🏭 ArcelorMittal to Close Two South African Steel Plants, Affecting 3,500 jobs

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🏭 ArcelorMittal to Close Two South African Steel Plants, Affecting 3,500 Jobs
📱Meta to end third-party fact-checking program in favour of Community Notes system like “X”
🖼️ Getty Images and Shutterstock Announce Game-Changing Merger Plans
💻 Nvidia Unveils Digits: A $3,000 Personal AI Supercomputer for Advanced Model Training

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🏭 MANUFACTURING

ArcelorMittal to Close Two South African Steel Plants, Affecting 3,500 Jobs

Multinational steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced plans to shut down two steel manufacturing plants in South Africa, located in Newcastle and Vereeniging, as well as its AMRAS rail production subsidiary. The closures, set to affect approximately 3,500 direct and indirect jobs, will significantly impact the production of construction and public works materials, including wires, beams, joists, concrete bars, and railway tracks.

While Newcastle’s coke-making operations will continue at a reduced scale, the company cited low global steel prices, driven by record Chinese exports, and overcapacity in both domestic and international markets as key factors behind the decision...….…continue reading

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📱SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta to end third-party fact-checking program in favour of Community Notes system like “X”

Meta has announced a significant overhaul of its content moderation policies, signaling a return to its foundational commitment to free expression. The company is ending its third-party fact-checking program in the U.S. and replacing it with a Community Notes system, inspired by a similar initiative on X (formerly Twitter). This new approach allows users across diverse perspectives to collaboratively provide context for potentially misleading posts, aiming to reduce bias and censorship. Meta will also simplify its labeling system for flagged content, eliminating intrusive warnings and opting for more informative but less obstructive labels.

Additionally, Meta is addressing the over-enforcement of its content policies, which has led to excessive censorship of political debates and non-violative content. The company plans to reduce automated takedowns for less severe policy violations, focus enforcement efforts on high-severity issues like terrorism and fraud, and increase transparency by reporting its enforcement mistakes. Changes also include relocating trust and safety teams to new U.S. locations and incorporating advanced AI tools to improve decision accuracy. These updates, alongside a personalized approach to political content in user feeds, reflect Meta's shift toward balancing content moderation with its mission of empowering free expression…..continue reading

🖼️ MEDIA

Getty Images and Shutterstock Announce Game-Changing Merger Plans

In a major development for the visual content industry, Getty Images and Shutterstock have announced plans to merge, forming a new entity called Getty Images Holdings, Inc. The announcement comes as Getty Images celebrates nearly 30 years of delivering premium content. While the merger still awaits regulatory approvals and stockholder consent, the two companies are set to revolutionize how businesses access and utilize visual assets. For now, both companies will continue to operate independently, ensuring that clients experience no disruption in service.

Once finalized, the merger promises exciting changes, including streamlined access to an expanded portfolio, investments in cutting-edge technologies, and enhanced customer support. The aim is clear: to deliver even greater value, efficiency, and reliability while mitigating intellectual property risks. Getty Images has assured customers that their current relationships will remain unaffected during the transition.

💻 GADGETS & DEVICES

Nvidia Unveils Digits: A $3,000 Personal AI Supercomputer for Advanced Model Training

At the ongoing CES, Nvidia unveiled Digits, a personal AI supercomputer designed to handle AI models with up to 200 billion parameters. Resembling a Mac Mini in design, Digits starts at $3,000 and features 128GB of unified, coherent memory. For larger workloads, two systems can be connected to manage models with up to 405 billion parameters.……..continue reading

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