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BUENOS AIRES, March 21 (Reuters) - Argentina's mining exports hit historic levels last year, the government said on Tuesday, powered by surging lithium income as the South American agricultural powerhouse targets profits from the metal key to meeting booming electric vehicle (EV) demand.

Even as Latin America's third-largest economy suffers triple-digit inflation and the fallout of a devastating drought afflicting top farmland, lithium exports helped push up the country's mining exports to $3.86 billion last year - the highest level in a decade, according to economy ministry data.

Argentina's lithium riches, like those in neighboring Chile, are extracted from brine in sprawling salt flats that use the power of the sun to concentrate the ultra-light metal in evaporation pools.

In 2022, lithium exports surged 234% from a year earlier, accounting for nearly a fifth of all Argentine mining shipments.

In a rare bright spot for the country's ailing economy, the trend shows no sign of slowing.

During the first two months of this year, exports of the white metal more than doubled, from a year earlier, with February shipments pulling in a record $58 million.

The ministry sees mining revenues of $6 billion this year, in part boosted by two new lithium projects set to launch as well as a pair of major expansions underway.

A scramble for the metal has caused its price to skyrocket, which in turn has motivated companies and investors alike.

Some of the world's largest mining companies have operations in northern Argentina, including China's Ganfeng Lithium (002460.SZ) and U.S. miner Livent Corp (LTHM.N), which will supply lithium for rechargeable batteries in BMW (BMWG.DE) vehicles.

Mining industry investment since 2020 totals some $11.3 billion, the ministry data showed, including $5.1 billion for lithium and $4.9 billion for copper, also heavily used in EVs.

Spanning Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, South America's so-called "lithium triangle" accounts for more than half of global lithium supplies.

Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Argentine mining exports hit 10-year high as lithium, EVs take off - Reuters

Every week it seems the world is stunned by another advance in artificial intelligence, including text-to-image generators like DALL-E and the latest chatbot, GPT-4.

What makes these tools impressive is the enormous amount of data theyre trained on, specifically the millions of images and words on the internet.

But the process of machine learning relies on a lot of human data labelers.

Marketplaces Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Sarah T. Roberts, a professor of information studies and director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry at UCLA, about how this work is often overlooked. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Sarah T. Roberts: In the case of something like ChatGPT and the engines that its using, its really going out and pretty much data mining massive portions of the internet. Now, we all know that the internet is filled with the best information and the greatest stuff all the time, right? So whats required for something like that is to have human beings with their special ability of discernment and good judgement, and sometimes visceral reactions to material and in the case of ChatGPT, to cull material out, material that users, or more importantly, companies, would not want inside of their products as a potential output. And so that means these data labelers, much like content moderators, spend their days working on some of the worst stuff that we can imagine. And in this case, theyre trying to build models to cull that out automatically. But it always starts and ends with human engagement.

Meghan McCarty Carino: What do we know about the people who are doing this really key work of data labelling?

Roberts: So taking a page from the content moderation industry, much of this work is outsourced to third-party companies that provide large labor pools. Often these data labelers are at great remove from where we might imagine the work of engineering these products goes on. They might be in other parts of the world. There was a great article by Billy Perrigo in Time magazine in January of 2023, about a place in Kenya that was doing data labelling. It was a really hard, upsetting job, and folks were being paid at most $2 an hour to be confronted with that material. Unfortunately, this is an industry that is reliant upon human intervention and human discernment, but once again, takes it for granted and pays very little and puts people in harms way.

McCarty Carino: Right, very similar to, you know, what weve learned about content moderation, which, as you said, happens in a similar sort of outsourced way where these people are sort of the front lines of everything that we dont want showing up in our end product, and it runs through these workers.

Roberts: Yeah, thats right. And for years, Ive been listening to industry figures and other pundits tell me that my concern about the welfare of content moderation workers was appropriate, but it was finite, and that in just a few years, AI technologies would be such that we could eliminate that work. In fact, whats happening is just the opposite. We are expanding, greatly expanding at an exponential pace, the number of people who are doing work like this. I think of data labelling frankly as content moderation before the fact, both in practice, but also in the material conditions of the work.

McCarty Carino: When we think about how these technologies are often described, or characterized by the companies that put them out or, you know, in the press, I mean, what is important to keep in mind as we think about this type of labor and its relationship to those products?

Roberts: I think what we have to remember is that AI is artificial intelligence leaning heavily on the artificial. And what its doing at best is imitating human discernment, thinking and processes, but it is only as good as the material that goes into it. You know, theres an old adage in programming, garbage in, garbage out, that goes maybe even more so for applications like these AI tools that weve been discussing. Emily Bender and her colleagues wrote a great paper called stochastic parrots, which is how she and her colleagues describe what ChatGPT is actually doing. And for those who arent familiar with that term, basically, what shes saying is that you can use ChatGPT, its incredible, Ive used it as well. But you have to keep in mind that what youre seeing as its output is at best mimicking humans in the same way that a parrot might copy our pattern of speech, a series of words or phrases, even our inflection, but really has no cognitive ability to necessarily understand what those things mean.

And in fact, I would give a parrot a better chance of having that kind of cognition than I would have machine. So in a way, Ive been thinking about ChatGPT and other tools like it really as vanity machines. Just as an example, I requested it to generate an annotated bibliography for me the other day in my own field. I picked something that I thought I would have some expertise in in order to evaluate the output. And it gave me about 10 answers. The first one it gave me was something I would have chosen as well, a book by a colleague. Perfect response. And then it started producing a bunch of new papers and books in my area of study that Id never heard of. And I really thought, Wow, have I really been underwater that much during COVID? Like, all this stuff is coming out and Im missing it? Turns out, those were fake citations, fake authors, fake books on legitimate presses, fake papers, but using legitimate journal titles with even page numbers given. Imagine if I hadnt had the expertise to know that those were bogus. Thats just one example of the way that this stochastic parrot or this mimicry might reproduce. And, of course, to be fair, I didnt ask it to give me real citations or truthful information. It gave me its best guess at what an annotated bibliography would look like in my field. But none of it was real.

McCarty Carino: What gets lost when tools like this are thought of as these sort of genius technological achievements without considering all of the human labor that went into them?

Roberts: They could have really chosen any model. They could have decided, you know, an infinite number of possibilities of how to set up that work and how to treat those workers. And I think it says something about tech companies. The actual intelligence that they are mining, the very essence of what makes these tools appear to have this human element in other words, mimicking the humans that work on the labeling, work on the moderation, work on these inputs are erased from the process. And I think the erasure of the humanity that goes into these tools is to all of our detriment if for no other reason then we cant really fully appreciate the labor that goes into creating them or the limits of the tools and how they should be applied.

A report from Grand View Research valued the global data collection and labeling market over $2.2 billion in 2022. Its a huge sector.

And its important to understand its not just this new generative AI that requires this kind of work. For example, my colleague Jennifer Pak reported a couple years ago on a data labeling center in China that contracts with big companies like Baidu and Alibaba.

One of the workers Jennifer spoke to said he was making twice the average salary in his local province, roughly $11,000 a year, plus commission.

The operation had workers labeling street data for an autonomous vehicle project basically, Thats a bike, thats a pedestrian, thats a baby stroller.

The same type of labor is used to label faces to train facial recognition software or to help robot vacuums navigate their way around your home.

Earlier this year, we spoke to MIT Technology Review reporter Eileen Guo about her story on how sensitive personal images taken by robot vacuums inside peoples homes ended up online.

Its a winding path, but it runs through a group of outsourced data labelers in Venezuela that iRobot contracted.

More here:

The human labor behind AI chatbots and other smart tools - Marketplace

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) joins Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo to discuss the pace and intentions of U.S. regulation of TikTok, data privacy, the app's relationship with China, and the social media ecosystem as a whole.

[AUDIO LOGO]

SEANA SMITH: TikTok CEO Shou Chew facing some tough questions from lawmakers today while he was testifying for hours just about the data, national security. Concerns also the social impact of his app. Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo has been tracking all of this for us. She's live for us down inside the Beltway on Capitol Hill. Rachelle?

RACHELLE AKUFFO: That's right, Seana. So I mean, one of the people who was really an opponent of this, he didn't testify today, but all along he's been saying, look, some of these lawmakers are really rushing and being too hasty in trying to ban TikTok. Here's a look at our conversation with Congressman Jamaal Bowman.

JAMAAL BOWMAN: I think we're moving too quickly to a conversation about a ban without having a real conversation about what's happening with TikTok and what's happening within the social media ecosystem. If the issue is data privacy and security, if the issue is data mining, if the issue is our data being sold to foreign countries or foreign companies, that's happening already on every social media platform.

So why are we scapegoating TikTok? And one of the things that's been happening over the last year is this entire fear mongering around China. China as the boogey person. And if that's the case, show me evidence that that's the case. But don't isolate OR, single out TikTok when all of the other social media companies, American companies have done the same and/or worse when it comes to data sharing.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Because when I did try and get specifics from lawmakers about the concrete evidence that they've seen that perhaps the CCP has found something or is using it nefariously, it did seem to be more about the speculation, as you mentioned. You called it the red scare in your press conference the other day. Why do you think that's the focus being that we still do have other Chinese apps that aren't being targeted, as well as you mentioned, social media companies.

Story continues

JAMAAL BOWMAN: I believe hundreds of Chinese apps on our phones right now that could be gathering information that's shared with China that's currently in play that we're not talking about at all. I don't know. Facebook, it is well documented that Facebook looked the other way and allowed Russia to interfere in our 2016 election without telling anyone in real time as it was happening.

It's being speculated that Elon Musk and Twitter are sharing our information with foreign adversaries. So let's investigate the entire landscape. I'm an educator. I care deeply about privacy. I care deeply about security. There are data brokers right now who are exchanging our data, trading our data, selling our data on all platforms but we're not talking about that, we're just talking about TikTok. It's disingenuous and governing shouldn't be done in this way.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And you have been really calling for an honest conversation about this. Because as you mentioned, if it's ending up through third parties in other countries, a ban really then wouldn't do any good. So what would the purpose of a ban be then?

JAMAAL BOWMAN: It would show that we are strong on China. We love being strong on China and strong on our adversaries. And it's more of a facade. And it's more about creating the perception of good governance. Good governance is protecting the American people. And we have done a terrible job at that because we still have people dying because they don't have health care. We still have children going to bed hungry.

We had an insurrection just two years ago. And we have American social media platforms that's allowing our data to be bought and sold around the country. That's currently happening. These are facts. We have to get our own house in order and stop thinking that we need a foreign foil to be the best America that we could be.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And we did hear in testimony from Shou Chew that he talked about the positive aspects of it. And when I talked earlier to Congressman Obernolte, he said that he mentioned that I talked to him about the 5 million businesses that are on the platform.

JAMAAL BOWMAN: Yep.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: A lot of people are saying, look, this has been a boon for my livelihood. What do we do?

JAMAAL BOWMAN: 150 million Americans.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: See?

JAMAAL BOWMAN: Many of them young people. Many of them learn about politics and how Congress works from TikTok. You're going to take that away and force them onto other social media platforms who are still going to steal and sell their data while also giving you, in my opinion, more vitriol and hate and misinformation? Because on my TikTok feed I receive much less hate, much less vitriol, much less racism, and much less misinformation on my feed. On the other platforms I get that all the time.

It seems to be, and there might be some evidence to this, that TikTok is just a better product than these American products. And American companies are now organizing to get rid of that better product so they can make more money. That's how our toxic capitalist system works.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And you did hold a press conference really about free expression. And you had a lot of content creators there on TikTok who wanted to have their voices heard. What has been the reaction? Because we get the impression that at least from the testimony today that it's the people who are pushing for this.

JAMAAL BOWMAN: Yeah. It was very powerful, first of all. I got to meet so many people from all parts of the country who discovered their voice and found a place to share their voice and uplift their voice and connect with others around the world that they never would have connected with. They found a space where they are comfortable sharing their experiences and bringing people into their lives in a way that help to build community.

So TikTok as a caring community specifically for marginalized people is a powerful thing. It's what Facebook and Twitter and other places were supposed to be before the hate came in. We still have issues with safety and security on TikTok and everywhere else. So let's deal with that instead of dealing with them as the boogey person that is trying to facilitate Chinese espionage without any evidence whatsoever.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And we know that a number of lawmakers have put forward bills to try and address this, not just for TikTok, but for the broader industry. What do you think then would be some good key elements that would really at least offer some of the protections that lawmakers--

JAMAAL BOWMAN: So the European Union has an example of this. They have a national privacy piece of legislation for the whole EU. We need something like that here. There's no federal legislation on privacy and security. That's what we need to be focused on, number one.

Number two, big tech as a monopoly needs to be dealt with. And we haven't-- we introduced legislation last Congress. We haven't moved forward with that piece of legislation. Also the harms of tech, some of the addictive natures regarding the algorithms, because many of the algorithms want you to stay on tech as long as possible. We need to deal with that issue as well.

There are real issues to deal with. Let's deal with the real issues for all tech and not just, again, scapegoat one company.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And one of the lines that stood out from the press conference you said maybe Republicans don't like TikTok because they don't have swag. No. I know that you put that in the context of really engaging with young people. Talk more about that and perhaps the opportunities you see there.

JAMAAL BOWMAN: So many opportunities on all of social media. But most young people right now are on TikTok. Everyone was predicting a red wave for the 2022 elections. The red wave didn't happen. It mainly didn't happened because young people came out in droves to vote for Democrats and help us push back against a MAGA agenda. Many of those young people we've connected with on TikTok.

I have 11-year-olds, 10-year-olds in my district who follow me on TikTok and love to learn about what's happening here through my TikTok account. So let's make it better instead of banning it. And let's not miss this opportunity to make our democracy stronger.

And what I meant by the whole swag comment, Republicans don't know how to connect with young people. They struggle. Even some Democrats struggle to connect with young people. So do the work of democracy. Stop trying to suppress voices and votes with your ban on TikTok and ban on books and ban on trans and sports. And they just want to ban everything. And when you ban things, you silence people. When you silence people, they're not going to vote. And you can't win on the issues, so the most you can do is suppress their vote.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So Congressman Bowman that really is one of the few voices, one of the only voices that we've heard that does oppose a full ban on TikTok or at least having lawmakers do a bit more homework and perhaps do a bit more homework at home some of the US companies, the social media companies here that pose similar threats rather than just targeting TikTok.

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American companies have already done the same or worse as TikToks data-sharing: Rep. Bowman - Yahoo Canada Finance

NEW YORK, March 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SOS Limited (NYSE: SOS) ("Company" or "SOS") today announced launch of its Super-Computing and Hosting Center in Fort Stockton, Texas.

For Phase 1, the site currently has 10MW in place and hosts about 1400 servers in 10 mobile data containers. The Company expects to ramp up to 42 mobile data containers in the coming weeks. At its completion, Phase 1 will operate at 20MW. The Company expects that Phase 2 to be completed later this year will bring the site to a total of 50 MW.

The launch of the Fort Stockton Super-Computing and Hosting Center represents another milestone in SOS' strategy to build out its North America operations.The Company also operates a Computing and Hosting Center in Wisconsin.

Mr. Yandai Wang, CEO and Chairman of SOS, commented, "This launch marks another successful step in our growth in North America. We will continue to grow our hosting business and invest in more high-performance rigs for our own mining operations. "

About SOS Limited

SOS is a new high-tech company with artificial intelligence and blockchain as its core technologies. Through core technologies such as AI+ block technology+satellite communication+big data, the company provides digital technical services for emergency rescue, big data marketing, international trade, digital assets and other industries, and provides customers with one-stop digital overall solutions. For more information, visit http://www.sosyun.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Securities Act, including but not limited to our expectations of future financial performance, business strategy or business. These statements constitute forecasts, prospects and forward-looking statements and are not performance guarantees. SOS warns that forward-looking statements are subject to many assumptions, risks and uncertainties that will change over time. Forward looking statements may be identified by words such as "may", "can", "should", "will", "estimate", "plan", "project", "forecast", "intend", "expect", "predict", "believe", "seek", "target", "Outlook" or similar words. Specifically, forward-looking statements may include statements related to the following matters of the company:

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release and our management's current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but not are limited to, the risk factors described by SOS in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). These risk factors and those identified elsewhere in this press release, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from historical performance and include, but are not limited to:

Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements in deciding whether to invest in our securities. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE SOS Limited

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SOS Ltd. Announces Launch of its Super-Computing and Hosting ... - PR Newswire

The relatively mild premiere episode of Paramount+s new spy drama Rabbit Hole doesnt do justice to the wild storylines about to unfold. The show, which kicks off March 26, opens with espionage agent John Weir (Kiefer Sutherland) in a church. While in the confessional, he says, Maybe he [god] can tell me what the fuck is going on. As a matter of fact, no one can explain what goes down in this timely but bizarre TV series, where it often feels like co-creators John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy Stupid Love) are making it up as they go. In each episode, they pull out a barrage of plot twists from their magical hat that effectively undoes what theyve previously established. Its all ludicrous, but against all odds,Rabbit Hole turns it into a somewhat compelling series.

Rabbit Hole feels like a CBS drama. (Think Person Of Interest or MacGyver, dialed up several notches.) The show takes advantage of its streaming platform to tell a jumbled but fast-paced narrative in its almost 50-minute outings (the first four episodes were provided for review), even though it takes a while to get going. Shocking cliffhangers and jaw-dropping reveals throw the show into a dizzying loop. Or down a rabbit hole, if you will. But it becomes a fun endeavor once the series gimmick is embraced for what it is: a vivid exploration of the surveillance age told through tropes and subtle hilarity.

2023

Action/Drama/Thriller

Kiefer Sutherland

John Weir

Charles Dance

Dr. Ben Wilson

Jason Butler Harner

Valence

Meta Golding

Hailey Winton

Enid Graham

Josephine 'Jo' Madi

CREATORSGlenn Ficarra, John Requa

Sutherlands foray into this genre includes serious dramas such as Foxs long-running 24 and the ABC-turned-Netflix political series Designated Survivor. Rabbit Hole allows the actor to portray a smug, more charming, and less vexed version of Jack Bauer and Tom Kirkman. Sutherland is clearly enjoying playing a cockier, more flirtatious protagonist who throws out one-liners every so often, and his performance keeps Rabbit Holes kookiness bearable. Dont worry; he still brings depth to John Weir (who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks) but without the constant crease lines.

Johns profession includes manipulating stock markets and other forms of corporate sabotage (think infiltrating focus groups, creating fake news stories, etc.) with the help of his recruitsin case you were wondering what an espionage agent does. When hes accused of murders he didnt commit, John teams up with misfits like former mentor Ben (Charles Dance), one-night hookup Hailey (Meta Golding), and Edward (Rob Yang), who works in the Treasury Department, to restore his reputation. The back-and-forth between Sutherland and Dance is particularly amusing because of their tense relationship, which is illuminated further by flashbacks.

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Johns crew is up against an anonymous big bad called Crowley, and RH examines how data mining and excessive internet use have corroded every inch of our lives. Much like Peacocks The Capture, this series unpacks the side effects of using AI and exploiting tech as Johns life is turned upside down thanks to hacking and manufactured footage.

Rabbit Hole | Official Trailer | Paramount+

RH isnt as much a cautionary tale as it is a crime caper made for entertainment. It looks slick and expensive, with quality production design, cinematography, and direction. But the show can also get corny, like a wrongful arrest scene where John gets everyone on the street to chant We see you at the cops. Or when hes kidnapping someone and says, Patty Hearst had to be easier than this. Cue the eye roll.

There are missteps in pacing because, after a slow start, Rabbit Hole suddenly shifts gears. The writing for characters beyond the four leads is downright tragic, especially for the FBIs Jo Madi (Enid Graham). The financial crimes agent persistently follows John everywhere, hoping to arrest him by ... chatting him up? Making clear shes gunning for him? Oversharing her personal life? She does all of these things, sometimes while belittling her wife and teen daughter in the process. Its a confusing arc that, at least in the first four episodes, doesnt improve.

Although Rabbit Hole arrives the same weekend as the return of Succession and Yellowjackets, it isnt a prestige drama. Its also not a thoughtful spy series like the recent Slow Horses. And thats okay. Its more of an enjoy as you go thrill ride. The four main performances are terrific. Dance and Yang get to play fast and loose with comedy, and Sutherland and Golding share an exciting chemistry. The show thrives on pulling the rug out from under us and delivering its twists with panache. Rabbit Hole doesnt take itself seriouslyso the audience doesnt have to either.

Rabbit Hole premieres March 26 on Paramount+.

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Rabbit Hole review: Paramount Plus series is slick, amusing - The A.V. Club