Today's news digest: PayPal plans advertising business, OpenAI sets up safety and security committee, Google invests in Indian e-commerce giant
PayPal plans to accelerate its growth by launching an ad network. The ad business will be built around data generated by tracking users' purchase histories and the broader spending behavior of people who use its services. The digital payments company is already in a powerful position, having collected vast amounts of data on millions of users. PayPal has hired Mark Glaeser, a former head of Uber's advertising business, as senior vice president and general manager of its advertising division.
As OpenAI begins training new models, it has formed a safety and security committee that the company says will be “responsible for making recommendations regarding significant safety and security decisions” for all of its projects. The committee will be led by CEO Sam Altman and include board members Brett Taylor, Adam D'Angelo, and Nicole Seligman. OpenAI said the committee will evaluate and further develop processes and safeguards over the next 90 days, after which it will share recommendations with the company's board of directors. Updated recommendations will be made public after the board conducts its review.
In Asia Pacific, Google is increasing its investment in e-commerce. The tech giant plans to invest $350 million (£274.87 million) in Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce startup owned by Walmart. The investment is part of a roughly $1 billion (£782.65 million) funding round launched in 2023. Walmart is leading the fundraising, having already invested $600 million (£469.57 million) in the startup last year. The startup now leads the Indian e-commerce market.
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