eNews
BBC Earth Lands on BBC.com
MUMBAI: BBC Earth – the BBC Worldwide factual brand behind global blockbusters such as Planet Earth, Walking with Dinosaurs and Blue Planet – today launches its new digital home on BBC.com. The stunning site captures BBC Earth’s passion for adventure and exploration bringing visitors a visual feast of incredible imagery, world class videos and stories that will offer fans a new perspective on the world.
From the depths of the ocean to the outer reaches of the universe visitors to the new section will be able to explore ten content strands including a mix of newly commissioned content as well as awe inspiring moments from the BBC’s Natural History Unit archives, which will be housed in the Amazing Moments section and will offer hundreds of clips, launching with 25, including Attack Of The Praying Mantis with new clips to be published daily. Other key strands include: Discoveries a section dedicated to uncovering fascinating stories such as Are Dolphins Cleverer Dogs, to Strange & Beautiful, which explores topics including The Twisted World of Sexual Organs to A Colourful Life, home to specially commissioned short films exploring the beauty of nature through colour. First to launch will be Life in White dedicated to the beauty of nature’s polar ice caps and nature’s use of the colour.
Matt Walker, former news editor at New Scientist and editor of BBC Food and BBC Nature, has taken up the reins as Editor working alongside a number of BBC Earth’s network of experts in science and nature.
Matt Walker, Editor for BBC Earth on BBC.com said: “BBC Earth offers a different perspective on the world and we want to celebrate all the wonders of the natural world from your back garden to the farthest star. We share a never ending curiosity with our audience and being digital allows us to interact more closely with them. We want people to share their own content with us and their network through social media and show us what inspires them. Our mission is to bring visitors to BBC Earth something amazing every single day and we have an incredible wealth of content to offer from mind bending stories to stunning photography and film that will change the way you think about our universe.”
Matt added: “Like our other non-news sections BBC Earth hopes to attract new visitors to BBC.com which is increasingly becoming the go to site for a wealth of new and topic led content.”
Jo Sermon, Director of BBC Earth commented: “The launch of BBC Earth on BBC.com is an opportunity for us to transform our relationship with audiences and give people a place to connect with our content beyond the television. Its home for the huge breadth and range of content that BBC Earth encompasses and we can be immediate in sharing new stories. Audiences will be able to explore their world and discover its wonders whenever and wherever they want and there will always be something new to excite them.”
“This is great news for fans of the natural world globally, as well as in India. As one of the world’s most renowned producers of natural history content, we are very pleased that bbc.com/earth will provide our audience with a deeper connection to the natural world, inspiring and entertaining them at the same time,” said Myleeta Aga, SVP & General Manager India and Content Head Asia.
BBC Earth builds on the existing portfolio of specialist sections BBC Autos, BBC Capital, BBC Culture, BBC Future and BBC Travel, commissioned for BBC.com. Each of these bespoke sections seeks to offer visitors to BBC.com a deeper understanding of the story behind the headlines, across a plethora of topics and from a wealth of specialists. To date the non-news sections have attracted an average of 6.8 million unique users contributing to the 76 million unique users BBC.com attracts on a monthly basis across mobile and desktop.
eNews
OpenAI researcher Zoe Hitzig resigns over ChatGPT ad plans
Zoe Hitzig says an ad-driven model could put user privacy and AI integrity at risk.
CALIFORNIA: OpenAI researcher Zoe Hitzig has resigned from the company, citing concerns about the introduction of advertising in ChatGPT. Hitzig, who spent two years working on AI development and governance, announced her departure in a guest essay for The New York Times, just as the company began testing ads.
Hitzig’s main concern is not the presence of ads itself, but the long-term financial pressure they could create. While OpenAI maintains that ads will be clearly labelled and will not influence the AI’s responses, she argues that dependence on ad revenue can eventually change how a company operates.
She also expressed concern about the vast amount of sensitive data OpenAI holds, questioning whether the company can resist the tidal forces that push businesses to monetise private information.
“I resigned from OpenAI on Monday. The same day, they started testing ads in ChatGPT. OpenAI has the most detailed record of private human thought ever assembled. Can we trust them to resist the tidal forces pushing them to abuse it?” she wrote in a post on X.
Her warning points to a growing tension between business priorities and ethical responsibility, raising the question of whether a company can deliver objective AI responses while also keeping advertisers happy. It also underscores concerns around data privacy, as OpenAI handles vast amounts of personal information, creating risks that go beyond those faced by earlier tech platforms. At the same time, there are fears about future integrity, with financial pressures potentially pushing AI systems to favour engagement over accuracy or safety.
As ChatGPT moves from a purely subscription-based model toward a more commercial approach, the industry is watching closely. For Hitzig, the shift represents a fundamental change in OpenAI’s mission, raising concerns that the drive for profit could eventually compromise the integrity of the technology.
