Technologies

YouTube’s New CEO Says He’ll Balance Generative AI’s Creativity with Responsibility

A letter from Neal Mohan, heavy on generalizations and light on specifics, says YouTube will cultivate AI’s creative opportunities with «thoughtful guardrails.»

YouTube‘s new CEO, Neal Mohan, outlined the 2023 priorities for Google’s massive video service in a letter Wednesday, calling out how he wants to explore the creative opportunities of generative artificial intelligence while setting «thoughtful guardrails» for it.

«The power of AI is just beginning to emerge in ways that will reinvent video and make the seemingly impossible possible,» Mohan wrote in the letter, adding that the company is «taking the time» to develop these AI features with safeguards in place. «Stay tuned in the coming months as we roll out tools for creators as well as the protections to embrace this technology responsibly.»

This kind of annual letter of priorities was a tradition of Mohan’s predecessor and mentor, Susan Wojcicki, who announced she was stepping down as YouTube’s CEO about two weeks earlier.

«As we think through our product roadmap, we’re not just planning for the next few years. This is a critical moment in the creation of digital video, and we’re imagining what the future of creation will look like,» Mohan wrote. He said he’s aiming to give creators more formats for creativity and additional ways to make money.

Among the new stats noted in the letter, Mohan pointed out:

YouTube has captioned more than 6 billion videos.
More than 1 billion viewers daily are watching videos with captions enabled.
YouTube generated 2 billion views of gaming-related content last year.
6 million viewers paid for YouTube channel memberships in December, a 20% increase from a year earlier.

Mohan also said that Shorts, YouTube’s TikTok rival, would roll out a creation tool this year that lets you record a side-by-side with both Shorts and regular YouTube videos to share reactions. He reiterated that Shorts are averaging 50 billion daily views and said that the number of YouTube channels that uploaded Shorts daily grew 80% last year. (Last year was also the first full year that the Shorts format was available globally.)

He called out TVs as a continuing area of growth, as well as a newer focus on podcasts, such as a plan to integrate RSS to give podcasters another way to upload their shows to YouTube and to let podcast listeners have another listening option.

On Wednesday, Mohan noted in his letter that YouTube would continue to push its stance to policymakers, including debates related to possible changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the US, European proposals that may limit political speech and Bill C-11 in Canada.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

Technologies

Facebook Brings Back Local Job Listings: How to Apply

One of Facebook’s most practical features from 2022 is being revived by Meta.

On the hunt for work? A Local Jobs search is being rolled out by Meta to make it easier for people in the US to discover and apply for nearby work directly on Facebook. The feature is inside Facebook Marketplace, Groups and Pages, Meta said last week, letting employers post openings and job seekers filter roles by distance, category or employment type.

You can apply or message employers directly through Facebook Messenger, while employers can publish job listings with just a few taps — similar to how you would post items for sale on Marketplace.

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Facebook offered a Jobs feature before discontinuing it in 2022, pushing business hiring toward its other platforms. Its return suggests Meta is attempting to expand Facebook’s usefulness beyond social networking and to position it once again as a hub for community-driven opportunities.

«We’ve always been about connecting with people, whether through shared interests or key life events,» the press release states. «Now, if you’re looking for entry-level, trade and service industry employment in your community, Facebook can help you connect with local people and small businesses who are hiring.»

How to get started with Local Jobs on Facebook

According to Meta, Local Jobs will appear as a dedicated section in Facebook Marketplace starting this week. If you’re 18 or older, you can:

Tap the Marketplace tab on the Facebook app or website.
Select Jobs to browse available positions nearby.
Use filters for job type, category and distance.
Tap Apply or message the employer directly via Messenger.

Businesses and page admins can post jobs by creating a new listing in Marketplace or from their Facebook Page. Listings can include job details, pay range, and scheduling information and will appear in local searches automatically.

The Local Jobs feature is rolling out across the US now, with Meta saying it plans to expand it in the months ahead.

Technologies

Tesla Has a New Range of Affordable Electric Cars: How Much They Cost

The new, stripped-back versions of the Model Y and Model 3 have a more affordable starting price.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.