AI

Alexa, How Do I Avoid My Face Becoming Part of a Facial Recognition Training Dataset?

"Biometrics" refers to the measurement and sorting of biological identifiers like your gait or DNA. The technology lets you mindlessly unlock your iPhone—and it also lets the government spot you in a crowded airport. 

You already know facial recognition is a controversial biometric. Now, there’s another twist: The technology is built on a bedrock of personal data obtained without consent, per MIT Tech Review’s write-up of a new study, the largest review of facial recognition to date. 

How it happened: A timeline

Researchers dug through 130+ facial recognition datasets across 43 years. Let’s break down the developments by decade:

• ’60s–’90s: In the beginning, there were rudimentary algorithms. Their creators relied on smaller datasets and asked subjects for permission to use their faces. 
• Mid-’90s: The Pentagon creates the first big-leagues face dataset, snapping 14,000+ (consensual) pics of 1,199 individuals across three years.
• The New Millennium (2007–2013): The internet’s surface area was exponentially growing. Developers could, and did, just scrape photo-sharing services for training data.
• The move-fast-and-break-things era: In 2014, Facebook trained state-of-the-art facial recognition with users’ photos (but never released the deep learning model). FB was far from the only company or research group engaged in this behavior, but it was eventually hit with a biometric data collection class-action lawsuit in Illinois—and paid out $650 million.

The technology

Deep learning was one of the biggest technology stories of the 2010s, powering all sorts of AI systems that notched superhuman benchmarks. The ingredients for DL = algorithmic innovation, more compute power, and vastly larger datasets. 

• For facial recognition systems to get better, researchers fed them way more faces without necessarily asking for the subjects’ permission. 
• Some datasets are so large, it would be impossible to ask for everyone’s consent. 

Big picture: We’re shipping technology before working out the social implications, as smart camera deployment far outpaces law and regulation. At an individual level, it’s not clear how you could opt out of being filmed in public by government or Ring cameras.  

5G

Tech Point Conversion

For us, a Covid-era Super Bowl Sunday meant personal pan pizzas for dinner. For purveyors of emerging tech, it meant a chance to enhance viewer experience. TechRepublic has a roundup. 

5G: Telecom giants took the big game—and the fact that more people than ever would likely be watching on their own devices—as an opportunity to beef up Tampa-area 5G. 

• Verizon spent $80+ million on upgrades like 70 miles of high-speed fiber, as well as 281 small cell antennas covering the stadium and key areas of the city. 
• Earlier this month, AT&T rolled out 5G+—its higher-speed service via millimeter wave spectrum—across the city. Last week, T-Mobile expanded its offerings too.   

Wi-fi: Wi-fi isn’t exactly “emerging tech,” but hear us out—it’s interesting. Since our bodies absorb signals, high-density wi-fi areas typically have to account for the number of people when planning. 

• Extreme Networks—the game’s network designer—had initially expected up to 80k in-person attendees, then had to re-tune the network for the new projection of 25k. 

Fortnite: Verizon’s 5G Stadium, built using the platform’s “Creative Mode,” offered four themed games—and pro gamers went up against NFL players twice last week via Twitch.

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VC

SoftBank’s Unicorns Conquered the Valley

Three things you need to know about SoftBank: 1) it's a mega tech-investor 2) CEO Masayoshi Son is a prolific AI pontificator 3) someone at the company is a slide deck sorcerer. 

Last May, SoftBank graced us with the above graphic. Context: The Japanese conglomerate was battening down the hatches as losses mounted and portfolio companies shed value. 

Now, SoftBank has engineered a turnaround for its $100 billion marquee investment vehicle. 

• Vision Fund 1 returned $18 billion to LPs at the end of last year, the FT reports. 
• SoftBank’s $680 million DoorDash bet now equals ~$11 billion. 
• Other SoftBank-backed companies have soared in public markets. 

But it’s not all peaches and cream, and zero interest rates won’t last forever. Vision Fund laid off 15% of its employees last year and has lost a number of key execs. SoftBank has sold off assets to reduce debt and placate activist investors. Many skeptical Silicon Valley VCs will forever keep SoftBank at arm’s length due to its brash investing style. 

Zoom out: We’re watching SoftBank’s more tech-heavy bets, like Nuro, which are farther from commercialization or a liquidity event. 

BITS & BYTES

Stat: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet now has 10,000+ beta users worldwide. 

Quote: “Storytelling with virtual reality all went bust. …[In traditional films] the gifted storyteller is telling you where to look. In VR, you don’t know where to look.”—Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar, in an interview. 

Listen: Science Mag looks back at the last 20 years of genome sequencing. We’re not giving anything away by saying it’s been quite the 20-year run. 

Input: Asana’s “Anatomy of Work 2021” report is dropping new stats on the latest work challenges—like how 70% of knowledge workers experienced burnout in the last year. Check out the full report.*

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WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Ford is doubling its EV investment to $22 billion through 2025. The automaker is also earmarking $5 billion more for self-driving over the same period. In related news, Argo is expanding autonomous testing to highways. 
• More Ford: The company will manufacture and sell the Mach-E in China. For North American customers, it’s making the electric Mustang in Mexico.    
• Samsung is seeking $1 billion in tax incentives for a $17 billion next-gen chip fab in Austin, TX. 
• Gina Raimondo, Biden’s pick for Commerce secretary, says she has “no reason to believe that entities on those lists should not be there.” The entities in question = Huawei, SMIC, and other Chinese tech firms blacklisted by the previous administration. 
• Peter DeSantis may be the next AWS CEO, according to insiders interviewed by...Insider. He is currently SVP of infrastructure and support. 
• President Biden will keep the US Space Force as a military branch.
• 23andMe a Richard Branson-sponsored SPAC. 

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THREE THINGS WE'RE WATCHING

Tuesday and Wednesday: Lyft and Uber report earnings, respectively. Two key questions: How much has ride-hailing bounced back? Lyft decided not to over-extend itself into goods delivery, whereas Uber has aggressively leaned into the vertical. Which strategy looks better right now? 

Wednesday and Thursday: MIT Tech Review hosts the Future Compute conference. We’ll tune in to hear more from industry and academic experts about cloud and quantum computing.  

One day this week but we won’t say which: Emerging Tech Brew releases a special project. 

MARKET RESEARCH: SUPER BOWL ADS EDITION

Steamy spot: What if, instead of a tech upgrade, Amazon Alexa got a whole new face? An Amazon employee daydreams about what it’d be like to have a voice assistant that looks like Michael B. Jordan. 

Missed connection: T-Mobile had more than one Sunday ad planned around its “The GOAT in 5G” campaign, but our favorite might be the one that didn’t air. Tom Brady misunderstands Rob Gronkowski due to their video chat cutting out—and a big decision follows.

Wut: Will Ferrell + EVs = GM’s ad? 

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions: 

• Zipline plans to deliver Covid vaccines via drone in April 

• Robotic Process Automation: Why UiPath just raised $750 million 

• Inside a hot-button research paper: Q&A with Dr. Emily M. Bender