Cloud Hosting

On September 8, 2023, federal court approved a consent decree from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) with iTutorGroup Inc. and its affiliates (iTutor) over alleged age discrimination in hiring, stemming from automated systems in recruiting software. Arriving on the heels of the EEOC announcing its artificial intelligence (AI) guidance initiative, many are calling this case the agencys first ever AI-based antidiscrimination settlement.1 Whileit is not clear what, if any, AI tools iTutor used for recruiting, one thing is certain: We will soon see many more lawsuits involving employers use of algorithms and automated systems, including AI, in recruitment and hiring.2

In the lawsuit, the EEOC claimed that the Shanghai China-based English language tutor provider used software programmed to automatically reject both female candidates over the age of 55 and male candidates over 60 for tutoring roles, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed the case in May 2022 after iTutor failed to hire Charging Party Wendy Picus and over 200 applicants aged 55 and older, allegedly because of their age, according to the agency.3 The case is also notable because iTutor treats its tutors as independent contractors, not employees, and only employees are protected by the ADEA. Nonetheless, according to the consent decree filed on August 9, 2023 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, iTutor will pay $365,000 to over 200 job candidates who were automatically screened out by iTutors recruiting software to resolve the EEOCs claims.4

In addition to monetary relief, iTutor must allow applicants who were rejected due to age to reapply and must report to the EEOC on which ones were considered, provide the outcome of each application and give a detailed explanation when an offer is not made.5

The consent decree further includes a number of injunctive relief requirements imposed on iTutor if or when the company resumes hiring for the longer of five years, or three years, from the resumption date, including:

Just because there is a lack of comprehensive AI law in the United States does not mean the AI space is unregulated. Agencies like the EEOC, Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and others have released statements on their intent to tackle problems stemming from AI in their respective domains. After a delay, New York Citys new law governing AI in employment decisions took effect this July.

The proliferation of AI in recruiting and hiring means that many employers will find themselves on the frontlines of important compliance questions from the EEOC. With more legal actions and settlements on the way, employers will need a strategy for proper use of AI tools in candidate selection. While this case might not have involved AI decision making, both the EEOC and FTC have maintained that employers may be responsible for decisions made by their AI tools, including when they use third parties to deploy them. Employers need to understand the nature of the AI tools used in their hiring and recruiting process, including how the tools are programmed and applied by themselves and their vendors. Diligent self-audits, as well as audits of current and prospective vendors, can go a long way toward reducing the risk of AI bias and discrimination.

1 The case at issue appears to stem from a software that the EEOC claims was programmed for automated decision making, rather than generative or other AI. Nonetheless, the agency itself connects this case to AI in the press release, where EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows refers to it as an example of why the EEOC recently launched an Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Fairness Initiative.

2 The EEOC has discussed AI together with automated systems generally, See Equal Employment Opportunity Commn, Press Release, EEOC Releases New Resource on Artificial Intelligence and Title VII, at https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-releases-new-resource-artificial-intelligence-and-title-vii (May 18, 2023) (the agencys technical assistance document on the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to an employers use of automated systems, including those that incorporate AI). The EEOC defines automated systems broadly to include software and algorithmic processes, including AI, that are used to automate workflows and help people complete tasks or make decisions. See EEOC Joint Statement on Enforcement Efforts Against Discrimination and Bias in Automated Systems, at https://www.eeoc.gov/joint-statement-enforcement-efforts-against-discrimination-and-bias-automated-systems (April 25, 2023).

3 Equal Employment Opportunity Commn v. iTutorGroup, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-02565-PKC-PK (ED NY, August 9, 2023).

4Id. at 15.

5 Id. at 18.

6 Id. at 8.

7 Id. at 12.

8 Id. at 14.

Read the original post:

EEOC Settles Over Recruiting Software in Possible First Ever AI ... - JD Supra

Meta Platforms stock could gain significantly in the next three months, driven by advertising and artificial intelligence, according to a Citi analyst.

Citi analyst Ronald Josey rates Meta (ticker: META) a Buy with a $385 price target, which implies a 30% gain from the stocks closing price on Thursday.

Josey also opened a 90-day Positive Catalyst Watch on the shares as he anticipates more stock gains to come amid an upsurge in advertising and excitement around AI.

We believe Meta is taking share of the broader online advertising market, Josey said in a research note Thursday. This belief is defended by greater advertising demand amid an improving market, the analyst said.

We believe there remains upside as engagement grows, he added.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

A slowdown in advertising has affected many social-media platforms over the past year. But there have been signs the ad market is improving. Metas advertising revenue was $31.5 billion in its second quarter, up 12% from the previous year.

Josey also anticipates the stock will gain after the company provides more insight into its AI investments and plans at the Meta Connect virtual event happening on Sept. 27 and Sept. 28.

Meta stock has been a major beneficiary of AI hype as investors have bought shares of companies with exposure to the technology. Meta stock has surged 151% this year while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index has jumped 26%.

Advertisement - Scroll to Continue

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said during Metas latest earnings call on July 26 that he planned to share more details regarding AI later this year. Adding: But you can imagine lots of ways that AI can help people connect and express themselves in our apps: creative tools that make it easier and more fun to share content, agents that act as assistants, coaches that can help you interact with businesses and creators, and more.

Shares of Meta were rising 2.3% Friday to $302.52.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

Follow this link:

Meta Stock Has Room to Soar. How Ads and AI Can Drive Growth. - Barron's

Image Credits: Getty Images

Microsoft AI researchers accidentally exposed tens of terabytes of sensitive data, including private keys and passwords, while publishing a storage bucket of open source training data on GitHub.

In research shared with TechCrunch, cloud security startup Wiz said it discovered a GitHub repository belonging to Microsofts AI research division as part of its ongoing work into the accidental exposure of cloud-hosted data.

Readers of the GitHub repository, which provided open source code and AI models for image recognition, were instructed to download the models from an Azure Storage URL. However, Wiz found that this URL was configured to grant permissions on the entire storage account, exposing additional private data by mistake.

This data included 38 terabytes of sensitive information, including the personal backups of two Microsoft employees personal computers. The data also contained other sensitive personal data, including passwords to Microsoft services, secret keys and more than 30,000 internal Microsoft Teams messages from hundreds of Microsoft employees.

The URL, which had exposed this data since 2020, was also misconfigured to allow full control rather than read-only permissions, according to Wiz, which meant anyone who knew where to look could potentially delete, replace and inject malicious content into them.

Wiz notes that the storage account wasnt directly exposed. Rather, the Microsoft AI developers included an overly permissive shared access signature (SAS) token in the URL. SAS tokens are a mechanism used by Azure that allows users to create shareable links granting access to an Azure Storage accounts data.

AI unlocks huge potential for tech companies, Wiz co-founder and CTO Ami Luttwak told TechCrunch. However, as data scientists and engineers race to bring new AI solutions to production, the massive amounts of data they handle require additional security checks and safeguards. With many development teams needing to manipulate massive amounts of data, share it with their peers or collaborate on public open source projects, cases like Microsofts are increasingly hard to monitor and avoid.

Wiz said it shared its findings with Microsoft on June 22, and Microsoft revoked the SAS token two days later on June 24. Microsoft said it completed its investigation on potential organizational impact on August 16.

In a blog post shared with TechCrunch before publication, Microsofts Security Response Center said that no customer data was exposed, and no other internal services were put at risk because of this issue.

Microsoft said that as a result of Wizs research, it has expanded GitHubs secret spanning service, which monitors all public open source code changes for plaintext exposure of credentials and other secrets to include any SAS token that may have overly permissive expirations or privileges.

See the original post here:

Microsoft AI researchers accidentally exposed terabytes of internal sensitive data - TechCrunch