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In November 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“Antitrust Division” or “Division”) updated its guidance on how it will evaluate Corporate Compliance Programs when conducting criminal antitrust investigations. The updated guidance demonstrates that when the Antitrust Division is evaluating a company’s compliance program as part of its investigation and charging-decision process, it will assess what the company has done to preserve electronic communications, such as ephemeral messages, and steps the company has taken to account for new technologies as well as its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic revenue management software when conducting company business. Updating compliance programs in these areas will be helpful for companies seeking to detect and prevent criminal antitrust violations. And should a company become the subject of either a criminal or civil antitrust investigation, evidence that it has developed and implemented policies regarding new communications platforms and protocols concerning the use of AI and algorithmic software will make it easier for a company to effectively argue for credit for a robust and effective compliance program. Such steps may make a meaningful difference in influencing the Antitrust Division when it is making charging decisions. Effective Compliance Programs Should Account for All Forms of Communication The updated guidance indicates that the Antitrust Division will probe whether the company has instituted “clear guidelines regarding the use of ephemeral messaging or non-company methods of communication including the extent to which those communications are permitted and when employees must preserve those communications.” Ephemeral messaging tools allow messages to disappear without a backup or archiving function. The guidance reflects the Antitrust Division’s view that even when employees use personal devices and third-party messaging platforms that have not been formally approved for conducting company business, the Antitrust Division will seek those communications and expect clear guidance from the company to its employees about disclosing and preserving such communications and communication routes. The Antitrust Division will probe the retention and deletion settings that are available to employees, as well as the rationale the company used for establishing its directives. The guidance is consistent with recent updates to the DOJ’s standard preservation letters and subpoenas to include language regarding the preservation of ephemeral messages and other new methods of communications. Companies face clear obstacles in monitoring the actions employees may take when violating company policies regarding ephemeral messaging and non-approved forms of communication to conduct company business. Yet it remains imperative to have clearly articulated policies in place with a sound rationale for the policies that are implemented. When a compliance program addresses these matters and employees are properly trained on the policies, the company can more effectively argue to Division officials that employees who failed to follow clearly stated directives were not acting on behalf of the company. The weight of these arguments will vary depending on the unique circumstances of each case, but having a clearly articulated policy in place will at least provide an avenue to present the argument to Division prosecutors. Compliance Programs Should be Updated to Assess and Address Risk Relating to the Use of AI One of the factors that DOJ prosecutors are instructed to consider when evaluating antitrust compliance programs is how the program handles risk assessment in a variety of categories. The updated guidance states that effective compliance programs must address how a company uses “technology, particularly new technologies such as artificial intelligence” and “algorithmic revenue management software” to conduct business. The DOJ’s guidance follows warnings earlier this year from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that the use of algorithms to assist in determining prices may violate federal antitrust laws, regardless of the business or industry. Per the recent DOJ guidance, compliance programs should have mechanisms to mitigate risk in the deployment of such technology. At a minimum, these mechanisms should help compliance officers understand how AI and other technology tools are being used for pricing and marketing decisions and what the data inputs include. The risk assessment should evaluate what public, non-public, and non-company data are being used as well as what data the company may be sharing externally through technology. In turn, the compliance program should address how the company can detect and correct, when necessary, decisions made by AI or other technologies that may be problematic. Deploying AI and other innovative technologies without proper safeguards increases the risk of lawsuits from civil litigants alleging antitrust violations based on the use of third-party platforms to share sensitive business information. An effective compliance program will evaluate the use of such platforms or third-party information and will require decision makers to document why certain technologies were adopted for business purposes and how those technologies are pro-competitive. Conclusions and Recommendations In 2019, the Antitrust Division announced a shift in its approach for evaluating compliance programs whereby it would credit effective antitrust compliance programs at both the charging and sentencing stages of its enforcement activities. The updated guidance provides insights on the Division’s priorities when considering credit for compliance programs and direction for companies and their compliance officers on how to reevaluate and improve their corporate compliance infrastructure. A robust antitrust compliance program should address each aspect of compliance as discussed in the Antitrust Division’s “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations. ” Two key areas of compliance program assessment should include an evaluation of communications policies for all employees as well as a deeper analysis of how the company is using AI and other technologies in pursuing its business objectives.Krispy Kreme Declares Quarterly Dividend
I’m A Celebrity suffers very awkward tech blunder after Melvin’s exit leaving Ant McPartlin frustrated
Femi Falana blamed the Police for failing to prevent stampedes in Ibadan, Abuja, and Okija, resulting in 115 tragic deaths The incidents included 35 child deaths in Ibadan, 29 in Okija, and 10 in Abuja, highlighting safety failures Falana urged reforms to tackle poverty, unemployment, and hunger to ensure social and physical security CHECK OUT: Education is Your Right! Don’t Let Social Norms Hold You Back. Learn Online with LEGIT. Enroll Now! Renowned human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has criticized the Nigerian Police Force for its alleged failure to prevent recent food stampedes in Ibadan, Abuja, and Okija, which claimed numerous lives. Legit.ng had reported that in Ibadan , 35 children tragically lost their lives during a holiday funfair. Meanwhile, in Okija, Anambra State , a stampede at a palliative distribution event left 29 dead and 32 injured. PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app! In Abuja , a similar incident at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama resulted in 10 deaths and multiple injuries . Read also Bishop Kukah mentions who to blame for food stampedes Speaking at a public lecture in Akure on Friday, December 27, in memory of former Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Falana described the incidents as tragic and preventable. Falana stated that the Police neglected their constitutional duty to protect citizens, resulting in unnecessary deaths and injuries, The Punch reported. “The deaths of 115 Nigerians in recent incidents in Ibadan, Abuja, and Okija are unacceptable. "The Police failed to protect the people, and I hold them responsible. The government must compensate the families who lost their loved ones because of these failures," Falana said. Call for social security reforms Falana also urged the federal government to address the root causes of social insecurity, citing poverty, unemployment, hunger, and illiteracy as factors contributing to the tragedies. He emphasized that physical security cannot be achieved without addressing social inequalities. Read also Ibadan stampede: Call surfaces for deceased children’s parents to be arrested, reason emerges “Without social security, the safety of lives and property cannot be guaranteed,” Falana warned. Peter Obi addresses tragic stampedes across Nigeria Earlier, Legit.ng reported that over 60 lives were lost in stampedes across Ibadan, Abuja , and Okija as citizens scrambled for food at events meant to provide relief. Peter Obi initially criticized systemic failures in a now-deleted tweet but later commended the organizers for their efforts. Obi calls for urgent reforms to address poverty, inequality, and food insecurity, emphasizing the need for safety at public events. PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy! Source: Legit.ng
Healthcare giant Optum has restricted access to an internal AI chatbot used by employees after a security researcher found it was publicly accessible online, and anyone could access it using only a web browser. The chatbot, which TechCrunch has seen, allowed employees to ask the company questions about how to handle patient health insurance claims and disputes for members in line with the company’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). While the chatbot did not appear to contain or produce sensitive personal or protected health information, its inadvertent exposure comes at a time when its parent company, health insurance conglomerate UnitedHealthcare, faces scrutiny for its use of artificial intelligence tools and algorithms to allegedly override doctors’ medical decisions and deny patient claims . Mossab Hussein, chief security officer and co-founder of cybersecurity firm spiderSilk, alerted TechCrunch to the publicly exposed internal Optum chatbot, dubbed “SOP Chatbot.” Although the tool was hosted on an internal Optum domain and could not be accessed from its web address, its IP address was public and accessible from the internet and did not require users to enter a password. It’s not known for how long the chatbot was publicly accessible from the internet. The AI chatbot became inaccessible from the internet soon after TechCrunch contacted Optum for comment on Thursday. Optum spokesperson Andrew Krejci told TechCrunch in a statement that Optum’s SOP chatbot “was a demo tool developed as a potential proof of concept” but was “never put into production and the site is no longer accessible.” “The demo was intended to test how the tool responds to questions on a small sample set of SOP documents,” the spokesperson said. The company confirmed there was no protected health information used in the bot or its training. “This tool does not and would never make any decisions, but only enable better access to existing SOPs. In short, this technology was never scaled nor used in any real way,” said the spokesperson. AI chatbots, like Optum’s, are typically designed to produce answers based on whatever data the chatbot was trained on. In this case, the chatbot was trained on internal Optum documents relating to SOPs for handling certain claims, which can help Optum employees answer questions about claims and their eligibility to be reimbursed. The Optum documents were hosted on UnitedHealthcare’s corporate network and inaccessible without an employee login but are cited and referenced by the chatbot when prompted about their contents. According to statistics displayed on the chatbot’s main dashboard, Optum employees have used SOP Chatbot hundreds of times since September. The chatbot also stored a history of the hundreds of conversations that Optum employees had with the chatbot during that time. The chat history shows Optum employees would ask the chatbot things like “What should be the determination of the claim?” and “How do I check policy renewal date?” Some of the files that the chatbot references include handling the dispute process and eligibility screening, TechCrunch has seen. The chatbot also produced responses that showed, when asked, reasons for typically denying coverage. Like many AI models, Optum’s chatbot was capable of producing answers to questions and prompts outside of the documents it was trained on. Some Optum employees appeared intrigued by the chatbot, prompting the bot with queries like “Tell me a joke about cats” (which it refused: “There’s no joke available”). The chat history also showed several attempts by employees to “ jailbreak ” the chatbot by making it produce answers that are unrelated to the chatbot’s training data. When TechCrunch asked the chatbot to “write a poem about denying a claim,” the chatbot produced a seven-paragraph stanza, which reads in part: In the realm of healthcare’s grand domain Where policies and rules often constrain A claim arrives, seeking its due But alas, its fate is to bid adieu. The provider hopes, with earnest plea, For payment on a service spree, Yet scrutiny reveals the tale, And reasons for denial prevail. UnitedHealthcare, which owns Optum, faces criticism and legal action for its use of artificial intelligence to allegedly deny patient claims. Since the targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in early December, news outlets have reported floods of reports of patients expressing anguish and frustration over denials of their healthcare coverage by the health insurance giant. The conglomerate — the largest private provider of healthcare insurance in the United States — was sued earlier this year for allegedly denying critical health coverage to patients who lost access to healthcare, citing a STAT News investigation . The federal lawsuit accuses UnitedHealthcare of using an AI model with a 90% error rate “in place of real medical professionals to wrongfully deny elderly patients care.” UnitedHealthcare, for its part, said it would defend itself in court. UnitedHealth Group, the corporate owner of UnitedHealthcare and Optum, made $22 billion in profit on revenues of $371 billion in 2023, its earnings show.
Crews in western North Carolina have collected 1.55 million cubic yards, or more than 11,625 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of debris since Hurricane Helene hit in September. Officials at the state’s emergency management agency said Tuesday that it could pave 62 miles of road with the debris that had been removed. “Most standard dump trucks hold around 15 cubic yards of debris. You would need over 103,333 dump trucks to haul this load. You get the gist here. It’s a lot,” they wrote on the social media platform X. “But work continues!” The debris that is retrieved is sorted and as much as possible is recycled. Some can be turned into firewood or building materials. What is deemed hazardous is disposed of by the Environmental Protection Agency. What goes into landfills is minimized, it noted. The state established temporary debris storage areas to mitigate the amount of debris that was generated. No hazardous materials are brought there. The state’s Department of Public Safety said in October that it would separate debris into six categories : large appliances, construction debris, vegetative debris, hazardous waste, electronics, and household waste. FEMA said that thousands of trees would be repurposed and that 320,000 pounds of wood had already been removed by mid-November. “They’re working seven days a week,” Judy Craze, a resident of Lake Lure, told WTVD on Monday. “Some mornings have been very cold. They are out there early in the morning and I’m like whew, I’m glad I’m in here drinking my coffee and not on one of those barges.” Asheville’s Citizen-Times reported Tuesday that by November 30, nearly 140,000 cubic yards of debris had been removed from its city limits. The city only recently got clean drinking water back. A US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) colonel told the station that they had removed about 5,000 dump trucks of debris, including kayaks, logs, and debris that could be from homes that were washed away. USACE estimated late last month that there were around 8,000 cubic yards of sand that needed to be removed. One company, Southern Disaster Recovery, has a plan to burn the organic debris gradually over several weeks. It’s concerned at least one local resident. “How many pairs of lungs are worth the town saving the money?” Avi Sommerville told the Citizen-Times . The town of Spruce Pine’s Mitchell News-Journal reported that waterway cleanup could cost as much as $100m. In the wake of the devastating and deadly storm, images of the mountainous area showed washed-out roads and buildings surrounded by high, reddish-brown mud, ripped-up trees, wooden sheets, plastic containers, furniture, and other miscellaneous objects. After the waters receded and the mud was cleared, amid health concerns , the debris remained. The hurricane brought impacts to the state during the week of September 26, making landfall as a Category 4 storm in northwestern Florida that night. The Tar Heel State saw the most deaths, and the toll rose to 103 last month. The hurricane unleashed a stunning 42 trillion gallons of rain : the equivalent of the flow of Niagara Falls for nearly two years. Officials in the region said it would take many areas, like the heavily hit Buncombe County, years to recover from the hurricane. Many people were left without homes at the start of the winter season. It also slammed into multiple southeastern states, including South Carolina and Virginia. The Virginia Department of Transportation estimates it will take about three to six months to collect its debris. In South Carolina, three-year-old Ivy Graham has cheered on debris crews. Officials in Greenville expect debris collection will continue through next year . “I’ve never seen a truck that big, full of limbs,” her mom, Anna Graham, told WYFF .
Chronister is the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. Subscribe to continue reading this article. Already subscribed? To login in, click here.DDPAI Partners with Battery World to Bring Smarter Dashcam Solutions to Australian Drivers
The Nashville Predators have worked plenty of overtime lately but have yet to be rewarded. They will try to escape their rut when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. Nashville has lost three straight games 3-2 in overtime. Its latest sudden-death setback came on Saturday at Minnesota in the opener of a four-game road swing. The trip moves to three Canadian cities, with games against the Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators on tap. The Predators are hunting ways to energize their offense. They have scored two goals in each loss of their current four-game skid. "The last few games, we only scored two goals and it's tough because (goaltender Juuse Saros) is playing outstanding, giving us a chance," said Ryan O'Reilly, who scored a goal for Nashville on Saturday. "We can't (get over) that hump, that next goal is huge for us. It's frustrating, we get to OT and hopefully squeak it out there, and we just don't right now, and it's just extremely frustrating. "Obviously, there's some things with our effort that we have to be consistent with. But I know for myself, just as quick, it's a mental reset, usually when you're ready for this swing. And you know, it's a great opportunity to go on this (Canadian) swing and get some points and kind of rejuvenate ourselves. The opportunity is there. We have to kind of reset, refocus, and come out, guns blazing in Toronto." The Predators exchanged backup goaltenders with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday when they acquired Justus Annunen, 24, and a 2025 sixth-round pick for Scott Wedgewood, 32. "We're getting a goaltender that's quite a bit younger," Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. "(Wedgewood) was a really good veteran, really good for us, was a good personality. We'll probably miss that." The Maple Leafs have flourished since early November, winning nine of their last 11 games. Toronto has also won both games since Auston Matthews returned to the lineup after he missed nine contests with an upper-body injury. Matthews had two assists in his return Saturday, a 5-3 win at Tampa Bay, and he scored the Maple Leafs' first goal in Monday's 4-1 home win over Chicago. "Maybe not the cleanest game, definitely some things we can take away, but two points are two points," said Matthews, who has 14 points in 15 games this season. "Just try to clean it up and just try to be better here in the next game." The Maple Leafs killed off four penalties, including a five-on-three situation for 28 seconds in the second period, while Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves. Mitchell Marner earned two assists to extend his points streak to seven games (five goals, eight assists). "I thought we started off the way we wanted to and played our game," Toronto coach Craig Berube said after Monday's win. "Second period not so much, we just didn't make a play, couldn't win a battle, couldn't advance the puck well enough. "We just got hemmed in our own zone and then we took penalties, but our penalty kill was excellent and that was the difference in the game. And then our goalie, that's what it boils down to." Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe (upper-body injury) did not play on Monday but participated in practice on Tuesday. --Field Level MediaShield AI and Palantir Technologies Deepen Strategic Partnership and Announce Deployment of Warp SpeedCheers and beers for Ruud van Nistelrooy as Leicester reign starts with win
6 candidates file for Oak Park and River Forest School Board
Report: Nebraska DL James Williams enters transfer portalThe Aurora City Council will vote Tuesday on using money from a federal grant to replace police and fire laptop computers and some closed-circuit TV cameras. Aldermen will vote on using money from the federal Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, Technology and Equipment Program received earlier this year. The city already accepted the $2.28 million grant, which is given to provide funding for projects which improve police effectiveness and the flow of information among law enforcement agencies, local government service providers and the communities they serve, according to a city memo. Earlier this year, the City Council approved about $1.23 million of the money for forensic lab equipment, as well as CCTV equipment. What aldermen will vote on Tuesday is using the remaining about $1.05 million to buy laptops for both the police and fire departments, and additional CCTV equipment. The city memo said that police officers, paramedics and fire crews need “ruggedized” laptops they can rely on in all situations and weather conditions. The laptops the city purchased have exceeded their warranty life, and the city wants to replace them with better models. The grant would cover the first-year lease costs of $872,634. The city would look at using Emergency Telephone Service Board money to cover the second and third years, which has been done previously for both the police and fire departments. After the laptop costs, and some other associated costs, the city would have $107,924 remaining of the original $2.28 million grant. Public Safety officials want to use that for any other costs related to closed-circuit TV needs. The entire grant has to be spent by the end of 2024. slord@tribpub.com