🌆 Nights Out for App Approval?

🌆 Apple Terminates App Store Team Members Over Developer Relations

Apple recently fired some members of its App Store team in China.

This happened after a year-long internal investigation exposed misconduct, including improper contact with mobile game developers.

The employees worked in multiple departments that aid developers with app approval and revenue. They allegedly accepted free meals and nightclub outings from developers in exchange for potential exposure in the App Store.

While none of the dismissed employees had the power to directly approve or reject apps, some could influence which apps were featured in the App Store.

Apple has strict guidelines regarding communication with developers and does not hesitate to take immediate action when these are violated.

🤖 How Meta and AI Companies Recruited Striking Actors to Train AI

Between July and September this year, actors in the US were invited to take part in a unique research project that was designed to capture their voices, faces, movements, and expressions.

The project, which coincided with Hollywood’s historic strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, was run by London-based emotion AI company Realeyes and Meta.

The information captured from the actors was fed into an AI database to better understand and express human emotions. Many actors across the industry worry that AI could be used to replace them, whether or not their exact faces are copied.

And in this case, by providing the facial expressions that will teach AI to appear more human, study participants may in fact have been the ones inadvertently training their own potential replacements.

📦 Amazon's Sequoia System Slashes Delivery Times

Amazon is integrating AI and robotics into its warehouses to enhance efficiency and reduce delivery times.

The new system, Sequoia, prioritizes speed and safety, reducing order fulfillment time by up to 25% and accelerating inventory identification and storage by up to 75%.

This shift aims to improve workplace safety and streamline processes. Despite concerns about worker safety due to the focus on speed, Amazon insists that its robotics are intended to eliminate mundane tasks and collaborate with human employees.

The company is also expanding its same-day delivery sites and venturing into the shipping business to compete with major players like UPS and FedEx.

The steady march of tech is making the company’s human workers feel nervous.

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