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X’s advertising revenue dropped 24%. The Elon Musk-helmed social media platform took a big hit over the last year as advertisers fled the site.
Google sold Android phones with a big security risk. Google’s Pixel phones host software that’s vulnerable to hackers.
A liquor heir threatened the Skydance-Paramount deal. It’s Edgar Bronfman Jr., the son of Seagram’s CEO, versus Larry Ellison.
Kamala Harris said she’d give new parents a $6,000 tax credit. The U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee wants to expand the Child Tax Credit and make its benefits permanent. Harris also shared plans to crackdown on corporate landlords and cap prescription drug costs if she’s elected.
Wanted: A federal ban on deepfakes
As generative artificial intelligence made its way into the hands of the masses, AI-altered images, aka deepfakes, spread like wildfire across the web. The Pope in a puffer jacket, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling for his troops to surrender to Russia, sexually explicit photos of Taylor Swift: Fake content created by AI ranges from humorous to harmful and dangerous.
Enter Breeze Liu. She launched an app to help people monitor and remove deepfakes of themselves on the internet. That’s because Liu’s been a victim of deepfake sexual harassment herself — in 2020, she was shocked to find hundreds of deepfake porn videos of herself making their way across the web.
Now, the tech entrepreneur is one of many who are calling for a federal ban on deepfake porn. Speaking at an online roundtable of policymakers, experts, and fellow advocates, Liu said, “Long enough have we suffered from online image abuse.”
Quartz’s Laura Bratton writes about existing deepfake laws across the U.S., the movement to criminalize them, and sexual harassment in the age of AI.
Another Danish weight loss drug
Watch out, Novo Nordisk! There’s another Danish weight loss drugmaker on the scene. Zealand Pharma is looking to develop, manufacture, and sell its experimental weight loss drug petrelintide. Zealand said petrelintide demonstrates similar weight loss to Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs — but with fewer side effects (in its first trial, at least). It’s pitching petrelintide as an alternative for patients who can’t tolerate the harsher side effects of GLP-1 treatments, such as nausea and diarrhea.
To bolster its chances of success, Zealand said it wants a big pharma partner. Quartz’s Bruce Gil has the story.
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Surprising discoveries
The FTC is about to fine companies $51,744 if they buy fake consumer reviews. Lina Khan wants to make sure you’re actually giving those products five stars and a thumbs up, not a bot.
Geomagnetic storms are bringing the Northern Lights south. Recently, people in California, Florida, and Texas have been able to see auroras from their backyards.
Hollywood’s most famous dogs were trained by one family. A man named Bob Weatherwax, who recently passed away, and his father trained the dogs that played Lassie, Toto, and Old Yeller.
More than 600 python hunters participated in this year’s 10-day Florida Python Challenge. Florida gives $10,000 to the person who captures and (humanely) kills the most pythons, which are invasive to the Everglades.
One-quarter of people who are unresponsive after brain injuries are actually conscious. A first-of-its-kind study examined 353 people with brain injuries across four countries.
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Our best wishes on a safe start to the day. Send any news, comments, fake reviews, and pythons to talk@qz.com. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Laura Bratton and Bruce Gil.
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