Microsoft AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, has stated that all internet content is free for AI model training, sparking a backlash. In a CNBC interview, Suleyman minimized worries about AI firms using intellectual property, saying that the practice of freely using publicly accessible online content has been established for years.

“I think that with respect to content that’s already on the open web, the social contract of that content since the ’90s has been that it is fair use. Anyone can copy it, recreate with it, reproduce with it,” he commented. “That has been ‘freeware,’ if you like, that’s been the understanding.”

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman: the social contract for content that is on the open web is that it’s “freeware” for training AI models pic.twitter.com/FN1xrqnJC0

— Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) June 26, 2024

The tech leader added that unless a publisher or news organization explicitly requests not to “scrape or crawl” their content other than for indexing, AI companies can use it to train AI models.

He said, “There’s a separate category where a website, or a publisher, or a news organization had explicitly said ‘do not scrape or crawl me for any other reason than indexing me so that other people can find this content.’ That’s a grey area, and I think it’s going to work its way through the courts.”

Suleyman’s comment about the unclear legal boundaries for AI model training is reflected through recent legal actions. Following his remarks, the Center for Investigative Reporting filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its principal investor, Microsoft, alleging unauthorized use of the nonprofit’s content without permission or compensation.

According to the docket, AI checker Copyleaks found that nearly 60 per cent of the responses provided by ChatGPT-3.5 contained some form of plagiarized content, and over 45 per cent contained text that was identical to pre-existing content.

This lawsuit is in line with similar legal challenges from The New York Times and around eight other media organizations.

Users react to Microsoft CEO AI comments

Several users posted their reactions on X, disagreeing with the Microsoft CEO’s view on available content being part of a “social contract,” free for use to train AI models.

Wrong, @mustafasuleyman. There has however been a ‘social contract since the 90’s’ that Microsoft makes bloatware. It SHOULD be freeware but now your company is brazenly stealing all of human expression by reducing it to ‘content’. Shame on you. https://t.co/lN9JjXNE3u

— Jörg Tittel (@newjorg) June 29, 2024

Ghouls. They’re getting rich from making plagiarism machines.

Microsoft’s AI boss thinks it’s perfectly OK to steal content if it’s on the open web / Mustafa Suleyman has a curious understanding of copyright law on the web.https://t.co/U56Isn9jGf

— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) June 29, 2024

 

One user said: “It SHOULD be freeware but now your company is brazenly stealing all of human expression by reducing it to ‘content’,” while another said it was the equivalent of a “plagiarism machine.”

Featured image: World Economic Forum / Canva

Ad-supported streaming service Tubi brings its library of over 20,000 titles to the UK.

After launching successfully in the US and Canada, gathering 80 million monthly active users, Tubi is now coming to the UK. The ad-based streaming service has a library of over 20,000 movies and TV shows to watch on demand, besting Netflix’s offering of over 17,000.

While Tubi has less than half of the active monthly users than Netflix, that could be set to change. Tubi is free to the user, making income from ads rather than subscription fees. It has partnered with a range of broadcasters and studios, including Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, to bring big titles to the platform and create its own original content.

What is Tubi TV?

At a time when other streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video are hiking prices, Tubi has gathered users by remaining free and promising a “low ad load”. Tubi will launch in the UK on Monday, July 15 and will welcome some classic British movies to the platform to celebrate the occasion. There are other specialized titles too, including Bollywood and Nollywood films, and Arthouse Cinema.

It already hosts some UK TV shows, such as Doctor Who, Line of Duty, and other BBC and ITV shows and is expected to continue such partnerships moving forward.

“At a time when traditional programming feels homogenous and when finding what to watch feels like a chore, Tubi has been effective at delivering delight beyond the monoculture with content that appeals to diverse and vibrant fandoms,” Managing Director of International at Tubi David Salmon told T3.

“We believe that we can build a brilliantly broad, culturally ambitious offering that puts UK audiences back at the centre, and makes it fun and easy to enjoy great entertainment from around the world.”

The app will be available across iOS, Android, on the web and eventually on major smart TV platforms.

Featured image: Tubi

There was a time before all the skins and microtransaction nonsense that Call of Duty was a military shooter based on realistic scenarios. Now it seems the mobile version at least is taking aim at games like Fortnite and offering up kerrrrrazy options for those that want their soldiers to wear giant chicken suits.

Much like K-Pop stars coming to PUBG the Extra Crispy bundle offers nothing to the game for those that do not want to revel in the stupidity of it all.

A quick watch of the trailer and you find yourself checking the date to make sure it’s not April 1st already. Indeed, part of me still thinks it must be a prank after the trailer was leaked.

Okay so the trailer is well done but it’s like having a fever dream as chicken soldiers jump out of helicopters and with the simple act of shooting enemies turn them into giant pieces of fried chicken.

Needless to say, the response on the internet has not been wholly positive with comments such as:

“CoD is just trynna be Fortnite now. It’s sad, this is one of the major reasons why the game is failing.”

“I don’t understand the hype around spending at very least $20 for a gun skin.”

“Holy Fortnite. Can you not see some folks just want a slightly arcadey mil-sim.”

“They just type in “call of duty skin idea” into Chat GPT and come up with this random garbage lol”

It certainly seems as though Call of Duty Mobile is pivoting away from its roots as injecting this into a game takes away any semblance of realism for people who just want to play a game of electronic soldiers.

Somewhere along the way, it will still sell well. Unless it does turn out to be nonsense.

XDefiant got off to a great start when it launched its trial Season 0 around six weeks ago. Time flies when you are having fun and we are finally at the main launch of Season 1 – Can Ubisoft’s themed shooter continue to fill the mid-year void of Call of Duty, and even set itself up to challenge the mighty franchise later in the year?

Time will tell, but for now, let’s take a look at what the Season 1 patch brings with it and pull out some key highlights.

XDefiant Season 1 Patch highlights

The patch is a sizable one – maybe not as big as many we have seen in the past but there are enough changes here to keep us honest.

Some of the things worth looking at for starters include the lowering of the XP threshold to speed up progression through the Battle Pass which seemed a tad slow in Season 0.

We have a new map, Clubhouse which features a two-storey building, and a new Capture the Flag game mode all alongside a decent number of balancing changes and the introduction of weapon mastery. Oh, and we get a nice new faction too – the GSK.

So, nothing groundbreaking, but a fair few things you would expect to find. Here are the patch notes in detail.

XDefiant Season 1 Patch notes
Gameplay

Changed the expiration timing of activated Boosters so their lifespan counts down only during match time, when you’re actually playing, rather than all the time, like when you’re folding laundry or whatever.

Lowered the XP threshold for each Battle Pass tier to give Battle Pass progression a little more pep.

Tuned Match Bonus XP rewards: MVP and Victory went from 2,000 to 1,000 XP. Draw went from 1,000 to 500. Completion doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 to encourage player stick-to-itiveness.

Answered a community ask to add a headshot icon to the Killfeed because it feels good to rub it in.

Factions

Added the GSK faction and their no-nonsense announcer: HQ.

These elite Team Rainbow operators from Germany’s Border Protection Command specialize in crowd control and securing territory. They can deploy electrified barbed wire for area denial, counter incoming enemy devices with their Active Defense System, and dazzle multiple foes with flash charges mounted on their G52-Tactical Shield ultra. Call them Grenzschutzkommando because it’s fun and also accurate.

Increased the cooldown of Echelon’s Intel Suit from 30 to 40 seconds.

Tuned the cooldown of the Phantoms’ Mag Barrier from 30 to 40 seconds. Mag Barrier hit points were also reduced from 500 to 400.

The Phantoms’ AEGIS now takes damage from EMP grenades (lob six to put it out of commission).

DedSec Hijack cooldown decreased from 28 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill) to 20 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill).

For example, let’s say a Mag Barrier has 7 seconds left and gets hacked: The cooldown becomes 20 plus 7 seconds. Failed Hijack cooldown, meanwhile, decreases from 8 to 5 seconds.DedSec’s Spiderbot cooldown increased from 25 to 40 seconds.

Adjusted Spiderbot behavior so multiple Spiderbots won’t attempt to hug the same face, nor will Spiderbots continue to ignore faces they’ve hugged multiple recent times. Some give and take from the Spiderbot kingdom.

Decreased the cooldown of Libertad’s BioVida Boost from 25 to 20 seconds.

Fixed Libertad’s Medico Supremo so it will no longer disappear after the deploying player respawns as a different faction.

Maps

Added the new Clubhouse map, a two-story hangout popular with international operators. Ideal for firefights in the short- to mid-range. Home to game modes Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot, and the new CTF.

Game Modes

Added Capture the Flag, hereafter referred to as CTF. For the uninitiated: You take the enemy’s flag from their base and bring it back to your own, while protecting your team’s flag. CTF is available on a variety of maps.

Weapons

Improved the hit flinch penalty incurred when being shot with a sniper rifle equipped.

These changes are intended to refine the behavior of hit flinch, prevent instances where the camera would move off the target with the first hit and back onto the target with the second, and improve the experience for players sensitive to wild camera movements. Here’s the nitty-gritty:The speed of the hit flinch camera transition has been increased by 25 percent.The camera will now always kick upward rather than up or down at random.The amount the camera will kick left or right has been increased by 3 times.Added the L115 sniper rifle, which is not quite as heavy as the TAC-50 and has faster handling, although it deals slightly less damage and is not as effective at penetrating cover.Added the LVOA-C, a snazzy customized rifle similar to the M4A1. It has a much faster rate of fire than the M4A1, but with that comes more recoil and less range. It also has slightly longer reload and equip times.Added the Sawed Off secondary weapon. This close-range version of the double-barreled shotgun packs a big boom for its size. Imagine carrying a primary weapon in your secondary slot and that’s this.Added new Mastery skins: Titanium Violet (unlocked at Weapon Level 300), Titanium Azure (unlocked at 350), and Titanium Prisma (unlocked at 400).Fixed weapons and optics shake in first-person view while using ADS.

Devices

Added a new and improved visual effect for the flash grenade (replacing the previous effect, which was…intense). The new effect is less retina-searing but still appropriately disorientating.

Removed an exploit where players could respawn with multiple devices after fiddling with the “Copy Loadout” option in the lobby, so nice try.

Audio

Tweaked the mix of in-game voices and sound effects for volume and clarity.

Miscellaneous

Players who participated in the Closed Beta were supposed to keep Kersey’s Dungaree skin. They didn’t but now they do.

Fixed Challenge-tracking issues with Ubisoft Connect.

Graphical and audio fixes, various.

Additional crash fixes.