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January 20, 2020, 5:20 AM
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| Kashmir Hill / New York Times: |
A look at Clearview AI, a facial recognition app claiming it scraped 3B+ images from sites like Facebook, YouTube, and that 600+ law enforcement agencies use it — A little-known start-up helps law enforcement match photos of unknown people to their online images — and “might lead to a dystopian future or something,” a backer says.
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The Next Web, Input, Softpedia News, CNET, VentureBeat, The Overspill, Digital Trends, MuckRock, Café Con Tech ☕, Exponential View, Mashable, and Engadget
Tweets: @nytimes, @kashhill, @nytimes, @mcwm, @ronwyden, @chuckmodi1, @waxpancake, @craigsilverman, @rmac18, @zittrain, @daveyalba, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, @romepix, @grady_booch, @iwillleavenow, @tolles, @gwilliamthomas, @nimazeighami, @jacarandachick, @thorstenbenner, @kashhill, @stuntbox, @kashhill, @bernstein, @kashhill, @yashar, @jreidenberg, @selectedwisdom, @scotthech, @cbouzy, @secparam, @aclu, @davidenrich, @profcarroll, @joshorton, @gladstein, @kevinakwok, @davepell, @scobleizer, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @rmac18, @alexstamos, @charlesarthur, @popehat, @aweiss, @zittrain, @isosteph, @zeynep, @kentremendous, @douglasmack, @bridgetphetasy, @felixsalmon, @lenubienne, @stevekopack, @jorge_guajardo, @saralovesyou, @davidplouffe, @jameeljaffer, @jasonschreier, @mattblaze, and @kashhill
| Sundar Pichai / Financial Times: |
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says AI is too important not to be regulated and there are real concerns about the potential negative consequences of AI — The writer is chief executive of Alphabet and Google — Growing up in India, I was fascinated by technology. Each new invention changed my family's life in meaningful ways.
More:
The Next Web, 9to5Google, and Firstpost Tech
Tweets: @charlesarthur, @yoncad, @jamiesusskind, @financialtimes, @went1955, and @ansip_eu
| Scott Stein / CNET: |
AR startup Mojo Vision shows off the first prototype of Mojo Lens, its contact lenses that display text, have an eye-controlled interface, and work in the dark — Mojo Vision's smart contacts put text in my eye and let me see in the dark. They're aiming for even more than that.
More:
HackRead and UploadVR
Tweets: @lexysavvides, @madoublex, @eliblumenthal, @jetscott, @jamesco, @rh_brown, @jetscott, and @falconejp. Thanks:@jasonhiner
| Bart Meijer / Reuters: |
TomTom says it has reached a deal with Huawei “some time ago” for the use of its maps, traffic information, and navigation software in Huawei phones — AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch navigation and digital mapping company TomTom on Friday said it has closed a deal …
More:
Engadget, ZDNet, South China Morning Post, KrASIA, XDA Developers, Android Authority, Pocket-lint, Mashable, SlashGear, Gizmodo, WebProNews, Android Police, and Gizchina. Tweets: @dez_blanchfield
| Manish Singh / TechCrunch: |
Amazon says it now partners with 20,000+ neighborhood stores across Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities in India to store and deliver goods under its “I have Space” program — Neighborhood stores dot tens of thousands of cities, towns and villages in India.
More:
Quartz, MENAbytes, The Latest, and Inc42 Media
Tweets: @jeffbezos, @amitagarwal, @adityakalra, @sadhavi, and @prachimukhija
| Hindenburg Research: |
Research: Opera, known for its web browser, allegedly issues predatory loans in Kenya, Nigeria, and India via Android apps, likely violating Play Store policies — GET OUR LATEST REPORTS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX — Summary (NASDAQ: OPRA) — Opera went public in mid-2018 based largely on prospects for its core browser business.
More:
gHacks Technology News, Android Police, Engadget, and SlashGear
Tweets: @mengxilu, @aardrian, and @corbindavenport
| Rupert Neate / The Guardian: |
Some analysts say Alphabet could double in value to become a $2T company in the near future, as the total market cap of FAANGs rose by $1.3T over the past year — As Alphabet becomes the latest firm to achieve a 13-figure market cap, analysts still forecast years of growth ahead| Josh Constine / TechCrunch: |
Instagram removes the IGTV button from its home page; Sensor Tower: IGTV's standalone app was downloaded 1.1M times in the US since its launch in June 2018 — TikTok saw 80X more installs — At most, 7 million of Instagram's 1 billion-plus users have downloaded its standalone IGTV app in the 18 months since launch.
More:
Digital Trends, The Verge, Engadget, PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, news.com.au, SlashGear, 9to5Mac, Memeburn, Mashable, and Input
Tweets: @joshsternberg, @harrymccracken, @branded78_, and @joshconstine
| Nathaniel Popper / New York Times: |
An analysis of 40 studies finds that the link between social media use and both depression and anxiety among adolescents is small and inconsistent — A growing number of academics are challenging assumptions about the negative effects of social media and smartphones on children.
More:
Wiley Online Library and CNET
Tweets: @caragsdale, @nytimesbusiness, @heyfeifer, @jasonfalter, @tolles, @nathanielpopper, @rossdawson, @aenclade, @aweissman, and @mattrosoff
| Zheping Huang / Bloomberg: |
Sources: ByteDance plans a foray into games, building a team of 1,000+ and buying game studios and title distribution rights; first big games coming this spring — - The TikTok proprietor shows ambition beyond short-form video — Hiring spree includes industry veterans and local game studios| The Verge: |
Profile of Armslist, the “Craigslist of guns” that offers nearly any kind of gun imaginable and where all transactions are done peer to peer — Inside Armslist, the online ‘gun show that never ends’ — Thomas Caldwell was a veteran in his 60s with a soft physique, oval glasses …
Tweets: @momsdemand, @sean_kev, @ma_franks, @reckless, @geigernews, @giffordscourage, @colinlecher, and @kellymakena
| Dave Gershgorn / OneZero: |
US Army contracted two firms for $4.5M to create a facial recognition system that analyzes infrared images to identify people at a distance of 10 to 500 meters — Infrared cameras recognize the heat emitted from your face — he U.S. military is spending more than $4.5 million …
Tweets: @ozm, @offdutytiger, @a_bacci, @sophielgilbert, @ozm, @6eorge6, and @ozm. Thanks:@davegershgorn
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