The NAB Joint Board of Directors has appointed Perry Sook, Chairman and CEO of Nexstar Media Group, as Chairman of the board. He assumes the position previously held by David Santrella, CEO of Salem Media Group, whose term has come to an end.

During the recent elections at the NAB Board of Directors meeting held on June 6-7, several other key positions were filled. Collin Jones, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development at Cumulus Media, was elected as the Radio Board Chair.

Kevin Perry, President and COO of Perry Publishing and Broadcasting Company, was elected as the Radio Board First Vice Chair. John Zimmer, President and Owner of Zimmer Radio of Mid-Missouri, was elected as the Radio Board Second Vice Chair. Chris Ornelas, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Beasley Media Group, was elected as the representative of the major radio group on the NAB Board’s Executive Committee.

Pat LaPlatney, President and Co-CEO of Gray Television Inc., was elected as the NAB Television Board Chair. Ramona Alexander, Vice President and General Manager of WDBD-TV, was elected as the TV Board First Vice Chair.

Lynn Beall, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Media Operations for TEGNA, was elected as the TV Board Second Vice Chair. Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, was elected as the TV Board Third Vice Chair.

Kristopher Jones, Executive Vice President and Head of Government Relations at Fox Corp., was appointed to the designated TV network seat on the NAB Board’s Executive Committee.

Salem Media Group has entered into a deal with EpochTV, the streaming division of The Epoch Times, to distribute a feature-length documentary produced by the digital company.

Leaving California: The Untold Story will be available for rental or purchase on the SalemNOW platform. The deal marks the first time EpochTV has distributed original content on a platform other than its own.

“It’s a privilege to partner with The Epoch Times to offer their incredible film, Leaving California, on SalemNOW,” said SalemNOW GM Robert Ellis.

The documentary looks at the “unprecedented mass exodus” happening in California and showcases the statements made by people who have left the state.

“SalemNOW’s rapid growth and success make them an ideal partner for us as we look to increase awareness about the critical issues we address in our film,” Leaving California host, writer, and producer Siyamak Khorrami said.

“These issues are impacting communities beyond California and we all need to be informed.”

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are raising concerns and seeking answers from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding potential risks associated with the company’s artificial intelligence language learning model.

The model, known as Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA), appeared on BitTorrent shortly after being made available to researchers, prompting lawmakers to question the possible misuse or abuse of the technology.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) expressed apprehension in a letter sent on Monday, highlighting the widespread availability of LLaMA. They stated, “It is easy to imagine LLaMA being adopted by spammers and those engaged in cybercrime,” citing concerns about fraudulent activities, child exploitation, privacy violations, and other criminal behavior that could arise from the open availability of the AI model.

When Meta initially released the code in February, the company intended to grant access to researchers on a case-by-case basis. The aim was to leverage external expertise in addressing known issues related to bias, problematic comments, and what the programmers referred to as “hallucinations” or fabricated information.

Meta stated in a blog post that sharing the LLaMA code would facilitate testing of new approaches to mitigate these problems in large language models.

However, within a week of its release, the code was leaked on BitTorrent, allowing anyone to download it. The lawmakers now criticize Meta for the manner in which the code was distributed, leading to its unintended dissemination.

The senators argue that Meta’s permissive approach to releasing LLaMA raises important and complex questions about the appropriate method and timing of openly distributing sophisticated AI models. They believe that Meta should have anticipated the broad dissemination of LLaMA and the potential for abuse due to the limited safeguards implemented during its release.

Blumenthal and Hawley also suggest that Meta’s code may pose greater risks to consumers compared to language learning models employed by other companies, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. They note that while ChatGPT adheres to ethical guidelines and refuses requests to generate certain content, LLaMA is capable of producing letters involving self-harm, crime, antisemitism, and other problematic responses.

The senators have posed a series of questions to Zuckerberg, seeking clarification on the company’s risk assessments and the measures taken to prevent or mitigate damage resulting from the dissemination of LLaMA. They also inquire about the development process, including whether Meta utilized data from account holders, such as posts or other personal information.

Zuckerberg has been requested to respond to these inquiries by June 15.