What to know about the hoax ‘Goodbye Meta AI’ posts going viral on Instagram
As seen on Instagram
(NEW YORK) — If you’ve opened Instagram over the last few days, you’ve likely seen a post that begins with the words “Goodbye Meta AI.”
The post, most often shared on Instagram stories, features black-and-white text warning of “legal consequences” and the use of artificial intelligence by Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Threads and Facebook.
“If you do not post at least once it will be assumed you are okay with them using your information and photos,” the text reads, in part. “I do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use any of my personal data, profile information or photos.”
Since early September, the message has been shared widely, even though it is a hoax.
More recently, when the message is shared on Instagram stories, it is blocked out by a warning that the message contains “false information.”
The warning directs users to a fact-check on the website LeadStories.com.
“Does posting a statement ensure that users of Meta services will not have their data used in Meta’s artificial intelligence training? No, that’s not true: Posting the viral statement, or any other statement, doesn’t mean that Meta will not use that data for AI training, but users in Europe can object via a form in their account settings,” the fact-check reads. “The statement is an example of “copypasta,” text containing information that’s often not true but which is repeatedly copied and pasted online.”
Meta describes generative AI as, “a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content when a person or business gives it instructions or asks it a question.”
When Meta announced its new generative AI features last year, the company detailed how and why it uses data for AI purposes.
According to the company, it pulls data for AI from users’ public posts, their interactions with AI features and publicly-available information from places like databases and search engines.
“We use public posts and comments on Facebook and Instagram to train generative AI models for these features and for the open-source community,” reads Meta’s public privacy policy. “We don’t use posts or comments with an audience other than Public for these purposes.”
The company does not appear to pull information from data for generative AI from user accounts that are set to private.
Meta did not reply to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — A fresh inflation report on Wednesday will show whether price increases have continued a monthslong cooldown as they fall toward normal levels.
Economists expect prices to have increased 2.6% over the year ending in August. That figure would mark a notable slowdown from the year-over-year rate of 2.9% recorded in the previous month.
After six consecutive months of slowing price increases, inflation stands at its lowest level since March 2021. However, inflation remains nearly a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
The new price data on Wednesday holds major implications for the course of widely expected interest rate cuts.
The chances of an interest rate cut at the Fed’s meeting next week are all but certain, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment. Market observers are divided over whether the Fed will impose its typical cut of a quarter of a percentage point, or opt for a larger half-point cut.
So far this year, the job market has slowed alongside cooling inflation. That trend was underscored last week by a weaker-than-expected jobs report, though employers added a solid 142,000 jobs. The unemployment rate has ticked up this year from 3.7% to 4.2%.
The Fed is guided by a dual mandate to keep inflation under control and maximize employment. In theory, low interest rates help stimulate economic activity and boost employment, while high interest rates slow economic performance and ease inflation.
Recent trends have shifted the Fed’s focus away from controlling inflation and toward ensuring a healthy job market.
Speaking at an annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the “time has come” for the Fed to adjust its interest rate policy.
At previous meetings, Powell said the Fed needed to be confident that inflation had begun moving sustainably downward to its target rate of 2% before instituting rate cuts. Last month, Powell appeared to indicate that the Fed had achieved that objective.
“My confidence has grown that inflation is on a sustainable path down to 2%,” Powell said.
Since last year, the Federal Reserve has held interest rates at their highest level in more than two decades. High borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to credit card loans have helped slow the economy and lower inflation, but the policy risks tipping the U.S. into a recession.
Last month, Goldman Sachs economists raised the probability of a U.S. recession in the next year from 15% to 25%. However, economists disagree about whether current economic conditions warrant serious concern.
(NEW YORK) — Tens of thousands of U.S. dockworkers are set to walk off the job early Tuesday morning, clogging dozens of ports along the East and Gulf coasts and potentially raising consumer prices ahead of the holiday season.
“Moments ago, the first large-scale eastern dockworker strike in 47 years began at ports from Maine to Texas, including at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday.
“In preparation for this moment, New York has been working around the clock to ensure that our grocery stores and medical facilities have the essential products they need,” Hochul added.
In a statement to ABC News early Tuesday, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) confirmed the union’s first coastwide strike in nearly 50 years was underway. The statement said that “tens of thousands of ILA rank-and-file members” started to set up picket lines at shipping ports up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts as of 12:01 am.
“We are prepared to fight as long as necessary, to stay out on strike for whatever period of time it takes, to get the wages and protections against automation our ILA members deserve,” ILA President Harold Daggett said.
The ports account for more than half of the nation’s container imports, facilitating the transport of everything from toys to fresh fruit to nuclear reactors, JPMorgan senior equity analyst Brian Ossenbeck said in a report shared with ABC News.
A prolonged work stoppage of several weeks or months could rekindle inflation for some goods and trigger layoffs at manufacturers as raw materials dry up, experts said.
“A strike would be very, very disruptive,” said Jason Miller, a professor of supply-chain management at Michigan State University who closely tracks imports, told ABC News.
“You can’t take all this freight and either send it to other ports or put it on airplanes,” Miller added. “There is no plan B.”
The ILA, the union representing East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, is seeking higher wages and a ban on the use of some automated equipment.
“ILA longshore workers deserve to be compensated for the important work they do keeping American commerce moving and growing,” the ILA told ABC News in a statement on Monday. “Meanwhile, ILA dedicated longshore workers continue to be crippled by inflation due to USMX’s unfair wage packages.”
The U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, an organization bargaining on behalf of the dockworkers’ employers, declined to respond to an ABC News request for comment.
President Joe Biden retains the power to prevent or halt a strike under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Biden on Monday urging the White House to intervene, which it has previously said it will not do. The White House told ABC News in a statement that it has been in contact with both the union and management in recent days.
“This weekend, senior officials have been in touch with USMX representatives urging them to come to a fair agreement fairly and quickly – one that reflects the success of the companies. Senior officials have also been in touch with the ILA to deliver the same message,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said.
A prolonged East Coast and Gulf Coast port strike could moderately increase prices for a range of goods, experts told ABC News. That upward pressure on prices would result from a shortage of products caught up in the supply chain blockage, leaving too many dollars chasing after too few items, they added.
Food products are especially vulnerable to an uptick in prices, since food could spoil if suppliers sent the products ahead of time to minimize the strike impact, as they have done for some other goods, Adam Kamins, a senior director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics, told ABC News.
Additionally, a significant share of the nation’s imported auto parts pass through the ports impacted by a potential strike, which could cause an increase in vehicle prices if the strike persists.
Price increases have slowed dramatically from a peak in 2022, but inflation remains higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%. A strike could prevent further progress, according to Kamins.
“We’re not talking about prices skyrocketing by any means, but I think it halts the momentum we’ve had over the last year or so getting inflation back in the bottle,” he said.
In 2002, a strike among workers at West Coast ports lasted 11 days before then-President George W. Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley Act and ended the standoff. However, the last time East Coast and Gulf Coast workers went on strike, in 1977, the work stoppage lasted seven weeks.
Tuesday’s potential work stoppage follows high-profile strikes undertaken last year by auto workers as well as Hollywood writers and actors. Most recently, 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job in early September, demanding better pay and retirement benefits.
“Trade unions all over the country have been going out on strike,” Sriram Narayanan, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University, told ABC News. “We’re seeing that happen now at the ports.”
Ahead of the historic strike, the president of the Teamsters labor union, Sean O’Brien, released a letter of solidarity to the International Longshoreman’s Association, saying, “The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, including our members in the freight industry, stand in full solidarity with the International Longshoremen’s Association as they fight for a fair and just contract with the ocean carriers represented by USMX.”
“Don’t forget –Teamsters do not cross picket lines. The Teamsters Union is 100 percent committed to standing with our Longshoremen brothers and sisters until they win the contract they deserve,” O’Brien said.
(NEW YORK) — A new bill that would allow some undocumented immigrants to receive loans to buy homes is sparking debate as it passes through the California Legislature.
Assembly Bill 1840 would make it clear that a person who applies for a loan under the California Dream for All Program cannot be disqualified solely because of their immigration status. It passed the state Senate with a 25-14 vote.
The program is run by California Housing Finance Agency, which generates revenue “through mortgage loans, not taxpayer dollars,” according to the agency’s website.
Their program provides a shared appreciation loan — which typically means that first-time homebuyers do not pay interest. Instead, they only have to pay back the original loan amount, plus 20% of any home value appreciation. The loan covers 20% of the purchase price or up to $150,000 to cover a down payment or closing costs.
The loan must be paired with a 30-year fixed interest rate first mortgage from the California Housing Finance Agency and the recipient does not have to make payments on the share appreciation loan until the first mortgage is paid off.
In a general statement on the program’s mission, Gov. Gavin Newsom stated: “As part of the state’s comprehensive efforts to improve affordability, build generational wealth and unlock access to housing, Dream For All is paving the way home for thousands of Californians. This program is more than just financial assistance – it’s about providing a pathway for individuals to achieve their California dream.”
It is not clear if Newsom intends to sign the bill. A two-thirds vote in each chamber of the legislature would be needed to override a veto — which could be achieved with the votes in favor of the bill thus far.
If the new bill is passed or signed into law, undocumented borrowers would be able to apply for the housing loan. However, they would be required to have a valid Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number in addition to meeting existing legal residency and documentation requirements.
This language would allow, for example, people who pay taxes but are not legal citizens, such as recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, known as DACA, to apply for the loan.
Supporters say the bill is intended to allow all those who pay taxes in the state to be able to qualify for the assistance.
“Homeownership is one of the largest contributors to building wealth for low and middle-income families,” said Cynthia Gomez, a deputy director at The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in an April hearing on the bill. “However, it’s also well understood that there are many barriers to access for homeownership, in particular for communities of color. California is solution-orientated, and we have implemented various policies that have made homeownership a reality for Californians.”
Critics argue that the money should not be geared toward people who are undocumented and that noncitizens should not be eligible for state programs.
“I just can’t get behind using our limited dollars for people who continue, who are in this country undocumented when we have very limited funds,” said state Rep. Joe Patterson during a hearing on the bill in April.
The Trump campaign told Politico that it believed the bill to be “fundamentally unfair but typical Democrat policy.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee said in a mid-August meeting that the cost pressures on the program, if it were to undergo an expansion, are “unknown,” but the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) indicated “that any costs to update program regulations to prohibit application disqualification based on immigration status would be minor and absorbable,” according to filings in the legislature on the bill.
The debate comes as immigration has continuously ranked as a top issue for 2024 voters, according to Gallup.
California has the largest undocumented population in the country, with an estimated population of 1.85 million undocumented immigrants in 2021, according to the Pew Research Center.
At the same time, California is dealing with a housing crisis, with a growing homeless population and increasingly high costs for housing.
California mid-tier homes are twice as expensive as the typical U.S. home — selling at more than $700,000, according to California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, and 28% of all homeless people in the U.S. live in California, the point-in-time report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recorded.
