Workers were seen on Monday dismantling a giant light-up ‘X’ sign on top of the downtown San Francisco headquarters of X, formerly known as Twitter, following an investigation from city officials that the social media company put up the new sign without proper permits. Earlier this month, Twitter completed its rebranding to X, part of CEO Elon Musk’s larger plan to turn the social networking site into an “everything app” like China’s WeChat. To commemorate the occasion, the company began taking down its well-known sign with its old blue bird logo, which long stood over the intersection of 10th and Market Street. That effort quickly ran into issues. Last Monday, police showed up and stopped the workers removing the bird sign, alleging the company didn’t have proper permits, and hadn’t taped off the sidewalk below the project, putting pedestrians at risk of falling debris, according to The Associated Press. Once the new, short-lived X sign went up, people in neighbouring buildings complained that the installation was strobing extremely bright light into their homes and businesses at all hours. Over the weekend, city building inspectors sought to investigate the "structure on [the] roof without permit", but were refused access to X headquarters on Friday and Saturday, according to city records obtained by The San Francisco Standard. The company told the inspectors the sign was only temporary, and was installed for an event, according to the records. The Independent has contacted X for comment. The kerfuffle over the sign is the latest incident in what’s been a tumultuous period under the new management of Elon Musk. The company has laid off thousands of people since the tech billionaire took over, including key members of its content moderation and human rights teams. During the winter, users exploiting oversights on a new paid verification tier impersonated major public companies, causing chaos for their share prices with pranks like an Eli Lilly imposter declaring that insulin was now free. Twitter has lost nearly half of its advertising revenue since Mr Musk took over, according to Mr Musk, and has laid off about half of X’s formerly 7,500-person staff. Read More Trump's early work to set rules for nominating contest notches big win in delegate-rich California X threatens to sue researchers who accused Twitter of allowing ‘hate to prosper’ Forecast calls for 108? Phoenix will take it, as record-breaking heat expected to end Thick smoke clouds billow from tractor-trailer fire next to Philadelphia bridge UK sanctions six people after British-Russian dissident’s appeal rejected Co-ordinated strike action by teachers in autumn off as unions accept pay rise

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OpenAI boss Sam Altman has labelled bitcoin the “super logical” next step for technological progress, just months after launching his own cryptocurrency. Mr Altman, whose company launched the viral AI assistant ChatGPT last year, made the comments on a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, during which he also lamented the role of government regulation in the crypto space. “The war on crypto... that makes me quite sad about the country,” Mr Altman said. “I think this idea that we have this global currency that is outside of the control of any government is a super logical and important step on the tech tree.” The price of bitcoin fell sharply in 2021 and 2022, largely driven by the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has since filed lawsuits against other exchanges like Binance and Coinbase as part of a crackdown against the industry. A crypto bill has also been introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren in an attempt to address “crypto’s use in money laundering, drug trafficking, and financing of terrorism and rogue nations”. The OpenAI boss spoke briefly about his own cryptocurrency project, called Worldcoin, which has faced several controversies since officially launching in July. The project involves collecting people’s biometric data through an iris-scanning orb in exchange for a share of the crypto token WLD. The idea is to use the data to verify each individual’s “unique personhood” in order to ensure that no one is able to claim more than their allotted share of the cryptocurrency. The unique approach has been branded both “outlandish” and “revolutionary” by crypto commentators, with some warning that the sensitive nature of the data means it could be exploited by nefarious actors. Regulators in several countries, including France and Germany, are investigating Worldcoin’s operations to see if it is in violation of data security practices. Worldcoin has acknowledged the privacy concerns, noting in a blog post in August that “everything is optional” and that no personal information needs to be tied to the iris scan. “[The Orb] validates a person’s humanness locally on the device, without needing to send, upload or save images,” the post stated. “By default, the Orb promptly deletes iris images after the creation of the iris code.” Read More Sam Bankman-Fried trial: Billion dollar crypto fortune was ‘built on lies’, prosecutors say How bad is bitcoin for the environment really? Crypto experts discuss bitcoin price predictions What is Solana? The crypto rising 200-times faster than bitcoin

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 6, 2023--

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2023--

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YouTube has stopped Russell Brand making money on its platform because of the rape and sexual assault allegations made against him. The Google-owned company said it has suspended the monetisation of the 48-year-old’s channel because he was “violating” its “creator responsibility policy”. The BBC has also announced it was removing some content from its iPlayer and Sounds apps which “now falls below public expectations”. An episode of QI and a Joe Wicks podcast, both featuring Brand as a guest, have been removed, the PA news agency understands. It comes as the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage has written to the BBC, Channel 4 and TikTok to request for further details on what actions they are taking in response to the allegations and to GB News in relation to their coverage of the claims. Brand’s YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTube’s Partner account “following serious allegations against the creator”, meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform. In a statement, YouTube said the decision applied to all channels that may be “owned or operated” by Brand, adding: “If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.” The news comes after the remaining shows of Brand’s Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor. A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so. “There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds. We’ve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.” Dame Caroline has said: “This weekend we have seen some very serious and disturbing accusations about Russell Brand’s behaviour and we understand that the police are now looking into some of these allegations. “As a first step, our committee has decided that we will today write to media outlets, including the BBC and Channel 4, to understand the actions they are taking as we consider some of the issues around these allegations.” In separate letters to Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon and BBC director-general Tim Davie, the committee chairwoman asked for a timescale and regular updates on their internal investigation. The letters also requested updates on the investigation being conducted by Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes. She added: “We urge both the BBC and Channel 4 to do everything possible not only to ensure that employees, contributors and suppliers feel safe at work, but also create an environment whereby people can speak out when procedures are breached.” Meanwhile, TikTok’s director of Government relations, Theo Bertram, was asked whether Brand could monetise his posts on the video sharing platform, where he has 2.3 million followers. Dame Caroline also asked “what the platform is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour”. Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where his channel has 1.4 million followers and he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday. His most recent video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him, which were published the following day. His Rumble channel description reads: “Everybody knows that the old ideas won’t help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when we’re facing a mental health epidemic and ecological meltdown.” He also has a dedicated subscribers’ area on the online community platform Locals, where members can sign up for a minimum 60 US dollars (£48) a year – or enter a higher amount if they wish to donate more – in order to access special bonus content from Brand, as well as the opportunity to interact with him directly. Brand has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour. His YouTube channel includes coverage of news stories, including alleged misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and being an outspoken sceptic of the vaccine. Last year, one of his videos was taken down on YouTube over the site’s policy on Covid-19 disinformation, which prompted Brand to move his channel to Rumble. On Tuesday, The Times reported that several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand. One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008. Another woman, known as Esme, told The Times that Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him. In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013. Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been “promiscuous” but that all of his relationships have been “consensual”.