Techmeme
September 29, 2022, 10:55 AM

Top News

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Meta confirms taking “enforcement actions” against The OG App, which offers ad-free Instagram feeds, as developer UN1feed says Apple removed the App Store app  —  A third-party Instagram app, called “The OG App,” which promised an ad-free feed more like the original Instagram experience …
James Vincent / The Verge:
Meta details its text-to-video AI generator, Make-A-Video, which can produce up to five-second videos without audio; Meta is not giving access to the AI model  —  AI text-to-image generators have been making headlines in recent months, but researchers are already moving on to the next frontier: AI text-to-video generators.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google announces new Maps features, including the ability to visually soar over some areas, 250 more landmark views, enriched neighborhood info, and AR search  —  Google is gearing up to launch several new updates for Maps in the coming months, the company announced today at its Search On event.
Reuters:
An investigation shows the CIA failed to secure its messaging system used by Iranian spies, often hidden within websites, leading to capture, torture, and death  —  The spy was minutes from leaving Iran when he was nabbed.  —  Gholamreza Hosseini was at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran in late 2010, preparing for a flight to Bangkok.
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
An Apple support document and a compliance page reference an “iPhone 14 Max”, suggesting Apple changed the name to iPhone 14 Plus at the last moment  —  Newly discovered references to the iPhone 14 Plus as “iPhone 14 Max” on Apple's website suggest this was the name originally intended …
Bloomberg:
Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
Amnesty International: Meta's algorithms “proactively amplified and promoted content” on Facebook that incited violent hatred against the Rohingya in Myanmar  —  With roosters crowing in the background as he speaks from the crowded refugee camp in Bangladesh that's been his home since 2017 …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft plans to end support for SwiftKey on iOS and delist the app from the App Store on October 5; Microsoft will continue to support SwiftKey for Android  —  Questions about what's going on with Microsoft's support of the predictive SwifKey keyboard app for iOS have been bubbling up over the past few weeks.
Clothilde Goujard / Politico:
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the US candidate for secretary general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union, beats Russia's candidate by 139 to 25 votes  —  BUCHAREST — A top U.S. official won a massive majority to lead the United Nations agency that sets global standards for telecoms and tech infrastructure.
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Researchers detail Chaos, a new cross-platform malware that infected a wide range of Linux and Windows devices, including routers, FreeBSD boxes, and servers  —  Small office routers?  FreeBSD machines?  Enterprise servers?  Chaos infects them all.  —  Researchers have revealed a never …
Bloomberg:
Sources: SoftBank begins laying off Vision Fund employees, with cuts expected to impact over 150 people, or 30%+ of its staff, following massive losses  —  SoftBank Group Corp. has started laying off employees at its loss-making Vision Fund and is expected to cut at least 30% of its staff, according to people familiar with the matter.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon increases its average starting pay for front-line US staff to $19+/hour, up from $18/hour; warehouse and delivery workers will earn $16/hour to $26/hour  —  - Amazon is bumping its average starting pay for warehouse and delivery workers to more than $19 an hour, up from $18 an hour, the company said Wednesday.
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Amazon encourages some customer service staff to work from home, sources say to cut real estate costs; source: Amazon plans to close multiple US call centers  —  Amazon.com Inc. is encouraging customer service employees at some US call centers to work from home, signaling the company's preference …
Bloomberg:
Jakarta-based Traveloka, Southeast Asia's largest online travel startup, raised $300M from BlackRock and others; Traveloka was valued at $3B in 2020  —  Traveloka has secured $300 million in new financing from investors including BlackRock Inc., as Southeast Asia's biggest online travel startup counts …
Samantha Cole / VICE:
Meta permanently bans Pornhub's Instagram account for “repeatedly violating” its policies, after a three-week suspension and ToS breaches accruing over 10 years  —  Pornhub claims its account was “fully PG,” and cites the uneven treatment of mainstream celebrities like Kim Kardashian …
Morgan Meaker / Wired:
A look at Botometer, which claims to identify the likelihood that a Twitter account is a bot and has been cited by Elon Musk's lawyers in the Twitter lawsuit  —  In the battle over Twitter's future, the number of bots on the platform is a key issue.  Problem is, nobody knows how to count them.
Krisztian Sandor / CoinDesk:
Block's bitcoin-focused TBD subsidiary partners with Circle to build infrastructure for cross-border, dollar-linked stablecoin transfers and savings  —  The partnership aims to improve people's access to dollar-linked stablecoins in countries with rapidly devaluing currencies.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Amazon's $1,000 Astro robot gets pet detection, the ability to check specific windows and doors, Ring camera integration, and an SDK for three universities  —  There's been a standing question surrounding how seriously we should ultimately take Astro.  The product was launched exactly one year ago …

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Lisa Eadicicco / CNET:
David Pierce / The Verge: