Techmeme
February 9, 2023, 6:00 AM

Top News

@twitterblue:
Twitter lets US Blue subscribers tweet up to 4,000 characters; in timelines, longer tweets will be capped at 280 characters and have an option to “Show more”  —  need more than 280 characters to express yourself? we know that lots of you do... and while we love a good thread, sometimes you just want to Tweet everything all at once. we get that. so we're introducing longer Tweets! you're gonna want to check this out. tap this 👉
@twitterdev:
Twitter's free APIs will work until February 13, when the company will launch a low-usage $100/month plan and a limited free plan and deprecates its Premium API  —  We have been busy with some updates to the Twitter API so you can continue to build and innovate with us. We're excited to announce an extension of the current free Twitter API access through February 13. Here's what we're shipping then 🧵
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg:
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
Many Twitter users reported issues on February 8, from outages to not being able to tweet except by scheduling or via an API; the issues seem to be mostly fixed  —  Shortly after Twitter launched its huge increase in max character count to 4,000 today, many users aren't able to tweet this afternoon.
Forbes:
Google's fraught history with AI ethics, a backlash after Duplex's unveiling, and a talent drain has left the company playing catch up with OpenAI and Microsoft  —  With Bard, its newly launched “experimental conversational AI service,” Google is scrambling to ship AI products.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Google confirms that AI-generated content isn't against its Search guidelines, but using AI content to manipulate search results ranking violates its policies  —  AI is set to change the game in some big ways in the near future, and AI-generated content is one of the more controversial elements.
Martin Coulter / Reuters:
Bloomberg:
Nintendo's upcoming Zelda sequel will cost $70, up $10 over previous new titles, matching Sony and Microsoft and opening the door for more expensive video games  —  Nintendo Co.'s upcoming Zelda sequel will be pricier than the company's other Switch games, clearing the way for more game makers to also lift their prices.
Jonathan Greig / The Record:
The CISA publishes a recovery script for the ESXiArgs ransomware that encrypted files at 3,800+ organizations across the US, France, Italy, and other countries  —  The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has published a process for recovering files for organizations affected …
Financial Times:
Inside FTX's final hours, described by employees, chat logs, and Sam Bankman-Fried: panic selling assets, trying to raise funds, SBF's silence, and bankruptcy  —  In January, I walked up the front steps of a single-storey, grey-shingled house in a neighbourhood on the fringe of Stanford University.
David Friend / Canadian Press:
Netflix rolls out its long-anticipated password sharing rules in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain; other countries will be added in the next few months  —  Under new rules, premium and standard account holders will be given option to add extra members for $7.99 per month
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google releases the first Android 14 developer preview, for Pixel phones, offering multi-device experiences, customization features, security changes, and more  —  Google announced the Android 14 Developer Preview today.  The February release was expected and matches last year, while it comes as 13 QPR2 is still in beta.
Brian Fung / CNN:
NetBlocks: Turkey restores Twitter access, limited after the earthquake, after officials “remind Twitter of its obligations” on takedowns and disinformation  —  Access to Twitter has been restored in Turkey, according to internet monitoring company Netblocks.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Internal memo: Apple names Carol Surface as its first chief people officer, shifting human resources responsibilities away from SVP of Retail Deirdre O'Brien  —  Apple Inc. is hiring its first chief people officer and shifting human resources duties from its head of retail …
CNBC:
Robinhood plans to buy up to 55M shares, or 7%+ of the company's outstanding shares, that Sam Bankman-Fried bought in 2022 and the US DOJ seized in January 2023  —  - Robinhood's board has approved a plan to purchase Sam Bankman-Fried's shares in the company, which amount to more than a 7% stake.
Allyson Versprille / Bloomberg:
Source: the SEC is investigating if crypto exchange Kraken offered unregistered securities in the US; the probe could lead to a settlement in the coming days  —  Kraken, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is embroiled in a probe by a top US financial regulator over whether …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Clay Bavor, a Google veteran of 18 years who recently led the company's AR/VR efforts, leaves to start an AI company with former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor  —  For the past few years, Google's AR and VR efforts have been led by Clay Bavor.  The longtime executive is now set to leave the company next month.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Google's AI demo in Paris paled in comparison to Microsoft's “new Bing” event, highlighting why Google needs to widely release its ChatGPT rival service Bard  —  Google demoed its latest advances in AI search at a live event in Paris on Wednesday — but the features pale in comparison …

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Intel:
5G's most deployed platform  —  Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN.  That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
App Spotlight: 360 SMS for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
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

Hard Fork:
The Ezra Klein Show: How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Great Chat:
Bubble talk
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Access:
AI takes over meetings, the SF vs London tech scene, and ethics in media
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Red Dye 40
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Everybody Goes Home: How technology is helping prevent wildfires from spreading
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:00 AM ET, February 9, 2023.

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

Joey Roulette / Reuters:
Todd Spangler / Variety:

Earlier Picks

Scott Stein / CNET:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Paul Thurrott / Thurrott:
Washington Post:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Katharine Gemmell / Bloomberg: