Techmeme
April 21, 2023, 9:20 AM

Top News

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Twitter begins removing blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts, fulfilling one of Elon Musk's long-stated plans; Musk has called the system “corrupt”  —  The change is apparent on Twitter accounts for several Verge writers and other journalists like LA Times reporter Matt Pearce …
More: Bloomberg, New York Times, BBC, Insider, Bloomberg, PCMag, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, TweakTown, The Guardian, SiliconANGLE, Newser, Social Media Today, Livemint, Instagram - Kara Swisher, NBC News, The Irish Times, Associated Press, CryptoSlate, SlashGear, Deadline, TechCrunch, Variety, and Washington Post
Tweets: @stephenking, @alexeheath, @jonathanmayer, @jsrailton, @mattbinder, @elmo, @uscpsc, @halleberry, @timjhogan, @halleberry, @finallevel, @masonmount, @johnbiggs, @mrseanhaines, @ciara, @scotusblog, @billbrasky2620, @eladnehorai, @harddrivemag, @josephmenn, @mkbhd, @alexeheath, @dicebourbon, @keyawnce3, @theregister, @shayan86, @oliverdarcy, @mer__edith, @goldman, @superpixels, @k8em0, @spenolpalinusa, @danprimack, @paulg, @doctorow, @atrupar, @plasticmartyr, @benstiller, @mattbinder, @atrupar, @ow, @carolinebano, @tomcoates, @teroterotero, @danprimack, @zhang_heqing, @tmz, @internethippo, @sukiwaterhouse, @digiphile, @jamestitcomb, @natalieegenolf, @euan_macdonald, @refsrc, @teroterotero, @bromojumbo, @zsk, @bbcworld, @kurtwagner8, @willoremus, @leokelion, @elonmusk, @eve6, @sorayadarabi, @fmanjoo, @thor_benson, @arictoler, @rvawonk, @ashleyfeinberg, @saeeddicaprio, @benfrubinstein, @eve6, @vladsavov, @danrather, @howelloneill, @hmfaigen, @_cingraham, @tomcoates, @kashprime, @nmsonline, @mattrosoff, @teroterotero, @tomwarren, @rnaudbertrand, @kendrickperkins, @phillipspobrien, @golikehellmachi, @brandyzadrozny, @saeeddicaprio, @oneunderscore__, @astridwilde1, @nikitabier, @tnkgrl, @matthew_d_green, @mattgertz, @ashleyfeinberg, @evanhill, @jamieeast, @jperlow, @waltmossberg, @johnbiggs, @digiphile, @jamiewiikinson, @shaneharris, @rsgnl, @cwarzel, @panzer, @rdrv3, @mattnavarra, @dogfather, @edzitron, @edzitron, @arictoler, @fredericl, @willoremus, @jamesrbuk, @kalhanr, @yoda, @jonathanchait, @sherman4949, @shiringhaffary, @willoremus, @sjvn, @inafried, @scottnover, @kattenbarge, @adamsinger, @pbump, @lorakolodny, @wongmjane, @schillingc, @joannastern, @jbrodkin, @film_girl, @taylorlorenz, @strngwys, @strngwys, @isaach, @rustybrick, @kurtwagner8, @tomwarren, and @sifill_
The Verge:
Twitter offered LeBron James a complimentary Blue subscription after he said he wouldn't pay for one; Musk says he's paying for “a few” subscriptions personally  —  Twitter has started getting rid of legacy blue checks for those who don't pay up.  Well, unless you're LeBron James and a couple of other celebrities.
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Email: Twitter tells advertisers that they must have “a verified checkmark or subscribe to either Twitter Blue or Verified Organizations” to keep running ads  —  As Twitter's legacy blue check mark system finally comes to an end, the social network's new paid-for verification system …
Jahnavi Nidumolu / Reuters:
Twitter dropped the “Government-funded” and “China state-affiliated” labels from accounts of media organizations and journalists, including NPR, BBC, and Xinhua  —  Twitter dropped the “Government-funded” and “China state-affiliated” labels, which implies government involvement …
Ina Fried / Axios:
Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri demoed an AI-powered wearable with a projected display that does not need a nearby phone and uses voice and gestures for input  —  Ex-Apple employee Imran Chaudhri gave TED attendees on Thursday an early glimpse of the AI-powered wearable that his startup, Humane, has been developing.
Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Google announces Google DeepMind, a unit combining DeepMind's team and Google Research's Brain team, to be led by DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis as its CEO  —  Search giant merges AI resources to accelerate progress in technology that is reshaping business
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
After YouTube pulls Heart On My Sleeve due to a UMG copyright notice, a look at the legal dilemma for Google, which claims scraping data to train AI is fair use  —  If young Metro don't trust you, I'm gonna... tie you up in a decade of fair use litigation.  —  The AI Drake track …
Paresh Dave / Wired:
Stack Overflow CEO says the company plans to charge large AI developers for access to the 50M questions and answers on its service as soon as mid-2023  —  The programmer Q&A site joins Reddit in demanding compensation when its data is used to train algorithms and ChatGPT-style bots
David Pierce / The Verge:
A look at ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social network protocol finalized in 2018 that is gaining prominence powering Twitter alternatives like Mastodon  —  The tech industry is abuzz about a new standard for social networking that is more open, more user-centric, and potentially more powerful than Twitter and Facebook.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 9:20 AM ET, April 21, 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

Carina Chocano / New Yorker:
Wall Street Journal:
Christopher Dring / GamesIndustry.biz:

Earlier Picks

Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg:
Michael Kan / PCMag: