Techmeme
December 5, 2020, 7:00 PM

Top News

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:
A summary of the draft paper co-authored by Timnit Gebru, which outlined the main risks of large language AI models and provided suggestions for future research  —  The company's star ethics researcher highlighted the risks of large language models, which are key to Google's business.  —  hide
Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
1,200+ Google employees and 1,500+ academic, industry, and civil supporters have signed a petition condemning the termination of AI scientist Timnit Gebru  —  More than 1,500 researchers also sign letter after Black expert on ethics says Google tried to suppress her research on bias
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple launches a display module replacement program for iPhone 11 devices manufactured between November 2019 and May 2020 experiencing touch issues  —  Apple today launched a new display replacement program for iPhone 11 devices to address a problem that cases a “small percentage” of iPhone 11 displays to stop responding to touch.
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Inside WarnerMedia's transition to streaming: current and former execs say it was marred by rushed decision making, culture clashes, HBO brand confusion, more  —  - CNBC spoke with more than a dozen former and current WarnerMedia executives to gauge how John Stankey and Jason Kilar are progressing with HBO Max.
Bloomberg:
Sources: the US will not extend the December 4 deadline for TikTok's forced sale but will not enforce the order either, allowing the negotiations to continue  —  - No new deadline is expected while deal discussions progress  — Administration wants to finalize deal before Trump's term ends
Cade Metz / New York Times:
Some police departments in California and Georgia have started using autonomous drones this year to track vehicles and people, raising civil rights questions  —  In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
OnlyFans says it will generate $2B+ in sales in 2020, now has 85M users, is adding around 500K users a day, and is paying out $200M+ a month to its 1M+ creators  —  As Cardi B prepared the release for her new song “WAP,” she checked off all the usual components of her promotional plan …
Mary Ann Azevedo / FinLedger:
Moov Financial, which developed an open source platform for adding banking and payment functionality into apps, raises $27M Series A led by a16z  —  Startup's goal is to empower developers with developer-first code that's “modular, portable, and bank agnostic”

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Cheap code, precious trust: Code modernization at scale  —  The promise—and challenges—of agentic software engineering, from large-scale code migration to language modernization.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Pro Tips: 5 ways to keep your OKR rollout on track past the three-month mark  —  Three months into an OKR rollout is when the cracks appear.  Manual tracking stalls, CRM data and strategic goals drift apart, and missed targets catch leaders by surprise.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Machine Gods:
Inside Anthropic's IPO + How AI Agents Spy on Your Messages
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
You Can't Escape AI. Here's How to Live With It.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
European Defense Sovereignty Starts in the Factory: Stark's Uwe Horstmann and Johannes Schaback
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Cheeky Pint:
The airline CEO putting Starlink on every plane
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Invest Like the Best:
Cliff Sosin - Owning the Complements to Intelligence
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:00 PM ET, December 5, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Alan Ohnsman / Forbes:
Eileen Yu / ZDNet:

Earlier Picks

Caroline O'Donovan / BuzzFeed News:
Tom Simonite / Wired: