by tyler | Mar 26, 2024 | Tech
Artifact , the well-received AI-powered news app from Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, may not be shutting down as planned. The company announced in January the award-winning app would be winding down operations as the market opportunity wasn’t “big enough to warrant continued investment.” However, despite an end-of-life date of February 2024, the app has continued to function in the many weeks since.
As it turns out, that’s not by mistake.
Systrom tells us that he and Krieger are continuing to keep Artifact alive for the time being and have not yet given up on a plan to maintain the app in the future — news that will likely give fans of the news discovery app a bit of hope.
“It takes a lot less to run it than we had imagined,” Systrom confirmed to TechCrunch, adding that it’s just himself and Krieger running Artifact right now. “It will still likely go away, but we’re exploring all possible routes for it going forward.” (Perhaps an exit deal is at hand?)
Artifact made a splash at launch, not only because it was the first major effort at a new social app from Instagram’s co-founders, but also because of its clever use of AI. The personalized news reading app leveraged AI to help users discover the news they were most interested in from a variety of pre-vetted sources, and offered up features to summarize news in various styles (like “Gen Z” or “Explain Like I’m Five”). It could also rewrite clickbait headlines for better clarity, among other things.
artifact’s “gen z summary” feature is so deeply out of pocket. i’ll miss it when the app goes down. pic.twitter.com/5PaMavJbNS
— @samhenrigold@hachyderm.io (@samhenrigold) March 16, 2024
Following Artifact’s announcement of its impending closure, interest in using AI to summarize the news has heated up.
Browser startup Arc implemented an AI-powered “pinch to summarize” feature ahead of its $50 million fundraise. Other startups have also turned to AI to improve the news reading experience, like RSS reader Feeeed, AI-powered news reader Bulletin and Particle, an AI news reader built by former Twitter engineers , including the senior director of Product Management at Twitter, Sara Beykpour , and former senior engineer at both Twitter and Tesla, Marcel Molina . The latter recently raised $4.4 million in seed funding, indicating investor interest in this space is growing, too.
Artifact, meanwhile, had been self-funded by the founders to the tune of “single-digit millions,” and it seems they have the funds to continue to run the app — at least in the near term.
Unfortunately for Artifact’s early adopters, the app has been stripped of its social features , like commenting and posting , but it continues to offer news reading and AI summarization features in the version that remains live today.
Instagram co-founders’ news aggregation startup Artifact to shut down
Artifact takes on X and Threads with new Posts feature
by tyler | Mar 15, 2024 | Tech
A new ad from Under Armour featuring boxer Anthony Joshua has come under fire from creatives on Instagram after its director claimed it as the “first Ai-powered sports commercial” — but critics in the industry say it blatantly reused others’ work without credit as part of an AI hype cycle cash grab.
Director Wes Walker posted the spot, along with several variations and riffs, on Instagram earlier this week , saying: “Under Armour asked us to build a film from nothing but existing assets, a 3D model of Anthony Joshua and no athlete access. This piece combines Ai video, Ai photo, 3D CGI, 2D VFX, Motion graphics, 35mm film, digital video and advances in Ai voiceover. Every current Ai tool was explored and pushed to the maximum.” [I have left “AI” as “Ai” throughout.]
Seen on its own, the ad is not in itself objectionable. Live footage is intercut with 3D models, landscapes and abstract scenes, all rendered in contrasty monochrome.
Walker claimed that the whole thing was done in three weeks flat, which is quite short for a major brand and athlete, and noted of the reliance on AI that “Key in this industry shift is that we stay true to the core of what we’re here to do – tell powerful stories and uplift the human soul with beautiful, provocative and interesting visions…Ai will integrate into our workflows in ever evolving ways … but the heart and the mind that peer behind the veil and doors of perception … is still and will always be ours.”
A post shared by Wes Walker (@wes_walker_)
“Ours,” however, may have been an overstatement. While this is all quite run of the mill self-promoting pablum, as one often finds in such captions, the director was quickly taken to task by other creatives who pointed out that his ad in large part repackaged another’s work — and much more difficult and valuable work at that.
The caption says that 35mm was a part of this “mixed media” production. What probably should have been said is there was an entire existing but unmentioned film-based production , directed by Gustav Johansson two years ago. “Cool film, But all the stuff with athlete is shot by André Chementoff [Chemetoff ] and from a commercial I did?” asked Johansson in a comment.
A post shared by Gustav Johansson (@gustav_johansson)
It looks really good! But neither creator was initially credited in the caption, a professional courtesy that costs nothing and would have much more honestly represented who actually created the images seen here.
Johansson, Chemetoff and others showed up in the comments incensed not that their work had been used (it’s inevitable in commercials) but that it was seemingly just redeployed as a cost-cutting measure and credit taken without acknowledging their contribution.
In an apparently now-deleted comment, Walker says that they did ask for access to Joshua, but “were rejected several times. UA had limited time, limited budget, 3 weeks from ideation to delivery… Timeline, budget, access, and the realities of production are all real and highly limiting concerns with commercials of this level.”
“UA get to do what they want with the footage of course but slippery slope you as a creative saying it’s AI when it actually humans behind it? AI has nothing to do with it really, it’s more how you choose to label and promote your work [is] even more important when times are shifting,” wrote Johansson in conversation with Walker.
“The future is brands training Ai on their products, athletes, aesthetics + repurposing existing footage bases + using Ai to do more with less in less time,” wrote Walker. (After arguing for some time, he did relent and successfully petitioned to have credits for them and others added to the post.)
This perspective had creatives from around the industry coming out of the woodwork to decry what they perceived as another step down the road of AI not replacing what they do but being used by companies to take advantage of them. While there is an expectation that commercial work will be abused and reused to some extent, they pointed out there is a vast gulf between shooting stock footage or everyday stuff, and being commissioned to create a film with a unique treatment and creative vision — but both are being treated as raw material by brands.
Spawning lays out plans for letting creators opt out of generative AI training
Wrote cinematographer Rob Webster : “If times are shifting, surely it’s the responsibility of creatives to resist changes that allow agencies and brands to steal work from colleagues without appropriate credit…. The use of this technology is inevitable but the application of it, and discourse around it is very much in our hands.”
Video production firm Crowns and Owls : “If you’re somebody that shoots for Shutterstock then you know you’re handing over work with the literal purpose behind it being re-use/recyclability. There’s a fundamental difference if you did a commercial three years ago and then it’s kept on a hard drive by a brand just so they can wheel it out and bastardise it whenever they don’t have ‘time or budget’, which let’s be honest, is almost always and will be increasingly so.
“The legality is the legality – corporate worlds will always thrive in the grey area, but there’s a blatant artistic moral coding that’s been overstepped here, and it signifies a pivotal moment. The change is already underway. As artists, now more than ever we must prove our worth and we must be in dialogue.”
Producer Elise Tyler asks: “When you see the original, you begin to understand why this conversation needed to happen already. Why didn’t they just commission the original director again? Why would a new director make an ungodly by most standards day fee to ‘direct’ this? They didn’t need crew, they didn’t need locations, they didn’t need craft… Filmmakers have to stand together as we traverse this new AI landscape. Not turn a blind eye and say ‘but it’s the future!’ ”
Director Ivan Vaccaro summed up what may be among creatives’ last resort: refusal. “Saying no to a client and an agency is the most powerful creative and human tool we can have. Something that no artificial intelligence will ever achieve.”
While Walker and his production may be the villain of the week, they are hardly unique in their approach, and indeed the buck may not stop with him for accepting a job that may or may not be ethical, but with Under Armour for rushing a quick turnaround to capitalize on the AI craze. Perhaps they underestimated the passion of the creators whose decidedly analog and human-focused processes actually produce original and compelling content.
Great, now we have to become digital copyright experts
by tyler | Mar 14, 2024 | Tech
Instagram is working on a “Spins” feature for Reels, its short-form video TikTok clone, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature, which was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi , would allow other users to swap out the text or audio in your Reels. Instagram says Spins is an internal prototype and isn’t being tested externally.
The feature could be used as a way for users to start trends by creating templates that other people can then put their own creative spin on. If there’s a trending template that somebody created, you would be able to swap the text or audio to change the meaning to fit another scenario. For example, you could record a video of your dog yawning and then share it with the text “Me on Monday mornings.” If you toggle on Spins, someone else could reshare your video and swap out the text with something like “Me trying to stay awake in class.”
According to a screenshot posted by Paluzzi, it seems that creators would get credit for their original Reels every time someone creates a Spin of it, allowing them to reach a wider audience. The screenshot also indicates that users would be able to switch the feature on and off for different Reels via a “Spins” toggle that would appear before you publish a Reel.
#Instagram keeps working on “Spins” for #Reels 👀
ℹ️ Allow people to swap out text or audio in your Reel. For every spin added, you will reach their audience. pic.twitter.com/W3DIgWAeuT
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 12, 2024
Spins shouldn’t be confused with Reels’ existing “Remix” functionality, which is a clone of TikTok’s duet feature that lets you appear in a video next to an original one side by side to offer commentary or reactions. Spins, on the other hand, allows for a bit more collaborative fun and creativity.
If released, the new feature would give Reels users and viewers access to a functionality that isn’t available on TikTok. Given that Reels is essentially a copycat of TikTok and has the same features, the addition of Spins would introduce a differentiator, albeit a small one, between the two products.
As with any other internal prototype, it’s unknown when or if Instagram plans to launch Spins publicly.
by tyler | Mar 7, 2024 | Tech
Instagram has quietly added a secret emoji game that you can access in your DMs. The goal of the game is simple: use your finger to move the paddle at the bottom of your screen to keep your emoji afloat and continuously bouncing. Drop your emoji, and it’s game over. The game is reminiscent of the old-school games that would come pre-installed on your phone back in the day, like Breakout or Pong.
To access the hidden game, all you have to do is open up a DM chat, send an emoji, and then click on it. After that, you will be transported to a yellow screen with a paddle and emoji of your choosing. The emoji will move faster as the game progresses and the background color will get darker.
Image Credits: TechCrunch/Screenshot
Image Credits: TechCrunch/Screenshot
From my testing, I found that you can use any emoji you want, but you can only access the game by sending a single emoji. The game saves your high score, so you can come back to it at any time to try to beat your previous high score. Your high score is saved across your DMs, so you don’t have to go back to the first emoji that you sent when activating the game. You can also activate the game by clicking on an emoji that someone else sent in a DM.
It’s worth mentioning that the other person in the chat won’t know what you’re doing, so you may want to fill them in on why you’re sending them a random emoji.
Although the game works on both iOS and Android, unfortunately, not everyone has access to it. In tests, some users at TechCrunch had access to the game, but others did not.
An Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email that the company is always working on new ways to make “Instagram feel more fun,” which is why it rolled out the game. However, the company didn’t share any details about its availability.
by tyler | Mar 5, 2024 | Tech
Reports are coming in that a number of Meta’s top social apps, including Facebook and Instagram, as well as its new app Threads , are all experiencing an outage on Tuesday morning. When loading the apps or websites, users receive an error message that “something went wrong” and to try again later, or, in the case of Facebook, they’re taken to a logged-out landing page but are unable to sign in even when using their correct password. [Update, 12:11 PM ET: The apps appear to be working again. Meta said at 12:19 PM ET that the issue was ‘technical’ in nature.]
The troubles seem to have started at some point after 10 AM ET on Tuesday, according to reports on social media and various user-submitted issue trackers, like DownDetector . However, Meta’s own status page only shows results related to Meta’s business products, like Ads Manager, not the platforms as a whole. We’ve reached out to Meta to confirm the timing and the reports and will update if we hear more information. In the meantime, Meta communications director Andy Stone has confirmed the outage in a post on X , noting, “We’re aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now.”
We’re aware people are having trouble accessing our services. We are working on this now.
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) March 5, 2024
#Instagram , #Facebook and #Threads are currently down 🙄 pic.twitter.com/Zbpozhsn8F
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) March 5, 2024
It’s highly unusual for Meta to be experiencing a widespread outage like this, given the size and scale of its network and the redundancies built in. For that reason, some people are suspicious about the origins of this outage, particularly because it’s election day across a number of U.S. states , which means millions of people are headed to the polls to vote in the primary on what’s known as Super Tuesday. This outage, then, comes at a terrible time for any candidates or political organizations looking to do last-minute voter outreach efforts or those reminding people to go vote.
The fact it is Super Tuesday is very, very sus
— @mkarolian on Threads (@mkarolian) March 5, 2024
Meta’s suite of apps has played a large role during the election cycle, given its family of apps, which also includes WhatsApp, now reach 3.98 million monthly active users as of the end of last year, the company’s data shows. To quell its potential role in influencing the elections’ outcome, Meta disabled political ads in the timeframe leading up to key elections, like the U.S. midterms. To address newer concerns, Meta also announced it would l abel political ads with AI-generated imagery for the 2024 election cycle.
Related to elections and social media discussions, Meta last week said it would be exiting the news business in the U.S . and Australia with the removal of the News tab in April 2024.
Amazon’s Web Services service health status currently shows there are no recent issues , but Meta operates its own data centers, which could still be experiencing an issue, despite whether or not AWS was seeing a problem.
While some people have reported seeing issues with other sites, like YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), those platforms appear to be currently up.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted an update shortly after the news of the Meta outage broke to confirm that X was not seeing issues of its own.
“Testing, testing… affirmative, everything is functioning smoothly here,” she wrote.
X owner Elon Musk meanwhile mocked the outage with a meme. In a separate post, he also added , “If you’re reading this post, it’s because our servers are working.”
Testing, testing… affirmative, everything is functioning smoothly here. 😉
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) March 5, 2024
pic.twitter.com/VTOACNfb3E
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024
If you’re reading this post, it’s because our servers are working
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024
The issues at Meta seem to stretch beyond just its consumer-facing apps, as company employees have also posted on X that they are unable to log in to work, as well. One Meta Reality Labs employee noted they were even booted out of work “mid meeting.” in fact.
Remarked app developer Nikita Bier , whose app TBH was acquired by Meta, “Last time Facebook did a forced logout of everyone, it was hacked, where adversaries leveraged a bug with the View-As feature.”
Meta did not indicate that was hacked today, but the timing had raised people’s concerns.
Roughly a couple of hours after the outage began, it was resolved. In a post on X , Stone said, “Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
Earlier today, a technical issue caused people to have difficulty accessing some of our services. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we apologize for any inconvenience. https://t.co/ybyyAZNAMn
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) March 5, 2024
YouTube is down too, site confirms
Facebook plans to shut down its news tab in the US and Australia
Discord comes back online after widespread outage
