TNW 347: Meta's AI Studio - OpenAI, White Dudes for Harris, Bitcoin Town
Tech News Weekly (Audio)
Leo Laporte
4.1 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2024
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mikah Sargent is out this week, but Emily Dreibelbis of PCMag is hosting for Mikah! Meta's AI generator is allowing influencers to let their fans message an AI version of themselves. Following the OpenAI controversy with Scarlett Johansson, the company released its 'Advanced Voice Mode' to its alpha users. What is 'White Dudes for Harris'? And inside the health crisis at a town in Texas involved with bitcoin mining.
- Abrar Al-Heeti is joining the show this week. Abrar talks about Meta's AI Studio and how the company is continuing to expand into creating AIs for its userbase to interact with their favorite creators and allowing select users to generate their own AIs.
- Emily talks about OpenAI rolling out its 'Advanced Voice Mode' feature to select users,' following the controversy with OpenAI using a voice similar to Scarlett Johansson.
- Will Oremus of The Washington Post stops by to chat with Emily about 'White Dudes for Harris' and the suspension of its X account following a massive fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.
- Finally, Andrew Chow of TIME discusses the health crisis that a town in Texas has been experiencing since the arrival of a Bitcoin mine in the summer of 2022.
Hosts: Emily Dreibelbis and Abrar Al-Heeti
Guests: Will Oremus and Andrew Chow
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Coming up today on Tech News Weekly, we are going to talk with Abraar alahidi from CNET about Meta trying really hard to make AI influencers happen and a new platform they launched for creators this week. |
| 0:11.0 | Then we're going to talk about Open AI's advanced voice mode, which launched this week |
| 0:15.8 | after a big controversy with Scarlet Johanson that you might remember. |
| 0:20.3 | Then we're going to talk with Will Oremis from Washington Post about the White Dudes for Harris controversy that has been all over social media. |
| 0:27.6 | Who are the White Dudes for Harris? What do they want? And why did X seemingly suspend their account out of nowhere in the middle of a fundraiser? |
| 0:35.0 | Finally, we'll talk with Andrew Chow from Time, who has done some fascinating reporting on a Bitcoin mine that went into or was installed in a town near in Texas and |
| 0:46.4 | residents of the town seemed to be reporting health issues about 40 people have |
| 0:50.8 | gone to the ER even a dog was infected with some kind of illness. |
| 0:55.4 | So really interesting kind of horror story like stuff. |
| 0:58.9 | But we have a great show today coming up. |
| 1:00.8 | Podcasts you love. |
| 1:05.0 | From people you trust. |
| 1:07.0 | This is Twit. |
| 1:10.0 | This is Tech News Weekly with Abraar alahidi and me, |
| 1:15.0 | Emily Dry Belbus, |
| 1:17.0 | episode 347 recorded on Thursday, August 1st, 2024, |
| 1:22.0 | Meta's AI studio. |
| 1:24.7 | Hello and welcome to Tech News Weekly, |
| 1:26.9 | the show where every week we talk to and about |
| 1:29.4 | the people making and breaking the tech news. |
| 1:32.2 | I'm Emily Dre Belbus. I'm going to be your host this week. I'm |
| 1:34.7 | filling in for Micah while he's on vacation. And I have with me Abraar alahidi from CNET. |
... |
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