Latest news with #algorithm
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Frank McCourt Jr. Interview: Why I Want to Buy TikTok
Frank McCourt Jr. says buying TikTok would help him bring the U.S. one step closer to a new Internet. Here's what he envisions. TikTok's algorithm has been infamously called "addictive," with research finding that it is "highly engaging and emotionally rewarding in nature," which has led to compulsive (and lucrative) user numbers. It's also why the algorithm is a main point in the ongoing saga of the app potentially being banned in the U.S. if it isn't sold soon. But billionaire Frank McCourt Jr., 71, tells Entrepreneur in a new interview that he and his business partners are "completely ready to buy TikTok" — and they "don't need or want the algorithm." The former L.A. Dodgers owner and investor, who's worth $2.4 billion, said that China has "made it very clear" they're not selling it. "So we're in a good position if there is a transaction," McCourt said. Related: Emma Grede Dropped Out of School at 16. Now the Skims Boss Runs a $4 Billion Empire — Here's How. After last year's law passed requiring TikTok to separate from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, or face a permanent ban in the U.S., the potential to own TikTok has attracted a slew of interest from notable people and companies. (After multiple extensions, the new deadline is June 19.) McCourt announced his $20 billion offer for TikTok in May 2024, calling it The People's Bid for TikTok. He made the bid through Project Liberty, the $500 million initiative he founded in 2021 that focuses on creating a better Internet by giving users control over how they share their data. Over time, other public figures joined his bid, the most notable being Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary in January and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in March. But so far, there haven't been any updates. "We're on standby," McCourt said. Other bidders for TikTok include AI startup Perplexity, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, mobile advertising company AppLovin, and Amazon. McCourt said O'Leary called him after talking to all the potential bidders and determining that The People's Bid was ahead of the rest. Ohanian connected with McCourt through a mutual friend, and also ended up publicly backing the bid's mission. Frank McCourt Jr. Why Frank McCourt's Bid for TikTok Is Different McCourt is working towards creating a new Internet, and TikTok is a stepping stone to get there. McCourt's bid is focused on the social media app's 170 million users. He wants to migrate those millions of people and their data over to an open-source platform that both preserves TikTok's user experience while also using an American-built tech stack. The basis of this platform is called the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), which Project Liberty developed and first made public in 2021. DSNP stores individual data in a profile that a user can transport across a network of social apps. Users on the platform can take their connections and content, their personal data, from one DSNP app to another and dictate the terms of its use. "We're advocating for a new, better, advanced Internet where individuals own and control their identity and their data," McCourt said. "We're in charge, and our social information is ours to share with others as we see fit." Right now, the only social media app that uses DSNP is MeWe, which has more than 20 million users globally and began offering members the option to sign in with DSNP in September 2022. Now, McCourt wants to bring the protocol to TikTok's 170 million users as well. "We need to scale DSNP for it to be a true alternative, and that's what TikTok would do," McCourt said. McCourt outlined a future where social apps will be interoperable, and users will be able to tap into their network no matter which social app they are logged into. So, someone on MeWe could talk to someone on TikTok, or share a link with them without logging into an account just for that one specific app. Related: 3 Simple Steps to Start Making Money on TikTok McCourt compared the situation to how phone numbers are now interoperable. A person using AT&T can call someone on Verizon without worrying about whether their call will go through. "Imagine an Internet where that's the case, where you can be on one app and I could be on another, and we'll be able to share information," McCourt said. McCourt noted that gathering $20 billion for the bid was "quite easy" because "people saw the value" of the offer. And if The People's Bid doesn't end up being selected, McCourt isn't ruling out developing a competing social media app. "We may," he said. "At some point, we just need to move forward."
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The Billionaire Odd Couple Whose Hedge Fund Is Killing It
LONDON—London investment duo Paul Marshall and Ian Wace outran competitors during the recent market turmoil with an unconventional trading strategy: a top-secret algorithm that analyzes tips from rival hedge funds and investment banks. It's Wall Street meets fantasy football. Stock salespeople and others across Wall Street submit trading recommendations to the duo's hedge-fund firm, Marshall Wace. The firm analyzes the ideas and rewards firms of top contributors with millions of dollars of commissions each year.
Auto Blog
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
Tesla Faces Lawsuit Over Odometer Tampering Claims
Tesla's warranty strategy isn't just aggressive—it's algorithmic warfare against its own customers. A California class-action lawsuit alleges the company uses predictive software to inflate odometer readings by up to 117%, voiding warranties prematurely and forcing owners into $10,000 repair bills. And if the Courts find it to be systematic? Global? Based on the lawsuit data, the total estimated annual financial benefit to Tesla is about $3.99 billion. The Algorithmic Mileage Scam Nyree Hinton's 2020 Model Y odometer logged 72 miles/day despite a 20-mile commute, burning through his 50,000-mile warranty in 18 months. Tesla's system calculates distance using energy consumption and driving patterns rather than physical rotation, a method patented in 2023. This is not random or a glitch but part of Tesla's revenue model. Every 1,000 algorithmically generated 'miles' saves Tesla $200 in warranty repairs per vehicle, while pushing owners into $3,500 extended coverage plans. Class Action Lawsuit Could Trigger Global Tesla Warranty Fallout Tesla's Q1 2025 revenue dropped 9% YoY to $19.3B, with operating margins collapsing to 2.1%. A Dieselgate-scale penalty ($33B+) would consume 89% of its $37B cash reserves. Unlike VW's emissions cheat, Tesla's alleged fraud targets individual contracts—a breach that could nullify 1.3 million California warranties and trigger global copycat suits. The Trust Equation Elon Musk dismissed the claims as 'idiotic,' but Tesla's only defense hinges on a technicality: odometers legally tolerate ±4% inaccuracies. Hinton's alleged 117% discrepancy would require driving 205 mph daily—farcical for a suburban commuter. The real damage is reputational at a time when the costs of EV ownership, and the high likelihood of 'unexpected costs,' are turning customers away. Can Tesla Survive a Scandal Bigger Than Dieselgate? VW never recovered its 2015 U.S. market share after Dieselgate. Tesla's crisis is worse—it isn't hiding pollution, but the mileage equivalent of rigged scales. When your car's odometer runs faster than your mortgage clock, what's left to trust?
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Health
- The Verge
Oura rings will now track step counts more accurately
Following the debut of the Oura Ring 4 last October, which featured improved accuracy for blood oxygen tracking and heart rate readings, the company has announced it's introducing additional algorithm improvements that will deliver more comprehensive and accurate movement tracking. First announced last month, the updates are now 'rolling out to members globally' and include a new step-counting algorithm called Real Steps that makes the Oura Ring function more like a pedometer. Instead of estimating your step count using generic movement data, an advanced machine-learning model will now more accurately determine when ring movement is the result of a step, although the company warns that users may see a decrease in step count of up to 20 percent as a result of the changes. Oura's active calorie burn estimates will also now factor in the intensity of your movements during exercise using heart rate measurements. As with the potential changes in step count, the company says that during more intense workouts users may see that they've 'burned more calories than previously shown,' or have burned fewer calories during low-impact exercises like yoga or walking, when heart rates don't tend to dramatically increase. Late-night activities such as dancing at the club until early morning are tracked and taken into account. The wearable's all-day activity tracking is being expanded to work all night as well, including between the hours of 12AM and 4AM, so that late-night activities such as dancing at the club until the early morning are tracked and taken into account. And if you forget to add a workout, you can add or edit activities from the past seven days in the Oura app — not just the current day — with Readiness and Activity Scores being automatically adjusted to reflect those changes. New fitness metrics are being added to the Oura Ring's Automatic Activity Detection, including running splits that leverage GPS data from a connected smartphone to show walks and runs in more detail. And heart rate data will now be included when importing activity data into the Oura app that was collected by third-party health and fitness apps, including Apple Health, Strava, and Android Health Connect. In addition to these upgrades, Oura has announced new partner integrations with CorePower Yoga, The Sculpt Society, Technogym, and Open, whose respective apps will 'tailor training and recovery recommendations' based on a user's Oura Readiness Score and other biometric data captured by the smart ring, including sleep, stress, calories, and heart rate variability.
Android Authority
09-05-2025
- Android Authority
YouTube needs a 'block channel' option
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority Google's algorithm on YouTube that suggests new content to me is great. It quickly gets a feel for the stuff I like to watch and pushes me to similar content by different creators. Before I know it, I'm hooked, spending hours and hours glued to my screen. However, every now and then, something slips through the cracks. Maybe you watched a political video and now get fed content from creators you'd rather not see. Or, perhaps you watched a video about your favorite sports team, and the algorithm is pushing you towards creators that favor your team's rival. These kinds of things happen, and YouTube has a nifty way of dealing with it: just hit the three-dot icon next to a video's title on the Home page and then select 'Don't recommend channel.' Problem solved! Well, you'd think the problem is solved, but it actually isn't. All you've really done is tell the algorithm that you don't like that channel and don't want it recommended anymore. You haven't actually blocked it, so videos from that channel will still appear in your search feed, among other places on the site. It's high time that YouTube truly solved this problem. All it would take is adding a 'Block channel' option next to any video on the platform. Do you wish YouTube had a 'block channel' option? 0 votes Yes, this would be amazing! NaN % No, this would not be useful to me. NaN % Why a 'block channel' option is necessary Robert Triggs / Android Authority Let me give you a real-world example of why I desperately want a 'block channel' option on YouTube. I am in the market for a new laptop, and have my eyes set on the 2025 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16. As one would expect, I've been watching a ton of YouTube content related to this laptop to get a feel for whether or not it's worth the money. It starts at a whopping $2,799, so you'd better believe I'm going to be 100% sure it's what I want before I pull the trigger. I am looking at buying a new laptop, and YouTube is showing me trash content related to my search terms. The YouTube algorithm knows I'm looking for Zephyrus G16 content, and is pummeling me with suggestions. One channel, SimplifyTech, has popped up on my home screen a few times now. I watched the first few seconds of their video about the Zephyrus G16, and was horrified to see that this is not a 'real' creator's channel. Instead, it's a computer's voice reading a written script (that was most likely generated with AI) with b-roll footage stolen from other creators. As if that wasn't bad enough, sometimes the information isn't even accurate. Check out the stills below for proof: C. Scott Brown / Android Authority HardwareCanucks Video SimplifyTech Video Take special note that the b-roll still shown above — stolen from the incredible HardwareCanucks channel — shows the 2024 Zephyrus G16. Granted, the 2025 model looks very similar, but SimplifyTech couldn't even steal the right footage. Anyway, SimplifyTech is pure trash, and I never want to see it again in my search results or anywhere in the app, ever. I successfully ticked the 'Don't recommend channel' option on the home screen, and haven't seen anything pop up there since. However, the channel still shows up in search results, which is really annoying. Since there's no 'block channel' option on YouTube, there's nothing I can do about it. I want to block this terrible channel from showing up in my search results, but that's simply not possible without a 'block channel' option. You're probably thinking that I should report the video. Well, I did do that: I reported it to YouTube as 'Spam or misleading' content, which was the most appropriate option available (there was no 'AI slop featuring stolen content' option, unfortunately). The kicker is, though, that this doesn't block the channel either. That video I reported still appears as the third video when I search for Zephyrus G16 content. Third! You would think reporting a video would at least remove it from my feed, specifically, or at the very least downgrade it. But no, it's still there, very prominently. Meanwhile, I received an automatic email from YouTube saying that it's looking into my report and will either remove the content, place restrictions on it, or leave it be after 'taking a careful look' at it. That's not enough, Google. Just let me block it. Google's push for AI is going to cause lots of problems like this Rushil Agrawal / Android Authority It's no secret that Google is all-in on generative AI. The company can't stop talking about it. However good its AI might be, there's no question that AI is at least partially responsible for the genesis of channels like SimplifyTech. As AI gets easier and cheaper to use, there will be a deluge of garbage channels like it all over YouTube. As of right now, there's nothing you or I can do about it. If Google allowed us to block channels, though, it would at least let us make our own individual YouTube experiences tolerable. If Google isn't going to crack down on blatantly unethical (and unhelpful) channels like SimplifyTech, that's its own fault. But at least let me control what YouTube looks like for myself by allowing me to purge dumpster fires like this and stay focused on the hard-working, real people making YouTube content. Did I mention I pay for YouTube Premium? Shouldn't that go further to protect me from misleading, unethical content on the platform? The real kicker here, though, is that I pay for YouTube Premium. Shouldn't paying YouTube over $20 monthly protect me from channels like SimplifyTech? It's not an ad, sure, but it's not valuable content by any stretch of the imagination. Granted, I don't think a 'block channel' tool on YouTube should be locked behind a Premium subscription, but if Google should be out to protect anyone's best interest here, it should be people like me who are paying for YouTube. Do you wish YouTube had a 'block channel' option? Let me know in the poll at the beginning of this article, and sound off your own thoughts in the comments!
