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Techmeme
June 21, 2023, 4:30 AM
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Top News

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
A look at the White House's urgent push for AI regulation, as Biden meets with a group of AI experts for a non-industry perspective on risks and opportunities  —  President Joe Biden huddled in the Oval Office with several of his top advisers in early April as an aide typed prompts into ChatGPT …
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
A look at the recent debates in the AI industry over existential risks, as what were once considered extreme views have now become mainstream talking points  —  “Ghost stories are contagious.”  —  Who's afraid of the big bad bots?  A lot of people, it seems.
Xinghui Kok / Reuters:
Memo: Grab CEO Anthony Tan tells staff the company plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, citing costs and a need to ensure more affordable services  —  Singapore-based Grab Holdings (GRAB.O), Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing and food delivery app, is cutting 1,000 jobs or 11% …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit suspended some moderators after they changed their subreddits to NSFW; Reddit says the mods violated its policy by incorrectly marking subreddits as NSFW  —  Reddit has started removing moderator teams managing subreddits that switched the labeling on their communities to Not Safe For Work …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Activision's Bobby Kotick, and Sony's Jim Ryan plan to testify in court over the FTC's bid to block the Microsoft-Activision deal  —  Microsoft is sending CEO Satya Nadella, Xbox chief Phil Spencer, and many other Xbox executives to defend against its Federal Trade Commission …
Kat Bailey / IGN:
In a reorganization, EA splits EA Games and EA Sports, renaming the former as EA Entertainment, hinting at the company's possible expansion beyond games  —  EA is undergoing a major internal reorganization, with EA Games being renamed “EA Entertainment.”  —  Electronic Arts is undergoing …
Kana Inagaki / Financial Times:
Masayoshi Son says SoftBank plans to go on the “counteroffensive” soon by resuming AI investments; the group has $35B+ after halting investments in recent years  —  Billionaire chief talks up AI and reveals he had breakdown in October where he questioned his achievements as an entrepreneur
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Apple machine learning leader Ali Farhadi, who sold Xnor.ai to Apple for ~$200M in 2020, departs to become the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence's CEO  —  Ali Farhadi, a computer vision specialist and startup founder who most recently led Apple's machine learning initiatives …
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:
Crypto exchange EDX Markets, backed by Citadel, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab, quietly began executing trades via its “noncustodial” service in recent weeks  —  EDX Markets won't directly handle customers' digital assets or directly serve individual investors
Martin Matishak / The Record:
The US DOJ announces NatSec Cyber, a new section within its National Security Division that will focus on prosecuting malicious foreign cyber activity  —  The U.S. Department of Justice is adding a new section to its National Security Division that will focus on prosecuting malicious foreign cyber activity …
Neesha A. Tambe / TechCrunch:
Render, which provides developers cloud-based services for hosting code, deploying web apps, and more, raised a $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners  —  Cloud platform startup Render closed a $50M series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.  Additional participation …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma betas automatically generate Apple ID passkeys; Apple․com and iCloud․com add passkey support so users can sign in without a password  —  You can now forgo entering your password on icloud.com and apple.com domains thanks to newly added passkey support.
Jesse Levine / Bloomberg:
A profile of Alibaba's next Chairman Joseph Tsai, a longterm Jack Ma ally who has become a prominent blockchain investor since co-founding the ecommerce company  —  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is bringing back Joseph Tsai, who has become a prominent blockchain proponent and owner …
Kevin Purdy / Ars Technica:
A look at the vagueness and implications of the EU's plan to require portable batteries, including those in smartphones, be “readily removable and replaceable”  —  Should you have to melt glue?  Which tools do you need?  What about pricing?  —  Whenever regulation passes …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
ElevenLabs, whose AI tech can turn text into speech using synthetic or cloned voices, raised a $19M Series A, a source says at a $99M post-money valuation  —  ElevenLabs, the viral AI-powered platform for creating synthetic voices, has raised a new round of cash.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Spotify updates its desktop app with redesigned “Your Library” and “Now Playing” user interfaces, meant to align the experience with the company's mobile app  —  Spotify is updating its desktop experience with redesigned “Your Library” and “Now Playing” interfaces, the company announced on Tuesday.
Joel Rosenblatt / Bloomberg:
In a proposed class-action lawsuit, current and former Twitter staff allege the company refused to pay 2022 bonuses despite promising to pay 50% of the amount  —  Twitter Inc. employees sued the social media company claiming it refuses to pay 2022 bonuses, despite promises that they would be paid out at 50% of their target amounts.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:30 AM ET, June 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.

From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day

More News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Google updates Chrome on iOS with a new mini Google Maps view and an option to add Calendar events by tapping a date on a site, and promises Google Lens support
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
USA Today publisher Gannett sues Google over an alleged ad tech monopoly, echoing the US DOJ's arguments and saying audiences have grown but ad spending is down

Earlier Picks

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple expands Self Service Repair to the iPhone 14 lineup, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and Max, starting on June 21
Tim Culpan / Bloomberg:
Alibaba's shakeup, including adding company veteran Joe Tsai, highlights its conundrum over splitting into six units and pursuing profit or growth ahead of IPOs
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Source: Spotify plans a more expensive “Supremium” tier with HiFi audio, audiobooks, and more, launching outside the US later in 2023; Premium costs $9.99/month
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
Twitter says CEO Linda Yaccarino and Elon Musk won't attend the Cannes Lions ad festival, despite the company's new “brand safety and suitability controls” push
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Binance begins running Bitcoin Lightning Network nodes, as part of its plan to use the service for deposits and withdrawals, in response to network congestion
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Experts warn about pedophiles using generative AI to create CSAM, leading to thousands of images on dark web forums; some question whether laws cover the images
Billy Perrigo / TIME:
Documents show OpenAI lobbied for parts of the EU's AI Act to be watered down, including successfully avoiding deeming general purpose AI systems as “high risk”
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