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Month: March 2024

VP Harris says US agencies must show their AI tools aren’t harming people’s safety or rights

VP Harris says US agencies must show their AI tools aren’t harming people’s safety or rights

By MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writer)

U.S. federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence tools aren’t harming the public, or stop using them, under new rules unveiled by the White House on Thursday.

“When government agencies use AI tools, we will now require them to verify that those tools do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people,” Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters ahead of the announcement.

Each agency by December must have a set of concrete safeguards that guide everything from facial recognition screenings at airports to AI tools that help control the electric grid or determine mortgages and home insurance.

The new policy directive being issued to agency heads Thursday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget is part of the more sweeping AI executive order signed by President Joe Biden in October.

While Biden’s broader order also attempts to safeguard the more advanced commercial AI systems made by leading technology companies, such as those powering generative AI chatbots, Thursday’s directive will also affect AI tools that government agencies have been using for years to help with decisions about immigration, housing, child welfare and a range of other services. read more

Ally Financial appoints new CEO

Ally Financial appoints new CEO

Michael Rhodes will be taking over Ally Financial Inc. as CEO effective April 29, replacing former CEO Jeffrey Brown, who stepped down at the end of January 2024 to take a role as president of Hendrick Automotive Group.

Egg and chocolate prices are hopping — just in time for Easter

Egg and chocolate prices are hopping — just in time for Easter

By Taryn Phaneuf | NerdWallet

It wouldn’t be Easter without colorful eggs and chocolate bunnies. But threats to the supply of these holiday essentials are pushing prices up at a time when shoppers are worn out by years of high inflation.

Here’s a look at why inflation is having an outsized impact on your Easter basket.

Cocoa prices soar with no relief in sight

Chocolate prices have risen nearly 38% since 2020, the year before inflation started heating up, according to NielsenIQ market research data provided to NerdWallet. Recently, price hikes have stemmed from the soaring cost of chocolate’s key ingredient: cocoa.

A series of bad weather events, as well as disease, have devastated cocoa crops in West Africa, where about 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown. As a result, cocoa prices are at record highs.

So far, there aren’t any signs of cocoa prices turning a corner, says Billy Roberts, food and beverage economist with CoBank, a Colorado-based lender specializing in agriculture. Initial reports on next season’s harvest — which occurs in late summer and early fall — aren’t as optimistic as the industry hoped. Until crop yields improve, cocoa prices will likely stay high. read more