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Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested on federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges yesterday. Jeffries, who led the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014, his romantic partner Matthew Smith, and his business associate James Jacobson each face one count of sex trafficking as well as 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
The arrest comes one year after a BBC investigation revealed that from 2008 to 2015, Jeffries allegedly used the company to create a sex trafficking operation by promising young men modeling jobs in exchange for attending parties where they were coerced into sexual acts. The indictment says the men were given alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra, and other items at the parties. An alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit shortly after the report against the retailer. Jeffries has not responded to the allegations.
If convicted, they could each face 15 years to life in prison for sex trafficking and up to 20 years for interstate prostitution. |
Amazon-backed startup Anthropic revealed yesterday it has trained a version of its AI model Claude to perform a range of computer tasks, including browsing the web, opening applications, and imitating keyboard strokes and button clicks. The new ability, called "computer use," expands Claude from a chatbot to an AI agent—a bot designed for specific tasks on behalf of a person.
Anthropic also released a set of prerecorded videos yesterday to demonstrate how the computer use tool can be used for specific functions, including coding a 1990s-themed webpage (watch here), planning a morning hike with a friend that includes a view of the Golden Gate Bridge (watch here), and filling out a spreadsheet using information spread across someone's computer (watch here).
Computer use is still in the experimental phase and has been released for developer feedback. Design startup Canva and food delivery giant DoorDash are among the partners who have already begun testing the upgraded Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Learn more about generative AI here (w/video). |
How Smell Affects Breathing |
People without a sense of smell breathe differently from those who can smell, according to a new study released yesterday. The results shed light on the extent to which sense of smell might impact long-term health, as it is common for people who lose that sense to suffer serious health issues.
The study involved a group of individuals born without the sense of smell—also known as congenital anosmia—who wore a device over their nose for a 24-hour day to track air flow data. While their breathing rate varied little compared to a control group, the data revealed the anosmic cohort sniffed four times on average over the course of a single, continuous breath, while healthy individuals sniffed roughly nine times. The difference allowed scientists to accurately predict 83% of the time whether an individual could smell or not. See how we smell here.
The loss of smell from infections, head trauma, or smoking is much more common than congenital anosmia—just one in every 10,000 people is born without a sense of smell. Roughly a fifth of the population experiences smell loss throughout life. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
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