AI Domain names are here, US Government pilots GenAI programs with BigTech and is the grass greener on the other side?

Caught my Eye...

• Artificial intelligence’s integration into everyday life has stirred up doubts and unsettling questions for many about humanity’s path forward. But in Anguilla, a Caribbean island to the east of Puerto Rico, the A.I. boom has made the country a fortune. The British territory collects a fee from every registration for internet addresses that end in “.ai,” which happens to be the domain name assigned to the island. For each domain registration, Anguilla’s government gets anywhere from $140 to thousands of dollars from website names sold at auctions, according government data. Last year, Anguilla’s government made about $32 million from those fees. That amounted to more than 10 percent of gross domestic product for the territory of almost 16,000 people and 35 square miles. The government used the money to provide free healthcare for citizens 70 and older, and it has committed millions of dollars to finish building a school and a vocational training center. The government has also allocated funds to improve its airport; doubled its budget for sports activities, events and facilities; and increased the budget for citizens seeking medical treatment overseas.
• The Department of Homeland Security Is Embracing A.I. The agency will be the first in the federal government to roll out a comprehensive plan to integrate the technology into a variety of uses, from fighting crime to helping disaster survivors. In partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, it will launch pilot programs using chatbots and other tools to help combat crimes, train officials and prepare emergency management across the nation. The rush to roll out the still unproven technology is part of a larger scramble to keep up with the changes brought about by generative A.I., which can create hyper realistic images and videos and imitate human speech. As part of its plan, the agency plans to hire 50 A.I. experts to work on solutions to keep the nation’s critical infrastructure safe from A.I. generated attacks.
• Older Americans are among the happiest people in the world, coming in 10th in a recent worldwide happiness ranking. Americans age 60 and over are less lonely and feel more socially connected than their younger peers. Researchers have long pointed out that old age is generally a lot better than you may think. Psychological well-being generally plays out over a lifetime in a U-curve.The oldest Americans reported having more social support, and were less lonely than the young — even though they had fewer social connections. Financially, Boomers are crushing it. Americans over 70 hold 30% of the country's wealth, a record high share, but make up just 11% of the population.

Other Reading...

• UN adopts first global artificial intelligence resolution (Reuters)
• Senators Push To Declassify Information About TikTok (Mediapost)
• DiGiorno’s Rescue Program uses AI to turn pizza mishaps into coupons (MarketingDive)
• Digital Rewards company, Ibotta, files for IPO (Axios)
• Apple researchers explore dropping “Siri” phrase & listening with AI instead (MIT)
• YouTube is revamping its TV app to make videos more interactive (The Verge)
• MrBeast teams up with Amazon’s MGM Studios for reality competition series (CNBC)
• Introducing Devin, the worlds first AI Software Engineer (Cognition)

Against the Grain:

• SXSW audience boos video about how AI is awesome (Futurism) 
• Meta claims it gives publishers free traffic every year (Australian Financial Review)
• Starbucks is done with the metaverse already (Quartz)
• The housing market is merging with America’s polarized political culture (Yahoo Finance)

Chart of the week: TikTok tops US mobile app average time spent