After Elon Musk’s comments criticizing diversity initiatives, Tesla has removed language about having a majority-minority workforce. Tesla has omitted a line from its latest Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In its 10-K filing last month, a comprehensive report on Tesla’s activities throughout 2023, the company removed a line it used a year ago. The original line read, “With a majority-minority workforce, empowering our employee resource groups to take charge in driving initiatives that attract, develop, and retain our passionate workforce is vital to our continued success.” What Has Musk Said?
Snap and Zoom’s mass layoffs have impacted workers in various roles across the company, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) teams at both tech companies. Snap’s Layoffs Snap, the maker of Snapchat and Bitmoji, has laid off around 500 employees this month. The layoffs were most often conducted over brief video calls. According to Business Insider, engineers, content moderation teams, and a small number of people doing trust and safety work were impacted. This included several people working on a team within HR that helped with internal employee analytics, including surveys
Black-owned StatusPRO has reached a historic milestone with a $20 million Series A funding round from Google Ventures (GV), making it one of the largest Series A of any VR gaming company. StatusPRO StatusPRO was founded by Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins and Troy Jones, who each had a unique journey that propelled them into the tech space as Black co-founders of a budding startup. Leaning on their experiences as former athletes, the duo wanted to help others better understand what it takes to compete at the highest levels from an athlete’s first point of view. Their vision manifested
Cardi B, 21 Savage, and Nicki Minaj have voiced their support for the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas And Unotherized Duplications (No AI FRAUD) Act. Nearly 300 artists, actors, and performers expressed their support for the bipartisan legislation that would protect against nonconsensual AI voice clones and deepfakes, Billboard reports. No AI FRAUD Act The new bill establishes a federal framework to protect Americans’ right to their likeness and voice against AI-generated fakes and forgeries. It was introduced in the US House on January 10th. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar introduced the No
Target has pulled a Black History Month magnetic learning activity book that misidentified civil rights leaders from its shelves. A Black history teacher pointed out the errors in a now-viral TikTok. Las Vegas teacher Tierra Espy went to TikTok to announce she bought the Civil Rights Magnetic Learning Activity Kit for her children during Black History Month. The magnetic activity book featured 26 magnets and informational cards featuring illustrations of Black leaders and slogans from the civil rights movement. However, Espy pointed out on TikTok that the book mixes up
Xbox has announced a partnership with Gameheads, a video game design program, to showcase Black-created games in recognition of Black History Month. Black-Created Games Dametra Johnson-Marletti, Corporate Vice President of Gaming Consumer Sales at Microsoft, announced the collaboration. She stated that video games have the potential to be a platform to preserve shared history and honor the stories of people of color in an engaging way that can disarm defenses and build empathy and understanding. “Gamers from underrepresented communities will not only feel like their voices are heard, but have a greater opportunity
This year’s Black History Month theme, African Americans and the Arts, invites us to delve into a rich cultural heritage. This month, we will be celebrating the diverse artistic contributions of African Americans across multiple domains and spotlighting the intersection of Black arts and technology. The Origins Of Black History Month Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) and announced Negro History Week in 1925. Woodson had hoped to raise awareness of African Americans’ contributions to civilization, and the event
YouTube videos are using a mix of AI-generated and manipulated media to create fake content with disinformation about dozens of Black celebrities, NBC News reports. Diddy-related Fake News Many of the videos found include figures such as Sean “Diddy” Combs, TV host Steve Harvey, actor Denzel Washington, and Bishop TD Jakes. They have pushed fake narratives that stem from recent lawsuits against Combs. Other videos have implicated figures like Jakes in the allegations against Combs without evidence and used manipulated media to depict the celebrities engaging in lewd acts. NBC
UK-based Black-owned platform Sojo has become the first fashion repairs and alterations platform to achieve B Corp certification. Certified B Corps are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The B Corp Community is a global movement of businesses that provide leadership by demonstrating their commitment to people and the planet. There are over 7,800 B Corps worldwide, across 161 industries in 92 countries, with over 708,300 workers. Sojo achieved 86.8 points, above the B Corp pass mark of 80 and
Commercial real estate business owner and broker Dustin Sutton is creating a technology to benefit golfers. Sutton’s vision is to create augmented reality (AR) — enhanced smart glasses — designed and tailored for golfers through his company, RangEZ, Inc. According to the San Diego Business Journal, Sutton said the company, which is less than a year old, aims to launch its first product by the end of 2024. “Over the past seven months, this journey has transformed from a mere idea into a tangible pursuit,” he said. RangEZ Smart Glasses RangEZ smart glasses
