Tech / Technology

Walmart announces two Black Friday sales 2023

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Walmart announced its plans to host two Black Friday Deals events Wednesday. Find out when they start and what deals will be featured.
a close-up, over-the-shoulder view of a woman shopping for black friday deals on the walmart app

UPDATE: Nov. 1, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EDT This story has been updated.

Black Friday sales that begin in late October and continue throughout November with multiple waves of deals have become the norm at many major retailers. But this year, Walmart is taking a chiller approach to the holiday season.

The big box store has announced that it will run a pair of “Black Friday Deals” events later this month: The first sale will kick off online on Wednesday, Nov. 8 before it continues in stores on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 a.m. local time, while the second will launch online on Wednesday, Nov. 22 before it goes IRL on Friday, Nov. 24 (or actual Black Friday). Both events will include three hours of early access for paid (non-trial) members of its Walmart+ program starting at 12 p.m. before their deals go live for all shoppers at 3 p.m. ET.

The Black Friday Deals events at Walmart will be succeeded by its online-only Cyber Monday event on Monday, Nov. 27, which, unlike previous iterations, will also have an early-access period for the Walmart+ crew.

walmart's 2023 black friday calendar


Credit: Walmart

Walmart’s press release for its holiday plans name-dropped top brands like “Apple, Dyson, LEGO, LG, and Samsung” and teased a handful of deals that will drop during the first Black Friday Deals event:

As part of its announcement, the retailer has also shared that one-year Walmart+ memberships are on sale for $49 (or 50% off) in the lead-up to its first Black Friday Deals event from Nov. 1 through Nov. 8. The program unlocks benefits like free shipping with no order minimums, fuel discounts, and a free Paramount+ subscription in addition to early access to certain Walmart sales throughout the year.

SEE ALSO:

Black Friday sales have already started. Here are the best early deals we’ve found so far.

While this early-access formatting is a repeat of what Walmart has done during past Black Friday sales, the overall vibe of its 2023 holiday programming feels different — more specifically, less hasty. Black Friday Deals for Days events at Walmart in 2020, 2021, and 2022 were three- to four-part events, and they were all set in stone by mid-October, giving the retailer a leg up over other stores that waited longer to share the dates of their sales.

This year, Walmart is the third major retailer to unveil its 2023 Black Friday after Best Buy and Target, which released their first waves of early Black Friday deals on Oct. 27 and 29, respectively. Amazon’s should be coming any day now.


the walmart+ logo

Credit: Walmart


Walmart+ membership (1 year)

$49 (save $49)

Tech / Technology

White House announces new AI initiatives at Global Summit on AI Safety

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Vice President Kamala Harris will reveal the US government’s new AI initiatives to advance the safe and responsible use of AI.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks about the Biden Administration's work to regulate artificial intelligence during an event in the East Room of the White House on October 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Vice President Kamala Harris will outline several new AI initiatives today, laying out the US government’s plans to advance the safe and responsible use of machine learning technology. We already know what many of them will be.

The White House previously announced an executive order on AI regulation earlier this week, with the intention to protect US citizens from the potential harm the technology can cause. It is now building further on this order, aiming to position itself as a global leader in ensuring AI is developed and used in the public interest internationally.

Currently in London to attend the Global Summit on AI Safety, Harris is scheduled to deliver her live-streamed speech on the US’ approach to AI at approximately 1:35 p.m. GMT / 9:35 a.m. ET.

SEE ALSO:

White House drops an AI regulation bombshell: 10 new mandates that’ll shake up the industry

“Just as AI has the potential to do profound good, it also has the potential to cause profound harm, from AI-enabled cyber-attacks at a scale beyond anything we have seen before to AI-formulated bioweapons that could endanger the lives of millions,” Harris said in an excerpt from her prepared speech. “These threats are often referred to as the ‘existential threats of AI,’ because they could endanger the very existence of humanity.”

“So, the urgency of this moment must compel us to create a collective vision of what this future must be. A future where AI is used to advance human rights and human dignity; where privacy is protected and people have equal access to opportunity; where we make our democracies stronger and our world safer. A future where AI is used to advance the public interest.”

Here are the new announcements and government initiatives Harris will reveal.

1. The US is establishing a United States AI Safety Institute

The US government is establishing a United States AI Safety Institute (US AISI), which will be part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Created through the Department of Commerce, the US AISI will be responsible for applying the NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework, developing benchmarks, best practices, and technical guidance to mitigate the risks of AI. These will then be used by regulators when developing or enforcing rules. The US AISI will also collaborate with similar institutions internationally.

2. The first draft of policy guidance for the US government’s use of AI is being made available for public comment

The US government is publishing the first draft of its policy guidance on its use of AI, with the public invited to comment. Released through the Office of Management and Budget, this policy is intended to outline tangible steps for the responsible use of AI by the US, and builds on previous guidance such as the NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework. The policy is intended for application across a wide range of departments, including health, law enforcement, and immigration, and requires that federal departments monitor the risks of AI, consult the public regarding its use, and provide an avenue of appeal to those harmed by it. 

You can read the draft policy and submit your comments here.

3. 30 nations have joined the Political Declaration on the Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy

The US made its Political Declaration on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy in February, establishing standards for the lawful, responsible use and development of military AI. This included the requirement that it comply with international humanitarian law. Interestingly, a specific goal of the Political Declaration is to preserve nations’ “right to self-defense,” as well as their ability to develop and use AI for the military.

Thirty other nations have now endorsed this Declaration as well, specifically Albania, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liberia, Malawi, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

4. 10 foundations have pledged over $200 million for public interest AI initiatives

Ten foundations are collectively committing over $200 million to fund AI initiatives intended to further the best interests of the global public — specifically workers, consumers, communities, and historically marginalised people. The foundations are also creating a funders’ network, which will coordinate such giving with the specific aim of supporting AI work that protects democracy and rights, drives innovation in the public interest, empowers workers amidst the changes being brought about by AI, improves accountability, or supports international rules regarding AI.

The 10 foundations involved are the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Democracy Fund, the Ford Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Kapor Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Omidyar Network, Open Society Foundations, and the Wallace Global Fund.

5. The US government will hold a hackathon to find a solution to scam AI robocalls 

The US government will host a virtual hackathon with the goal to build AI models which can detect and block robocalls and robotexts that can be used to scam people. The hackathon will have a particular focus on calls that use AI-generated voices.

6. The US is calling for international authentication standards for digital government messaging

The US is calling on the global community to support the development of international standards for digital and AI content produced by governments. Such standards would be aimed at helping the public identify whether or not an apparent government message is authentic, and may include labelling such as digital signatures or watermarks.

7. The US will develop a pledge committing to the responsible use of AI

Finally, the US government will work with the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) to develop a pledge that its development and implementation of AI will incorporate responsible practices. The FOC is a group of 38 countries whose stated aim is to advance internet freedom and protect human rights online worldwide.

Tech / Technology

The White House announces an executive order on AI regulation — how ChatGPT and its ilk are affected

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The White House just announced an executive order on AI regulation, which means major players like Open AI, Google, Microsoft and other prominent AI players must abide by the new legislation.
President Biden speaking at a podium

The White House just announced a thunderous executive order tackling AI regulation. These directives are the “strongest set of actions any government in the world has ever taken” to protect how AI affects American citizens, according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed.

The Biden administration has been working on plans to regulate the untethered AI industry. The order builds on the Biden-Harris blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights as well as voluntary commitments from 15 leading tech companies to work with the government for safe and responsible AI development.

Instead of waiting for Congress to pass its own legislation, the White House is storming ahead with an executive order to mitigate AI risks while capitalizing on its potential. With the widespread use of generative AI like ChatGPT, the urgency to harness AI is real.

SEE ALSO:

OpenAI calling for AI regulation is a solid step in no direction

White House AI executive order: 10 key provisions you need to know

What does the executive order look like? And how will it affect AI companies? Here’s what you need to know.

1. Developers of powerful AI systems (e.g., OpenAI, Google and Microsoft) must share the results of their safety tests with the federal government

In other words, while a prominent AI company is training its model, it is required to share the results of red-team safety tests before they are released to the public. (A red team is a group of people that test the security and safety of a digital entity by posing as malicious actors.)

According to a senior administration official, the order focuses on future generations of AI models, not current consumer-facing tools like ChatGPT. Furthermore, companies that would be required to share safety results are those that meet the highest threshold of computing performance. “[The threshold] is not going to catch AI systems trained by graduate students or even professors. This is really catching the most powerful systems in the world,” said the official.

2. Red-team testing will be held to high standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Homeland Security and the Departments of Energy will also work together to determine whether AI systems pose certain risks in the realm of cybersecurity as well as our chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear infrastructure.

3. Address the safety of AI players using models for science and biology-related projects

New standards for “biosynthesis screening” are in the works to protect against “dangerous biological materials” engineered by AI.

4. AI-generated content must be watermarked

The Department of Commerce will roll out guidance for ensuring all AI-generated content — audio, imagery, video, and text — is labeled as such. This will allow Americans to determine which content is created by a non-human entity, making it easier to identify deceptive deepfakes.

5. Continue building upon the ‘AI Cyber Challenge’

For the uninitiated, the AI Cyber Challenge is a Biden administration initiative that seeks to establish a high-level cybersecurity program that strengthens the security of AI tools, ensuring that vulnerabilities are fixed.

6. Lean on Congress to pass “bipartisan data privacy legislation”

The executive order is a message to Congress to speed things up. Biden is calling on lawmakers to ensure that Americans’ privacy is protected while prominent AI players train their models. Children’s privacy will be a primary focus.

7. Dig into companies’ data policies.

The White House says that it will evaluate how agencies and third-party data brokers collect and use “commercially available” information, meaning public datasets. Some “personally identifiable” data is available to the public, but that doesn’t mean AI players have free rein to use this information.

8. Tamp down on discrimination exacerbated by AI

Guidance will be rolled out to landlords, federal contractors, and more to reduce the possibility of bias. On top of that, the government will introduce best practices to address discrimination in AI algorithms. Plus, the Biden administration will address the usage of AI in sentencing regarding the criminal justice system.

9. Attract top global talent

As of today, the ai.gov site has a portal for applicants seeking AI fellowships and job opportunities in the U.S. government. The order also seeks to update visa criteria for immigrants with AI expertise.

10. Support workers vulnerable to AI developments

The Biden administration will support workers’ collective bargaining influence by developing principles and best practices to protect workers against potential harms like surveillance, job replacement, and discrimination. The order also announced plans to produce a report on AI’s potential for disrupting labor markets.

Mashable will be down in D.C. to get more information about how the new AI executive order will affect major players like Open AI, Google, and Microsoft as well as the average American citizen. Stay tuned for our coverage on this matter.