Latest news with #Degen
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
OOKC Hosts Exclusive Web3 Yacht Gathering During TOKEN2049 Dubai, Bringing Together Global Pioneers
Dubai, May 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the globally anticipated TOKEN2049 Dubai event, OOKC LABS, in collaboration with MenaTempo, and Onesecond, successfully hosted a high-level 'OOKC Web3 Private Yacht Party' in the waters of Dubai. The event brought together some of the most influential Web3 founders, venture capitalists, Degen leaders, and ecosystem pioneers for deep discussions and high-impact networking at the theme 'Good Vibes, Real Connections, Web3 Energy at its Peak,' the gathering extended the vibrant energy of TOKEN2049 into a more intimate and insightful setting. Over 100 Web3 builders from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and beyond came on board to engage in meaningful conversations around topics such as DePIN, AI + RWA, Meme culture, next-gen infrastructure, and community building. About the Co-Hosts: • A leading decentralized data cloud infrastructure provider, redefining Web3 storage paradigms and serving as a security guardian in the AI era. CESS is a certified member of and the U.S. Blockchain Association, and has presented Web3 policy proposals at the White House. • A platform focused on alpha intelligence and on-chain data analytics, empowering investment decisions and strategic execution. • MenaTempo: The Middle East's leading Web3 think tank and media platform, specializing in crypto narratives and industry storytelling. • Onesecond: A Web3 innovation platform centered on next-gen user experience and brand culture, with a strong focus on RWA ecosystem development. This yacht event was not only a flagship offline experience for OOKC during TOKEN2049, but also a major milestone in its mission to build a high-quality global Web3 builder network, especially in the Middle East. OOKC will continue to curate premium, focused, and actionable ecosystem engagements worldwide to drive collaborative growth and trust within the Web3 industry. CONTACT: Sarah Xu sarahxu(at)ookc(dot)comSign in to access your portfolio
CBC
07-04-2025
- CBC
Meta is using pirated books to train AI — including those by N.L. authors
Artificial intelligence can't do the dishes or the laundry, but it can replicate the writing style of just about any writer, including those from Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's author Trudy Morgan-Cole was far from flattered when she saw her name and seven of her recent book titles on a searchable database published by The Atlantic in March. It meant she was one of the millions of authors whose work was scraped from Library Genesis, a pirating website, to train Meta's AI language model. Meta is the parent company of social media sites Facebook, Instagram and Threads. "I was horrified," Morgan-Cole told CBC News. "It's being done without the author's permission," she said. "Writers have been given no opportunity to say yes or no, and certainly no compensation." What can this AI model do? Uses of artificial intelligence are rapidly growing by the day, and Morgan-Cole believes that it has legitimate uses in sectors like science and medicine. However, she draws the line when it comes to producing literature. The historical fiction author said she thinks the goal of AI in the world of writing "is to train it to replace human writers." "I'm sure it'll be a long time before we see a Governor General's Award-winning novel written by an artificial intelligence," said Morgan-Cole. "But things that human authors get paid for now, like writing articles, writing copy for websites… I think there's going to be a big push to say, 'let's have that done by AI.'" Morgan-Cole said the use of artificial intelligence to write takes away from human authors, replacing it with a "vastly inferior product." She'd like to see publishers and writers' organizations step up to protect intellectual property. What can we do? John Degen, executive director of the Writers' Union of Canada, says the organization is working on that. Speaking from Toronto, Degen said "it's deeply offensive to most authors" to have their work used to train AI to write — and the Library Genesis database is far-reaching. "The last book I published was 20 years ago, and that book is in there," he said. "So if I'm in there, just about any Canadian author working today is in there." The Writers' Union of Canada is pressing governments to put regulations in place so that companies like Meta have to seek permission and offer payment to writers in order to use their intellectual property. He added that writers are also free to take matters into their own hands. "You can contact Meta directly and tell them that you do not give permission for this use. You can contact Library Genesis and ask them to take this stuff down," Degen said. "Do I have confidence that that's going to do anything? I don't, really, because we've been dealing with this kind of illicit use from the tech sector for about 20 years now." That's why Degen wants leaders to take action and take artificial intelligence's power seriously — to give authors and other artists more agency over their content. CBC asked for an interview with a representative from Meta. In an emailed statement, the company said "we respect third-party intellectual property rights and believe our use of information to train AI models is consistent with existing law."
