Latimer AI plans to launch a bias detection tool as a Chrome browser extension in January.
The tool scores text from one to 10, with 10 being extremely biased.
Latimer AI hopes the product will attract new users.
Bias is in the eye of the beholder, yet it's increasingly being evaluated by AI. Latimer AI, a startup that's building AI tools on a repository of Black datasets, plans to launch a bias detection tool as a Chrome browser extension in January.
The company anticipates the product could be used by people who run official social media accounts, or anyone who wants to be mindful of their tone online, Latimer CEO John Pasmore told Business Insider.
"When we test Latimer against other applications, we take a query and score the response. So we'll score our response, we'll score ChatGPT or Claude's response, against the same query and see who scores better from a bias perspective," Pasmore said. "It's using our internal algorithm to not just score text, but then correct it."
The tool assigns a score from one through 10 to text, with 10 being extremely biased.
Patterns of where bias is found online, are already emerging from beta testing of the product.
For instance, text from an April post by Elon Musk, in which he apologized for calling Dustin Moskowitz a derogatory name, was compared to an August post from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.
An Elon Musk post on X is analyzed for bias and scores 6.8 out of 10, or "High Bias" according to Latimer AI.
Latimer AI
Musks' post scored 6.8 out of 10, or "High Bias," while Graber's scored 3.6 out of 10, or "Low Bias".
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber's post to the platform is analyzed for bias and scores a 3.6 out of 10, or "Low Bias" according to Latimer AI.
Latimer AI
Latimer's technology proposed a "fix" to the text in Musk's post by changing it to the following: "I apologize to Dustin Moskowitz for my previous inappropriate comment. It was wrong. What I intended to express is that I find his attitude to be overly self-important. I hope we can move past this and potentially become friends in the future."
While what is deemed biased is subjective, Latimer isn't alone in trying to tackle this challenge through technology. The LA Times plans to display a "bias meter" in 2025, for instance.
Latimer hopes its bias tool will draw in more users.
"This will help us identify a different set of users who might not use a large language model, but might use a browser extension," Pasmore said.
The bias detector will launch at $1 a month, and a pro version will let users access multiple bias detection algorithms.
Struggling electric van startup Canoo has placed its remaining employees on what it’s calling a “mandatory unpaid break” through at least the end of the year, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch. The company told employees they are being locked out of Canoo’s systems at the end of the day Friday, according to the […]
Sam Bankman-Fried, Luigi Mangione, and Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency, XNY/Star Max, Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images
Luigi Mangione is under monitoring in a 9-by-7-foot federal solitary-confinement cell in Brooklyn.
On Monday, he may be moved to the same protective unit as Diddy and SBF, who are in the same jail.
A prison consultant called his conditions "miserable."
Luigi Mangione is being held in a 9-by-7-foot solitary-confinement cell at the federal jail in Brooklyn that also houses the rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and the cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, Business Insider has learned.
The trio could be living together in the same 15-man protective-custody unit as early as Monday, Sam Mangel, a prison consultant who has knowledge of Mangione's housing, said.
Federal prison records confirmed Friday morning that Mangione, Combs, and Bankman-Fried were at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Mangione is set to remain in solitary until at least Monday in one of MDC's small cinderblock Special Housing Unit cells — in a unit also known as "the SHU" and "the hole," Mangel said.
He'll eat meals in his cell, and inmates in his situation are typically allowed out for one hour of recreation or showering a day. Guards are supposed to check on him every 15 minutes.
"Miserable, just miserable," Mangel said when asked to describe conditions in federal solitary-confinement cells.
"SHUs are notoriously loud. You have people in there for psychiatric issues, for disciplinary reasons, and for withdrawal" from drugs, he said, adding: "So it is the loudest place in the jail — people are banging on their doors at all hours of the night."
Mangione is being held without bail on death-penalty-eligible federal charges in the December 4 ambush fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He has yet to be arraigned on New York charges of murder as an act of terror, which carries a top sentence of life without parole.
Mangione is being held in Brooklyn's notorious federal jail.
AP Photo/Pamela Smith
New, high-profile inmates are often monitored in solitary cells in the days before their units are assigned, said Mangel, who said he had been in communication with the defense team through Craig Rothfeld, a prison consultant.
Rothfeld, who was in the audience for Mangione's first federal court appearance on Thursday, declined to comment.
"It's a standard protocol," Mangel said. "This is especially true for a young man that, you know, might have some psychiatric concerns or his legal team or the BOP has concerns," he added, referring to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
"Even though it's called the 'SHU,' it's not for disciplinary reasons. It's strictly for administrative reasons," Mangel said.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson declined to comment, saying: "For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual including their housing assignments."
Karen Friedman Agnifilo told BI that neither she nor Marc Agnifilo, her cocounsel, had spoken to Mandel. They did not immediately comment on Mangione's jail conditions.
The husband-and-wife team's Manhattan firm, Agnifilo Intrater, also represents Combs, who is being held without bail while awaiting a trial scheduled for May 5 on federal sex-trafficking charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
In representing Combs, the firm complained about conditions at MDC throughout three unsuccessful bail applications, arguing that there were frequent random lockdowns and that inmates were deprived of basic trial-preparation materials, such as folders and notebooks. Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo called the conditions "horrific" in one court filing.
One former prosecutor described the federal jail as frequently too cold or too hot and crawling with cockroaches — basically, "hell on earth."
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn holds people before and after they go to trial.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
Mangione's solitary-confinement cell would be equipped with a metal bunk-style bed and a steel one-piece combination toilet and sink. If he's lucky, the cell has a small built-in writing desk.
"You're usually only allowed out for one hour a day, but it could be more restrictive due to staffing issues, where you're only allowed out three times a week to take a shower or walk in a small, enclosed area," Mangel said.
Mangione would also be allowed out of his cell for attorney calls and visits, Mangel said.
"The defendant is actually sitting in a cage during the call," he said. "It's like a fenced-in area that has a monitor, and it's behind plexiglass, and the defendant is able to talk and have an unmonitored legal call during that time, usually for one-hour blocks."
Defendants can find these calls canceled at the last minute "because there's lockdowns and staffing issues," Mangel said, adding: "You get everything arranged, and then we're on the call, waiting, and the defendant never shows up."
He said he expected Mangione would have better access to phones and visitors after he's moved to the jail's protective custody early next week.
Mangel said he had been a prison consultant for Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year sentence for stealing $8 billion from customers of his FTX crypto exchange. Bankman-Fried has remained at MDC's protective custody unit since his arrest last year.
Mangione's next federal court date was set for January 18. As of Friday morning, a date had not been set for his Manhattan arraignment on state murder charges.
This story has been updated to include responses from the BOP and Mangione's attorney.
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Google's CEO said it had cut managers, directors, and VPs by 10% as part of its efficiency drive.
The company has been boosting efficiency by reducing layers and reorganizing teams.
Google has been facing down threats from OpenAI and other AI rivals.
Google had cut the number of top management roles by 10% in its push for efficiency, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an all-hands meeting on Wednesday.
Pichai said that Google had made changes over the past couple of years to simplify the company and be more efficient, according to two people who heard the remarks, who asked to remain anonymous because they're not authorized to speak to the press.
Pichai said this had included a 10% reduction in managers, directors, and vice presidents, one source said.
A Google spokesperson said that some of the roles in that 10% figure were transitioned to individual contributor roles and that some were role eliminations.
The efficiency push has coincided with AI rivals such as OpenAI unleashing new products that threaten Google's search business.
Google has responded by injecting generative AI features into its core businesses and launching a flurry of new AI features, such as a new AI video generator beating OpenAI's in early testing and a new set of Gemini models, including a "reasoning" model that shows its thought process.
In Wednesday's all-hands meeting, Pichai also clarified the meaning of the word "Googleyness," telling staff that it needed updating for a modern Google.
Are you a current or former Google employee with something to share? You can reach the reporter Hugh Langley via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or email ([email protected]).
Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a Google I/O event in Mountain View, California.
Jeff Chiu / AP Photo
In an all-hands, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the word 'Googleyness' had become too broad.
Pichai clarified what the word means for the company.
Now it's about being "Mission First" and being "Bold and Responsible."
"Googleyness" has long been a vague word for the search giant. Once used to determine if a candidate is a good fit for hiring, it has evolved in definition over the years.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai just attempted to clarify what the word means for Googlers now.
In a company all-hands meeting on Wednesday, Pichai told staff the definition of "Googleyness" had become too broad and that he felt obliged to clarify it, according to two employees who heard the remarks, who asked to remain anonymous because they're not authorized to speak to the press.
Pichai defined "Googleyness" as the following, per one of those sources:
"Mission First"
"Make Helpful Things"
"Be Bold & Responsible"
"Stay Scrappy"
"Hustle & Have Fun"
"Team Google"
A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
The term "Googleyness" has always been amorphous. In his 2015 book Work Rules, Google's former head of people operations, Laszlo Block, listed certain attributes that he considered "Googleyness," such as "intellectual humility," "enjoying fun," and "comfort with ambiguity."
The company previously changed its hiring guidelines to "avoid confusing Googleyness with culture fit," The Information reported in 2019. The change came after the company had been criticized for its lack of diversity in its workplace.
Are you a current or former Google employee with something to share? You can reach the reporter Hugh Langley via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-628-228-1836) or email ([email protected]).
Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new AI startup, TechCrunch has learned. The startup, called Stem AI, is currently in stealth. But public documents show it was incorporated in June 2023, and filed for a trademark in August 2023. Shear is listed as CEO on an incorporation document filed with the […]
Anysphere, the developer of AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, raised $100 million Series B at a post-money valuation of $2.6 billion, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The round is being led by returning investor Thrive Capital, the person said. This new funding comes just four months after Anysphere raised its $60 million Series […]
AT&T's chief technology officer, Jeremy Legg, sent a memo to US AT&T Technology Services employees with more details on the planned full-office-return policy and timeline for the new year.
Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Getty Images
AT&T's CTO told his US team there wouldn't be "one-for-one" seating upon the full office return.
He added that AT&T would stagger its five-day-a-week mandate as more office space was constructed.
Some teams may see their full office return delayed if construction doesn't finish in time, he said.
AT&T Technology Services employees in the US won't have "one-for-one" seating when they begin returning to the office five days a week in the new year, the company's chief technology officer wrote in a new memo.
The telecom giant's CTO, Jeremy Legg, detailed how the new in-office policy would be implemented across his USteam in a Wednesday memo obtained by Business Insider.
The new in-office requirement for US AT&T Technology Services employees will begin a phased rollout on January 6 and is expected to be fully implemented for most teams by March 3, the memo said.
"Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility," Legg wrote. "We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose."
Legg oversees AT&T's technology organizations for business, consumer, IT and cloud, data and analytics, security, network architecture and AT&T Labs, and new product development. The AT&T Technology Services team has roughly 10,000 workers in the US.
AT&T told BI that organizations within the company have the flexibility to determine the right approach for their teams based on business needs and that many were staggering the return of employees.
The memo came after BI first reported that AT&T was tightening its return-to-office mandate from three days a week to five full workdays.
Legg said in the email that the company understood that not every employee could be on-site every single day because of "travel, vacations, or other reasons" and that "leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility."
While several expansion projects are underway in Atlanta and Dallas, Legg said AT&T "will not offer one-for-one seating per employee" and the company "will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments" as needed.
Legg's memo said that teams assigned to AT&T's Atlanta-area locations would be notified if their full-return-to-office date was delayed as construction on additional space progressed.
Several employees have told BI that workspace capacity has been a challenge, even with the prior hybrid arrangement.
Employees told BI it's common for workers to end up sitting in the hallways or working in the cafeteria to avoid running afoul of the company's attendance-tracking system.
One employee said their office had more than 1,200 people assigned to it but only about 150 desks available.
"I know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some," Legg said in his memo. "By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals."
Read the full memo
Dear ATS U.S.-Based Management Employees,Our purpose at AT&T is connecting people to greater possibility. We firmly believe that working together, in person and in proximity to our peers, is the best way for ATS employees to fulfill that purpose. By fostering in-person interactions, we can form stronger relationships, build trust and enhance our collaboration, innovation, and overall effectiveness as a team.Full-Time Office Presence in 2025That's why l'm asking all employees with Full Time Office designations (NFTO, MFTO CFTO) to return to the office full time, with staggered starts based on management level and office space availability. FTO employees in ATS will work in the office full-time, 5 days a week according to this schedule:
January 6, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 4s and above
February 3, 2025: All U.S.-based supervising level 3s and above in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta1
March 3, 20252: All other U.S.-based management employees in all locations except Atlanta and Alpharetta1
1Construction of additional space is underway at Lenox, with an expected readiness date between April and June. As construction progresses, employees in Atlanta and Alpharetta will be notified when it's time to work in the office 5 days a week.2Construction of additional space for ATS teams is underway at Dallas Headquarters and at 2900 West Plano Pkwy. Employees in these locations will return to the office March 3 if the space is ready. If completion is delayed, we will communicate further instructions to affected teams.
As we stagger the return to 5 days per week per the timeline above, FTO employees should continue to be present in the office 3 to 5 days per week. There is no change in expectations for Future Office Workers or virtual workers. We periodically review the needs of the business and may occasionally change an employee's office designation based on those needs.Fostering CollaborationBetween now and early first quarter 2025, we will be working with Global Workplace Services to align teams to neighborhoods on each of our campuses.Even with employees working full time in the office, we know that not all employees will be in every day due to travel, vacations, or other reasons. We will not offer one-for-one seating per employee. We will observe capacity vs. demand and make adjustments working with Workplace Services as needed.Flexibility and AccountabilityWe know employees occasionally need to work remotely for various reasons. Leaders will work with employees to provide the needed occasional flexibility. This balance between flexibility and accountability is essential to maintaining our high standards of performance and collaboration. Senior leadership will review overall presence trends via How and Where We Work presence dashboards. With this data, we will work toward improving things like seating, availability of amenities, and parking options.Next StepsThe How and Where ATS Works SharePoint site is your definitive source of information on returning to the office full-time, including campus and neighborhood information as it becomes available. It is currently being updated to reflect the changing expectations for our organization. Supervisors can also answer questions. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.Additional ThoughtsI know returning to the office 5 days a week is a significant change for some. As we outlined during Analyst and Investor Day, we have tremendous momentum in growing this company the right way. That momentum will accelerate when we reap the benefits of faster collaboration and innovation. By coming together in person, we can strengthen our connections, foster a vibrant culture, and achieve our shared goals.Your dedication and commitment to excellence are the driving forces behind our success.Thank you for your continued hard work and support. I look forward to seeing you all in the office and working together to create an even brighter future for ATS.Jeremy
If you are an AT&T worker who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a nonwork device when reaching out.
A young startup that emerged from stealth less than two months ago with big-name backers and bigger ambitions is returning to the spotlight. Decart is building what its CEO and co-founder Dean Leitersdorf (pictured above, right) describes as “a fully vertically integrated AI research lab,” alongside enterprise and consumer products based on the lab’s work. […]
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Jimmy Donaldson, known online as MrBeast, has a new competition show on Amazon Prime Video.
AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
YouTube star MrBeast has a new competition show that will debut Thursday on Amazon Prime Video.
BI viewed a copy of a contestant release form and other documents for the preliminary "Beast Games" round.
An entertainment attorney said the documents were fairly standard but expansive in their terms.
Documents obtained by Business Insider reveal the terms that contestants of MrBeast's competition show, "Beast Games," were asked to agree to during a preliminary round.
The terms prohibit contestants from disclosing information about the show, which debuts Thursday on Amazon Prime Video. Contestants who break the agreement prior to the last episode airing must pay the producer and network $500,000 for each breach. After the last episode airs, each breach would cost contestants $100,000, the documents said.
The documents also ask contestants to agree that their portrayal in the program may be "disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing, or of an otherwise unfavorable nature," and may expose them to "public ridicule, humiliation, or condemnation."
Daniel J. Ain, an entertainment attorney at RPJ Law, said the terms are largely standard for a competition show, but some — like the threat of a $500,000 charge for each breach — are particularly expansive.
"The producers use every available tool to give them ultimate flexibility to make the show and protect themselves from liability," Ain told BI, calling the documents a "contestant agreement on steroids."
"Beast Games" is a 10-episode physical competition show in which contestants compete for a $5 million prize. YouTube's top star — whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson — is the host.
The show has attracted some controversy ahead of its release. A New York Times report in August cited "over a dozen" participants who said they didn't receive enough food or medical care during the preliminary round of competition in Las Vegas.
The documents obtained by Business Insider relate to the Las Vegas taping, where over 2,000 contestants participated in physical challenges designed to see who would make the show's official production round in Toronto.
The documents include information about the show, a contestant questionnaire form, and an outline of the show's official rules and protocols. By signing the form, contestants gave full consent to the use of hidden cameras and recording devices, gave producers full discretion to edit footage, and agreed to participate for no money. Potential prizes were the only form of compensation.
A person close to the production characterized the Las Vegas production as a "promo shoot" for the show and said Amazon wasn't involved. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
Read 24 pages of the documents below:
Note: BI omitted some pages from the document that included the contestant's personal information and a few pages with minimal or repeated information.
After nearly four years of working in sales at tradesperson software company ServiceTitan, Mark Hoadley (pictured above) was looking for a change and to potentially start something of his own in a similar industry. Hoadley’s brother-in-law and now co-founder, Ben Sikma, was working on M&A in the waste-management space at the time. Sikma discovered how […]
