Adobe to Offer Free App to Help with Labeling AI-generated Content

Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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Adobe to Offer Free App to Help with Labeling AI-generated Content

Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Adobe logo is seen on smartphone in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)

Adobe said on Tuesday it will offer a free web-based app starting next year, aimed at helping the creators of images and videos to get credit for their work used in AI systems.

Since 2019, Adobe and other technology companies have been working on what the firms call "Content Credentials," a sort of digital stamp for photos and videos around the web to denote how they were created.

TikTok, which is owned by China's ByteDance, has already said it will use Content Credentials to help label AI-generated content, Reuters reported.

San Jose, California-based Adobe said it will offer a free service to allow the creators of photos and videos to affix Content Credentials to their work.

In addition to indicating that they authored the content, the creators can also use the free app to signal if they do not want their work to be used by AI training systems that ingest huge amounts of data, the company said.

The use of data in AI training systems has sparked legal responses in multiple industries, with publishers such as the New York Times suing OpenAI, while some other firms have opted to work out licensing deals.

As yet, no large AI company has agreed to abide by Adobe's system for transparency. In a release, Adobe said it was "actively working to drive industry-wide adoption" of its standards.

"By offering creators a simple, free and easy way to attach Content Credentials to what they create, we are helping them preserve the integrity of their work, while enabling a new era of transparency and trust online," Scott Belsky, chief strategy officer and executive vice president for design and emerging products at Adobe, said in a statement.



US Govt Calls for Breakup of Google and Chrome

FILE - The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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US Govt Calls for Breakup of Google and Chrome

FILE - The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The US government late Wednesday asked a judge to order the dismantling of Google by selling its widely used Chrome browser in a major antitrust crackdown on the internet giant.
In a court filing, the US Department of Justice urged a shake-up of Google's business that includes banning deals for Google to be the default search engine on smartphones and preventing it from exploiting its Android mobile operating system, reported AFP.
Antitrust officials said in the filing that Google should also be made to sell Android if proposed remedies don't prevent the tech company from using its control of the mobile operating system to its advantage.
Calling for the breakup of Google marks a profound change by the US government's regulators, which have largely left tech giants alone since failing to break up Microsoft two decades ago.
Google is expected to make its recommendations in a filing next month and both sides will make their case at a hearing in April before US District Court Judge Amit Mehta.
Regardless of Judge Mehta's eventual decision, Google is expected to appeal the ruling, prolonging the process for years and potentially leaving the final say to the US Supreme Court.
The case could also be upended by the arrival of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House in January.
His administration will likely replace the current team in charge of the DOJ's antitrust division.
The newcomers could choose to carry on with the case, ask for a settlement with Google, or abandon the case altogether.
Trump has blown hot and cold in how to handle Google and the dominance of big tech companies.
He has accused the search engine of bias against conservative content, but has also signaled that a forced break up of the company would be too large a demand by the US government.
- Too extreme? -
Determining how to address Google's wrongs is the next stage of the landmark antitrust trial that saw the company in August ruled a monopoly by Judge Mehta.
Google has dismissed the idea of a breakup as "radical."
Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of industry trade group Chamber of Progress, said the government's demands were "fantastical" and defied legal standards, instead calling for narrowly tailored remedies.
The trial, which concluded last year, scrutinized Google's confidential agreements with smartphone manufacturers, including Apple.
These deals involve substantial payments to secure Google's search engine as the default option on browsers, iPhones and other devices.
The judge determined that this arrangement provided Google with unparalleled access to user data, enabling it to develop its search engine into a globally dominant platform.
From this position, Google expanded its tech and data-gathering empire to include the Chrome browser, Maps and the Android smartphone operating system.
According to the judgment, Google controlled 90 percent of the US online search market in 2020, with an even higher share, 95 percent, on mobile devices.
The US government currently has five cases pending against big tech over antitrust concerns after the Biden administration adopted a tough stance on reining in the dominance of the companies.
If carried through by the Trump administration, the cases against Amazon, Meta, and Apple, as well as two against Google, could take years to litigate.