Techmeme
June 26, 2023, 3:45 PM

Top News

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Meta announces Quest+, a VR subscription service that gives Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro users access to two games every month for $7.99/month or $59.99/year  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced Quest Plus, the company's new “virtual reality subscription” that gives users access to “the best titles on the platform,” he said.
Will Knight / Wired:
DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis details Gemini, an upcoming ChatGPT rival meant to combine the strengths of AlphaGo-type systems and those of LLMs  —  Demis Hassabis says the company is working on a system called Gemini that will tap techniques that helped AlphaGo defeat a Go champion in 2016.
Wall Street Journal:
Databricks plans to acquire generative AI startup MosaicML in a ~$1.3B deal set to close by July 31; MosaicML debuted in 2021, raised $64M, and has 62 employees  —  The deal aims at connecting businesses' data with services to help them build their own, cheaper language models, Databricks CEO says
Brian Fung / CNN:
A breakdown of how much each US state will get in the $42.5B broadband infrastructure plan; Texas leads with $3.3B+, followed by California with $1.8B+  —  The Biden administration on Monday outlined how states across the country will be receiving billions of dollars in federal funding …
The Verge:
A survey of 2,000+ US adults finds 57% know of ChatGPT, 46% for Bing Chat, 45% for My AI, and 38% for Bard; only ~33% have used the tools, with Gen Z dominating  —  We polled 2,000 people about how they're using AI, what they want it to do, and what scares them about it the most.
James Vincent / The Verge:
AI is killing the web with spam sites, article-churning “AI editors”, “AI-generated junk” in places like Etsy and Reddit, exhausting forum moderators, and more  —  In recent months, the signs and portents have been accumulating with increasing speed.  Google is trying to kill the 10 blue links.
Nina Jankowicz / The Atlantic:
Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:
FTX bankruptcy team says the exchange owed customers ~$8.7B after commingling and misusing their deposits, and ~$7B in liquid assets have been recovered so far  —  Commingling and misuse of customer and corporate funds occurred from the inception of FTX, says current CEO John J. Ray III.
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Google Pixel Fold review: nice landscape mode for videos and usable outer display, but it's heavy, may not be durable, has limited multitasking, and is pricey  —  If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission.  See our ethics statement.  —  The Google Pixel Fold is a lot of phone.
Yuval Mann / Ynetnews:
An interview with early Waze investors Yahal Zilka and Ehud Levy on why they invested, the impact of Google's acquisition on Israel's tech industry, and more  —  The disregard for map companies, the dilemma between BlackBerry and iPhone, the indifference on the part of Tim Cook …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
The central nervous system of your business  —  Used by 80% of Fortune 100 companies, Airtable combines AI with the scale of an infinitely flexible, no-code system.  With all your data in one place, it's like mission control for your company.
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:
Keep your business moving with delegated signing in Zoho Sign  —  Contracts piling up while you're traveling or stuck in back-to-back meetings?  With Zoho Sign's delegated signing feature, those delays will be a thing of the past.
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:
AI Backlash Intensifies, Nvidia GTC Preview, Meta's Embarrassing Delay
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.
Access:
Meet Starboy, the alien toy that hates being called AI
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
A.I. Goes to War + Is 'A.I. Brain Fry' Real? + How Grammarly Stole Casey's Identity
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:
What comes after the Girl Boss?
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.
Lenny's Podcast:
How I built a 1M+ subscriber newsletter and top 10 tech podcast | Lenny Rachitsky
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:
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 3:45 PM ET, June 26, 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

Financial Times:
Hope King / Axios:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Phoebe Liu / Forbes:
New York Times: