Rite Aid will be banned from using AI-powered facial recognition technology for five years as it disproportionately impacts people of color. The US pharmacy chain deployed AI-based facial recognition technology from 2012 to 2020 to identify shoplifters. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against the company. Rite Aid’s Facial Recognition Tech According to the FTC, Rite Aid has used facial recognition technology in hundreds of its retail pharmacy locations to identify patrons previously deemed likely to engage in shoplifting or other criminal behavior. The technology captured images of all
Latimer, the innovative AI platform named after the African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, has taken a significant step towards making generative AI more inclusive and historically accurate. The platform announced an exclusive content license agreement with the New York Amsterdam News, one of the nation’s most influential and oldest continuously published Black newspapers. Historically Accurate Training Data Amsterdam News has been a pioneering force in Black journalism since 1909. The newspaper is also known for its innovative approaches and significant milestones, such as being the first Black newspaper unionized in all departments.
Women with dark skin tones are getting more screen time and speaking time in US scripted television, a new study using advanced AI models has revealed. Despite improvements over the past 12 years, the study found that men with light skin tones still get the most screen and speaking time. See It, Be It See It, Be It: What Families Are Seeing on TV is a new study that analyzes trends in the screen and speaking time of the visually presenting attributes of characters. This includes gender, skin tone, and
CB Insights released its latest list of the world’s most promising startups, including a number of companies founded by people of color. CB Insights collected the company’s investors, headcount growth, and commercial relationships to identify 345 of the most promising private startups from their database of 1 million companies. The industries include fintech, AI, insurtech, generative AI, and retail tech. We have compiled a list of some people of color-owned startups featured. Airbase – Thejo Kote Thejo Kote founded Airbase in 2017 and has been its CEO since then. Airbase develops a modern
Vennard Wright is reinvesting profits into PerVista, an AI-powered gun detection technology to reduce gun violence. Wright founded Wave Welcome – an IT management company – in 2020 to deliver technology and cybersecurity services that empower dynamic organizations. It makes money from managing internal IT systems of businesses, universities, and government organizations, then invests profits into its own side projects. Wave Welcome is now working on a gun detection tech project, PerVista. Gun Detection Tech PerVista recognizes the increasing importance of digital security and built a solution to consolidate essential
Reshma Saujani has debuted PaidLeave.AI, her GPT-powered chatbot that helps parents navigate all Paid Family Leave options available to them in New York State, maximizing their benefits. Saujani is the founder of Moms First and Girls Who Code, who recently spoke about her concerns surrounding affordable childcare and paid leave in the US. “Applying for paid leave can mean an avalanche of paperwork, bureaucracy, and tons of confusing questions,” Saunjani wrote on LinkedIn. “I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard moms say: “I wish I had someone to walk me through this.” According to
Tech company Mozilla has added four members from diverse backgrounds to the board of its parent organization, the Mozilla Foundation. The New Board Members Mozilla’s new board members include Armenian-American Raffi Krikorian, CTO at the Emerson Collective, a social impact firm focusing on education, the environment, immigration, and social justice issues. He is also the former CTO of the Democratic National Committee, where he worked to make technology a focus for the Democrats, ensuring every campaign could have industry-quality technology. Alondra Nelson, professor of social science at the Institute for
Kenya-based climate-tech startup Amini has raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Salesforce Ventures and the Female Founders Fund. Solving Africa’s Environmental Data Gap Amini focuses on solving Africa’s environmental data gap through AI and satellite technology. Founded by Kate Kallot, Amini has developed a holistic solution. It utilizes AI and space technologies at scale to drive systemic change and promote economic inclusivity for farmers and supply chain resilience across Africa. By fixing Africa’s data gap, they want to make it a more prosperous, equitable, and safe
Banks are now considering using AI for their annual review processes, according to Workday Inc., which may cause issues for Black and minority workers. Workday Inc. has rolled out new products that rely on AI to write job descriptions or aid managers in writing up annual reviews of workers’ performance. Co-Chief Executive Officer of Workday Carl Eschenbach told Bloomberg that banks have expressed interest in those products. Less Time And More Productivity It’s all part of their efforts to streamline operations and cut costs, he said, announcing the offering will
Leap Financial, a financial services tech company focused on Hispanic and Latin Americans, has launched Lola AI. The new AI assistant coaches recently arrived immigrants to the US, helping them fully integrate. Leap Financial The 2022 Census estimated more than 46 million immigrants live in the US, comprising about 13.9% of the population. Almost 80% of America’s unicorn companies have an immigrant founder or an immigrant in a crucial leadership role, such as CEO. Leap Financial is a team of engineers, designers, and software developers who create and launch innovative
