Google's Arts and Culture app is the most-downloaded free app for both iOS and Android, meaning it's surpassed heavy hitters like Messenger and YouTube in just the past few days. . Arts and Culture has been around since 2016. Until last week, though, not many people used it. The recent surge in popularity comes from the addition of a facial recognition feature. The feature allows users to upload a selfie to find museum paintings that look like them.
Net neutrality may live to see another day. Attorneys General from 22 states--including California, Illinois and Mississippi-- are filing a lawsuit to block the FCC's recent vote to repeal Obama-era regulations.
New York State AG Schneiderman calls the rollback a "disaster for New York consumers and businesses, and for everyone who cares about a free and open internet."
YouTube is setting new rules for its content in an effort to regain advertisers' trust. For starters, employees will watch the platform's most popular videos to ensure paid ads are running alongside content that is not offensive or controversial.
Also, in addition to 10,000 views, channels will need one thousand subscribers and 4,000 hours of view time. YouTube hopes to have the review finished by the end of march
A bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) aims to tackle the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, as well as the addictive nature of the sites and negative mental health impacts they have on users. The 'Nudge Act' would require studies to find and compile potential interventions that platforms could use to encourage people to think before they share a post, or log off after spending too much time on an app. The FTC would create rules based on these findings, and hold the platforms accountable. But will it work? Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, joins Closing Bell to discuss the bill, whether real results and regulations could come from it, and more.
A.I.-based entertainment company, Deedub, recently raised
$20 million in a Series A round, led by Insight Partners. Deepdub uses A.I. technology to automate the dubbing process for foreign-language movies or TV shows, while using actors' original voices. The company says it can take just two to three minutes of data from an actor's voice and transform the voice into a different language. The funding comes as foreign-language films and shows like Netflix's 'Squid Game' have recently become more popular with audiences in the U.S. and around the world. Oz Krakowski, Chief Revenue Officer at Deepdub, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II. Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to disucss.
