Techmeme River
Thursday, March 28, 2024
4:30 AM
A profile of Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, as the AI surveillance and defense tech startup, which sells drones to the US, expects $1B in annual revenue by 2026
Financial Times
2:30 AM
A look at the rise and fall of Emad Mostaque and Stability AI, including how Mostaque's relationship with Coatue and Lightspeed blossomed and then fell apart
Fortune
2:15 AM
How in-app browsers silently subvert user choice, stifle innovation, trap users into apps, break websites, and enable apps to severely undermine user privacy
Open Web Advocacy
1:50 AM
Similarweb: GPTs created by subscribers on OpenAI's GPT Store accounted for just 1.5% of desktop visits to ChatGPT's site in February, suggesting limited appeal
Financial Times
1:25 AM
Leaked images show a white disc-less Xbox Series X console, which Microsoft plans to release in 2024, with the same design as the existing black Xbox Series X
eXputer
1:00 AM
Take-Two acquires Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment from the Embracer Group for $460M in stock; the deal is expected to close by the end of June 2024
IGN
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
10:25 PM
GLAAD: Meta is failing to curb posts calling for violence against trans people, posts calling trans and gender nonconforming people “satanic”, and more
Washington Post
8:25 PM
Poland's consumer watchdog fines Amazon ~$8M for allegedly misleading consumers, including via dark pattern design tricks, ending a probe from February 2023
TechCrunch
7:25 PM
Celestial AI, which develops optical tech for linking together processors and memory modules, raised a $175M Series C led by US Innovative Technology Fund
SiliconANGLE
6:50 PM
NewRetirement, which offers financial retirement planning tools for consumers and enterprise customers, raised a $20M Series A led by Allegis Capital
TechCrunch
6:10 PM
Oregon's governor signs the first US right-to-repair law that bans manufacturers from using “parts pairing” to dictate what replacement components can be used
The Verge
5:10 PM
Anthropic's Claude 3 Opus surpassed OpenAI's GPT-4 for the first time on Chatbot Arena, a crowdsourced leaderboard used by AI researchers for LLM evaluations
Ars Technica
4:40 PM
MLCommons announces results from its MLPerf 4.0 inference benchmarks, which added Llama 2 70B and Stable Diffusion XL; systems with Nvidia GPUs came out on top
IEEE Spectrum
4:10 PM
Google blocked or removed 5.5B ads and 12.7M advertiser accounts for violating its policies in 2023, up from 5.2B ads and 6.7M advertiser accounts in 2022
Search Engine Land
3:50 PM
Data observability service Observe raised a $115M Series B led by Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from Snowflake, sources say at a $400M-$500M valuation
TechCrunch
2:25 PM
NYC-based Hume, which offers a conversational AI that, Hume says, can interpret emotions based on people's voices, raised a $50M Series B at a $219M valuation
Forbes
1:05 PM
Amazon invests another $2.75B in Anthropic, the second tranche of its planned $4B investment in the AI startup, after investing $1.25B in September 2023
CNBC
12:35 PM
Google adds a tool that lets US users swipe left or right to rate apparel and accessories to get style recommendations on mobile browsers and Google app
TechCrunch
12:15 PM
Google adds AI-generated trip itineraries to Search, translation to Circle to Search, and curated recommendations in Maps in 40+ cities across the US and Canada
The Verge
11:10 AM
Source: the Google Pixel 9 will have three sizes, the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL; alleged Pixel 9 renders show two rear cameras and a compact body
91mobiles
11:00 AM
A US judge rules that the SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase can proceed, but dismisses one claim that Coinbase acted as an unregistered broker via Coinbase Wallet
Reuters
10:50 AM
Affinity and Canva publish a joint pledge promising to keep Affinity's design software “fair, transparent, and affordable”, including its “perpetual licenses”
The Verge
10:50 AM
Amazon loses an EU legal bid to delay complying with DSA rules on making its online ad library publicly available, after a judge rejected Amazon's request
Politico
10:40 AM
A survey of 10,133 US adults: 43% of those aged 18-29 used ChatGPT in February 2024, up from 33% in July 2023, compared to 27% of 30-49 and 23% of all adults
Pew Research Center
10:15 AM
Source: Salesforce paid $20M+ to license Einstein's image in October 2016, hoping to stand out in the AI space; the proceeds go to Jerusalem's Hebrew University
Bloomberg
9:45 AM
Google researchers observed 97 zero-day exploits in the wild in 2023, up 50% from 62 in 2022; 48 were used by espionage actors and 10 were financially-motivated
The Record
9:35 AM
Sources: blockchain AI companies SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol are discussing merging their tokens into ASI, with a ~$7.5B fully diluted value
Bloomberg
9:25 AM
At Intel's AI Summit in Taipei, executives say Copilot will soon run locally on PCs and that there will be a 40 TOPS requirement for NPUs on next-gen AI PCs
Tom's Hardware
9:10 AM
Disney adds Hulu to Disney+, after beta testing the integration since December 2023; Disney+ subscribers who don't pay for Hulu can still search for Hulu shows
The Hollywood Reporter
8:40 AM
How tech companies' search for AI experts, amid a shortage of candidates, led to million-dollar-a-year compensation packages, poaching entire teams, and more
Wall Street Journal
8:25 AM
Chinese state media: President Xi criticized “technological barriers” during Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's visit to Beijing, as the US curbs ASML exports
Bloomberg
8:10 AM
A look at Databricks' new open-source model DBRX, an LLM that cost ~$10M to train over several months and, Databricks says, outshines Llama 2, Mixtral, and Grok
Wired
7:50 AM
Elon Musk says X plans to make xAI's Grok available to all Premium subscribers “later this week”, expanding on Premium+ support; X Premium costs $8 per month
TechCrunch
7:05 AM
Israeli officials detail an expansive and experimental facial recognition program in Gaza to catalog Palestinians without their knowledge, starting in late 2023
New York Times
6:40 AM
How Phil Schiller, now an Apple Fellow, emerged as Apple's most ardent public defender of its ecosystem, under attacks from the US DOJ, the EU, rivals, and more
Wall Street Journal
6:20 AM
Productivity platform Airtable launches Airtable AI, adding AI summaries, categorization, and translation via GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and Anthropic's Claude
The Verge
6:05 AM
Google rolls out Gemini to some Google Messages beta users with RCS enabled on select Pixel and Galaxy devices, letting users chat to Gemini over RCS
9to5Google
5:50 AM
Tech industry group Boardwave, representing 1,300 founders, CEOs, and others, urges the UK to provide more support for the software industry in a white paper
Reuters
5:35 AM
HSBC releases its HSBC Gold Token, minted on its Orion digital assets platform, via its online banking and app, after testing the service in November 2023
CoinDesk
4:30 AM
A profile of Swedish accounting software maker Fortnox, valued at $4.6B after its stock rose 5x since 2020, as some analysts question its growth prospects
Financial Times
3:55 AM
A look at Disney+ Hotstar's and JioCinema's strategy to beat Netflix and Prime Video in India, including by focusing on sports content and affordable pricing
Rest of World
2:35 AM
A look at the international battles to regulate AI, as nations, lobbyists, and tech companies vie for influence over the future of AI policy
Politico
2:25 AM
The US DOJ compares Apple's 2023 $77B buyback program to spending half as much on R&D, emphasizing an insulation from rivals and a lack of incentive to innovate
Financial Times
2:05 AM
A look at SRI's Future Concepts division, a research organization comprised of SRI and PARC researchers, as some argue that basic tech research labs are passé
New York Times
1:30 AM
Blockchain game Munchables, which offers rewards for looking after digital creatures, loses ~$63M in ETH in a hack; the hacker seems to have returned the funds
Bloomberg
1:15 AM
Hands-on with Journal on iPhone: first suggestions can be jarring but get better with time; experts say the app can do more to help users set goals and reflect
Wall Street Journal
12:10 AM
Jakarta-based online personal insurance marketplace Qoala raised a $47M Series C co-led by PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, for $130M+ in total funding
TechCrunch
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
11:50 PM
DroneUp unveils an autonomous drone “ecosystem” for last-mile deliveries, with Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Chick-fil-A the first retailers to pilot the system
Axios
9:30 PM
NYC-based Viam, which offers an automation software platform for robotics, IoT, smart homes, and more, raised a $45M Series B, taking its total raised to $87M
TechCrunch
9:05 PM
Portugal's data regulator orders Worldcoin to stop collecting biometric data for 90 days, after receiving complaints about unauthorized collection from minors
Reuters
7:35 PM
Robinhood launches Gold Card, a 3% cashback credit card for Robinhood Gold members, eight months after acquiring credit card startup X1 for $95M
TechCrunch
7:20 PM
Intel shares Microsoft's “AI PC” requirements, such as adding a Copilot key, and expands its AI PC Acceleration Program to help developers and hardware vendors
Tom's Hardware
6:50 PM
Despite a crypto rally, VC funds focused on crypto are struggling to raise money, as limited partners prioritize tangible gains after the 2022 wipeout
Bloomberg
6:20 PM
Microsoft adds mouse and keyboard support to select Xbox Cloud Gaming titles for Xbox Insiders, nearly two years after announcing plans to add the feature
The Verge
6:05 PM
Sources: the SEC is asking tech and telecom companies how they handled the 2020 SolarWinds cyberattack, drawing industry complaints about alleged overreach
Bloomberg
5:25 PM
The EU publishes draft election security guidelines aimed at platforms with 45M+ regional MAUs that are regulated under the DSA, ahead of elections in June 2024
TechCrunch
5:00 PM
How the US is using wire fraud laws to prosecute crypto crimes, such as with SBF, while the debate over whether crypto tokens are securities plays out in court
Bloomberg
4:47 PM
Sources: the US FTC is investigating TikTok over allegedly faulty privacy and data security practices, and could bring a lawsuit or settlement within weeks
Politico
4:30 PM
A timeline of EU's DMA investigations into Apple, Google, and Meta: each have 12 months to fix the issues, before risking fines of up to 10% of global revenue
Bloomberg
4:00 PM
Some Apple users report being targeted in “MFA bombing” attacks, in which phishers inundate their devices with alerts to approve a password change or login
Krebs on Security
3:15 PM
US investors, like General Atlantic and Sequoia, are facing increased pressure from state and federal lawmakers about their investments in Chinese companies
New York Times
2:15 PM
A look at MatX, which was founded by ex-Google engineers, has raised $25M, and hopes to design chips that are 10x faster than Nvidia's GPUs at training LLMs
Bloomberg
1:35 PM
Adobe announces Custom Models, to let businesses customize Firefly models, and Firefly Services, a set of 20+ generative and creative APIs, tools, and services
TechCrunch
1:30 PM
Sources: Stability AI was in a “death spiral” before CEO Mostaque's resignation, due to talent departures, mismanagement, legal issues, and dwindling resources
Bloomberg
1:07 PM
Apple schedules WWDC 2024 for June 10 to June 14 as a virtual event with a June 10 keynote, where Apple is expected to unveil its AI strategy, iOS 18, and more
MacRumors
12:55 PM
Kevin Systrom says AI news app Artifact will stay online for now due to taking “a lot less to run it than we had imagined”, reversing a February shutdown date
TechCrunch
12:45 PM
An interview with Adobe executives about training Firefly on content licensed specifically for AI training, the decision not to scrape the internet, and more
MIT Technology Review
12:25 PM
Adobe adds a “structure reference” feature to Firefly AI, letting users upload an image to guide the model about the “arrangement” of the image
VentureBeat
12:15 PM
Adobe launches GenStudio to let brands create content and measure its performance using generative AI, underpinned by promises of brand safety
TechCrunch
12:10 PM
Google plans to release a Chrome version optimized for Windows on Arm this week, two months after Canary testing; Arm PCs previously ran an emulated x64 version
The Verge
11:45 AM
The US DOJ charges crypto exchange KuCoin and two co-founders with violating anti-money laundering laws, failing to register with the US government, and more
CoinDesk
11:35 AM
Filing: Dell cut 13,000 employees over the last fiscal year, a steeper reduction than initially announced, and had 120K staffers globally as of February 2, 2024
Bloomberg
11:25 AM
Filings detail Meta's Project Ghostbusters to get data analytics about Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon, using Onavo VPN on iOS and Android between 2016 and 2019
Gizmodo
11:00 AM
Filing: Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim settles with the US SEC for alleged insider trading on Cisco's $2.6B offer to buy Acacia in 2019
Bloomberg
10:50 AM
AI search engines review: they are worse than Google at navigational queries, mixed on information queries, and offer helpful citations in exploration queries
The Verge
10:40 AM
Canada plans to toughen foreign investment rules for sectors like AI and quantum computing, as it takes steps to curb China's influence on key industries
Bloomberg
10:30 AM
0G Labs, or Zero Gravity Labs, which is building a modular blockchain to let developers make decentralized AI apps, raised $35M in pre-seed funding
TechCrunch
9:55 AM
Trump Media & Technology Group closed up 16% at $57.99 per share in its Nasdaq debut, valuing the unprofitable company at $7.9B, following the merger with DWAC
Bloomberg
9:40 AM
Source: Tencent agrees to release some of its most important apps on the Apple Vision Pro; sources: Meta plans to release a cheaper Quest for China in Q4 2024
The Information
9:20 AM
Chinese government data: iPhone shipments in China fell ~33% YoY to ~2.4M units in February 2024, after dropping 39% YoY to ~5.5M units in January 2024
Bloomberg
9:05 AM
Sony plans to add a new opt-in Community Game Help feature on the PS5 later in 2024 that can automatically create clips for helping other players complete games
The Verge
8:40 AM
The BBC has “no plans” to use AI again to promote Doctor Who, after the marketing team used AI “as part of a small trial” to help draft emails and notifications
Deadline
8:25 AM
Internal Tesla memo: Elon Musk tells staff to give buyers a “short test ride” to demonstrate Full Self-Driving, now a “hard requirement” in North America
Bloomberg
8:10 AM
Amazon launches same-day prescription medication deliveries in New York City and the greater Los Angeles area, and plans to expand to 12+ cities by 2024's end
CNBC
8:00 AM
Meta's Oversight Board calls on the company to end its blanket ban on the Arabic word “shaheed”, or “martyr”, after a review found Meta's approach “overbroad”
Reuters
7:45 AM
Filing: Alibaba calls off a Hong Kong IPO for its Cainiao logistics arm, and now plans to buy out all remaining stock held by investors and employees for $3.75B
Bloomberg
7:10 AM
Canva acquires Affinity, popular with Mac users for its photo editing and other tools, to take on Adobe, Canva's COO says for “several hundred million pounds”
Bloomberg
6:55 AM
Fieldguide, which plans to use AI to alleviate an accountant shortage, raised a $30M Series B led by Bessemer, and counts 40 of the top 100 CPA firms as clients
Bloomberg
6:40 AM
Sources: SK Hynix plans to spend ~$4B to build an advanced chip packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana; a source says operations could begin in 2028
Wall Street Journal
6:25 AM
The US OFAC sanctions 13 entities, including Netex24, and two individuals for helping Russian nationals potentially evade sanctions by building crypto services
The Block
6:10 AM
Meta confirms rolling out a political content setting on Instagram and Threads last week that limits “political content from people you don't follow” by default
The Verge
5:55 AM
An interview with Phil Spencer on bringing Xbox to handhelds via hardware or software, how Valve, Lenovo, and Asus “innovated in a new form factor”, and more
Polygon
5:35 AM
OpenAI releases seven Sora videos from select filmmakers, artists, ad agencies, and musicians; Fairly Trained CEO Ed Newton-Rex calls the move “artistwashing”
VentureBeat
5:15 AM
Memo: Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft's Bing and ads chief, is looking for a new position at the company, after Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman to run Microsoft AI
Bloomberg
4:35 AM
A look at the underground bitcoin community in Austin, which attracts bitcoiners because of Texas' pro-crypto policies and ecosystem of developers and miners
CNBC
1:35 AM
Uzbek e-commerce, fintech, and food delivery service Uzum raised a $114M Series A in equity and debt at a $1.16B valuation, becoming the country's first unicorn
TechCrunch
Monday, March 25, 2024
10:55 PM
An investigation details the growing black market for Starlink kits being traded and activated illegally, including in regions subject to US sanctions
Bloomberg
10:10 PM
How Ripple's Chris Larsen became a gravitational force in San Francisco politics, donating millions to local causes, as he helps Mayor London Breed's reelection
The San Francisco Standard
8:35 PM
Telegram rolls out its Peer-to-Peer Login Program, giving some Android users a Premium sub for volunteering their phone numbers to relay SMS OTPs to other users
The Verge
8:05 PM
Memo: Microsoft names Pavan Davuluri as its Windows and Surface chief; Microsoft split its Windows and Surface groups after Panos Panay left in September 2023
The Verge
7:35 PM
Q&A with Bluesky CEO Jay Graber on why federation is the future of social media, Threads' fediverse integration, monetization, composable moderation, and more
The Verge
5:30 PM
Reddit stock closes up 30% at $59.80, after the company went public at $34 last week, as the debut of options trading tied to Reddit appears to fuel the rise
Reuters
4:45 PM
Filing: the US SEC told a judge that Ripple should pay $2B+ in fines and penalties for selling more of its XRP token since being sued by the regulator, and more
Bloomberg
4:25 PM
Consumers in the US filed at least three proposed class actions since March 22 accusing Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market, mirroring the DOJ's claims
Reuters
4:15 PM
Bolt's board removes CEO Maju Kuruvilla, who took over after co-founder Ryan Breslow stepped down in 2022; head of sales Justin Grooms will be interim CEO
The Information
3:40 PM
London-based GSS, which offers a cloud-based sanctions-screening service to help financial institutions comply with regulations, raised a $47M Series A2
TechCrunch
2:10 PM
Eliyan, which is developing chiplet interconnects to increase AI chips' performance, raised a $60M Series B co-led by Samsung Catalyst Fund and Tiger Global
VentureBeat
1:40 PM
UXL Foundation, backed by Google, Intel, and others, plans to build tools to power multiple types of AI accelerator chips and break Nvidia's CUDA dominance
Reuters
1:35 PM
The US and the UK sanction a Wuhan-based company linked to the Chinese state-backed hacking group APT31 for targeting critical infrastructure organizations
BleepingComputer
1:20 PM
Sources detail Meta's unconventional moves to attract and keep AI researchers, including Mark Zuckerberg writing to DeepMind researchers to recruit them
The Information
1:10 PM
Filing: FTX strikes deals worth $884M with buyers, including $500M from a Mubadala affiliate, to sell most of its Anthropic stake; FTX invested $500M in 2021
Wall Street Journal
12:30 PM
The UK says Chinese state-affiliated actors were responsible for a “malicious cyber campaign” on the country's Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022
CNBC
12:05 PM
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs a bill requiring parental consent for kids under 16 to hold social media accounts and age verification for many websites
The Verge
11:50 AM
A US judge dismisses X's lawsuit against CCDH, saying the suit had been brought as a means toward “punishing the defendants for their speech”; X plans to appeal
Reuters
10:35 AM
Q&A with Dan Wang, an expert on China's tech sector, on how China views the US' TikTok crackdown, Chinese state media's reaction, possible retaliation, and more
New York Times
9:50 AM
Crypto exchange CommEX, which acquired Binance's Russian operations in September 2023, suspends some services and plans to shut down its website on May 10, 2024
CoinDesk
9:00 AM
Match Group adds Instacart CMO Laura Jones and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff to its board and signs a deal with Elliott, reported to have a ~$1B Match stake
CNBC
8:15 AM
FundGuard, which offers an AI accounting platform for asset managers, raised a $100M Series C led by Key1 Capital, taking its funding to $150M since 2018
Bloomberg
6:40 AM
Spotify adds online courses from BBC Maestro, Skillshare, Thinkific, and PlayVirtuoso, covering music, business, creativity, and health, as a UK-only experiment
The Verge
6:25 AM
Nigeria files tax evasion charges against Binance and executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, detained since February; reports say Anjarwalla escaped
Bloomberg
6:12 AM
The EU opens formal DMA probes into Apple and Google over letting developers “steer” users from their app stores, and Meta over its “pay or consent” model
Financial Times
5:50 AM
How Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters, who is obsessed with data, and Ted Sarandos, who relishes working with talent, together got the streaming service back on track
Wall Street Journal
4:25 AM
A look at the rise of free-to-use AI chatbots claiming to help with teens' mental health struggles, as experts disagree about whether the chatbots are effective
Associated Press
2:05 AM
Sources: iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over their Home Screen app arrangement, including the ability to create blank spaces, rows, and columns
MacRumors
1:30 AM
AliExpress and Temu were the fastest-growing ecommerce apps in South Korea in 2023; Nomura: Chinese websites account for only ~2% of South Korean ecommerce GMV
Financial Times
Sunday, March 24, 2024
11:20 PM
A look at the Financial Times' Claude-powered AI chatbot Ask FT, which is trained on FT's articles and available to some subscribers in the FT Professional tier
The Verge
10:35 PM
Sources: Chinese social media startup Xiaohongshu reported $500M in net profit on $3.7B revenue in 2023, its first profit, and reached 312M MAUs, up 20% YoY
Financial Times
8:35 PM
Chinese state media: at the China Development Forum, Tim Cook said Apple Vision Pro will launch in China in 2024, its first official non-US launch confirmation
Reuters
5:00 PM
Analysis: Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and Mark Zuckerberg lead a group of insiders selling tech company stocks in Q1 2024, a sign that the bull run may be peaking
Financial Times
1:55 PM
Despite X's push to attract creators, its strategy remains unclear, as some creators cite concerns about the state of X's ad business and inconsistent payments
Wall Street Journal
11:20 AM
Chinese officials begin following China's new PC, laptop, and server guidelines to phase out Intel chips, AMD chips, and Windows from government PCs and servers
Financial Times
10:30 AM
An analysis of the US DOJ's Apple case; sources say Apple plans to start rolling out its system for updating packaged iPhones' iOS to US stores in April 2024
Bloomberg
8:10 AM
How the restructuring of Diamond Sports, with a lifeline from Amazon, might offer a new model for airing local sports fixtures in the streaming era
Financial Times
5:05 AM
Some TikTok fans in India still question the country's 2020 decision to ban the app, saying alternatives like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels lack its allure
Wall Street Journal
12:15 AM
April's Bitcoin halving will slash revenue for miners, who will likely move from the US to lower-cost countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Bloomberg
Saturday, March 23, 2024
11:15 PM
Leaders from 20 EU countries sign the Quantum Pact, recognizing the importance of quantum tech in enhancing Europe's scientific and industrial competitiveness
Silicon Republic
9:30 PM
More than 23M US households risk losing internet access by the end of April as Congress fails to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program due to GOP opposition
CNN
4:10 PM
Source: HeyGen, which uses AI to generate avatars and voices for videos, is raising $60M led by Benchmark at a $440M valuation, amid concerns about China ties
The Information
2:50 PM
Q&A with ex-CEO of CrowdTangle Brandon Silverman about the founding principle of the research tool, Meta's decision to close it in an election year, and more
Fast Company
1:35 PM
Didi Q4: revenue up 55.4% YoY to ~$6.83B, a ~$113.15M net income, up from a loss in Q4 2022, as the company continues its recovery after regulatory challenges
Reuters
11:20 AM
A look at the US DOJ's lawsuit against Apple, comparisons to the Microsoft suit in the 1990s, basic factual errors, why the case is clearly political, and more
Hardcore Software
10:25 AM
Source: Spain's High Court orders the suspension of Telegram after media companies complained it was allowing users to upload their content without permission
Reuters
9:35 AM
BeReal's challenges show the difficulty for new consumer apps to break out absent a big platform shift, as users lack the time to try additional consumer apps
Spyglass
6:30 AM
The Philippines' new undersea internet cable network is expected to bring jobs to remote islands, boosting the country's BPO sector, which employed 1.7M in 2023
Nikkei Asia