Facebook Head of AI-Musk Has No Clue; Facebook Paying $52 Million Settlement to Content Moderators; 13 State AGs Probing Amazon Over COVID-19; Apple May Offer Audio Versions of Some Apple News Stories

In a Tweet this (Wednesday) morning, Facebook head of AI Jerome Pesenti said with regards to comments by Elon Musk that AI is on the brink of outsmarting humans and that it could prove more dangerous to mankind than nuclear weapons, that Musk “has no idea what he is talking about when he talks about AI.” According to businessinsider.com, the Tweet was in reaction to an CNBC story that quoted anonymous AI researchers and CEO’s who were questioning Musk’s AI credentials. Musk WAS an early investor in several AI startups, including OpenAI lab and DeepMind (which was later picked up by Google.) Pesenti says there’s no AI system in the world that’s close to achieving “artificial general intelligence,” or intelligence on par with a human mind. He did note that he was speaking personally, and wasn’t speaking on behalf of Facebook. Edward Grefenstette, a former DeepMind engineer who now works for Facebook called Musk an “opportunistic moron” after the Tesla CEO tweeted “FREE AMERICA NOW” last month. There has been no response to a request for comment to a Tesla spokesperson so far.

In other Facebook news, the social media giant will pay out $52 million to current and former moderators to compensate for mental health issues they have developed on the job. Theverge.com reports that the amount appeared in a preliminary settlement filed last Friday in San Mateo Superior Court. Facebook also agreed to provide more counseling to the moderators while they work. Each moderator will get a minimum of $1000 and will be legible for additional compensation if they are diagnosed with PTSD or other related conditions. 11,250 moderators are covered by the settlement.

Even as Amazon touted their changes to protect employees against COVID-19 to 60 Minutes Sunday, the Attorneys General of 13 states are calling on the company to release data on the number of their workforce COVID-19 cases and deaths. Geekwire.com says the AGs also want Amazon to extend its unlimited, unpaid time off policy wherever a state of emergency exists. They’re also seeking an explanation of how Amazon deals with reports of retaliation against employees who speak out about workplace safety, citing “disturbing media reports alleging such retaliation by Amazon.” Those acts could be in violation of the Occupation Safety and Health Act, according to the top state lawyers. Amazon did respond, noting what they showed off on 60 Minutes, including their UV robot that rolls along disinfecting items and told the program that at least 600 workers had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Other reports have indicated a notably higher number of cases. ‘But my stuff is still coming in 2 days, right?’

Apple News+ is considering providing an option to listen to audio versions of some stories at some point. According to macrumors.com, they have asked publishers that participate in Apple News + for permission to produce audio versions of stories produced on the platform. Apple has told producers it will handle production costs, and compensate publishers the same way it does for written content they put up…50% of subscriber revenue to publishers based on how much time the Apple subscribers spend with the publishers’ content in a 30 day period. So far, no word on when Apple might launch the audio version of News + stories.