YouTube Details More on ‘Shorts Fund’; Apple Expands Self-Driving Fleet; Microsoft Requiring Proof of Vaccination; WhatsApp Launches ‘View Once’ for Videos & Pix

Earlier this year, YouTube announced some significant investment in paying creators who submit to their TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts. Techcrunch.com reports that the initial funding was $100 million. Now, a little more is out about the plan. Every month, YouTube will invite thousand of legible creators to claim a payment from the fund. The payments will be based on viewership and engagement. The payments will range from $100 to $10,000! YouTube won’t say what the threshold is to hit that larger number, saying that those numbers may change from month to month. The shorts MUST be original content. Creators have to be over 13, and for those 13 to 18, they will need to have a parent or guardian sign up to set up the AdSense account. 

Apple had earlier cut its self-driving fleet, but now has bulked back up again. According to 9to5mac.com, they are up to 69 cars and 92 drivers. Cupertino had cut the number of drivers in half last year, in part due to the pandemic.  Apple was granted a patent in March for a night vision system that combines visible light, near-infrared light, and long wave infrared sensors. The system isn said to allow a more comprehensive view of what’s ahead, and allows the system to ‘see’ further than any human driver can. Rumors continue about Apple partnering with a car maker….Hyundai/Kia, Nissan, BMW, and Canoo have all been mentioned. In fact, there was supposedly a deal with Hyundai earlier which either blew up, or was just a rumor out of hand. It’s still possible that Apple will just sell or license the tech to car makers, rather than building their own car. 

Microsoft joins the growing number of big corporations in requiring proof of vaccine for US on site work. In addition, geekwire.com notes that Redmond will delay full opening now to October 4th. Microsoft also says it will offer accommodations for employees with medical conditions or other protected reasons, such as religion, that prevent them from getting vaccinated. Google, Facebook, Disney, and partially Walmart, have all implemented such requirements. Amazon has mandated that people who are unvaccinated wear masks in the office, but hasn’t pulled the trigger on requiring proof of vaccination….although they say they continue to monitor the situation with the Delta variant. 

WhatsApp has launched its “View Once” feature today, which deletes photos or videos from your chat after they’ve been opened by the recipient. Theverge.com says when sending a photo or video, you can make it view once by tapping the “1” button to the left of the send button. After the recipient opens it, it’ll be deleted. The recipient will be able to see that it’s a disappearing photo, so it’s still the type of thing you’d only want to use for people you trust to not take a screenshot.