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Black America Web
22-05-2025
- Business
- Black America Web
Google Settles Lawsuit Alleging Anti-Black Bias For $50 Million
Source: picture alliance / Getty Look, I'm not saying all tech bros are racist, but I'm not, not saying it. I mean, the fact that Google recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging anti-Black bias at the company for $50 million doesn't help their case. It's not an admission of guilt, but it's certainly not a good look. According to Reuters, the civil suit was filed by April Curley, a former Google employee who was hired specifically to recruit new employees from historically Black colleges. Curley worked at Google for six years, and during her tenure there, she alleged that she and fellow Black employees were underpaid, denied opportunities for advancement, and stagnated doing lower-level work. Curley alleged she was given unfair performance ratings that stereotyped her as an 'angry Black woman' and was fired as she was in the process of reporting Google's alleged anti-Black bias. Curley and the other plaintiffs alleged that Black employees were frequently told they weren't 'Googley' enough and lacked 'Googleyness,' which they perceived as a racist dog whistle. It begs the question: how does one have an abundance of 'Googleyness?' What makes one 'Googley?' Why would one want to be 'Googley?' Personally, I'd rather have the swagger of Ask Jeeves than have some middle-aged white man call me 'Googley' as he sips a $20 smoothie from Erewhon From Reuters: Google, a unit of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet (GOOGL.O), denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, and said it fully complied with all applicable laws. 'We strongly disagree with the allegations that we treated anyone improperly and we remain committed to paying, hiring and leveling all employees consistently,' Google spokeswoman Courtenay Mencini said in an emailed statement on Friday. The lawsuit began in March 2022 after a regulator now known as the California Civil Rights Department started investigating Google's treatment of Black female employees. This isn't entirely surprising from the company that removed Black History Month from the Google Calendar earlier this year and donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. So clearly Google isn't racist, y'all. They just bankroll racists, it's different. Source: Maksym Panchuk / EyeEm / Getty Racism in the tech industry is sadly nothing new. It's been over five years since the #SilliconValleySoWhite trend ignited the conversation around the lack of opportunity and racist attitudes Black tech workers have consistently faced in the industry. One of the anecdotes that emerged during those tweets was several Google employees alleging they faced a bias in badging, where white employees would demand to see their badge even if it was completely visible. Sounds like you have to be good at both coding and Karen-ing to work at Google. The racism in tech has also manifested through the waves of layoffs that have sadly become commonplace throughout the industry over the last three years. Despite making up only 6.05 percent of the tech workforce, Black tech workers represented 7.42 % of the people laid off in the industry. Even before the Trump administration's crackdown on DEI initiatives, departments at tech companies centered on diversifying the workforce were often the first to face cuts. The racism in tech isn't simply limited to alleged workplace interactions, as the algorithms perpetuated by Google generally favor alt-right, anti-woke content. Studies have shown that Google's YouTube platform is one of the leading causes for radicalization, and I totally understand how. I watch YouTube more than any other platform, and it's alarming how often the algorithm recommends alt-right gaming grifters offended at the concept of Black people existing. Especially since I watch a lot of Black and leftist content creators and consistently check the 'don't recommend' box whenever the usual suspects pop up. Yet still they persist. Which begs the question: Are those the folks Google believes are 'Googley?' Judging by how they're moving, it sure feels like it. SEE ALSO: Racial Bias: Audit Finds 36 In-Custody Deaths Should Be Labeled Homicides Trump's DOJ Thinks Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Hired Too Many Black People, So It Launched An Investigation SEE ALSO Google Settles Lawsuit Alleging Anti-Black Bias For $50 Million was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Reuters
29-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Meta introduces Llama application programming interface to attract AI developers
SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab on Tuesday announced an application programming interface in a bid to woo businesses to more easily build AI products using its Llama artificial-intelligence models. Llama API, which was unveiled during the company's first-ever AI developer conference, will help Meta go up against APIs offered by rival model makers including Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab -backed OpenAI, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google and emerging low-cost alternatives such as China's DeepSeek. "You can now start using Llama with one line of code," chief product officer Chris Cox said during a keynote speech onstage. APIs allow software developers to customize and quickly integrate a piece of technology into their own products. For OpenAI, APIs constitute the firm's primary source of revenue. Meta, which released the latest version of Llama earlier this month, did not share any pricing details for the API. In a press release, it said the new API was available as a limited preview for select customers and would roll out broadly in weeks to months. The company also released a standalone AI assistant app earlier on Tuesday. It plans to test a paid subscription service of its AI chatbot in the second quarter, Reuters reported in February. Meta releases its Llama models largely free-of-charge for use by developers, a strategy CEO Mark Zuckerberg previously stated will pay off in the form of innovative products, less dependence on would-be competitors and greater engagement on the company's core social networks. "You have full agency over these custom models, you control them in a way that's not possible with other offers," Manohar Paluri, a vice president of AI, said at the conference. "Whatever model you customize is yours to take wherever you want, not locked on our servers." DeepSeek, which has also released partly open-source AI models, sparked a stock selloff in January amid concerns over the high costs of AI development needed by top U.S. firms. At the conference, Meta developers spoke about new techniques they used to significantly reduce costs and improve the efficiency of its newest Llama iteration. Zuckerberg welcomed increased competition that would steer the competitive ecosystem away from domination by a small number of leaders. "If another model, like DeepSeek, is better at something, then now as developers you have the ability to take the best parts of the intelligence from the different models and produce exactly what you need, which I think is going to be very powerful," Zuckerberg said.
Reuters
16-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Temu, Shein slash digital ads as tariffs end cheap shipping from China, data show
NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - Chinese online marketplace (PDD.O), opens new tab Temu and fast-fashion retailer Shein, two of the biggest advertisers on U.S. social media, are sharply cutting their U.S. digital ad spending, industry data show, in a blow to tech companies such as Meta's Facebook (META.O), opens new tab and (GOOGL.O), opens new tab YouTube. The online retailers, both of which ship low-priced China-made goods direct to U.S. shoppers, had been on an ad spree until recently, targeting younger, thriftier shoppers in digital media. U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order earlier this month threatens this business. As of May 2, merchandise valued at under $800 shipped from China and Hong Kong will no longer be exempt from tariffs. Temu and Shein plan to raise product prices next week as the removal of this "de minimis" exemption on import tariffs increases costs for the companies. And they are cutting ad spending on most platforms, according to two digital marketing firms that measure ad spending. Temu's daily average U.S. ad spend on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap, X and YouTube declined a collective average of 31% in the two weeks from March 31 to April 13 compared with the previous 30 days, estimated Sensor Tower, which tracks such spending. Shein's daily average U.S. ad spend on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Pinterest (PINS.N), opens new tab fell a collective average of 19% over the same period, it added. Meta declined to comment. Google, Shein and Temu were not immediately available for comment. Temu has sharply reduced ads on Google Shopping since April 12 after a marked ramp-up during the first quarter, said Mark Ballard, director of digital marketing research at Tinuiti.
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
At US antitrust trial, Meta's Zuckerberg admits he bought Instagram because it was 'better'
Summary Companies Zuckerberg admits buying Instagram for superior camera technology Acknowledgement comes in second day of Zuckerberg testimony FTC is seeking to unwind Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Meta (META.O), opens new tab CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a key concession at a U.S. antitrust trial on Tuesday, saying he bought Instagram because it had a "better" camera than the one his company was trying to build for flagship app Facebook at the time. The acknowledgement appeared to bolster allegations by U.S. antitrust enforcers that Meta had used a "buy or bury" strategy to snap up potential rivals, keep smaller competitors at bay and maintain an illegal monopoly. It came during Zuckerberg's second day testifying at the high-stakes trial in Washington, in which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking to unwind Meta's acquisitions of prized assets Instagram and WhatsApp. The case, filed during President Donald Trump's first term, is widely seen as a test of the new Trump administration's promises to take on Big Tech companies. Asked by an attorney for the FTC whether he thought fast-growing Instagram could be destructive to Meta, then known as Facebook, Zuckerberg said he believed Instagram had a better camera product than Facebook was building. "We were doing a build vs. buy analysis" while in the process of building a camera app, Zuckerberg said. "I thought that Instagram was better at that, so I thought it was better to buy them." Zuckerberg also acknowledged that many of the company's attempts at building its own apps had failed. "BUILDING A NEW APP IS HARD" "Building a new app is hard and many more times than not when we have tried to build a new app it hasn't gotten a lot of traction," Zuckerberg told the court. "We probably tried building dozens of apps over the history of the company and the majority of them don't go anywhere," he said. Zuckerberg's testimony comes as Meta is defending itself years after the release of damning statements plucked from Facebook's own documents, like a 2008 email in which he said "it is better to buy than compete." The company argues that his past intentions are irrelevant because the FTC has defined the social media market inaccurately and failed to account for stiff competition Meta has faced from ByteDance's TikTok, Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab YouTube and Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab messaging app. The FTC accuses Meta of holding a monopoly on platforms used to share content with friends and family, where its main competitors in the United States are Snap's Snapchat (SNAP.N), opens new tab and MeWe, a tiny privacy-focused social media app launched in 2016. Platforms where users broadcast content to strangers based on shared interests, such as X, TikTok, YouTube and Reddit (RDDT.N), opens new tab, are not interchangeable, the FTC argues.
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Japan competition watchdog issues cease and desist order to Google
TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japan's competition watchdog issued a cease and desist order to Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google on Tuesday for anticompetitive practices in the first such action against a U.S. tech giant. Google made smartphone makers prioritise its services, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) said. The search giant must appoint a third party to monitor and report back to the watchdog.
