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• Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon are under pressure to stop using gender labels such as "man" or "woman" for their facial recognition and AI services.
• Google announced its AI tool would stop adding gender classification tags in mid-February, instead tagging images of people with neutral terms such as "person."
• Joy Buolamwini, a researcher who found AI tools misclassified people's gender, told Business Insider: "There is a choice... I would encourage all companies to reexamine the identity labels they are using as demographic markers."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM are under pressure to stop automatically applying gendered labels such as "man" or "woman" from images of people, after Google announced in February it would stop using such tags.

All four companies offer powerful artificial intelligence tools that can classify objects and people in an image. The tools can variously describe famous landmarks, facial expressions, logos and gender, and have many applications including content moderation, scientific research, and identity verification.

Google said it would drop gender labels from its Cloud Vision API image classification service last week, saying that it wasn't possible to infer someone's gender by appearance and that such labels could exacerbate bias.

Now the AI researchers who helped bring about the change say Amazon's Rekognition, IBM's Watson, and Microsoft's Azure facial recognition should follow suit.

Joy Buolamwini, a computer scientist at MIT and expert in AI bias, told Business Insider: "Google's move sends a message that design choices can be changed. With technology it is easy to think some things cannot be changed or are inevitable. This isn't necessarily true."

Buolamwini has been credited with having a direct influence on Google's decision.

Her research published in 2018 showed AI tools from Microsoft and IBM were more likely to misclassify someone's gender if they were a dark-skinned woman. Buolamwini published further research in 2019 showing similar problems with Amazon's Rekognition software, which Amazon disputed.

Buolamwini continued: "I would encourage all companies including the ones we've audited (IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, and others) to reexamine the identity labels they are using as demographic markers."

Sasha Costanza-Chock, an associate professor at MIT, added that firms should reconsider classification tags for people entirely.

"All classification tags on humans should be opt-in, consensual, and revokable," she told Business Insider.

This would essentially involve dropping tags that identify people's race, class, and whether they have disabilities.

Costanza-Chock added that "binary" gender classifications were more likely to harm trans people and dark-skinned women since they are more likely to be misclassified. As one example, she pointed to transgender Uber drivers being locked out of the ridehailing app because their physical appearance no longer matched photos on file.

Asked about potential critics who might read Google's decision as a political one, she added: "If someone has never thought about the potential negative consequences of nonconsensual gender classification, this change might provide a good opportunity for them to learn more about why and how this can be harmful."

IBM did not respond to a request for comment; Microsoft declined to comment.

Amazon pointed to its guidelines around gender classification on Rekognition, which state: "A gender binary (male/female) prediction is based on the physical appearance of a face in a particular image. It doesn't indicate a person's gender identity, and you shouldn't use Amazon Rekognition to make such a determination. We don't recommend using gender binary predictions to make decisions that impact
 an individual's rights, privacy, or access to services."

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reportedly just spent $165 million on a Beverly Hills estate — here are all the ways the world's richest man makes and spends his money

Cortana on Windows 10 is getting some changes, Microsoft announced today, as the company shifts focus for what it wants its personal assistant to be. The new Cortana will emphasize productivity features, like helping to manage your schedule, adding to-do items, or sending emails.

As part of that shift, Microsoft is removing some of the older consumer-facing functionality like the ability to control music, manage a smart home, or support for third-party Cortana skills. In other words, Microsoft is going to stop trying to have Cortana emulate Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, and focus more on features that fit in with the rest of Microsoft’s software suite.

Microsoft isn’t removing everything...

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• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt urged the United States government to get more invested in the ongoing tech race between China and the US.
• In an op-ed published Friday morning in the New York Times, Schmidt argued that the US has a tenuous lead over China on a variety of tech fronts, from AI to biotechnology.
• "The government needs to get back in the game in a serious way," Schmidt said.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who helped build the company into a global tech powerhouse, says the United States is in danger of losing the tech race to China.

"Americans should be wary of living in a world shaped by China's view of the relationship between technology and authoritarian governance," he wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Friday morning. "Free societies must prove the resilience of liberal democracy in the face of technological changes that threaten it."

Schmidt says that the race between the US and China can't be won by the private market alone and that the US government "needs to get back in the game in a serious way."

To that end, Schmidt called on the federal government to set "national priorities across emerging technologies, with a special focus on research areas that could enhance our defense and security."

In particular, he called for the US government — particularly the Department of Defense — to focus on a handful of subjects he sees as critical: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum computing, and hypersonics.

Schmidt is no stranger to this argument — he's been making it in some form for the past several years.

"It's pretty simple. By 2020 [China] will have caught up. By 2025 they will be better than us. And by 2030 they will dominate the industries of AI," Schmidt said in 2017, referring to a report from the Chinese government on its AI ambitions. "Trust me, these Chinese people are good. They are going to use this technology for both commercial as well as military objectives, with all sorts of implications."

He also called on Congress to approve President Trump's defense budget proposal "for the highest level of defense R&D funding in over 70 years." The White House's 2020 budget proposal includes $705.4 billion for the DOD — a nearly $1 billion increase over 2019's budget. "The government should begin by setting out national priorities across emerging technologies, with a special focus on research areas that could enhance our defense and security," Schmidt said. 

Without those priorities, Schmidt argued, China's plans for tech dominance are likely to succeed.

"Ultimately, the Chinese are competing to become the world's leading innovators, and the United States is not playing to win," he said. "For the American model to win, the American government must lead."

SEE ALSO: Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt says the internet will split in two by 2028

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reportedly just spent $165 million on a Beverly Hills estate — here are all the ways the world's richest man makes and spends his money

United Airlines said it would be suspending routes to Japan as the number of novel coronavirus cases in the island nation continue to rise. It is the first US carrier to make broader cuts to service in Asia because of the virus.

Routes between Tokyo and US hubs in Los Angeles and Houston would be temporarily canceled starting March 3rd through April 24th, the airline said. The once-daily Newark to Tokyo route would be reduced to just five times a week starting March 28th through April 24th. And the Honolulu to Tokyo flight will be downgraded from a Boeing 777-200 to a smaller 787-8 aircraft starting in April.

Flights to South Korea and Singapore are also being downgraded. United is offering to...

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Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman called TikTok “fundamentally parasitic” due to concerns over privacy during an appearance at the Social 2030 venture capital conference this week (via TechCrunch). Huffman specifically called out TikTok’s practice of fingerprinting to track devices as being of particular concern.

“Maybe I’m going to regret this, but I can’t even get to that level of thinking with [TikTok],” Huffman said at the event, “because I look at that app as so fundamentally parasitic, that it’s always listening, the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying, and I could not bring myself to install an app like that on my phone.”

The fingerprinting Huffman is referring to is a combination of audio and browser...

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• Video-conferencing software company Zoom announced it would be lifting the 40-minute limit on video calls for its free version inside China as the country continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus, CEO Eric Yuan wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
• Virtual conferencing technology has become increasingly important for businesses, schools, and health care operations during the outbreak because limiting in-person contact reduces the risks of spreading the disease.
• While the global economy suffers from the outbreak, Zoom shares and monthly user rates continue to rise.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Zoom, the video conference software company, lifted its 40-minute limit for callers using the free version of the software in China due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the company's CEO Eric Yuan wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

Yuan, who grew up in China's Shandong Province, wrote that he wanted to make a contribution to users who are deeply impacted by the virus as it continues to disrupt daily affairs, from business operations to school classes.

Zoom provides users a safer alternative to in-person meetings by affording users the opportunity to conduct business, classes, and communal events without risking the spread of coronavirus.

"We believe every business has the social responsibility to contribute back to the community and to society, and it's critically important during times of crisis," Yuan wrote. "With this tenet in mind, Zoom is doing everything we can to provide resources and support to those navigating the coronavirus outbreak."

The company's decision to lift limits for basic users comes amid a prosperous time for Zoom.

Despite an overall downturn in the global economy which brought the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 6.2% this month, Zoom shares shot up 40% — the company's best month since it went public in April, according to a CNBC report.

Zoom managed to grow its monthly user base by 2.22 million in 2020 — already topping 2019 levels which reached 1.99 million, the report said.

Video-conferencing technology could become increasingly more vital for businesses, schools, and health care organizations as the disease continues to spread worldwide.

SEE ALSO: China confiscated over 31 million counterfeit face masks as coronavirus fears cause supply shortage and spike in demand https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-china-confiscated-over-31-million-counterfeit-face-masks-report-2020-2

SEE ALSO: Google apologizes after its Nest security cameras stopped working during a 17-hour outage https://www.businessinsider.com/google-nest-apologizes-security-camera-systems-not-working-during-outage-2020-2

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NOW WATCH: 8 weird robots NASA wants to send to space

• The EU may force makers of smartphones, tablets and wireless earphones to use easily replaceable batteries with their devices.
• According to the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, which obtained a draft of the EU's plans, the EU's executive arm – the European Commission – is drafting a proposal to force vendors to do this.
• The newspaper added that Commission officials plan to formally submit their proposal for public discussions next month.
• Business Insider has approached the European Commission for comment.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The European Union may force makers of smartphones, tablets and wireless earphones to use easily replaceable batteries with their devices.

According to the Dutch business newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, which obtained a draft of the EU's plans, the EU's executive arm – the European Commission – is drafting a proposal to force vendors to do this.

Het Financieele Dagblad added that officials plan to formally submit their proposal for public discussions next month.

The EU's plan ties in with its larger goal of reducing e-waste – the waste generated by redundant, non-recyclable electronic devices.

Many smartphones sport sealed battery compartments that prevent users from replacing their batteries easily. This is the case with all Samsung smartphones released since the Galaxy S6, for example.

What's more, some smartphone vendors don't sell smartphone batteries to the general public as standalone parts. Instead, they only provide replacement batteries through specialized repair services. This is the case with many Apple iPhones and Samsung smartphones.

As such, many vendors can fairly be accused of producing excess e-waste, because users are required (or at least strongly incentivized) to buy replacement phones rather than replacement batteries.

The EU estimates that the total e-waste generated within its borders in 2016 was 12.3 million metric tonnes, or 16.6 kg on average per inhabitant.

It's an issue that's come under the spotlight recently, as the EU has pushed for a standardized phone charger that works across all smartphone brands and device types – another move aimed at cutting e-waste.

One major smartphone vendor, Apple, pushed back against this idea in January. The tech giant, whose iPhones sport a proprietary connector called the Lightning port, argued that "regulation that forces conformity across the type of connector stifles innovation." It further claimed that the introduction of a universal charging method would generate waste of its own. Unsurprisingly, the EU rejected Apple's claims.

Business Insider has approached the European Commission for comment.

SEE ALSO: Apple must fight to keep the iPhone's Lightning port as the EU presses ahead on forcing standardized phone chargers

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NOW WATCH: People are still debating the pink or grey sneaker, 2 years after it went viral. Here's the real color explained.

Google is opening up its web-based version of Earth to browsers like Firefox, Edge, and Opera today. The search giant originally launched Google Earth on the web back in 2017, and axed its desktop apps at the same time. Google says “we are big supporters of open web standards,” but Earth launched on the web with Chrome-only Native Client (NaCl) technology as there wasn’t a standard available to support what it wanted to do. This resulted in Earth becoming one of the first of many Chrome-only sites from Google.

NaCI allowed Google to bring its native C++ app code and run it directly in a Chrome browser, with all the performance required to let you zoom in and out of locations on a virtual globe. Google has spent the past three years...

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Ikea’s plant-based meatballs will be available in its roughly 290 European stores starting this August, the company has confirmed to The Verge, with other markets set to follow a couple of months later. The so-called “plant ball,” which may or may not be the name on the menu, is designed to both look and taste like meat, but it’s made out of a combination of pea protein, oats, apples, and potatoes. Ikea says the plant ball has a climate footprint that’s 96-percent smaller than its traditional pork-and-beef meatballs. Last year Ikea sold over 1 billion meatballs.

This is not the first meat-free meatball that Ikea has introduced. It began selling a veggie meatball in 2015. However, it says that the new plant ball is designed for customers...

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In warehouses, call centers, and other sectors, intelligent machines are managing humans, and they’re making work more stressful, grueling, and dangerous

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Detailed planning, available funding and regional cooperation have made Colorado a leader when it comes to boosting broadband access in underserved areas, according to a report Thursday from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“There are a number of ways that Colorado is leading on this issue,” said Kathryn de Wit, manager of the broadband initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts, in an email. “Since 2016, the state’s Broadband Fund has awarded nearly $20 million to 29 projects in rural areas, bringing broadband access to 17,000 households.”

De Wit said the state’s advantage goes beyond providing funds. The Colorado Broadband Office coordinates across multiple agencies, including the Department of Local Affairs, the Department of Regulatory Agencies, and the Colorado Department of Transportation, resulting in a “more organized, cohesive approach to deployment.”

Colorado funds two regional broadband coordinators to provide technical assistance to regional councils and communities. They help build political support from local leaders to tackle the challenges that come with boosting broadband.

“I would tell you that the best practice that we did was we had everybody do a plan, and then we made them follow the plan,” Greg Winkler, a broadband coordinator with DOLA, told Pew.

About 21 counties or regions have completed broadband plans in the state, and some are starting to install their own fiber networks. Typically, they do so when private providers aren’t making upgrades to the network or are failing to connect more remote customers.

“Notably, the state also funds both middle-mile and last-mile connections, which supports the infrastructure required to bring broadband to people without access. This is the kind of investment that could yield long-term results,” de Wit predicts.

The last-mile connects broadband customers to the fiber network, while the middle mile provides a connection to the fiber backbone.

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On the downside, a Colorado law limits the ability of local governments to own and operate their own broadband networks unless voters opt-out through a referendum. DOLA can help fund middle-mile infrastructure without an opt-out, but only if it is used for governmental purposes.

Pew examined all 50 states and then interviewed more than 300 people in California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin to come up with a list of best practices.

The Federal Communications Commission defines reliable high-speed internet as having minimum download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps.

About 13% of households in the state don’t meet that requirement, which works out to about 80,000 to 90,000 households living with subpar internet, according to state estimates.

Microsoft created a fun little Easter egg for its Edge browser to reveal the new logo last year. The Edge surf game is very similar to SkiFree, a classic skiing game that was released as part of Microsoft’s Entertainment Pack 3 for Windows back in 1991. While it was used as part of an elaborate Easter egg hunt, where Microsoft employees posted cryptic clues to a series of puzzles and images, the software maker is now making it an offline game in the browser.

There will be three modes available: a classic surf mode, a time trial, and a slalom mode where you surf between gates. The standard classic surf mode is an endless surfer mode where you have to avoid obstacles and a kraken following you at all times. Time trial is self-explanatory,...

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Since February 12, 2,000 Uber and Lyft drivers have signed onto a letter to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), demanding one simple improvement to their working conditions: “safe and hygienic” bathrooms.

“We work long hours and deserve better than the six foul-smelling and fly-ridden port-a-potties available to us at the nation’s 2nd busiest airport,” the letter reads. “Don’t treat us like third-class citizens—we’re first-rate professionals that are crucial to LAX’s growth and success.”

The six porta-potties and one hand-washing station available to Lyft and Uber drivers at LAX are notoriously gross—covered in human waste and overflowing with used toilet paper. Some drivers say they’d rather risk bladder infections or peeing themselves than use them. "This is simply unacceptable and disgraceful for an airport that brings in billions in revenue,” the drivers wrote.

On Tuesday, less than two weeks after drivers signed and sent the petition to LAX, the airport’s director of labor relations responded to their requests in an email, promising to “add three units" "along with two external hand-washing stations” by February 28, and to sit down with drivers and discuss their concerns.

“Two thousand drivers signed onto the petition, which indicates how important this issue is to drivers,” Mike Long, an organizer with Mobile Workers Alliance, a network of 15,000 Uber and Lyft drivers in southern California, which helped create the petition, told Motherboard. “There’s no way to clean properly with that many people coming through, and it has real world effects: One driver contracted severe conjunctivitis [pink eye] after using these bathrooms.”

“It’s sad that we had to ask for clean bathrooms in the first place, but it’s still a good step and it’s going to improve sanitary conditions,” said James Wiest, a Lyft driver who organized other drivers to demand clean bathrooms from LAX. “This is an indicative of the larger problem of how Lyft and Uber treat us poorly."

Wiest says he prefers to use the bathrooms at McDonalds and emergency rooms—rather than deal with the porta-potties at LAX.

Three new porta-potties might seem like a small victory. It’s not nearly enough for the thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers who ferry passengers to and from the airport each day. In fact, California labor law requires employers to provide at least one bathroom for every 20 employees.

But because Uber and Lyft classify drivers as contractors and not employees, they can conveniently skirt around providing basic labor rights like bathrooms—not to mention overtime pay, paid sick and vacation days, and compensation for work expenses.

Do you work in the gig economy and have a story to share about your working conditions? We'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to Lauren at lauren.gurley@vice.com or on signal 201-897-2109.

Restricting bathroom access has become one way that app drivers are reduced to a lower class of workers. As previously reported by Motherboard, Uber has a track record of separating bathrooms for its drivers and employees at its driver support hubs. Meanwhile, food delivery gig workers on platforms like UberEats, DoorDash, and Postmates have told Motherboard that restaurants often post signage or tell gig workers that their bathrooms are reserved for customers only, forcing them to relieve themselves outdoors or in bottles in their cars.

“Bathroom access has been an issue for drivers for a while,” said Long, the Mobile Workers Alliance organizer. “It’s time to start dealing with some of [these] issues, and win on these key bread and butter issues in the workplace that make a huge difference.”

Arguing against encryption is a popular law enforcement pastime. The problem is there really aren't many good arguments to be made against the use of encryption, so people like Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray have to summon up apocalyptic scenarios or beat down straw men of their own creation to score points for their side.

Given that the anti-encryption side is loaded with disingenuous intentions, it's really no surprise to see statements being made by law enforcement officials that are either stupid or lies… or maybe some combination of both. A recent NPR discussion of calls to end encryption features a real gem from an official representing a Tennessee law enforcement agency.

[NPR Host Martin] KASTE: There's been a lot of media attention lately on the FBI showdowns with Apple about opening iPhones used in terrorism. But those situations are relatively rare, given that the feds often have other ways of getting information. What's more common is that end-to-end encryption is frustrating local law enforcement - people like Cpt. Clay Anderson.

CLAY ANDERSON: It comes into play at least probably once or twice every single week.

KASTE: He supervises investigations for the sheriff's office in Humphreys County, Tenn. They get a lot of cases involving sexual exploitation - predators grooming minors via online messaging.

ANDERSON: In those cases, you run into dead ends because you can't get past encryption. I mean, who needs that type of encryption other than maybe the military with some type of sensitive operation that they're doing? You know, we don't even in law enforcement use encryption like that.

First off, YES, law enforcement uses encryption like that. Do officers carry smartphones? Then they're using "encryption like that." Are the sheriff office's internal communications and on-site databases encrypted? Then they're using "encryption like that." How about the laptops in their vehicles? I sincerely hope those are protected by "encryption like that."

"Encryption like that" apparently refers to encryption law enforcement can't break easily. In other words, encryption law enforcement doesn't have the passwords to. There's no "military-grade" encryption. Either encryption works or it doesn't. It's not a matter of "grades." These words might sound meaningful to people not familiar with encryption, but they're meaningless to anyone with the slightest familiarity with the subject.

"Military grade" meant something nearly 30 years when the government restricted the export of encryption methods that couldn't easily be broken by US agencies. The explosion of consumer products (computers, smartphones) that has occurred since that point has rendered the line between "consumer" and "military-grade" encryption nonexistent.

The military uses the same encryption consumers do. Captain Clay Anderson's parroting of Bill Barr's idiotic talking points suggesting device manufacturers start using a dumbed-down encryption method for consumer electronics is just that: idiotic. To compromise encryption millions of consumers use would also compromise the encryption the government (home of "military-grade") uses, as Bruce Schneier points out.

The thing is, that distinction between military and consumer products largely doesn't exist. All of those "consumer products" Barr wants access to are used by government officials -- heads of state, legislators, judges, military commanders and everyone else -- worldwide. They're used by election officials, police at all levels, nuclear power plant operators, CEOs and human rights activists. They're critical to national security as well as personal security.

Hopefully, Captain Anderson is just ignorant. Hopefully his officers and his department are making full use of "encryption like that." To do otherwise would be irresponsible. Or maybe Anderson is just upset he can't get all the evidence he needs by sitting at his desk. He doesn't really seem to be the best choice for investigating crimes against children.

In early September 2012, Jackie Little went to investigators with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office to report that she had been raped by three men.

In recorded video of her interview, Sheriff Chris Davis can be heard vowing to investigate while sitting in a room with the detective assigned to the case, Clay Anderson.

“If they’ve done this to you, we’re going prosecute them. We’re going to prosecute them wide open,” Davis said.

But our investigation found Anderson never even attempted to gather DNA evidence, didn’t seek out one piece of potential video and interviewed the three suspects several months after the rape was reported.

Anderson was twice recommended for termination by other law enforcement agencies, but resigned before termination could occur, leaving him free to join this department and add his, um, "skills" to their investigatory unit. Now, he's the regional face of "going dark" and his arguments are proving to be just as questionable as his law enforcement career.

CIOs are facing increasing pressure to reach immediate IT cost savings, but in a way that has the least damage to the long-term health of the business.

• Rian Johnson, the director of hit whodunit movie "Knives Out," recently sat down for an interview with Vanity Fair to break down a scene from the film.
• Johnson says that while Apple allowed the movie to feature an iPhone in the scene, the company doesn't allow "bad guys" to have the phone on camera.
• As part of Apple's guidelines, third parties can only show products "in the best light" and "in a manner or context that reflects favorably" on the company.
• TV viewers have noticed that Apple products often are only seen in the hands of good guys on screen, notably in the once-popular TV drama "24."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A rule Apple enforces for iPhone cameos in movies and TV shows may be the key in spoiling whether your favorite character is a hero or a villain.

Apple has strict rules for on-screen appearances of its products, according to Rian Johnson, the director of modern mystery film "Knives Out." Johnson told Vanity Fair in a recent interview that while Apple allows for product placement of Macs and iPhones in movies, the company has a golden rule: bad guys can't have Apple products.

"I don't know if i should say this or not. Not because it's like lascivious or something, but because it's going to screw me on the next mystery movie that I write," Johnson said in the interview. "Apple, they let you use iPhones in movies, but — and this is very pivotal if you're ever watching a mystery movie — bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera." Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson's remarks.

Mild "Knives Out" spoiler ahead.

Johnson's "Knives Out" featured an Apple product in at least one scene, in the hands of Linda Drysdale, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. We won't spoil the movie for you, but you can make your own conclusions about Curtis' character in the whodunit, murder mystery movie.

This association has been repeatedly reinforced and depicted over years of movies and TV shows: good guys own iPhones and Macs, the bad guys have PCs and Androids. Viewers have long speculated about this, and have pointed it out in "24," the wildly popular 2000s show starring protagonist Jack Bauer.

Revered movie critic Roger Ebert even remarked on the phenomenon back in 2003.

"Since many Windows machines look alike, Apple is one of the few manufacturers that can gain by product placement," Ebert wrote in a column for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The requirement to depict Apple positively is written right into the company's legal guidelines for third parties using Apple trademarks and copyrights. Apple states that its products must be shown "only in the best light, in a manner or context that reflects favorably on the Apple products and on Apple Inc."

Apple's strict oversight of movie and TV shows is something that's also been noticed in production of content for the company's new streaming service, Apple TV+. Apple executives were reportedly "intrusive" when it came to content, encouraging producers to exclude explicit or mature content in favor of more "family-friendly" content.

SEE ALSO: Inside Mike Bloomberg's bizarre strategy to dominate social media that's dwarfed Trump's 2016 efforts by millions of dollars

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NOW WATCH: How autopilot on an airplane works

Customer engagement platform Freshworks today announced that it has acquired AnsweriQ, a startup that provides AI tools for self-service solutions and agent-assisted use cases where the ultimate goal is to quickly provide customers with answers and make agents more efficient.

The companies did not disclose the acquisition price. AnsweriQ last raised a funding round in 2017, when it received $5 million in a Series A round from Madrona Venture Group.

Freshworks founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham tells me that he was introduced to the company through a friend, but that he had also previously come across AnsweriQ as a player in the customer service automation space for large clients in high-volume call centers.

“We really liked the team and the product and their ability to go up-market and win larger deals,” Mathrubootham said. “In terms of using the AI/ML customer service, the technology that they’ve built was perfectly complementary to everything else that we were building.”

He also noted the client base, which doesn’t overlap with Freshworks’, and the talent at AnsweriQ, including the leadership team, made this a no-brainer.

AnsweriQ, which has customers that use Freshworks and competing products, will continue to operate its existing products for the time being. Over time, Freshworks, of course, hopes to convert many of these users into Freshworks users as well. The company also plans to integrate AnsweriQ’s technology into its Freddy AI engine. The exact branding for these new capabilities remains unclear, but Mathrubootham suggested FreshiQ as an option.

As for the AnsweriQ leadership team, CEO Pradeep Rathinam will be joining Freshworks as chief customer officer.

Rathinam told me that the company was at the point where he was looking to raise the next round of funding. “As we were going to raise the next round of funding, our choices were to go out and raise the next round and go down this path, or look for a complementary platform on which we can vet our products and then get faster customer acquisition and really scale this to hundreds or thousands of customers,” he said.

He also noted that as a pure AI player, AnsweriQ had to deal with lots of complex data privacy and residency issues, so a more comprehensive platform like Freshworks made a lot of sense.

Freshworks has always been relatively acquisitive. Last year, the company acquired the customer success service Natero, for example. With the $150 million Series H round it announced last November, the company now also has the cash on hand to acquire even more customers. Freshworks is currently valued at about $3.5 billion and has 2,700 employees in 13 offices. With the acquisition of AnsweriQ, it now also has a foothold in Seattle, which it plans to use to attract local talent to the company.

In another twist in the long-running debate about how to pronounce “GIF,” Jif peanut butter wants to make the case that it owns the soft “g” pronunciation while GIF should be said with a hard “g.”

The J.M. Smucker Company, which makes Jif, has teamed up with Giphy to release a special jar of Jif peanut butter that replaces the classic Jif branding on the label with “Gif.” The idea seems to be that the special edition jar should be placed next to a normal jar of Jif, like it is in the picture at the top of this post, to prove that there’s an obvious difference in how each word should be said.

This pronunciation has been a long and dumb internet debate. Facebook poked the beast in 2017 with a poll about the correct pronunciation, and even H...

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For years we've explored how the nation's phone companies no longer really want to be in the residential broadband business. They routinely refuse to upgrade their networks, yet often lobby to ensure nobody else can deliver broadband in these neglected footprints either. Telcos, in particular, have a bizarre disdain for their paying customers, delivering the bare minimum (slow DSL) at the highest rates they can possibly charge without a full-scale consumer revolt. It's not surprising, then, that many telco DSL customers are fleeing to cable, assuming they even have a second option for broadband.

But for many consumers, an apathetic telco remains their only connectivity option. If you're a customer of Frontier Communications -- the nation's fourth biggest telco -- it's not a pretty picture. And in some cases it's downright dangerous.

From Minnesota to West Virginia, Frontier has spent the last few years under numerous investigations for not only refusing to upgrade its aging networks, but also for refusing to fix them. A recent 133 page report from Minnesota's AG made it clear that consumers with medical conditions have been left disconnected for weeks by the dysfunctional telco. The same problem is plaguing Frontier customers in Wisconsin. According to a recent letter to the company (pdf) by Senator Tammy Baldwin, the company's "service" in the state includes routine 911 outages, and DSL and phone line outages that can last for up to a month:

"A recent analysis of complaints to the DATCP [Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection] in 2018 and 2019, conducted by a Wisconsin television news station found that individuals waited an average of more than three weeks for Frontier to restore landline service after an outage. A number of those filing complaints reported residing in areas without reliable wireless service, leaving them without alternative communication options. I am particularly concerned that many of the affected individuals were elderly and reported medical concerns."

Old people: who needs 'em? Am I right?

Frontier, teetering on the cusp of bankruptcy after its massive and bungled 2015 megadeal with Verizon, provides service across a 29-state footprint and the story is the same for most of them: sky high prices, prolonged outages, terrible customer service, and endless headaches. And so far, the Ajit Pai FCC, as it has on most consumer telecom issues, has refused to hold the company accountable whatsoever. Baldwin continues to reach out to the FCC, pointing out that this market dysfunction is actually at the point where people's lives are being put at risk:

"Regretfully, my office continues to be contacted by constituents who have ongoing complaints and concern for service outages, including a lack of ability to complete calls to 911 and rely on the Life Alert system. According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, it has fielded these concerns from across the state. Unfortunately, failure to connect with 911 has reportedly already occurred during life-threatening situations, such as the choking of a child, and the collapsing of a shed on a gentleman during a heavy snow storm.

Residents are rightly fearful that this lack of ability to communicate to 911 in moments of emergency may eventually result in loss of life. Further, according to local media reporting of January 30, 2020, these concerns are widespread, and multiple Wisconsin residents feel that this is a 'matter of life and death.'"

Granted the core problem here is that Frontier, like so many US telecoms, enjoys both little to no meaningful competition, but comical levels of regulatory capture as well. That was most recently exemplified by the company's decision to try and charge its customers a modem rental fee even if consumers had already paid for a modem (the Pai FCC was utterly apathetic there, as well). And while the Pai FCC might be prodded to eventually act on Frontier for its glaring 911 failures, it's extremely unlikely that the agency will hold it accountable for much of anything else, meaning this sort of dysfunction will only continue indefinitely.

The Transportation Security Administration told employees to stop posting to TikTok on Sunday, according to CBS News.

The TSA’s announcement to ban employees from using TikTok came shortly after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) penned a letter to its administrator, David Pekoske, requesting that the agency halt its use. According to The Hill, TSA employees have used TikTok to create and post videos explaining some of the agency’s boarding processes and rules.

“TSA has never published any content to Tik Tok nor has it ever directed viewers to Tik Tok,” a TSA spokesperson told The Verge. “A small number of TSA employees have previously used Tik Tok on their personal devices to create videos for use in TSA’s social media outreach, but that...

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• Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, who lost to IBM's Deep Blue computer in 1997, predicts that AI will 'destroy' most jobs in the US.
• Kasparov gave an interview with WIRED's Will Knight last week at an AI summit in New York.
• "For several decades we have been training people to act like computers, and now we are complaining that these jobs are in danger," Kasparov said. "Of course they are."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov says that when he was beaten by IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer in 1997, he was "the first knowledge worker whose job was threatened by a machine."

He warns that most Americans are next.

Kasparov gave a searing interview with WIRED's Will Knight last week during an AI conference in New York. He repeatedly predicted that the rapid expansion of AI will threaten the majority of jobs in the US.

"For several decades we have been training people to act like computers, and now we are complaining that these jobs are in danger. Of course they are," Kasparov said.

While Kasparov warned that 96% of jobs will be rendered obsolete by AI, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates roughly 14% of US jobs are at high risk of being automated, or roughly 66 million job losses.

Kasparov predicts that future jobs will revolve around helping AI operate better, describing the "human role as being shepherds." 

"People say, oh, we need to make ethical AI. What nonsense. Humans still have the monopoly on evil. The problem is not AI. The problem is humans using new technologies to harm other humans," he added.

Read the full WIRED interview here.

SEE ALSO: From 'Jeopardy' to poker to reading comprehension, robots have managed to beat humans in all of these contests in the past decade

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reportedly just spent $165 million on a Beverly Hills estate — here are all the ways the world's richest man makes and spends his money

• Royal Caribbean International's 228,081-ton Symphony of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship.
• It debuted in 2018.
• The ship has 22 restaurants, 42 bars and lounges, theaters, an ice rink, and a zip line.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For Royal Caribbean International, bigger is better. 

In 2018, the cruise line debuted the world's largest cruise ship, the 228,081-ton Symphony of the Seas, which follows the previous record holder, Royal Caribbean's 226,963-ton Harmony of the Seas. But according to CEO Michael Bayley, a ship's size is a function of the company's desire to pack enough dining, entertainment, and lodging options to make all of its passengers happy — not a goal in itself.

"When we set out to design ships originally in the concept phase, we don't get caught up in size. We really get caught up in concept and what we're trying to deliver," he said in a 2018 interview with Business Insider.

At 1,188 feet long and over 215 feet wide, the Symphony of the Seas has a wide variety of food and entertainment options, including 22 restaurants, 42 bars and lounges, theaters, an ice rink, and a zip line.

Here's a look inside the world's largest cruise ship.

SEE ALSO: Here's how you can use your Costco membership to book a cruise

The Symphony of the Seas can hold up to 6,680 passengers.

The ship took three years to build.

Customers can choose from 2,759 rooms.

Including the 1,346-square-foot Ultimate Family Suite.

Passengers have access to 24 pools, whirlpools, surf simulators, and waterslides.

This is the top of the Ultimate Abyss, which sends riders down a 92-foot drop.

Splashaway Bay is a playground-water park hybrid.

Hot tubs are available for those who want to relax.

As is the Vitality at Sea Spa.

The boat is divided into seven "neighborhoods." The Central Park neighborhood holds over 20,700 plants.

At the Bionic Bar, robot bartenders serve passengers drinks.

There are 22 restaurants, including the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine.

The ship has two, 43-foot-tall rock climbing walls.

And a zip-line that hangs from the ninth deck.

There's a candy store, if you want to indulge your sweet tooth.

The ship has multiple theaters and an ice-skating rink where passengers can watch a variety of shows.

Symphony of the Seas debuted in 2018.

Have you worked on a cruise ship? Do you have a story to share? Email this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com.

• Read more:
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• The hardest job on a cruise ship can lead to blindness and burned skin from dangerous chemicals, according to a lawyer who represents cruise ship workers
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• Audi's electric e-Tron SUV is in the middle of a production stoppage due to a battery shortage, Bloomberg reports.
• The pause began on February 20 and will end on Tuesday, an Audi representative told Bloomberg.
• Automakers have been investing in joint ventures with battery companies as they plan to significantly increase electric-vehicle production over the next decade, and this shortage shows why.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Production of Audi's e-Tron electric SUV has been on pause since February 20 and will not resume until Tuesday, Bloomberg reports. The stoppage is to "resolve production issues" including bottlenecks in battery supply, the story said. 

Benjamin Everaert, a reporter for the Belgian newspaper L'Echo, first reported the production stoppage.

Bloomberg cited a company spokesperson in its report, who said Audi sold roughly 26,400 e-Trons last year but would not comment on estimated deliveries for 2020. Audi of America reported 5,369 in e-Tron sales in 2019, representing 2.4% of sales in the region. 

But the e-Tron, Audi's first all-electric production model, hasn't had the easiest time in terms of batteries. The automaker uses battery cells made by LG Chem for the vehicle, and battery constraints also impacted e-Tron production last year.

Securing a stable battery supply has become a priority for some automakers as they plan to ramp up electric-vehicle production over the next decade. Aside from Audi, Jaguar and Hyundai have also faced electric-vehicle production delays due to battery constraints. 

To increase control over their battery supply and drive down costs (the battery pack is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle), automakers like Tesla, General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen AG, Audi's parent company, are investing in joint ventures with battery manufacturers like Panasonic and LG Chem. Tesla started the trend by opening a battery factory in Nevada with Panasonic in 2016, and GM and LG Chem announced last year that they will invest up to $2.3 billion in a battery factory in Ohio.

But even a targeted investment cannot always prevent battery shortages. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last year that Panasonic was holding back production of Tesla's Model 3 sedan by not making enough batteries.

Audi and LG Chem did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Read Bloomberg's full story here.

• Read more:
• These are the 16 most reliable car brands for 2020
• Jaguar is stopping production of the I-Pace for a week because it doesn't have enough batteries — and it shows why Tesla and GM are spending billions on battery factories
• Tesla may have a big advantage over Porsche and GM in the most expensive part of an electric car
• GM's battery partnership with LG Chem will have 2 major benefits as the company begins the transition to electric vehicles

SEE ALSO: This $590,000 camper van made of carbon fiber was built on a Ford F-550 and can sleep 4 adults — see inside

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reportedly just spent $165 million on a Beverly Hills estate — here are all the ways the world's richest man makes and spends his money

Over the last couple of decades, the US technology industry has become one of the dominant global forces shaping the ways we connect with each other; it’s easy to think about how much different and perhaps atomized the world would be if Facebook, for example, didn’t exist. Less discussed, however, is the effect the rest of the world has on Silicon Valley.

Today, the Medium technology publication OneZero published the results of a survey it conducted about America’s H-1B visa program — which, according to Pew, is “the primary way that companies in the United States hire high-skilled foreign workers.” That’s capped at 85,000 workers, which is less than 1 percent of the country’s workforce. President Trump’s Stephen Miller-designed “Buy...

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• The valuation gap between value and low-volatility stocks has grown twice as large as it was during the height of the dot-com boom.   
• This trend has created an unsustainable "equity factor bubble" that is likely to burst, according to Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan's global head of macro, quantitative, and derivatives strategy.
• He explained why the bubble is inflating, how it will likely burst, and what investors should do to position accordingly.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories. 

It is still a tough time to be an investor whose preoccupation is finding cheap stocks.

Value investors, as they're called, caught a break last year when their factor returned to favor amid an underperformance streak that had largely been in place since 2007.

The sudden rotation led quantitative-investing heavyweights to call for a prolonged value comeback. They included Marko Kolanovic, JPMorgan's global head of macro, quantitative, and derivatives strategy, who expected that the shift to value would persist into Q1 2020.

He had identified a gulf between value's lag on one hand, and the outperformance of factors including momentum — which lifted many fast-growing technology stocks — and low volatility. Kolanovic even called the expected convergence between these factors a "once in a decade" opportunity.

But the gap has only gotten wider since last July and is now twice as large as it was during the dot-com boom. Value is still out of favor, while low-volatility and momentum-driven technology stocks are all the rage. 

"We caution investors that this bubble will likely collapse, i.e. this time is not 'different', with valuations reverting closer to 2010-2020 average," Kolanovic said in a recent note to clients. 

Kolanovic went further than declaring an "equity factor bubble" to explain what is behind its expansion.

He cited the coronavirus outbreak that has slowed pockets of the global economy and raised concerns about further weakening.

Investors are responding to the epidemic by shunning cyclical sectors of the economy like energy and heading for the safety of Treasuries and the fondness of tech stocks. Consequently, the performance gap between energy and tech stocks is also as wide as it was during the dot-com craze — yet more evidence of a factor bubble in Kolanovic's book.

Apart from this very recent development, the ongoing boom of passive investing is contributing to the bubble, Kolanovic said. That's because indexers tend to pile into the mega-cap, momentum, and low-volatility stocks that are already outperforming. 

One final trend contributing to the factor bubble is the boom of funds geared towards environmental, social, and governance standards. Kolanovic found that these investing instruments are highly correlated with low-volatility and technology. Indeed, a recent RBC Capital Markets analysis of active ESG funds found that seven of the 10 most popular stocks were in the tech sector, including favorites like Microsoft and Alphabet. 

With all the factor-bubble drivers established, where might the prick come from? Kolanovic singles out the containment of the coronavirus epidemic as the catalyst that will drive another sharp rotation to value stocks. 

"We reiterate our call to sell out of defensive assets and rotate into cyclical assets such as value stocks, commodity stocks and EM," he said. "Risks to our base case include the potential for new epicenters of the disease and reacceleration of new cases."

SEE ALSO: BANK OF AMERICA: It's the best time in nearly 40 years to profit from a calm market — and these are the 2 best trades to take advantage

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A big-money investor in juggernauts like Facebook and Netflix breaks down the '3rd wave' firms that are leading the next round of tech disruption

If you’re an avid coffee drinker and you’re toying with the idea of a zero-waste (or lower-waste) lifestyle, your first step should be bringing your own thermos or mug to your local java spot. Trading your daily paper to-go cup for a more eco-conscious reusable mug isn’t just about sustainability. Experts like Natalie Slavutsky of Brooklyn Diamond Coffee agree that coffee actually tastes better out of ceramic, glass, or stainless steel than paper or plastic. “You’re just getting a better cup of coffee than in a paper cup,” says Slavutsky.

If that doesn’t convince you to make a change, “many cafés reward customers who bring in reusable drink ware with a discount for helping them move towards being more sustainable,” says Allie Caran,...

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• Microsoft spent more than $9 billion on acquisitions during its last fiscal year, mostly attributable to its $7.5 billion purchase of GitHub.
• Analysts expect the buying spree to continue, and speculated on a few big names that Microsoft might try to buy.
• The list includes Salesforce, Twilio and Workday — though be advised that there's no indication that anybody at Microsoft has so much as thought of buying any of these companies; this is all speculation from industry analysts.
• Also of note is that most of these companies are worth far more than the $26.2 billion Microsoft spent on LinkedIn in its biggest acquisition ever.
• Click here to read more BI Prime stories.

Microsoft spent more than $9 billion on acquisitions during the company's last fiscal year — mostly spent on its $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition, plus 19 other companies besides. 

Analysts expect the buying spree to continue, going so far as to speculate on potential acquisition targets, including Salesforce, Twilio and Workday.

Business Insider compiled a list of the companies analysts expect Microsoft could try to buy — though it should be noted that this is all speculation, and there's no indication that anybody at Microsoft has so much as thought of buying any of these companies.

It's also worth noting most of the companies on the list cost significantly more than Microsoft has ever paid to acquire any company.

Microsoft's largest acquisition to date was paying $26.2 billion for LinkedIn; Salesforce carries a market cap of some $168 billion at the time of writing. Wedbush Securities expects Microsoft to spend around $2 billion on mergers and acquisitions this year – which is too little to buy even one of the companies on this list.

But Microsoft's rivals including Google Cloud are expected to be mulling big acquisitions to get ahead in the cloud game, which may entice the Redmond-based tech titan to open its wallet.

Here are the companies analysts expect Microsoft could buy in the coming years, including to boost the company's multibillion-dollar cloud business: 

Salesforce

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $168 billion

Salesforce would be an attractive acquisition, according to Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin, because Microsoft has less than 5 percent market share of front-office applications — the market term for software that helps salespeople and service reps keep track of their customers, which is an area where Salesforce specializes. 

Such a deal "would elevate Microsoft as the software-as-a-service alternative to Oracle, IBM, SAP and [Amazon Web Services]," Bracelin wrote in the note.

The deal, however, has a "low likelihood given sheer size of potential deal and willingness to sell," Bracelin said.

RBC – which thinks Google, not Microsoft, will buy Salesforce – predicted the deal could be valued at as much as $250 billion in an acquisition. That would be a premium of some 70% of its market cap at the time of writing. 

Autodesk

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $44 billion

Piper Sandler analysts suggest Microsoft could acquire Autodesk and use its architecture, construction and manufacturing software to expand the Office 365 productivity suite into more technical markets.

Workday

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $42 billion

Workday's human resources and financial management platform is used by 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies, according to RBC Capital Markets 2020 software outlook report.

Buying Workday would "provide [Microsoft] entry into what we believe is going to be the most durable cloud growth market outside of the public cloud," which a RBC analyst said will be cloud enterprise resource planning. 

Analysts at Piper Sandler agree Workday could be a potential acquisition market as Microsoft only has less than 5 percent of the so-called "human capital management" market that Workday is in.

Twilio

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $17 billion

By acquiring Twilio — which helps developers write apps that can send text messages and make phone calls — RBC Capital Markets said in its 2020 software outlook report, "Microsoft would acquire the leading developer platform for powering and embedding voice, messaging and email communication into leading consumer and business applications.

The deal would also give Microsoft "a growing community of 7 million developers and a disruptive platform that has potential product and functional synergies across the entire Microsoft product stack," RBC analysts said.

Piper Sandler analysts agree Twilio is a potential acquisition target, writing the API platform could enhance Microsoft Azure's developer ecosystem.

RingCentral

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $19 billion

RingCentral has the leading cloud-based communications platform and deals with companies such as AT&T and Avaya, according to Piper Sandler.

Microsoft, the firm said, could buy RingCentral and roll it into Office 365 bundle of productivity applications.

Crowdstrike

Market cap at the time of this writing: $13 billion

Microsoft could buy cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, RBC Capital Markets said in its 2020 software outlook report, and combined the company's products with its own to provide security to customers of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises.

RBC expects Microsoft could sell the combined security product on its own or as a bundle through the company's Office 365 cloud-based suite of productivity tools.

Microsoft's security spending, RBC notes, has reached $1 billion annually.

Coupa

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $10 billion

Coupa is the leading cloud application for business spend management, according to Piper Sandler, and Microsoft could buy the company to boost its Dynamics 365 suite of business applications.

Coupe has more than 1,000 customers, Piper Sandler notes.

Zendesk

Market cap at the time of this writing: About $10 billion

Zendesk is a leader in cloud customer experience applications, according to Piper Sandler, which Microsoft could acquire for its Dynamics 365 suite of business applications.

UiPath

Valuation: $7.10 billion, according to PitchBook

Startup UIPath's robotic process automation — which helps automate routine, everyday workplace tasks — could boost the Microsoft Power Platform tools for making simple apps, and bring over a base of more than 400,000 customers, according to Piper Sandler, 

Business Insider's Ben Pimentel has been reporting on changes at UiPath that include slashing hundreds of jobs and forcing out a chief financial officer who tried to rein in the company's exorbitant spending.

Unity Technologies

Valuation: $6.28 billion

The privately-held gaming company's real-time software development platform, according to Piper Sandler, has new potential uses in the industrial and auto industries and complement's Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality and artificial intelligence businesses.

Flexport

Valuation: $3.2 billion, according to PitchBook.

Flexport creates a specialized cloud-based application for global logistics and supply chain, according Piper Sandler, used by 10,000 customers. 

The acquisition would give Microsoft a "disruptive opportunity to automate logistics workflows via cloud and AI," according to the firm's analysts.

• An Austrian architecture firm designed modular treehouses, called Bert.
• The quirky designs are inspired by cartoons, like Minions and Sesame Street.
• Designers also see the homes as a way to combat "lazy and boring" architecture.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tiny homes are fashionable right now, but the Bert modular home isn't like other tiny homes on the market.

In general, they tend to have minimalist, sleek looks, but this treehouse is oddly-shaped and almost whimsical. 

Bert homes are "shaped by playfulness and invite people to experience architecture and nature through the eyes of children," according to the press release. The homes were designed by Austrian architecture studio Precht, in collaboration with Baumbau, a startup that specializes in tiny homes and treehouses. 

The designers talked about how architecture has turned toward buildings that are easy to construct and profitable, but "lazy and boring," making cities across the world look the same. With Bert, they hope to buck this trend and show that modern, sustainable architecture can also be fun and interesting. 

The first Bert structures will go on sale in spring 2020, and they start at €120,000 (about $130,00) with the option to add on more modules. The companies plan to announce further collaborations on more unique buildings soon. 

SEE ALSO: Boston University is building an enormous new building that looks like a Jenga tower and uses no fossil fuels

Designers initially conceived of Bert as a treehouse in a forest. "How would children imagine a treehouse?" Fei Teng Precht, one of the designers, asked.

The designers said that they wanted a unique look, and they were inspired by cartoon characters like Minions or Sesame Street.

Bert is built from prefab pieces that come in a few different shapes and can interlock in different ways to create various structures.

The designers imagined it not just like a treehouse but as a tree itself, building up from a central "trunk."

Clients can share what they want with designers, who can mix and match different pieces to find the right fit.

They are easily customizable to a client's needs because of the modular style, so they can grow taller and wider easily.

Bert was designed as a tiny home, but the potential from prefab parts could be multifamily homes, hotels, or developments in a city.

Adding only a few modules, there are clearly many ways to expand the Bert to fit different needs.

This GIF shows some possible combinations of dozens of Bert units.

Or, someone initially interested in a smaller home could add to it as their needs change.

Bert's designers noted that buildings around the world are becoming homogenous, dominated by an international style based on efficiency and profitability.

They said that architecture used to feature more diversity and climate-specific designs, and Bert is an attempt to inject some of that back into the industry.

Bert was designed to operate independently, with solar panels on the roof, a composting toilet, and a water treatment facility on the ground floor.

While Bert could be a long-term home, it could also be a space for tourists.

"We believe that future of tourism is not in large hotels and mass tourism, but rather in special buildings that offer a unique experience. With Bert, we cater to the people who seek adventure, nature and inspiration'" Baumbau CEO Rudolf Obauer said.

Interiors are decorated with dark fabric.

The dark interior orients residents to the large rounded glass windows, which let in light and create a cave-like feel.

The design makes the spaces cozy, and open up the inside of the Bert to the surroundings, in this case, a forest.

The shingles are leaf-like, in natural colors that help the structure blend into the natural setting.

In regions without forests, the designers said that the wooden structure could be replaced with steel.

"We know that buildings like Bert are not the path forward on a big scale, but I think as an industry, we need to dare more, try more and experiment more towards a more diverse future of our cities," Chris Precht said.

Follow Studio Precht on Instagram to see more.

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Airbnb is encouraging its hosts to purchase noise surveillance devices in an effort to crack down on parties.

As part of its “party prevention” campaign, the home-sharing service is offering discounts on devices designed to alert hosts when there’s an irregular level of noise in their homes.

An email I received on Thursday from Airbnb (I’ve occasionally rented out my apartment) told me to “plan ahead to protect your home from unauthorized parties” and offered special discounts on “three of the top party prevention devices.” The devices with the discounts range in price from $52 to $265.

Websites for the three devices state that they monitor homes 24/7, can alert homeowners if anything unusual appears to be happening, and note that they don’t record audio.

“These sensors monitor the noise level in your home, but don’t record sounds. This means the devices detect issues in real time, keeping your property safe and your relationship with neighbors strong, all while protecting your guests’ privacy,” the email from Airbnb said.

Airbnb stipulates that hosts must make guests aware that their homes are equipped with the noise surveillance devices—a policy that was reiterated to me by an Airbnb spokesman.

One of the devices, Minut, is a home alarm that also monitors temperature and motion. Its “plus” option offers to alert a person’s “trusted network of friends and family” if something happens in their home.

But privacy experts raised concerns about the use of such devices.

Daniel Cuthbert, a security researcher, said there are questions surrounding how the data from these devices is stored and handled.

“Balancing privacy and functionality as offered by these devices is very hard,” he said.

“The nature of the device is such that it has to collect data, often by sensors which may record more than they should. How that data is handled, transmitted, and processed is where the hard part comes in.”

Another issue is who has access to that data, he said, pointing to privacy breaches with Amazon’s security system Ring. In January, Motherboard reported that several Ring employees were fired for improperly accessing Ring users’ videos.

Minut CEO Nils Mattisson said the company has "gone to great lengths to make sure that no personal data has to be stored or even transmitted across the network."

"We feel strongly that this approach of not collecting personal data is the best way to guarantee privacy."

Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, an U.S. organization that advocates for digital rights, said the party prevention campaign speaks to a broader trend of living under constant surveillance.

“Certainly a device that only measures an increase in noise is better than having internet-connected surveillance cameras or listening devices in your home,” she said.

“But we're hurtling toward a world where almost everything we own is monitoring us in some way, and I'm not sure that's actually going to be a safer world.”

An Airbnb spokesman reiterated that the devices don’t record sound; he said the discounts are being offered to hosts around the world.

Three young people were shot to death at a house party hosted at an Airbnb rental in Toronto in early February.

Afterward, Airbnb announced stricter rules for young Canadians, including barring people under the age of 25 from booking entire homes close to where they live when hosts aren’t present.

Follow Manisha on Twitter.

• Global coronavirus cases are spiking and the World Health Organization warned that "the window of opportunity is narrowing" to contain the deadly coronavirus.
• South Korea admitted it failed to stop the virus coming into the country. It now says it is trying to contain the virus.
• South Korea now has more than 430 cases compared to 156 on Friday, while Iran reported four deaths and countries like Israel and Lebannon are reporting their first cases.
• Chinese researchers have also confirmed that people can spread the virus without showing any symptoms. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The World Health Organization warned that "the window of opportunity is narrowing" to contain the deadly coronavirus that originated in China as cases in other countries soar.

The virus first originated in the city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, and has gone on to kill at least 2,360 people and infect more than 77,700 people around the world.

It has also spread to at least 30 other countries, though the vast majority of cases and deaths have remained in mainland China.

But some other countries reported soars in the number of cases at the end of this week, particularly in South Korea, where cases ballooned over four days, making it the country outside of China with the most cases.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that there was still a chance to contain the  coronavirus, but said "but the window of opportunity is narrowing."

He said: "We must not look back and regret that we failed to take advantage of the window of opportunity we have."

He said: "This outbreak could go in any direction."

"If we do well, we can avert any serious crisis, but if we squander the opportunity then we will have a serious problem on our hands."

As of Saturday morning, 15 deaths and more than 1,500 cases of infection had been recorded outside of China.

South Korea recorded a total of 433 confirmed cases as of the end of Friday, rising by 229 in just one day.

Two people with the coronavirus have now died in South Korea, and the country on Friday accepted that its efforts to stop the deadly coronavirus from taking hold in the country had failed. It said it would switch its strategy to containment.

The government has taken steps including urging the 2.5 million people in the city Daegu to stay in their homes and banning some public gatherings.

Officials are testing more than 9,000 of a religious groups at the heart of one of the outbreaks in South Korea, meaning the number of infected could climb much higher.

And four people have now died of the coronavirus in Iran, where health authorities say it has spread to multiple cities.

Italy also reported its first death from the virus on Friday, while Israel and Lebanon both confirmed their first cases on Friday.

Cases have now been recorded across Asia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. 

China locked down millions of people by imposing quarantine measures on cities, and imposed travel restrictions on more than 700 million people in its bid to stop the virus spread.

Some airlines have cancelled flights to parts of China, while airports around the world imposed screening and quarantine measures to try and stop the virus spreading.

Chinese researchers have also now confirmed that people can spread the virus without showing any symptoms.  A woman who had clear CT scans but no symptoms passed the virus to five of her relatives. 

• Read more about the coronavirus:
• Here's everything we know about the outbreak.
• The US has confirmed 35 coronavirus cases across 8 states. Here's what we know about all the US patients.
• Chinese researchers just confirmed that patients can transmit the coronavirus without showing symptoms. A woman passed it to 5 relatives.
• 2 studies of coronavirus patients suggest the disease's incubation period could be longer than the standard quarantine period of 14 days

Join the conversation about this story »

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