Murdoch Calls Out Facebook for Giving Life to Unreliable News Sources
Rupert Murdoch is calling out Facebook, saying the social media site should pay publishers a carriage fee for the content on its site, just like cable companies do. Murdoch said Facebook and Google show news sources that are profitable but unreliable. Alex Heath, Senior Reporter with Cheddar, comments on whether we could see Facebook and Google develop a cable-like relationship with publishers.
Heath said Facebook and Google won't have a cable-like relationship with publishers because they are directly competing for the same ad dollars. The Senior Reporter called the duo "frenemies" and added that it's not appropriate to draw a parallel to the way cable companies operate.
We also hit on two other Facebook headlines. The social media company is reportedly buying Confirm, a software company that specializes in authenticating ID's. The acquisition is part of the social media giant's ongoing efforts to keep tabs on who it sells ads to.
In other Facebook news, some high level execs are coming and going. The Marketing Chief is stepping down, while a new A.I. Director is coming in. The social media company has been trying to break into the artificial intelligence space recently and even expanded its footprint overseas to grow the business. Heath said the hiring emphasizes Facebook's optimistic outlook on artificial intelligence, which is contrary to the doom-and-gloom outlook held by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
