All results
iHeartRadio is making its stance loud and clear when it comes to AI’s use on its platform. According to Billboard, Tom Poleman, iHeartRadio’s chief programming officer and president, said in a letter that the company will not be using AI-generated personalities or “play AI music that features synthetic vocalists pretending to be human.” Additionally, its podcasts published will follow this new program, “Guaranteed Human,” as well. “…iHeart is one of the last truly human entertainment sources and our listeners come to us for companionship, connection, and authenticity — something AI can’t replicate,” Poleman said. The announcement comes at a time when AI artists are making waves in the music industry, including Solomon Ray, an AI-generated “Mississippi-made soul singer,” with an EP called “A Soulful Christmas,” Christian Today reports. Christopher “Topher” Townsend, a conservative Hip-Hop artist, is the human behind Solomon Ray. The AI artist he created has garnered more than 324,000...
Fanbase continues to find new ways for its users to profit from their content. The Atlanta, GA-based company was founded by Isaac Hayes III in 2018. Through its social media platform, users are paid from day one for their content, including videos, photos, audio, and stories, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. Fanbase is now teaming up with pocstock, a global diversity content company that offers royalty-free diversity stock photos, videos, and illustrations of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous people, as well as people with disabilities. According to separate coverage from AFROTECH™ , pocstock secured $500,000 in seed funding in a 2023 round led by 9.58 Venture Partners, with a portion of the funding used to integrate AI to improve the customer experience and ensure photographers have access to “cutting-edge, diversity-imaging solutions.” “As with any frontier, especially technology, there will be a rush to get products out to the market,” pocstock CEO Steve Jones said in a...
Google has unveiled a new project that will reduce the environmental impact of AI on Earth. The tech company unveiled Project Suncatcher, which aims to launch data centers in space powered by solar energy, Business Insider reports. Google is exploring bringing the project to life through a web of solar-powered satellites, equipped with its Tensor Processing Unit AI chips, according to a press release. The project aims to “one day scale machine learning in space.” “Inspired by other Google moonshots like autonomous vehicles and quantum computing, we’ve begun work on the foundational work needed to one day make this future possible,” notes the press release. Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that the company plans to launch the space data centers by 2027. “We’ll send tiny, tiny racks of machines, and have them in satellites, test them out, and then start scaling from there,” Pichai said, according to Business Insider. “At Google, we’re always proud of taking moonshots. One of our...
AI is already capable of replacing nearly 12% of the U.S. workforce, according to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study. This was determined by the Iceberg Index, which is a “skills-centered measure of workforce exposure in the AI economy,” according to a research paper. The tool was created by MIT in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and it can reportedly predict how the U.S. workforce can be impacted by AI and related policy, according to CNBC. “Project Iceberg enables policymakers and business leaders to identify exposure hotspots, prioritize training and infrastructure investments, and test interventions before committing billions to implementation,” the report said, per CNBC. At this time, the index does not show when or where jobs will be lost. It was used to analyze 151 million workers, covering more than 32,000 skills across 923 occupations across the country, and assessed whether AI is already capable of taking over those skills,...
Timbaland is in favor of a new agreement that is set to benefit a wave of artists in the age of AI. Timbaland has been an advocate for AI, even as it ruffles the feathers of various artists, especially following Xania Monet’s foray into the industry. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Monet is an AI-powered artist who faced criticism from Kehlani, K. Michelle, and Victoria Monet. Monet, created by Mississippi poet and design studio owner Telisha Jones, is signed to a multi-million-dollar record deal and has also charted on Billboard. “You better check out xania monet who’s killing it good music,” Timbaland commented in a post shared on Instagram, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Timbaland’s endorsement shouldn’t come as a surprise. He became a strategic advisor for Suno, a music creation tool powered by AI, in October 2024, according to a press release. “When I heard what Suno was doing, I was immediately curious,” Timbaland said in the release. “After witnessing the potential, I...
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is making a major bet on AI’s presence in Africa. The G20 leaders’ summit was held Saturday, Nov. 22, in Johannesburg, South Africa . It brought together 20 leaders to discuss various global challenges, according to Reuters. UAE Minister of State Saeed Bin Mubarak Al Hajeri was present, although the UAE is not a member of the group. However, he was invited by the summit’s host and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Minister Hajeri unveiled the “AI for development initiative.” It aims to introduce AI technology to areas such as education, healthcare, and climate adaptation across Africa, notes Reuters. What’s more, the initiative is backed by a $1 billion pledge to help countries build the infrastructure needed for AI. “We consider AI not just as a future industry but a cornerstone of humanity’s future,” Minister Hajeri said, according to Reuters. “Therefore, my country is actively accelerating innovation to enhance productivity and drive...
Miami-based founders Justin Elliott and Jahreem Samuels have scored an investment for their AI and blockchain-verified commerce platform. The pair’s journeys brought them together, and they became united in business through shared pain points in their respective industries. Elliott explored mechanical engineering while in high school, but in college, he shifted to marketing, maintaining an interest in web development, and eventually became the head of digital marketing and e-commerce for a jewelry company that launched several businesses. “I’ve always had my own businesses where I’ve had to learn how to build websites, learn how to do the marketing, learn about SEO, so I’ve always been on that side of things,” Elliott told AFROTECH™. “I’ve also been in music, so like engineering, technical side, and music has always been parallel in my life.” For 10 years, Elliott worked as a full-time DJ, touring globally, until the pandemic hit. At what felt like the height of his career, he no...
Darrick Johnson and his team have launched a new software to put actionable insights at the fingertips of sports agents and teams. Johnson is a South Central, LA, native who knew technology would always be in his playbook. His father worked at various tech companies, including IBM and Intel, so Johnson always maintained positive sentiments toward the sector. In college, his undergraduate studies centered on business administration, marketing, and management. He then had a short nine-month stint as a professional football player in Canada, but he always knew there was more in store for his career. “I got back home from Canada and was sitting on the couch waiting around for phone calls. Phone wasn’t ringing. I was like, ‘You know what? I got a degree.’ So I literally looked up technology sales jobs and found an inside sales job … So I was making 100 calls a day for almost 18 months before I actually landed my first tech job at Dell,” Johnson told AFROTECH™. One year into his time at...
Multi-hyphenate Baratunde Thurston believes group thinking, not billionaires, will take society to the promised land. Thurston has long used his voice to explore the intersections of nature, humanity, and technology. The Emmy-nominated storyteller and producer is the host and executive producer of PBS’s TV series “America Outdoors,” and on YouTube he leads the podcast “Life with Machines.” Most recently, he connected with the AFROTECH™ community as a speaker during AFROTECH™ Conference, Oct. 27-31, in Houston, and as a guest on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. View this post on Instagram Thurston discussed the hot topic of AI and quickly nipped in the bud a growing critique of the technology: that it is responsible for taking jobs. He argues this is not true. However, the people responsible for hiring, promotion, and firing at their workplace are the ones who should be held accountable. “AI is not self-conscious. It doesn’t make its...
Victoria Monét wants to see more guardrails regarding AI’s role in the music industry. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the “On My Mama” singer discussed Xania Monet, an AI artist who topped Billboard charts and secured a multi-million-dollar record deal, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. The AI artist was created by Telisha “Nikki” Jones, a Mississippi-born poet and entrepreneur who writes Xania’s music. “There’s real emotions and soul put into those lyrics,” Jones said in an interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King. Victoria is among the artists criticizing Xania, suggesting it may have been created using her likeness. Victoria also added that when her friend submitted a prompt to ChatGPT asking it to create an image of “Victoria Monét making tacos,” and the image it generated resembled Xania. “It’s hard to comprehend that, within a prompt, my name was not used for this artist to capitalize on,” she told Vanity Fair. “I don’t support that. I don’t think that’s fair....
Angel Mosley is equipping companies to mitigate cybersecurity risks. Mosley is a cybersecurity consultant and risk management professional who was first inspired to join the field while at Jackson State University. She scored an internship with Virgin Records and BMG Distribution and was living the dream, she told AFROTECH™. She even had a chance to be around entertainers such as Janet Jackson and Ice Cube. Ultimately, her interest in the field would be sparked after wandering into a computer room. “When you’re in college, you think you can ask anybody anything. So I was like, ‘Hey, how much money did you make when you graduated from college?’ [And they said], ‘Oh, we graduated making $60,000 a year,’ which back then was a lot of money. Right now, it’s still good money,” Mosley explained. “But I was like, $30,000, $60,000. I’ve always liked computers. I went back to school, changed my major to computer science, and never looked back.” She graduated from Jackson State University in...
Darrell Marshall knew he would become a scientist when he was 5 years old. Marshall is a Detroit native who describes his upbringing as “pretty rough,” being raised in the city during the ’80s and ’90s. However, his mother, who was a single parent, constantly reminded him that he could have a north star, and for him this turned out to be science. “She used to tell me all the time, ‘Hey, you’re gonna do this, you can do whatever you want.’ And I just believed it. And I think in our community, a lot of times people don’t believe that to be true because they don’t see those examples, but I just really trusted my mom,” Marshall recalled during an interview with AFROTECH™. Marshall attended Wayne State University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in analytical chemistry in 2011. From there, he pursued a doctorate in bioanalytical chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His thesis was titled , “Combining nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry metabolomics...
Twama Nambili is raising funding for her startup, which uses AI to improve workflows for marketing and creative professionals. Aeone The former Amazon senior product manager, who has experience in consulting, integrated marketing, and strategy, is stepping into the marketing technology space, which is a $580 billion industry, per Mordor Intelligence. She is the founder of Aeone , a bootstrapped AI-powered startup that streamlines marketing and creative workflows by uniting content creation, AI-powered automation, and analytics in one platform, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. “A typical marketing team member or content creator today uses many disconnected tools, which can be frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive,” Nambili said in a press release. “Aeone is building a platform that brings everything together in one place. It’s ambitious, yes, but the value it delivers is transformative for teams of all sizes,” Nambili continued. $4M Raise Already, Aeone has a...
Jeff Smith is a tech entrepreneur who represents a sport with strong historical ties to his family. The New Orleans native is the great-grandson of Joseph Bartholomew, one of the first Black golf course architects in U.S. history. Bartholomew, born in 1888, dropped out of school in the eighth grade and learned the ropes of golf by working as a caddy at Audubon Park Golf Course, a whites-only club that was down the street from where he lived, according to Amateur Golf. Bartholomew later became a greenskeeper and was hired as an assistant for Fred McLeod, a pro golfer who taught him the game as well as how to build golf clubs during the segregated Jim Crow era, per The Cultural Landscape Foundation. When the opportunity came, Bartholomew was able to study golf course design in New York, where he worked with Seth Raynor. He moved back to New Orleans and applied his knowledge by designing the golf course at Metairie Country Club in 1922, and then at City Park, among others . He later...
“Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference,” is a mantra from Denzel Washington that informs Joel Murchison’s efforts in technology. The 24-year-old Atlanta native and Jackson State University student has always been fascinated with tech and would often discuss robotics with his stepfather, who entered his life at age 8. As the world continued to evolve, it was no surprise that Murchison would become fascinated with AI. Through its use, he was inspired to create a platform based on several catalysts, including a snowstorm that hit his college campus in 2021, during the spring semester of his freshman year. As a result of the storm, the campus lost access to clean drinking water — an issue that remained for several more semesters leading up to his senior year, according to Murchison. He was also about five to six hours from home, so his family set him up in a motel. “The roads were icy. You couldn’t be able to drive, and there was no access to food and water…,”...