Curated Intel from the Talent Tech Industry
February 12-18, 2024:
• Cracking down on email: New mass Gmail rejections to start April 2024, Google says;
• Watching out for bad behavior online: FAMA adds TikTok Screening feature to its solution;
• Saying ‘no’ for the final time: USPTO denies OpenAI trademark application for the last time;
• Waving at a new revenue stream: HiBob acquires UK payroll automation platform Pento;
• Thinking of you: OpenAI announces ChatGPT can now remember personal details of a user.
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New Mass Gmail Rejections To Start April 2024, Google Says
Starting in April, senders of unwanted mass emails to Gmail users will begin to see message rejections increasing unless they abide by new Gmail email sender guidelines, GoogleGOOG warns. As an article I published on Forbes on last Tuesday made clear, new rules are coming into place to protect Gmail users from unwanted mass emails. At the time, it was reported that some senders of mass marketing emails had started to receive error messages relating to some messages sent to Gmail accounts. However, a Google spokesperson has told me that those specific errors, 550-5.7.56, were not new but “a product of pre-existing authentication requirements.” Google has also confirmed that, from April, it will “start rejecting a percentage of non-compliant email traffic, and we’ll gradually increase the rejection rate.” Google says that, for example, if 75% of the traffic meets the new email sender authentication guidelines, then “a percentage” of the remaining non-compliant 25% will be rejected. It isn’t yet clear what that percentage will be. Google does say that when it comes to enforcement of the new rules, it will be “gradual and progressive.”
Fama Technologies Announces Groundbreaking "TikTok Screening" Feature in its Modern Candidate Screening Solution
Fama Technologies, a leader in AI-driven modern candidate screening, is excited to announce the upcoming launch of a revolutionary new feature: TikTok as a Source. This innovative addition will empower organizations to extend their screening capabilities to one of the world's most popular social media platforms, TikTok. The TikTok Screening feature is designed to analyze publicly available content on TikTok for critical misconduct issues such as violence, harassment, and fraud. This aligns with Fama's commitment to providing comprehensive and ethically sourced insights into candidates' online behavior, aiding employers in making informed hiring decisions and improving candidate fit and quality. Ben Mones, CEO of Fama Technologies, emphasizes the importance of this development: "In today’s digital age, understanding who a candidate is and how they will show up in the workplace is crucial. The best way to determine future behavior is by looking at past and present behaviors. TikTok, with its massive user base and unique content, provides valuable insights into a person's character and behavior. Our new TikTok as a Source feature ensures that our clients can access this information responsibly and efficiently, further enhancing their ability to hire the best candidates." This feature is built on Fama's cutting-edge AI technology, which respects candidate privacy and complies with EEOC, FCRA, GDPR, and more. The TikTok as a Source feature analyzes public content on the platform, focusing on behaviors that are relevant to the workplace and job, configurable keywords, and excludes personal data that is not job-related.
No ‘GPT’ trademark for OpenAI
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied OpenAI’s attempt to trademark “GPT,” ruling that the term is “merely descriptive” and therefore unable to be registered. It’s a blow to OpenAI’s branding, but don’t expect its competitors to start releasing their own version of the ubiquitous chatbot. ChatGPT is certainly the most recognizable brand in AI right now, being the most popular conversational model on the market and the one that most visibly took large language models from curiosity to global trend. But the name, according to the USPTO, doesn’t meet the standards to register for a trademark and the protections a “TM” after the name affords. (Incidentally, they refused once back in October, and this is a “FINAL” in all caps denial of the application.)
HiBob Acquires UK Payroll Automation Platform Pento
HiBob, the company behind Bob, the modern HR platform for midsized multinationals, is pleased to announce the acquisition of cloud-based UK payroll automation platform Pento, subject to closing conditions. Following the release of HiBob's Payroll Hub in 2021, the deal represents the next step towards providing an 'all-in-one' experience, allowing UK businesses to efficiently solve payroll complexity. Pento leverages real-time payment automation to deliver a fast, simplified, and error-free approach to payroll management. Headquartered in London, Pento has reduced payment processing from weeks to minutes for more than 400 UK customers, many of which are already using the Bob platform. Pento's technology will enable HiBob to expand its modern approach to human capital management into payroll, enhancing its full-suite capabilities for customers with UK operations looking to break away from cumbersome legacy payroll solutions.
Shelly Palmer writes ChatGPT Remembers
ChatGPT forgets. When using GPT-4, ChatGPT has a context length (memory limit) of 32,768 tokens, which is roughly 24,000 words or 50 pages of text. This allows it to remember details across average-length conversations or documents. As conversations get longer or more complex, it becomes clear that the model either starts to lose context or repeat itself. If you notice this early in a task, you can somewhat mitigate it by summarizing context, breaking down conversations into smaller pieces, and explicitly telling ChatGPT to remember key details. If you don’t notice “memory loss” early in your task, the results can (and do) continue to degrade until you do notice. So far, this has been an unavoidable occupational hazard. Now, ChatGPT will remember. OpenAI announced an awesome new feature that allows ChatGPT to remember personal details, preferences, and context from previous chats with a user. For example, if a user mentions their daughter Alexis who likes pink butterflies, ChatGPT can later generate a birthday card for Alexis with those details.
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