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Kevin Kortum

225 posts

Posts by Kevin Kortum

🗯️ In Charlie Kirk’s name: Trump officials signal move to limit free speech

FT

“With God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people,” he added. “It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.”

In honor of the “bastion of free speech” and the debater who was so skilled he only ever debated with college students, we are going to… ensure no one can ever speak a negative word about Trump, Kirk, or any of their allies ever again. Thanks, Stephen Miller!

Client Challenge

💬 Slack is extorting us with a $195k/yr bill increase

Skyfall

Two days ago, Slack reached out to us and said that if we don’t agree to pay an extra $50k this week and $200k a year, they’ll deactivate our Slack workspace and delete all of our message history.

What a class act they run over at Slack and Salesforce. A week’s notice to go from $5k a year to $200k a year for a non-profit when it probably costs Slack pennies on the dollar to host their data.

Slack is extorting us with a $195k/yr bill increase
An open letter, or something

🤖 Anthropic irks White House with limits on models’ use

Semafor

Anthropic recently declined requests by contractors working with federal law enforcement agencies because the company refuses to make an exception allowing its AI tools to be used for some tasks, including surveillance of US citizens, said the officials, who spoke to Semafor on the condition of anonymity.

Apparently, a tech company has at least a couple of vertebrae left in its spine. I’m sure those will be gone soon, though—cause they already essentially offer their services to the government for free.

Anthropic irks White House with limits on models’ use
The AI firm declined requests by contractors working with federal law enforcement that could see its tools being used for surveillance.

📺 ABC suspends ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ “indefinitely” over Charlie Kirk comments

THR

Kimmel’s original comments were as follows: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

This literally can’t be all he said, can it? That’s enough to suspend him? That’s more tame than anything the people on the right have said, accusing democrats and the trans community of Kirk’s death. So much for free speech and being against cancel culture. What a joke.

ABC Suspends ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ “Indefinitely” Over Charlie Kirk Comments
The network’s decision comes after affiliate group Nexstar said it would pull the late night show, and the chairman of the FCC suggested he might take action against ABC.

🤖 Business Insider reportedly tells journalists they can use AI to draft stories

The Verge

A dedicated FAQ reportedly addressed whether journalists can explicitly use AI to assist with writing first drafts. “Yes, but you must make sure your final work is yours,” it answered. The guidelines stressed final products must be the journalist’s own work, however, adding that journalists would be responsible for stories under their name.

What’s the end-goal here? Are journalists going to work themselves out of a job? Does BI think this will produce a higher quantity and quality of journalism? And what happens when AI starts training on all the AI journalism? Does the world just explode? Knowing management encourages the use of AI in writing—let alone allows it—is as clear an indicator you can give me to never visit their site again.

Business Insider reportedly gives journalists green light to write stories with AI — and it won’t tell readers
The policy makes Insider one of the first major US newsrooms to permit such extensive use of the technology.