Reddit to Charge AI Companies for Borrowing Conversations: No More Free Lunch for Chatbots!

Reddit, the internet forum where people discuss a wide range of topics, has announced plans to charge companies for access to its API. Companies like Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft have been using Reddit's chats to help develop artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Reddit's founder and CEO, Steve Huffman, has stated that the Reddit corpus of data is valuable and that the company should not give all of that value to the world's largest companies for free.

The move is one of the first examples of a social network charging for access to its conversations for the purpose of developing AI systems. As a company that makes most of its money through advertising and e-commerce transactions, Reddit's decision to charge for its API is strategic, especially as it prepares for a potential initial public offering. Reddit is still working out the details of its pricing and will announce its decision in the coming weeks.

Rapid Rundown

• 🚨 Reddit plans to charge companies for API access used to develop AI, citing valuable data.

• 🚀 Move is strategic as Reddit prepares for IPO; pricing details are to be announced soon.

The Secret’s Out: Microsoft’s Been Working on an AI Chip Called Athena

Microsoft’s Secret AI Chip Microsoft has been secretly working on an AI chip called ‘Athena’ since 2019 with a team of 300. The chip is designed for training large-language models like ChatGPT and could help lower Microsoft’s AI application costs and improve negotiation power with Nvidia.

A select group of Microsoft and OpenAI employees is currently testing Athena. While it’s expected to be available for internal use and OpenAI by next year, its accessibility to Azure customers is still uncertain. In short, Microsoft is going all in on AI with Athena, which has the potential to be a game changer for the company.

Rapid Rundown

• 🤫 Microsoft has been secretly developing an AI chip called ‘Athena’ since 2019.

• �� Athena could lower AI application costs and improve negotiation power with Nvidia.

GROUNDED: Southwest Airlines Pauses Departures Due To Technical Difficulties

The latest victim of the dreaded technical difficulties is Southwest Airlines. Hundreds of flights were delayed, leaving travellers feeling more frustrated than a squirrel trying to cross the road. The culprit was a data connection issue due to a firewall failure. The Federal Aviation Administration put a halt on Southwest's departures, citing equipment issues, but soon lifted the ground stop.

According to FlightAware, 43% of Southwest's schedule had been delayed as of noon on Tuesday, but the airline had only cancelled nine flights, which is a tiny silver lining. A Southwest spokesman, Dan Landson, said that a vendor-supplied firewall had gone down, leading to the unexpected loss of operational data. Despite the inconvenience, Southwest's workers "worked quickly to minimize disruptions." It seems like the only thing that didn't work quickly was their firewall.

Rapid Rundown

• 🔥 Southwest Airlines experienced technical difficulties due to a firewall failure.

• 🛬 Hundreds of flights were delayed, but the airline worked quickly to minimize disruptions.

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