Techmeme
July 18, 2023, 4:05 PM

Top News

Meta:
Meta releases Llama 2, its open-source LLM with double the context length, for free for research and commercial use, and expands its Microsoft partnership  —  Recent breakthroughs in AI, and generative AI in particular, have captured the public's imagination and demonstrated what those developing …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Qualcomm and Meta announce that Llama 2 will run on Qualcomm chips on phones and PCs in 2024; Qualcomm says Llama 2 will enable intelligent virtual assistants  —  - Qualcomm and Meta will enable the social networking company's so-called new large language model, Llama 2, to run on Qualcomm chips on phones and PCs starting in 2024
Wes Davis / The Verge:
The FCC unveils the US Cyber Trust Mark, a voluntary cybersecurity label for smart devices that will signify that devices meet NIST-set security standards  —  In a press briefing, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said the new label, called the US Cyber Trust Mark …
Will Shanklin / Engadget:
Microsoft announces Copilot for Microsoft 365 will cost $30 per user per month for business accounts, and debuts Bing Chat Enterprise, offering improved privacy  —  A version of Bing Chat with corporate-level privacy is also rolling out in preview.  —  At the Microsoft Inspire partner event today …
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Executives at G/O Media, which owns Gizmodo, Jezebel, and others, say the company plans to publish more AI-generated stories despite its botched first attempts  —  Why G/O Media thinks we should have more stories written by bots.  —  In early July, managers at G/O media …
Inti Landauro / Reuters:
Spain's antitrust watchdog fines Amazon and Apple a combined €194.1M for colluding to limit the sale of Apple devices from competitors on Amazon's Spanish sites  —  Spain's antitrust watchdog CNMC on Tuesday said it had imposed fines worth 194 million euros ($218.2 million) in total on Amazon …
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Futureverse, a combination of 11 different startups from sectors including blockchain, AI, the metaverse, and gaming, raised a $54M Series A led by 10T Holdings  —  The startup formed out of a merger of 11 different companies.  —  An unusual company straddling a range of industries …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
An Ada Lovelace Institute report warns that the UK's approach to AI safety lacks credibility and makes 18 recommendations for improving the government's plans  —  The UK government has been trying to cultivate an image of itself as an international mover-and-shaker in the nascent field …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Threads gets big update with Follows tab, translations, and more  —  It's been two weeks since Meta launched Threads, its new microblogging social network.  And while version 1.0 was a pretty solid release, it lacked a lot of features that users had been asking for.
More: Engadget, The Verge, MacRumors, and CNBC
Twitter: @9to5macThreads: @camroth, @camroth, and @camroth
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Threads' early growth decisively proved the demand for a new text-based conversation app that could fully supplant Twitter's role in shaping public conversation  —  One week later, engagement is down — but the prize is still there for the taking  —  I.  —  On July 5, Meta released Threads into the world.
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC used an AI version of Donald Trump's voice that appeared to narrate a Truth Social post of his, in a statewide TV attack ad in Iowa  —  The spot illustrates the new frontiers in political advertising.  —  A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC uses an Artificial Intelligence version …
Krystal Hu / Reuters:
McKinsey partners with Cohere to help enterprise clients adopt generative AI, after Deloitte partnered with Nvidia and Bain and Company teamed up with OpenAI  —  Consultancy giant McKinsey said it had struck a partnership with artificial intelligence startup Cohere in an effort to provide AI solutions to its enterprise clients.
More: VentureBeat
Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:
Critics say Saudi Arabia uses Snapchat to promote Mohammed bin Salman's image and as a tool for repression globally; sources: the country closely monitors snaps  —  Critics say app - partly owned by a Saudi investor - promoting image of Mohammed bin Salman while critical voices are punished
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Delaware-based Wing Cloud, which develops the open-source programming language Winglang for building cloud-native apps, launches out of stealth with a $20M seed  —  Cloud-native programming language startup Wing Cloud Ltd. is exiting stealth mode today armed with a hefty $20 million in seed funding.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
After about two and a half years as OnlyFans' CEO, Ami Gan departs to launch a new venture; Chief Strategy & Operations Officer Keily Blair takes over as CEO  —  After about two and a half years as CEO, Ami Gan is leaving OnlyFans.  Chief strategy and operations officer Keily Blair will take over as CEO.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Microsoft and Activision Blizzard plan to keep seeking the final regulatory approvals for their $69B deal, despite not closing by the July 18 deadline  —  - UK veto will prevent closing by July 18 deadline in agreement  — Companies don't intend to walk away, will continue UK talks
Reuters:

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