raising the prices to "invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experience." More: - The Premium plan will rise by $1 to $11.99, the Duo plan by $2 to $16.99, and the Family plan by $3 to $19.99.
- The prices for its ad-supported tier and $5.99 student plan will remain the same.
- Subscribers will be emailed and given a one-month grace period before the increases take effect.
- Spotify has raised U.S. prices only once before, in July 2023. The company announced price hikes for some international markets in April.
Zoom out: - After a year of cost-cutting, Spotify reported a record profit in Q1 2024.
- Spotify's Q1 revenue grew 20% to $3.8B, and paid subscribers rose 14% to 239 million.
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| 4 | | A U.S. subsidy program providing internet discounts to 23.2 million households has ended due to a funding shortage. The pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) offered up to $30 monthly broadband discounts for low-income households. More: - The program was funded via a $14.2B allocation from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- Following unsuccessful requests for Congress to renew the funding, the FCC announced the end of the subsidies on Friday.
- Bipartisan bills to extend the ACP stalled following inaction by GOP leaders.
- FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and President Joe Biden continue to press Congress to restore the subsidies.
Zoom out: - In the meantime, 15 internet service providers, including AT&T and Verizon, are extending $30 or cheaper plans for 10 million ACP households through the end of this year.
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| 5 | | Advanced Micro Devices revealed its latest AI chips as it seeks to take on market leader Nvidia. CEO Lisa Su referred to AI as AMD's" number one priority." More: - AMD aims to deliver its new MI325X accelerator in Q4 2024, followed by its MI350 AI chip series in 2025.
- The MI350 can perform generative AI computations 35 times better than the current MI300 chips.
- Additionally, AMD aims to launch the MI400 series in 2026.
- The company expects its AI chip sales to reach $4B this year, a $500M increase from previous estimates.
Zoom out: - AMD is challenging Nvidia's dominance in the profitable AI semiconductor market.
- Nvidia just announced its next-generation AI chip platform, Rubin, due out in 2026.
- In 2023, the AI chip market was $53.6B and is expected to surpass $90B in 2025.
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| 6 | This year's Tribeca Festival will premiere five short films made with OpenAI's SoraAI video generator. "Sora Shorts" will be screened at Tribeca on June 15. More: - OpenAI trained Tribeca alumni on its tools and granted them early access to Sora, its text-to-video generator.
- The filmmakers are Bonnie Discepolo, Ellie Foumbi, Nikyatu Jusu, Reza Sixo Safai, and Michaela Ternasky-Holland.
- To participate, they agreed to AI contract terms reached by the movie industry, directors, actors, and writers last year.
- OpenAI said the filmmaker feedback will help the company improve Sora, which is due out to the public later this year.
Zoom out: - According to OpenAI, Sora still has weaknesses with complex scene physics, cause and effect, and spatial details, including confusion over directions and precise camera movements.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: *This is sponsored content | | | |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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