Linda Yaccarino abruptly steps down after two years as CEO of X
In a post, Linda Yaccarino, whose departure comes just months after the platform was acquired by the billionaire's AI startup, xAI, said: 'When Elon Musk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company.
'I'm immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.'
She did not give a reason for her unexpected departure. Musk replied to her post, thanking her for her contributions to the company formerly known as Twitter.
The resignation comes just a day after Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI, posted content referencing Adolf Hitler on the platform. The posts were later deleted after a public backlash.
Yaccarino, 61, who was previously head of advertising at NBC Universal, has had to deal with controversies stirred up by Musk, including his endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories in late 2023.
'Linda Yaccarino's abrupt departure may be a result of a lack of fit between her approach and Elon Musk's style,' Gil Luria, an analyst at DA Davidson, a financial services firm, said. 'This may have come to a head when the embedded AI chat Grok started responding to AI posts in an increasingly offensive manner yesterday.'
Under Yaccarino, X also introduced a range of new features aimed at turning the social media site into the 'everything app' that Musk aimed for, including partnering with Visa to offer direct payment solutions and launching a smart TV app.
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Reuters
42 minutes ago
- Reuters
Karen Hao on how the AI boom became a new imperial frontier
When journalist Karen Hao first profiled OpenAI in 2020, it was a little-known startup. Five years and one very popular chatbot later, the company has transformed into a dominant force in the fast-expanding AI sector — one Hao likens to a 'modern-day colonial world order' in her new book, 'Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI.' Hao tells Reuters this isn't a comparison she made lightly. Drawing on years of reporting in Silicon Valley and further afield to countries where generative AI's impact is perhaps most acutely felt — from Kenya, where OpenAI reportedly outsourced workers to annotate data for as little as $2 per hour, to Chile, where AI data centers threaten the country's precious water resources — she makes the case that, like empires of old, AI firms are building their wealth off of resource extraction and labor exploitation. This critique stands in stark contrast to the vision promoted by industry leaders like Altman (who declined to participate in Hao's book), who portray AI as a tool for human advancement — from boosting productivity to improving healthcare. Empires, Hao contends, cloaked their conquests in the language of progress too. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Reuters: Can you tell us how you came to the AI beat? Karen Hao: I studied mechanical engineering at MIT, and I originally thought I was going to work in the tech industry. But I quickly realized once I went to Silicon Valley that it was not necessarily the place I wanted to stay because the incentive structures made it such that it was really hard to develop technology in the public interest. Ultimately, the things I was interested in — like building technology that facilitates sustainability and creates a more sustainable and equitable future — were not things that were profitable endeavors. So I went into journalism to cover the issues that I cared about and ultimately started covering tech and AI. That work has culminated in your new book 'Empire of AI.' What story were you hoping to tell? Once I started covering AI, I realized that it was a microcosm of all of the things that I wanted to explore: how technology affects society, how people interface with it, the incentives (and) misaligned incentives within Silicon Valley. I was very lucky in getting to observe AI and also OpenAI before everyone had their ChatGPT moment, and I wanted to add more context to that moment that everyone experienced and show them this technology comes from a specific place. It comes from a specific group of people and to understand its trajectory and how it's going to impact us in the future. And, in fact, the human choices that have shaped ChatGPT and Generative AI today (are) something that we should be alarmed by and we collectively have a role to play in starting to shape technology. 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But in 2018, Musk leaves; OpenAI starts withholding some research and announces to the world that it's withholding this research for the benefit of humanity. It restructures and nests a for-profit within the nonprofit and Sam Altman becomes CEO; and those were the four things that made me wonder what was going on at this organization that used its nonprofit status to really differentiate itself from all of the other crop of companies within Silicon Valley working on AI research. Right before I got to the offices, they had another announcement that solidified there was some transformation afoot, which was that Microsoft was going to partner with OpenAI and give the company a billion dollars. All of those things culminated in me then realizing that all of what they professed publicly was actually not what was happening. You emphasize the human stories behind AI development. Can you share an example that highlights the real-world consequences of its rise? One of the things that people don't really realize is that AI is not magic and it actually requires an extremely large amount of human labor and human judgment to create these technologies. These AI companies will go to Global South countries to contract workers for very low wages where they will either annotate data that needs to go into training these training models or they will perform content moderation or they will converse with the models and then upvote and downvote their answers and slowly teach them into saying more helpful things. I went to Kenya to speak with workers that OpenAI had contracted to build a content moderation filter for their models. These workers were completely traumatized and ended up with PTSD for years after this project, and it didn't just affect them as individuals; that affected their communities and the people that depended on them. (Editorial note: OpenAI declined to comment, referring Reuters to an April 4 post by Altman on X.) 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How has your perspective on AI changed, if at all? Writing this book made me even more concerned because I realized the extent to which these companies have a controlling influence over everything now. Before I was worried about the labor exploitation, the environmental impacts, the impact on the job market. But through the reporting of the book, I realized the horizontal concern that cuts across all this is if we return to an age of empire, we no longer have democracy. Because in a world where people no longer have agency and ownership over their data, their land, their energy, their water, they no longer feel like they can self-determine their future.
Geeky Gadgets
an hour ago
- Geeky Gadgets
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Apple has addressed several bugs and improved system reliability, making sure a smoother experience for both developers and general users. The combination of performance enhancements, UI refinements, and battery life improvements demonstrates Apple's commitment to delivering a well-rounded operating system. These updates not only enhance day-to-day usability but also set the stage for a more stable and feature-rich final release. Looking Ahead iOS 26 Developer Beta 3 represents a thoughtful progression in Apple's iterative development process. With improvements to multitasking, UI clarity, performance, and battery life, this update strikes a balance between innovation and practicality. While the 'liquid glass' design remains a topic of debate, the overall enhancements reflect Apple's dedication to refining the user experience. As the beta cycle continues, further optimizations are expected, paving the way for a stable and polished final release. Here is a selection of other guides from our extensive library of content you may find of interest on iOS 26 Developer Beta 3. Source & Image Credit: iDeviceHelp Filed Under: Apple, Apple iPhone, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
DOGE sprouts in red states, as governors embrace the cost-cutter brand and make it their own
The brash and chaotic first days of President Donald Trump 's Department of Government Efficiency, once led by the world's richest man Elon Musk, spawned state-level DOGE mimicry as Republican governors and lawmakers aim to show they are in step with their party's leader. Governors have always made political hay out of slashing waste or taming bureaucracy, but DOGE has, in some ways, raised the stakes for them to show that they are zealously committed to cutting costs. Many drive home the point that they have always been focused on cutting government, even if they're not conducting mass layoffs. 'I like to say we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,' Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in announcing her own task force in January. Critics agree that some of these initiatives are nothing new and suggest they are wasteful, essentially duplicating built-in processes that are normally the domain of legislative committees or independent state auditors. At the same time, some governors are using their DOGE vehicles to take aim at GOP targets of the moment, such as welfare programs or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And some governors who might be eyeing a White House run in 2028 are rebranding their cost-cutting initiatives as DOGE, perhaps eager to claim the mantle of the most DOGE of them all. No chainsaws in the states At least 26 states have initiated DOGE-style efforts of varying kinds, according to the Economic Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C. Most DOGE efforts were carried out through a governor's order — including by governors in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma — or by lawmakers introducing legislation or creating a legislative committee. The state initiatives have a markedly different character than Trump's slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk's chainsaw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February. Governors are tending to entrust their DOGE bureaus to loyalists, rather than independent auditors, and are often employing what could be yearslong processes to consolidate procurement, modernize information technology systems, introduce AI tools, repeal regulations or reduce car fleets, office leases or worker headcounts through attrition. Steve Slivinski, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute who researches state government regulatory structures, said that a lot of what he has seen from state-level DOGE initiatives are the 'same stuff you do on a pretty regular basis anyway' in state governments. States typically have routine auditing procedures and the ways states have of saving money are 'relatively unsexy," Slivinski said. And while the state-level DOGE vehicles might be useful over time in finding marginal improvements, "branding it DOGE is more of a press op rather than anything new or substantially different than what they usually do,' Slivinski said. Analysts at the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute say that governors and lawmakers, primarily in the South and Midwest, are using DOGE to breathe new life into long-term agendas to consolidate power away from state agencies and civil servants, dismantle public services and benefit insiders and privatization advocates. 'It's not actually about cutting costs because of some fiscal responsibility,' EPI analyst Nina Mast said. Governors promoting spending cuts Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry rebranded his 'Fiscal Responsibility Program' as Louisiana DOGE, and promoted it as the first to team up with the federal government to scrub illegitimate enrollees from welfare programs. It has already netted $70 million in savings in the Medicaid program in an 'unprecedented' coordination, Landry said in June. In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt — who says in a blurb on the Oklahoma DOGE website that 'I've been DOGE-ing in Oklahoma since before it was cool" — made a DOGE splash with the first report by his Division of Government Efficiency by declaring that the state would refuse some $157 million in federal public health grants. The biggest chunk of that was $132 million intended to support epidemiology and laboratory capacity to control infectious disease outbreaks. The Stitt administration said that funding — about one-third of the total over an eight-year period — exceeded the amount needed. The left-leaning Oklahoma Policy Institute questioned the wisdom of that, pointing to rising numbers of measles and whooping cough cases and the rocky transition under Stitt of the state's public health lab from Oklahoma City to Stillwater. Oklahoma Democrats issued rebukes, citing Oklahoma's lousy public health rankings. 'This isn't leadership,' state Sen. Carri Hicks said. 'It's negligence." Stitt's Oklahoma DOGE has otherwise recommended changes in federal law to save money, opened up the suggestion box to state employees and members of the general public and posted a spreadsheet online with cost savings initiatives in his administration. Those include things as mundane as agencies going paperless, refinancing bonds, buying automated lawn mowers for the Capitol grounds or eliminating a fax machine line in the State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order in February creating a task force of DOGE teams in each state agency. In the order, DeSantis recited 10 points on what he described as his and Florida's 'history of prudent fiscal management' even before DOGE. Among other things, DeSantis vowed to scrutinize spending by state universities and municipal and county governments — including on DEI initiatives — at a time when DeSantis is pushing to abolish the property taxes that predominantly fund local governments. His administration has since issued letters to universities and governments requesting reams of information and received a blessing from lawmakers, who passed legislation authorizing the inquiry and imposing fines for entities that don't respond. After the June 30 signing ceremony, DeSantis declared on social media: 'We now have full authority to DOGE local governments.' In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched her cost-cutting Arkansas Forward last year, before DOGE, and later said the state had done the 'same thing' as DOGE. Her administration spent much of 2024 compiling a 97-page report that listed hundreds of ways to possibly save $300 million inside a $6.5 billion budget. Achieving that savings — largely by standardizing information technology and purchasing — would sometimes require up-front spending and take years to realize savings. ___
