Katkam rajashekhar: June 2023

Friday, June 30, 2023

Uorfi Javed On Fame Hate And More: "People Don't Want To Work With Me"

Uorfi Javed has quite a bit of a reputation for experimenting with her sartorial choices but has her online popularity translated into work? Uorfi, during an interview with BBC World Service, opened up on how she struggles to find work despite her popularity online. "I have achieved popularity - yes, fame - yes, work - no," she said. Uorfi added, "People don't respect me. People don't want to work with me." Describing her fashion choices, the social media star said, "I would describe my fashion sense as bold and I scream attention. I want attention so I dress like that. I was fascinated by, of course the film industry, what I was seeing on the television and I always wanted to be an actor. I just wanted to be famous." Uorfi, who appeared in the first season of TV reality show Bigg Boss OTT, added, "I was the first contestant to be eliminated. I got popular after that show because of my fashion choices."

With fame, also comes hate. The actor shared her approach of dealing with trolls and hate and she said, "I am human so I get upset but then me being upset lasts for like 5-10 minutes and I tell myself that they are just probably very ugly and you're just too pretty." When asked if she would change her sense of style to cater to a brand, Uorfi said, "Then go take someone else. If you don't want Uorfi Javed then why are you coming to Uorfi Javed."

Things changed and for better when Uorfi Javed became Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's muse. She wrote in a post, "I am thrilled to be dressed by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. They are masters of what they do and have made me feel all the more empowered with their acceptance of who I am. No designers would give me clothes which is why I started making my own. Abu Sandeep have changed that for me."

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A post shared by Uorfi (@urf7i)

Uorfi Javed is known for participating in TV reality shows such as Bigg Boss OTT and MTVSplitsvillaX4. She started trending big time for her unconventional outfit choices and piecing together her viral-worthy DIY looks. Earlier this year, she trended a great deal after she modelled for designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

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Spotify Planning to Test Full-Length Music Videos in App

Spotify Technology is considering adding full-length music videos to its app, which could help the streaming service better compete with Alphabet's YouTube and ByteDance's TikTok.

The service has already begun talking to partners about the product, according to people familiar with the plan who asked not to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak about it publicly.

Spotify declined to comment.

The feature would add to Spotify's growing efforts to establish video — which in the streaming media era has tended to be more lucrative than audio — as a core part of its app. Spotify already allows musicians to upload “canvases,” or looping GIFs under 10 seconds long, that populate the screen while music plays. Earlier this year, it debuted a feature called “clips,” which are videos shorter than 30 seconds designed to give artists a storytelling tool to communicate about their music, similar to how they might use TikTok.

The company also launched a new, TikTok-esque music home screen in March that allows users to preview and swipe through surfacing videos before committing to listen to a full track. Earlier this week, Spotify announced that the platform has surpassed more than 100,000 podcasts with video.

Spotify is responding to growing competition for the Gen Z audience by YouTube and TikTok. YouTube operates a streaming music service and appeals to fans with full-length music videos, as well as the more concise Shorts. It has also added podcasts to YouTube Music. ByteDance has reportedly looked to expand its music streaming service Resso, which already operates in countries where Spotify is offered, and TikTok has become an important discovery platform for musical artists.

Spotify previously set its sights on video by creating its own original series and working with media companies, including Paramount Global and Vice Media, to place TV content in the app, such as clips from the Comedy Central show Broad City. Those deals eventually lapsed.

Is the Xiaomi Pad 6 the best Android tablet you can buy under Rs. 30,000 in India? We discuss the company's latest mid-range tablet on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Alan Arkin Star Of Little Miss Sunshine Dies At 89

Alan Arkin, the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine and Argo actor known for his wry wit and improvisation skills, has died at the age of 89, according to his sons. Adam, Matthew and Anthony - who all followed their father into the entertainment industry - said he was "a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man."

"A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed," they said in a statement Friday, without citing a cause of death.

Born in Brooklyn on March 26, 1934 to Russian-German Jewish immigrant parents, Arkin began taking acting classes from a young age.

His family relocated to Los Angeles in the 1950s, and Arkin won scholarships to various Los Angeles drama colleges before dropping out to form a folk music band, The Tarriers, in 1955.

The group had a hit with 1956's The Banana Boat Song and he continued to pursue a music career as well as acting for the next decade.

He was a member of Chicago's storied Second City improvisational troupe, and appeared on the big screen for the first time with The Tarriers in 1957's Calypso Heat Wave.

He made his Broadway debut in From the Second City, which led to a role in acclaimed comedy Enter Laughing, for which he won a Tony Award.

'Indelible mark' -

In a rare feat, Arkin earned a best actor Oscar nomination for his first feature acting role, playing the Soviet sailor Rozanov, who is mistaken for a spy, in the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

That was followed by appearances in 1967's Wait Until Dark opposite Audrey Hepburn, and 1968's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," for which he received a second Oscar nomination, for playing a deaf-mute.

Many critics believe Arkin's best performance came in 1970's "Catch 22," the film adaptation of Joseph Heller's best-selling tragicomic war novel.

Arkin appeared regularly on stage, television and the big screen from the 1970s to the 1990s, with notable roles in Edward Scissorhands (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997).

He took it on himself to create his Little Miss Sunshine character's backstory, deciding that Grandpa Hoover should be a washed-up former saxophonist with a penchant for strip clubs and drugs. It would win him his only Oscar.

"I love completely disreputable characters who spout philosophy," Arkin said. "He's completely out there, wide open and nuts."

He earned another Oscar nomination for 2013's best picture winner "Argo," in which he played a curmudgeonly Hollywood producer who brought comic relief to the tense Iran hostage thriller.

He later starred in the acclaimed Netflix series The Kominsky Method, which premiered in 2018. He played the agent and friend to an aging acting coach, portrayed by Michael Douglas.

On Friday, Douglas called Arkin "a wonderful actor whose intelligence, sense of comedy and consummate professionalism over the past 70 years has left an indelible mark on our industry."

Arkin credited his early days as an improv performer with teaching him many lessons -- but one of the key ones, he said, was failure.

"The audience came in knowing a lot of what they saw was going to fail, and it was okay," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. "Now if you fail, it's a moral issue, bad for the numbers crunchers."

"But one of the things I learned from improvising is that all of life is an improvisation, whether you like it or not."

"Some of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century came out of people dropping things."

Along with his three sons, Arkin is survived by his wife Suzanne as well as four grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

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Meta Google Advised in Vietnam to Use AI to Detect Toxic Content on Social Media: Report

Vietnam has told cross-border social platforms to use artificial intelligence (AI) models that can detect and remove "toxic" content automatically, the latest requirement in its stringent regime for social media firms, state media reported on Friday.

Vietnam has repeatedly asked companies like Meta's Facebook, Google's YouTube and TikTok to coordinate with authorities to stamp out content deemed "toxic", such as offensive, false and anti-state content.

"This is the first time Vietnam has announced such an order," state-run broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) reported from the information ministry's mid-year review event, which was opened to selected newspaper.

The report did not give details on when and how cross-border platforms had to abide by the new requirement.

During the first half of this year, in accordance with government requests, Facebook removed 2,549 posts, the ministry said in a statement. YouTube removed 6,101 videos while TikTok took down 415 links, the info ministry said in a statement.

The announcement came as Southeast Asian countries are drawing up governance and ethics guidelines for AI that will impose "guardrails" on the booming technology, Reuters reported this month.

Vietnam in recent years has issued several regulations together with a cybersecurity law that target foreign social media platforms in a bid to battle disinformation in news and force foreign tech firms to establish representative offices in Vietnam and store data in the country.

The country last month undertook a comprehensive inspection on short videos platform TikTok's local operations and preliminary results showed "various" TikTok violations, the info ministry has said.

VTV reported the info ministry saying at Friday's event that US streaming giant Netflix had submitted documents needed to open a local office in Vietnam.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Meta Now Allows Secure Chat Transfer Between Devices on WhatsApp Using QR Code

Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg on Friday announced a new feature on the platform's instant messaging app, WhatsApp. According to the Meta CEO, users will now be allowed to transfer their chat history between devices conveniently and in a secure way. Currently, both the devices need to work on the same OS (operating system) for the transfer to take place. The new feature makes the process easier and faster to transfer messages as well as larger attachments from one device to another.

In a post shared by Meta CEO on his official Facebook handle, Zuckerberg wrote, "If you want to move your WhatsApp chats to a new phone, you can now do it more privately without your chats ever leaving your devices." Apparently, now the users will be able to share the chat history with the help of QR code authentication. He also shared a demonstration video to explain the new process.

While WhatsApp already allowed users to transfer their chat history from one phone to another, the new method of chat transfer using QR code makes the process more safe. Currently, users can transfer their chat history by either using third party apps, or by updating the backup on cloud services.

However, with the new process, users do not need to exit their app on one device to transfer the data on the other phone. The data remains only between two devices, without any third party apps or clod services in between, and stays safe.

Users will therefore not be required to take a backup of the data for the purpose of transferring that chat history or media files. In order to transfer using QR code, both devices should be physically connected to Wi-Fi and location enabled. One can transfer chats and media from an old phone by going to Settings > Chats > Chats Transfer > Scan the QR code using the new device.

Apple's annual developer conference is just around the corner. From the company's first mixed reality headset to new software updates, we discuss all the things we're looking forward to seeing at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thursday, June 29, 2023

Kaun Banega Crorepati 15: Amitabh Bachchan "Back On The Job" Shares Teaser

Our favourite quizmaster is returning with another season of everyone's beloved show. We are, of course, talking about Amitabh Bachchan, who is returning to the small screen with the latest season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. In a new promo for the 15th season of the show, Big B has shared that this time the Indian adaptation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? will take on a fresh avatar. In the promo video shared by the superstar, he is seen narrating a poem about change. Dressed in his trademark suit, the actor says, “Badal raha hai, badal raha dekhosab kuch badal raha. Bade gyaan se, bade shaan se dekho sab kuch badal raha hai. Time ki mushkil asking hai toh tayaar multi-tasking hai. Apna business is same but mode of payment has changed. Dekho sab kuch badal raha. Duniya ki soch ko chhod ke piche dil apni raahein samajh raha, din aur raat ka fark na raha sapno se face damak raha dekho sab kuch badal raha. Badal raha hai desh, Badal raha hai Kaun Banega Crorepati. [Everything is changing. With great wisdom and great pride, everything is changing. When you are short of time, you can multi-task. The business is the same but the mode of payment has changed. The heart knows its path irrespective of what the world thinks, the dreams know not the difference between night and day. The country is changing, and so is Kaun Banega Crorepati].”

"Back on the job again ...see you soon," wrote Big B, sharing the teaser. Take a look at the post here:

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A post shared by Amitabh Bachchan (@amitabhbachchan)

Amitabh Bachchan has hosted all seasons of the show since its inception except the third. For the third season in 2007, Shah Rukh Khan stepped into Amitabh Bachchan's shoes.

Meanwhile, on the cinema front, Nimrat Kaur shared a post about working with the legendary actor on a project. Sharing an image with Big B, the actress said, “No words will ever be adequate to explain what I felt before, between and after my two most favourite sounds - "action" and "cut" were called out on the Section 84 set since exactly 2 months ago today. Like the last page of a book you never want to end, the last day brought with it a heady mix of gratitude, learnings for a lifetime, separation anxiety and a simple knowing that as an actor nothing can quite prepare you for sharing screen space with a once in many lifetimes force of nature, Mr Amitabh Bachchan. Everything can and should not be articulated. So, my heart shall savour the best of it forever.” In the image, the two actors are seen posing in a vanity van.

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A post shared by Nimrat Kaur (@nimratofficial)

On the work front, Amitabh Bachchan will soon be seen in Project K with Prabhas, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone.

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Supermodel Naomi Campbell Welcomes Baby Boy At 53: "It's Never Too Late To Become A Mother"

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, 53, just welcomed a baby boy. She shared a picture of her newly born son on her Instagram profile on Wednesday night and she captioned the post, "My little darling, know that you are cherished beyond measure and surrounded by love from the moment you graced us with your presence. A true gift from God, blessed ! Welcome baby boy. #mumoftwo. It's never too late to become a mother." The comments section of Naomi Campbell's post was filled up congratulatory messages from her industry friends and fans. Donatella Versace commented "Congratulations Omi." Zoe Saldana added, "Oh my goodness! Welcome! Blessings upon blessings." Supermodel Ashley Graham wrote, "Congratulations Mama! Welcome baby boy." OG supermodel Cindy Crawford commented, "Congrats! Can't wait to meet him." Marc Jacobs' comment read, "Oh my! Already? I can't believe a second blessing. How amazing."

Take a look at Naomi Campbell's post:

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A post shared by Dr Naomi Campbell (@naomi)

Naomi Campbell welcomed her first child, a daughter, in 2021. Her mother Valerie Morris had announced the news in an Instagram post back in 2021. "Congratulations to my daughter Naomi on the birth of her daughter, I'm beyond thrilled as I've waited a longtime to be grandmother. #proud #mother #grandmother #love #family," read her post.

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A post shared by Valerie Morris-Campbell (@valeriemorriscampbell)

Naomi Campbell, who appeared on the British Vogue alongside her daughter, 2, in February this year, said this about motherhood, "I always knew that one day I would be a mother, but it's the biggest joy I could ever imagine. I'm lucky to have her and I know that." She added that she is encouraging all of her friends to have babies and said, I'm telling them all, do it! Don't hesitate."

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Google to End News Access in Canada Over Law on Paying Publishers

Google said on Thursday it plans to block Canadian news on its platform in Canada, joining Facebook in escalating a campaign against a new law requiring payments to local news publishers.

Alphabet-owned Google will remove links to Canadian news from search results and other products in Canada when the law takes effect in about six months.

Facebook-owner Meta Platforms made a similar announcement last week after the passage of Bill C-18, or the Online News Act.

Canada's media industry has called for tighter regulation of Internet giants to allow news businesses to recoup financial losses suffered in the years that Facebook and Google gained a greater share of the online advertising market.

The independent budgetary watchdog in Canada estimated last year that news businesses could receive about CAD 330 million (roughly Rs. 20,436 crore) per year from deals mandated under the legislation.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who introduced the bill last year, has said the platforms have no obligations under the act immediately and that the government was open to consulting with them on the regulatory and implementation process.

Facebook and Google said the proposals were unsustainable for their businesses and for months signalled possibly ending news availability in Canada unless the act was amended.

Canada's federal government has pushed back against suggestions to make changes, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June accused the companies of using "bullying tactics."

"Big tech would rather spend money to change their platforms to block Canadians from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations," Rodriguez said in a statement on Thursday.

"This shows how deeply irresponsible and out of touch they are, especially when they make billions of dollars off of Canadian users."

Google's president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said in a blog post that the law remains unworkable and that the company did not believe regulatory process would be able to resolve "structural issues with the legislation."

"We have now informed the government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada," Walker said.

The news outlets affected by Google's decision would be based on the government's definition of "eligible news businesses" when rules are finalised for implementation.

Google will also end its News Showcase programme in Canada, under which the company has agreements with 150 news publications across the country. Reuters has a contract with Google to produce News Showcase panels, including in Canada.

The law forces online platforms to negotiate with news publishers and pay for their content. A similar law passed in Australia in 2021 prompted threats from Google and Facebook to curtail their services. Both struck deals with Australian media companies after the legislation was amended.

Google has argued Canada's law is broader than those in Australia and Europe, saying it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

The search engine giant had proposed that the displaying of news content, rather than links, be a basis for payment and that only businesses that produce news according to journalistic standards are eligible.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Microsofts Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Likely to Lessen Competition Says Canadian Justice Department

Canada's Department of Justice has concluded that Microsoft's deal to buy Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard "is likely to" lead to less competition in some aspects of gaming, according to a court filing on Thursday.

In a letter dated Wednesday to Microsoft's US lawyers, the department said it had communicated to Microsoft's and Activision's lawyers in Canada that the deal would likely lead to less competition in "gaming consoles and multigame subscription services (as well as cloud gaming)."

On Thursday, the letter was put on the docket of a US federal court proceeding in which the US Federal Trade Commission is asking a judge to temporarily stop the proposed transaction so that an FTC judge will have time to assess it. Closing arguments in the proceeding are set for later on Thursday.

Microsoft has pressed for a decision in the court fight before the July 18 termination date for the deal. A ruling could come as early as next week.

In a statement, Microsoft said it was working with antitrust enforcers to address concerns.

"We received notice from the Canada Competition Bureau that it would continue to monitor our acquisition of Activision Blizzard after the formal waiting period preventing the deal to close expired," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Microsoft's bid to acquire the Call of Duty videogame maker also faces opposition from British competition authorities. Microsoft's appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal is scheduled for July 28.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

What are the most exciting titles that gamers can look forward to in 2023? We discuss some of our favourites on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Byju'sClose to Achieving Profitability at the Group Level Claims CEO

Edtech major Byju's is growing slowly but sustainably and is close to achieving profitability at the group level, the company's CEO Byju Raveendran said on Thursday.

The company organised a town hall with Raveendran to allay apprehensions about the uncertainty around the company's growth and its future.

According to sources, who attended the town hall, Raveendran said that issues with $1.2 billion (nearly Rs. 9,852 crore) Term Loan B lenders are being resolved through discussion and hopeful of a positive outcome in the next few weeks without the court's intervention.

"Byju shared that Byju's is close to achieving profitability at the group level, demonstrating the company's commitment to financial management and optimization of operations," a source said.

He said that despite the challenges faced by tech companies globally, Byju's has made substantial progress towards this significant milestone.

Byju's had set a timeline to achieve profitability by March 2023.

"He said that Byju's is now growing slowly but sustainably and most of its business verticals are in good shape, relatively speaking," the source said.

Several reports have emerged around Byju's financial performance, debt burden, delay in filing financial results and the latest being investor in the firm Prosus lowering valuation in the firm for 9.6 percent stake.

Prosus' 9.6 percent stake value pegs the edtech firm's valuation at around $6 billion (nearly Rs. 49,260 crore) instead of $22 billion (nearly Rs. 1,80,600 crore) claimed by Byju's.

Amid all the controversies, a Delaware Court recently passed an order in favour of Byju's giving the company a significant boost in its fight against various controversies.

"Byju shared an important update that the TLB dispute is being resolved through constructive discussions, and the company is confident about achieving a positive outcome in the next few weeks without court intervention," another source said.

Raveendran said that constructive discussion with lenders signifies the company's ability to navigate challenges and find solutions through proactive engagement.

The CEO clarified to employees about the director's and auditor Deloitte's resignation.

"Byju highlighted the strategic decision to appoint BDO as Byju's statutory auditors for the next five years which led to Deloitte's exit. He said that a mutually agreed-upon decision has been taken to focus on efficient and timely audits going forward," the source said.

Raveendran during the town hall said that the company is now actively expanding and diversifying its board to reflect the scale, scope, and reach of operations, which is a routine practice for large companies.

He touched upon concerns around the viability of edtech as an industry.

He said that edtech is not a 'pandemic phenomenon' but a permanent fixture in education.

"Byju reassured that Byju's has weathered storms before and emerged stronger. He exhorted his team to “rise above the noise” and work with the resilience and determination that is found in the DNA of BYJU'S," the source said.

Another source claimed that employees did not ask any questions about lay-offs and provident fund deposits.

"Raveendran said that the company has been under crisis multiple times and has come out stronger. So they will come out stronger this time too," the source said.

An email query sent to Byju's elicited no reply.

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OpenAI Sued in US for Allegedly Misusing Artists' Work to Train ChatGPT

Two US authors sued OpenAI in San Francisco federal court on Wednesday, claiming in a proposed class action that the company misused their works to "train" its popular generative artificial-intelligence system ChatGPT.

Massachusetts-based writers Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad said ChatGPT mined data copied from thousands of books without permission, infringing the authors' copyrights.

Matthew Butterick, an attorney for the authors, declined to comment. Representatives for OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several legal challenges have been filed over material used to train cutting-edge AI systems. Plaintiffs include source-code owners against OpenAI and Microsoft's GitHub, and visual artists against Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt.

The lawsuit targets have argued that their systems make fair use of copyrighted work.

ChatGPT responds to users' text prompts in a conversational way. It became the fastest-growing consumer application in history earlier this year, reaching 100 million active users in January only two months after it was launched.

ChatGPT and other generative AI systems create content using large amounts of data scraped from the internet. Tremblay and Awad's lawsuit said books are a "key ingredient" because they offer the "best examples of high-quality longform writing."

The complaint estimated that OpenAI's training data incorporated over 300,000 books, including from illegal "shadow libraries" that offer copyrighted books without permission.

Awad is known for novels including '13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl' and 'Bunny'. Tremblay's novels include 'The Cabin at the End of the World', which was adapted in the M. Night Shyamalan film 'Knock at the Cabin' released in February.

Tremblay and Awad said ChatGPT could generate "very accurate" summaries of their books, indicating that they appeared in its database.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money damages on behalf of a nationwide class of copyright owners whose works OpenAI allegedly misused.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

London Diaries: Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan Sonam Kapoor-Anand Ahuja And Others

Kareena Kapoor, who is holidaying in London with husband Saif Ali Khan and sons Taimur and Jeh, joined Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja for a dinner date. Rhea Kapoor and husband Karan Boolani also joined them. Sonam Kapoor posted pictures from their dinner at London's Mimi Mei Fair. "With the crew Kareena Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor," wrote Sonam (Kareena will feature in Rhea Kapoor's film The Crew). Re-posting the picture, Kareena wrote, "With the best in our fav city."

See what Kareena Kapoor posted:

Screenshot of Kareena Kapoor's Instagram story.

"What food...the best Chinese," wrote Kareena Kapoor sharing a picture from the London eatery.

Screenshot of Kareena Kapoor's Instagram story.

Earlier this week, Kareena Kapoor posted a picture with her husband Saif Ali Khan, sons Taimur and Jeh and she captioned it, "We like our breakfasts to be colourful. Summer of 2023."

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A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan)

Over the weekend, Sonam and Rhea's cousin Janhvi joined them in London. Posting a picture of Sonam and Janhvi, Rhea captioned the post, "Sweet summer solstice at 7 pm. #londonbynight."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rhea Kapoor (@rheakapoor)

Kareena will feature on Rhea Kapoor's The Crew, also starring Tabu, Kriti Sanon and Diljit Dosanjh. Last year, Kareena Kapoor spilled the beans on the project and told news agency PTI that she is reuniting with Rhea Kapoor for a film and that it is not the second installment of Veere Di Wedding. "I am doing a film with Rhea. It is not Veere 2 . It is a story about three women. It is going to be slightly different. It's a super cool and fun story," the actress had earlier told news agency PTI.

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Binance's European Banking Partner to Withdraw Support From September: Report

Binance's European banking partner Paysafe Payment Solutions will stop supporting the US cryptocurrency exchange from September 25, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday.

The crypto exchange will be changing the provider for euro deposits and withdrawals through the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), while the current partner — Paysafe — will no longer be providing these services to Binance users, the report said, citing Binance's spokesperson.

Binance typically accesses SEPA via payment intermediaries.

Paysafe and Binance did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The report comes as Binance faces scrutiny from regulators keen to clamp down on money laundering.

Earlier this month, Binance and its US affiliate had entered an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure US customer assets remain within the country until a sweeping lawsuit filed by the regulatory agency is resolved.

Binance had tied up with Paysafe last year so that its users could deposit sterling via Faster Payments, a network that oversees payments and bank account transfers in Britain.

Binance is under preliminary investigation by the Paris prosecutors office for both illegal canvassing of clients and aggravated money laundering. Last week, the company said it was leaving the Dutch market because it had been unable to meet registration requirements to operate as a virtual asset service provider.

Will crypto tax hurt the industry in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Ram Charan Jr NTR Karan Johar And Others On Oscars' Academy List Of 398 New Members

This is not a drill. RRR stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR, veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam are among the new list of invitees to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Karan Johar is listed as one of the members in the producers category. Oscar-winning composer MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose, who won for RRR song Naatu Naatu, have also received invitations from the Academy. Filmmaker Shaunak Sen, whose documentary All That Breathes was nominated at this year's Academy Awards, is also one of the members. In the cinematographer category, KK Senthil Kumar, who worked on SS Rajamouli's RRR, is also among one of the members.

Per the Academy, the criterion for the membership selection is based on "professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity."

"The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines, and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide," said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

The list of invitees also includes other prominent names including Austin Butler, Stephanie Hsu, Taylor Swift. See the full list here.

Coming back to the global hit RRR, it ruled the international award season and how. At the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles this year,RRR won two awards - Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu. Naatu Naatu also won the Best Song at the 80th Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles this year. It also won 4 big awards at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards, including one for the Oscar winning Naatu Naatu.

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Twitter's New Chief Working on Measures to Bring Back Advertisers Back to Platform: Report

Twitter's new chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, is working on a slew of measures to bring back advertisers who left the platform under Elon Musk's ownership, including introducing a video ads service, pursuing more celebrities and raising headcount, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Wednesday.

Yaccarino, who started as CEO on June 5, is planning to launch full-screen, sound-on video ads that will be shown to users scrolling through Twitter's new short-video feed, the newspaper reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.

She is in talks about a broader partnership with Alphabet-owned Google that would include advertising and access to some of Twitter's data, the report said, citing someone familiar with the matter.

Twitter also hopes to renegotiate multiple contracts with tech companies such as Amazon.com, Salesforce and IBM into single broader partnerships, according to the newspaper.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

Reuters earlier this month reported that Twitter plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships to revitalize the social media company's business beyond digital advertising.

After Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.

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Indian Government Met Foxconn Samsung Electronics Others to Discuss PLI Scheme

The Indian government met large global firms such as Foxconn, Samsung Electronics and Reliance Industries to find ways to boost manufacturing in the country with its production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The meeting, addressed by India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, comes amid concerns that some of the businesses were facing delays in availing the incentives from New Delhi amid complicated procedures.

The discussions included ways to improve local manufacturing at competitive costs, higher domestic value-adds in production, and quick grievance redressal, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

The meeting was also attended by executives from iPhone maker Wistron, laptop maker Dell, telecommunications firm Nokia Solutions and others that benefited from the scheme's incentive payouts.

The PLI scheme, introduced in late 2020, is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's main industrial policy to boost manufacturing.

The government has so far announced incentives for 14 sectors including electronics and technology products, pharmaceutical drugs, and drones, among others, drawing investments totalling Rs. 625 billion until March 2023, per the statement.

Investments under the PLI scheme are expected to rise further to Rs. 2.74 trillion as it runs its course, according to government estimates.

With more than Rs. 1.97 trillion earmarked for incentives, payouts totalled Rs. 29 billion until fiscal 2023 across eight industries.

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Activision Blizzard to Set Up Shop in Barcelona Following EU's Approval for Microsoft Acquisition

Activision Blizzard said its studio that developed Call of Duty would set up shop in Barcelona, putting into action its pledge to invest in Europe after Brussels approved Microsoft's $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,66,000 crore) acquisition of the company in May.

The US company said on Wednesday its game developer Infinity Ward, which created the blockbuster first-person shooter game, would join its Digital Legends mobile games unit in the Spanish city.

The decision comes after Britain blocked the Microsoft takeover, prompting Activision, which has studios in Guildford and Warrington in England, to say it would "reassess" its growth plans in the country.

In contrast, it said it would "meaningfully expand" its investment and workforce in the European Union after the deal received the green light there.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are battling antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to clinch the deal, the biggest ever in video gaming.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella are due to testify in a court in San Francisco on Wednesday to urge a judge to allow the merger.

The Federal Trade Commission, which is seeking to block the deal, wants the transaction temporarily stopped in order to allow the agency's in-house judge to decide the case.

Microsoft is appealing the British veto with the "aggressive" support of Activision.

The games company, which also owns the Candy Crush Saga and World of Warcraft franchises, said in April that Britain was "clearly closed for business" after the deal was blocked.

It said on Wednesday it was looking closely at the EU to enlarge its studio footprint.

"For good reason: Europe has played a key role in the evolution of gaming — particularly mobile gaming — across the globe and it's not unreasonable to expect developers on the continent to maintain that momentum thanks to ample skills, ambition, and government support," it said in a blog post.

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