NEW YORK: The United States and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. have settled a lawsuit over a housing advertising system that illegally discriminated against users based on race and other characteristics, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Meta encouraged advertisers to target users based on features like race, religion, and sex, in violation of the Federal Housing Act. That law prohibits discrimination in housing based on such characteristics.
Meta denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay a $115,054 civil penalty, the highest allowed under the law. Complaints over ads-based discrimination have dogged the company since 2016, and the company has reached settlements with Washington state and rights groups over similar allegations.
As part of the deal, the company agreed to stop using an algorithmic tool known as “Special Ad Audience” and design a new housing advertising tool by the end of the year.
“Because of this ground-breaking lawsuit, Meta will — for the first time — change its ad delivery system to address algorithmic discrimination,” Damian Williams, the US Attorney for Manhattan, said in a statement.
Meta said it would also use the new system for advertisements related to jobs and credit.
“Discrimination in housing, employment and credit is a deep-rooted problem with a long history in the US, and we are committed to broadening opportunities for marginalized communities in these spaces and others,” the company said in a statement.
The case stems from a 2019 civil charge filed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The DOJ said Facebook made some changes as part of its 2019 settlement with rights groups, but said that deal did not address the delivery of ads through machine-learning algorithms.
The settlement reached on Tuesday is subject to review by a judge.
US, Meta settle lawsuit over discrimination in housing advertising tool
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US, Meta settle lawsuit over discrimination in housing advertising tool
- Meta denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay a $115,054 civil penalty, the highest allowed under the law
Google launches AI music model in English, Arabic
- Lyria 3 lets users generate 30-second audio tracks via Gemini
DUBAI: Google has launched Lyria 3, a generative AI music model currently in final testing, that can be used via the Gemini website and app to create customized audio tracks.
Users can provide text prompts such as “an upbeat, modern Arabic fusion track for Ramadan” or “a massive, anthemic rock song with an emotive male singer.”
They can add images to their prompts and ask the model to generate a track that reflects the ideas within the pictures. They can also add lyrics or ask the model to generate them.
Lyria 3 then produces a 30-second track along with cover art generated by Google’s artificial intelligence image generator and editor, Nano Banana.
Google said the aim was not to create a musical masterpiece or for copying existing artists but to let users express themselves in unique ways. However, if a prompt specifies a particular artist, the model can draw inspiration their style while still creating an original track.
Lyria was launched in 2023 and is the company’s most advanced music generation model. SynthID, Google’s tool to watermark and identify AI-generated content, is embedded in all tracks it creates.
Users can also upload a file to check whether it was generated using Google AI. Gemini will examine it for SynthID and provide a response based on its analysis.
Lyria 3 is available in Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese, with more languages expected in the future. It will be available on the mobile app in the coming days.
