Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI TECH SCROLL: Taylor Swift files trademarks amid AI threats, AI influencer grift + is OpenAI releasing a phone?

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MINI TECH SCROLL: Taylor Swift files trademarks amid AI threats, AI influencer grift + is OpenAI releasing a phone? · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  Coming up today on Mini Tech Scroll.
• 0:02
  Taylor Swift tries to protect herself against AI.
• 0:05
  The fake MAGA influencer grifting thousands of men and is
• 0:08
  open AI preparing to release a phone.
• 0:10
  Hey everyone, and welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
• 0:14
  culture podcast bringing the biggest stories from social
• 0:16
  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
• 0:20
  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
• 0:22
  My name is Annabelle and I'm your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll
• 0:25
  host and. Also the deputy editor of.
• 0:27
  Australian youth digital media brand.
• 0:30
  Centennial world welcome. Back to mini tech scroll for
• 0:33
  another. Week I have two.
• 0:34
  Things to say. At the top of this week's
• 0:36
  episode, the. 1st is that I am currently seeking feedback slash
• 0:40
  commentary from our audience about.
• 0:43
  How you feel? When it comes to celebrity
• 0:46
  endorsements and ambassadorships, we are
• 0:49
  preparing a deep dive on the topic and I would love to get
• 0:52
  your opinions to include in the episode, so if you're willing.
• 0:56
  To share your thoughts, please check.
• 0:58
  Out the link in the description and the The second thing I need
• 1:00
  to mention this is super relevant to mini text scroll but
• 1:04
  we all know I'm an Ariana Grande stand and I woke up to the news
• 1:07
  that. Pedal.
• 1:09
  Her eighth album is coming soon, and I Am.
• 1:11
  So excited. I'm like.
• 1:13
  So excited I. Can't wait.
• 1:16
  I really did not think she would be jumping back into music so
• 1:18
  soon and I'm so. Grateful for it.
• 1:20
  Any Ariana Grande stands listening please.
• 1:22
  Share your thoughts. I am super excited, OK?
• 1:25
  Other than that, Please remember to rate, review and subscribe
• 1:29
  and feel. Free to check out our.
• 1:31
  Patreon for more behind the scenes content if you are
• 1:34
  interested. OK, let's get into my first
• 1:37
  story for today. And that is that.
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  Taylor Swift has filed a. Trademark for her voice and
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  likeness amid concerns of. AI usage.
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  The pop stars making headlines. After TAS rights.
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  Management LLC, the company that manages.
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  Taylor's IP reportedly filed 3. Trademarks with the US Patent
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  and Trademark Office. Late last week.
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  Two of them covered distinct quote UN quote sound marks or
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  like sound bites if you will. For instance, 1 was the singer
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  saying hey it's Taylor Swift and the other.
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  Was just hey, it's Taylor. Meanwhile, the last trademark of
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  the three was an image showing her with the like pink guitar
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  and the really? Sparkly body suit and silver
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  boots. From the errors.
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  Tool you. Have definitely seen that image
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  or that. Outfit at the very least.
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  So this has been. Widely reported.
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  As an attempt for Taylor to manage any AI generated content
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  that is being made without her consent.
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  Although I will say that. This isn't necessarily something
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  that her team has confirmed or specified at the time of
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  recording, but considering that there have already been a couple
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  of instances. Of widespread AI.
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  Generated content of. Taylor.
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  Without her consent. I do think this is a valid
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  assumption and I. Thought I would just go through
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  a few to refresh. Your memory as a reminder at the
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  beginning of 2024 sexually. Explicit deep fake.
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  Images. Of Taylor spread.
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  On X, racking up around 50 million views before being
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  removed. A day later.
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  And Swifties. Were quick to.
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  Come to the singer's defense, as they often are, and they mass
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  reported these images Posting quote UN quote.
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  Protect Taylor Swift all over social media.
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  To drown out these accounts, later that year another AI
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  generated. Video of Taylor.
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  Started making the rounds of her endorsing Donald Trump.
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  This is probably maybe the most famous instance of AI generated
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  content used against Taylor's consent.
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  And this. Led to childless cat lady.
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  Post where she endorsed Kamala Harris in it she.
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  Spoke. About how there was an AI
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  generated clip of her endorsing Trump that she didn't approve of
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  as she wrote at the time quote recently I was made aware that
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  an AI of me falsely endorsing Donald Trump's presidential run
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  was posted to his site. It really conjured up my.
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  Fears around AI. And all the dangers of spreading
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  misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion
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  that I need to be very transparent about my actual
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  plans for this election as a voter.
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  And while Taylor has been a victim of AI generated content.
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  Like this repeatedly. At the same time, though, we
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  should also. Remember that.
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  Taylor's team has come under fire for using.
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  AI we covered. This amid.
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  The rollout of the life of a showgirl last year, but.
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  As a reminder, this all went down when a.
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  Suite of YouTube Shorts were posted.
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  Promoting the life of a showgirl and the.
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  Fate of Ophelia. And they were.
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  Littered with what? Seemed to be AI imagery.
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  They firstly just had. That like weird uncanny look to
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  them but. There were also.
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  Various inconsistencies in the content like spelling areas and
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  items just disappearing and. Taylor did cut particular
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  backlash compared to other artists.
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  For seemingly approving this kind of AI generated content.
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  Mostly because. She has been so vocal over the
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  years. About the importance of owning
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  your own art, so much so that she.
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  Obviously brought. Back her masters and did all.
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  The Taylor's. Versions before that and going
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  back to the. Story, of course.
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  I think this kind of mentality explains why Taylor would be
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  interested in trademarking her likeness and.
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  Voice but this. Strategy is becoming more
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  common. A lot of the coverage on this.
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  Story is also. Using Matthew McConaughey as an
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  example because. He reportedly filed.
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  Similar trademarks. To protect his.
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  Own voice and image, and obviously we are not a law.
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  Podcast but. According to legal commentary
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  I've seen online, it seems to be positioned as a new kind of.
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  Way to test the legal? System that hasn't necessarily
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  caught. Up to the AI era yet.
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  As Josh Garbin, the lawyer who seemingly came across these
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  trademarks first explains, quote historically, singers relied on
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  copyright. Law to protect.
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  Their recorded music, but AI technologies now allow users to
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  generate entirely new content that mix an artist.
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  Voice without. Copying an existing recording,
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  creating a gap that trademarks may help fill by registering.
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  Specific phrases tied to a voice Swift could.
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  Potentially challenge not only identical reproductions, but
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  also imitations that are confusingly similar, a key
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  standard in trademark law. So this approach.
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  Hasn't been tested in court. Yet with respect to AI so.
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  We can't say. For sure how this will hold up
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  or how we'll be enforced. But I definitely think it's
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  significant that some one like. Taylor Swift is.
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  Pursuing this, considering she is a Titan in the music
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  industry, she. Could very well.
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  Set a precedent of sorts and inspire.
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  Other artists to follow suit. With that being said though, I
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  do. Think it's important to note
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  that while celebrities and public figures.
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  Are. Arguably the most at risk for
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  deep fakes to be made of them and their likeness to be used in
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  AI generated content. This is arguably.
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  A Band-Aid fix, maybe, because the average woman can still be.
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  Targeted by. This kind of AI generated
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  content and will. Have less resources.
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  To protect themselves, and while something like this can set an
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  important precedent, we would definitely still need more
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  widespread protections for harmful AI generated content.
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  Nevertheless, I will definitely be keeping my eyes on this and I
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  would definitely love to hear thoughts from you.
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  Guys especially. If you have any expertise or
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  knowledge on copyright. IP law, OK.
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  Speaking of AI generated content, I need to talk about
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  this MAGA influencer. That was revealed.
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  To be an AI generated grift. This story was.
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  Originally published in Wide, but I've been seeing it make the
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  rounds over the past. Week, so I thought I would cover
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  it today. So it was originally written by
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  EJ Dixon and basically she investigated this AI generated
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  influencer named Emily. Heart or at.
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  Emily under score heart dot nurse on Instagram, but the
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  account has since been deleted. I should know.
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  Having said that. EJ Dixon does.
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  Describe the type. Of content that was being posted
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  on the account, there were quote photos of Emily ice fishing,
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  drinking Coors Light and shooting off a few rounds at the
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  rifle range with emoji laden captions like if you want a
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  reason to. Unfollow Christ is.
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  King abortion is murder and all illegals must be deported Well,
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  so you can definitely tell the. Vibe of the.
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  Account from that caption I think.
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  But the person who was behind Emily the AI generated
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  influence. UP for context was a 22 year old
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  medical student who does not live in the United States and is
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  currently based in India. In the piece he was.
• 8:19
  Referred to as. Sam, but that.
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  Is a. Pseudonym, but I will also refer
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  to him as Sam so he told the journalist.
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  That he started posting. This type of content after
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  Gemini yes, Google Gemini told him to lean into the Magar slash
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  conservative niche to gain popularity and make money
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  online. Reportedly, the chatbot told him
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  that this demographic. Has a disposable.
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  Income to spend. And while that is probably true,
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  an AI telling someone to promote MAGA, an ideology that has been
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  particularly harmful to women and other minorities and
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  marginalized. Groups feels so.
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  Unsavory and so dystrophy and I can't even articulate it.
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  Having said. That though, Emily did end up
• 9:02
  becoming quite a success according to Sam, his reels that
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  he would make of Emily were getting millions of views and he
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  had amassed thousands of followers in the process he
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  even. And had followers subscribe to.
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  Emily's fan view, which I honestly had never heard of
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  actually until this. Article, but it's described.
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  As an only fan competitor in the piece and on the.
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  Website itself, it bills itself as.
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  Quote the leading. AI.
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  Powered creator monetization platform pioneering.
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  What we call the Creator AI economy.
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  And Sam actually used. Grok to generate.
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  Not safe for work. Images of Emily and then.
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  Uploaded it. To her account, there is just so
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  much wrong, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a.
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  Whole slew. Of AI generated MAGA influences
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  online and I have. Covered stories.
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  Kind of adjacent to this in the past, if you remember last year.
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  X released a feature that allowed users to see where
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  accounts. Were based and many journalists
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  and publications ended up noting how some of the most popular pro
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  trump MAGA. Profiles were kind of.
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  Fake and that they weren't based in the US.
• 10:06
  Nevertheless, there are a couple.
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  Of reasons. Why accounts like?
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  Emily seem to succeed on social media. 1st.
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  EJ Dixon notes how these accounts capitalize on pro MAGA
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  sentiment in a way that is appealing and I guess, for lack
• 10:21
  of a better term, eye-catching, as the journalist explains.
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  Quote they are a relative. Rarity in the MAGA movement
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  Unlike their Gen. Z male counterparts, 18 to 29
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  year old women overwhelmingly. Skew liberal.
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  Young mega women are therefore more attention grabbing.
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  On top of this, there is also something to be said.
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  About the lack. Of media.
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  Literacy that would allow people to.
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  Believe in account like this while we have all fallen victim
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  to AI generated content here and there older.
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  People are less likely to be aware of this.
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  Kind of content according. To the Pew.
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  Research Center from data that was.
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  Published last year Quote. Young adults in virtually every
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  country surveyed. More aware of.
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  AI than their. Older counterparts.
• 11:05
  And in the US specifically, there was a 22 percentage point
• 11:08
  difference between those under 34 and those above 50 when it
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  comes to awareness around AI in the survey, and arguably the
• 11:17
  latter. Age group was who?
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  Sam was trying to appeal. To with this.
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  AI generated account and perhaps they.
• 11:23
  Fell for it. Or perhaps.
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  They just didn't care that it was AI generated.
• 11:28
  The piece also added how the. Algorithm ended up seemingly
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  rewarded being the kind of inflammatory content that Sam
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  was posting as Emily, which is something.
• 11:37
  We are probably well aware of by this stage, considering rage
• 11:40
  bait is quite literally. Everywhere but in the case of
• 11:43
  Emily, you would have had engagement from every.
• 11:45
  Side of the. Political spectrum one side who
• 11:47
  agrees and support the sentiment expressed in this content and on
• 11:51
  the other. You would have.
• 11:52
  People leaving comments rejecting the content entirely
• 11:56
  concerning Lee Sam and his conversation with the
• 11:59
  journalist. Noticed that quote.
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  Pro Nazi pro Hitler content has been getting especially high
• 12:05
  engagement on platforms like Reels speculating that an AI hot
• 12:09
  girl Nazi influencer would blow. Up.
• 12:12
  And I really hope to never see that happen.
• 12:14
  When I was looking into the sentiment around this article
• 12:18
  and this grift, I kind of noticed a somewhat favorable.
• 12:22
  Tilt towards. Sam in the R slash technology
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  subreddit. A user ended up linking the
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  article where many people responded kind of praising Sam
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  for grifting quote UN quote. Super dumb men, that.
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  Was how the article described it that.
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  Was not me. The fair few Reddit users also
• 12:40
  added that they. Were kind of.
• 12:41
  Happy to see. This money from presumably men
• 12:45
  go into Sam's. Pockets as opposed to.
• 12:47
  Donald Trump or AGOP pack more broadly.
• 12:50
  That is an interesting point, but to be honest I don't think I
• 12:54
  can fully get around a man creating not safe for.
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  Work. AI generated content while
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  backing an ideology that has been harmful to women across the
• 13:03
  United States and setting a tone.
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  Across the world. More broadly.
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  Sure. He is doing it as a grift.
• 13:10
  But the people who are. Following and supporting Emily
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  are not and I think. This is also particularly.
• 13:16
  Upsetting in our current digital landscape as we witnessed
• 13:19
  certain corners of the manosphere growing mainstream.
• 13:22
  Like the willingness to praise this without any critical
• 13:25
  thought feels misogynistic, and the fact that I haven't seen
• 13:28
  that many people discuss it from this angle feels somewhat
• 13:31
  worrying to me as far as criticism goes in the Reddit
• 13:34
  thread. There are.
• 13:36
  Some responders who. Found the fact that.
• 13:39
  Sam is not based in the. US to be.
• 13:41
  Somewhat unsettling, they noted how stocking political division
• 13:45
  in a country, whether you intended to or not, that you do
• 13:48
  not live in to be kind of unethical anyway.
• 13:51
  I'm definitely. Curious to hear where.
• 13:53
  You guys kind of sit in this debate whether you think it was.
• 13:56
  Funny slash valid to gripped these.
• 14:00
  Men and MAGA. Supporters or whether.
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  You're a little bit more critical of the whole thing.
• 14:05
  This brings us to my last story for today, and that is.
• 14:08
  Opening eyes, reportedly. Gearing up to release a phone
• 14:11
  I'd like to. Preface this.
• 14:12
  Story by saying that this is rumoured and we don't have
• 14:15
  clarification yet, but I still thought it'd be interesting to
• 14:17
  drop in for the final story for today.
• 14:19
  The claims seem to originate from trusted industry analyst
• 14:23
  Ming Chi Kuo. He has historically had a.
• 14:26
  Focus on Apple's supply chain and is considered to be.
• 14:29
  Pretty accurate. By those online when it comes to
• 14:32
  predicting upcoming products, of course he isn't 100% accurate
• 14:37
  but. People.
• 14:37
  Do tend to trust? The stuff he puts out so he.
• 14:41
  Shed a post on X alleging that Open AI is working on a
• 14:45
  smartphone and they seem to be working with three companies,
• 14:49
  the first being a Taiwanese semiconductor firm Mediatek, AUS
• 14:53
  semiconductor and wireless technology company Qualcomm and
• 14:57
  Chinese manufacturer Luxet. And this is obviously to create
• 15:01
  and manufacture a smartphone, and apparently mass production
• 15:05
  is set to start in 2028. The functions of the.
• 15:09
  Phone is. Rumored to be very different
• 15:12
  from the smartphone that we have come to know.
• 15:14
  Over the past. However many years.
• 15:16
  With. AI agents driving activities as.
• 15:19
  Opposed to apps. As a reminder, an AI agent is a
• 15:23
  system or a program that will autonomously perform tasks
• 15:27
  instead of a human or a user. So this would involve both like
• 15:31
  reasoning and acting on behalf. Of a user as.
• 15:35
  The post explains quote users are not trying to.
• 15:38
  Use a pile of apps. They're trying to get tasks done
• 15:42
  and fulfill needs through the phone.
• 15:44
  This fundamentally changes how we think about smartphones.
• 15:47
  I thought this was interesting because.
• 15:48
  Last week. We were talking.
• 15:50
  About how Apple. Seems to be betting on hardware
• 15:53
  when it comes. To AI.
• 15:54
  And being the distributors. Of AI products slash tools as
• 15:58
  opposed to. Developing them themselves based
• 16:00
  on the fact that they haven't really invested as much time and
• 16:03
  money into developing. AI tools as their peers.
• 16:07
  But this seems to be open AI's. Hope to control.
• 16:11
  Both the operating system and the hardware.
• 16:14
  As for what this means for open AI, I thought Ivan Meta.
• 16:18
  Put it well for TechCrunch. Quote Currently Apple and Google
• 16:22
  control the app pipeline and the type of system.
• 16:24
  Access they get. Restricting some of their
• 16:26
  functions, creating its own smartphone and hardware.
• 16:30
  Stack Open AI would be able to. Use AI in all kinds of features
• 16:33
  without restrictions with chat CPT nearing a billion.
• 16:37
  Weekly users, a hardware product for daily use could also bode
• 16:41
  well for. Open AI's ambition to reach more
• 16:43
  consumers Interestingly, these rumors are circulating the same
• 16:47
  week that Elon Musk and Sam Altman are entangled in a.
• 16:50
  Very public court battle. I'm not going to get into this
• 16:53
  fully today since it's all unfolding, but.
• 16:56
  The tech Bros. Are fighting it out with Elon
• 16:58
  Musk essentially accusing Altman of betraying Open.
• 17:01
  AI's original. Startup mission for a little bit
• 17:04
  of context. Because I always give a.
• 17:06
  Little bit of context, I feel Elon Musk was involved in open
• 17:10
  AI since 2015 and then eventually left in 2018.
• 17:13
  And obviously open AI has become extremely valuable since then,
• 17:18
  where Elon Musk even made a $97 billion.
• 17:20
  Bid to purchase Open AI. Last year, if you remember, I
• 17:23
  did cover. It but.
• 17:25
  This was just one example of the ongoing and seemingly escalating
• 17:30
  food between Elon Musk and Sam Altman at the time.
• 17:33
  In the current trial Elon Musk is basically claiming that Sam
• 17:36
  Altman and his Co founder Greg Brockman like essentially
• 17:40
  tricked him into giving open AI money before moving away from
• 17:44
  their. Original.
• 17:44
  Status as a non for profit now Open AI is a public benefit
• 17:48
  corporation which is. A for.
• 17:50
  Profit corporate entity. Having said that, Elon Musk is
• 17:52
  reportingly seeking up to $150 billion in damages from Open AI
• 17:57
  and Microsoft, which is one of open a is biggest investors and
• 18:00
  he's also asking for the removal of Altman and Brockman from Open
• 18:04
  AI. There does seem to be a kind of
• 18:06
  consensus in media and among experts that I've seen at this.
• 18:10
  Stage. That it does seem to be a losing
• 18:13
  case for Elon Musk and that he's kind of just going ahead with it
• 18:16
  because he has the money to and that.
• 18:18
  He kind of wants. To punish Sam Altman and Open
• 18:22
  AI, and obviously this has come at quite a tumultuous time for
• 18:26
  Sam Ulman and the company between various reputational
• 18:30
  struggles. That we've discussed.
• 18:31
  For weeks on end on mini tech but also because.
• 18:35
  The IPO does. Seem to be approaching so I.
• 18:38
  Guess we'll see how it plays out, but that is just a high.
• 18:40
  Level summary. Of why this?
• 18:43
  Court battle is happening now. Well, that is.
• 18:45
  Everything from mini tech scroll today.
• 18:46
  I really. Hope you guys enjoyed and please
• 18:49
  if you're interested, remember to head to the link in the
• 18:52
  description. To fill out.
• 18:54
  Your thoughts on celebrity ambassadors and endorsements?
• 18:58
  I'm really keen to hear from you guys.
• 19:00
  Otherwise, Lauren will speak to you guys tomorrow and thanks for
• 19:04
  listening. Bye.
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