Techmeme
July 19, 2023, 9:15 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple built Ajax, a framework for building LLMs, created a chatbot app that some engineers call “Apple GPT”, and is planning an AI announcement in 2024  —  - Company builds large language models and internal chatbot  — Executives haven't decided how to release tools to consumers
Or Goren / Cord Busters:
Netflix removes its most affordable $10/month ad-free Basic tier in the US and UK, charging new and rejoining members £10.99/month or $15.49/month for no ads  —  This post may contain affiliate links*  —  Breaking: In a major shakeup of its pricing model, Netflix, the global streaming giant …
Lisa Richwine / Reuters:
Netflix Q2: revenue up 2.7% YoY to $8.2B, vs. $8.3B est., net income up 3.3% YoY to $1.5B, 5.9M net new subscribers, vs. 1.9M est., and a Q3 forecast below est.  —  Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) handily beat Wall Street earnings forecasts on Wednesday as a password-sharing crackdown …
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority:
Google launches Nearby Share for Windows, letting users transfer files between PCs and Android devices close to each other, after debuting a beta in March 2023  —  Anyone can download Nearby Share for Windows now, but your future laptop might come with it pre-installed.  —  •  —  TL;DR
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard agree to extend the finalization of their merger agreement to October 18, pending the outcome of negotiations with the UK CMA  —  Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to extend their merger agreement pending the outcome of negotiations with UK regulators.
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
France designates Société Générale's blockchain unit Forge a digital asset service provider, issuing the country's first license under its new crypto rules  —  - Forge awarded permissions to act as custodian, trade crypto  — License will help meet demand from institutional clients: CEO
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft plans to give 31 security logs to its lower-cost cloud service licensees for free in September 2023, after its China hack disclosures drew criticism  —  Company says it will make security logs available to customers with lower-cost cloud services  —  Microsoft said it plans …
Matthew Humphries / PCMag:
Intel grants Asus a non-exclusive license to its NUC designs; Asus plans to make, sell, and support 10th to 13th gen systems and can develop new system designs  —  The agreement covers existing NUCs and allows Asus to design new models. … , Asus is granted a non-exclusive license …
Bloomberg:
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
Microsoft, OpenAI, Cohere, and others are testing using “synthetic data” as developers find generic data from the web is no longer good enough for training LLMs  —  Microsoft, OpenAI and Cohere experiment with “synthetic data,” as they reach the limits of information created by humans
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Meta launches a standalone WhatsApp app for Wear OS 3, letting smartwatch users start chats, reply to messages, and take calls without their connected phone  —  WhatsApp has finally launched its standalone app for smartwatches running Google's Wear OS, after much anticipation and months-long beta testing.
Gijong Lee / The Elec:
Sources: Samsung has begun the development of a smart ring, the so-called Galaxy Ring, using circuit boards made by Japan's Meiko  —  Device to offer health information to wearers Samsung has started the development of a new smart device that will come in the form of a ring, TheElec has learned.
Wayne Ma / The Information:
Sources: Meta delayed releasing AR glasses to at least 2027, after having to cut the microLED display, lidar, 3D projector, and more due to technical setbacks  —  In March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to transform the world, the company then known as Facebook struck a deal to buy …
Andrew Tarantola / Engadget:
In an earnings call, Elon Musk says Tesla is open to licensing its FSD software and hardware to other carmakers and is “already in discussions” with a major OEM  —  “We're not trying to keep this to ourselves” ~ Tesla CEO Elon Musk.  —  In a surprise announcement during Tesla's …
Jay Jacobs / Cyentia Institute:
Analysis: tweets about CVEs, which peaked before Elon Musk took over, show a steep decline in recent months, suggesting the infosec Twitter community has shrunk  —  “Infosec twitter” has been used to describe the vibrant, active and often enthusiastic community of security practitioners working in and around the industry.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Unity launches PolySpatial, which was unveiled alongside the Vision Pro at WWDC to help developers port and create 3D experiences for Apple's visionOS, in beta  —  Unity this morning announced that it has opened the beta version of its development platform for visionOS.
Brian Fung / CNN:
The DOJ and the FTC release draft updates to US merger guidelines, introducing potentially comprehensive changes to reviews for the first time in over a decade  —  The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday released a set of long-anticipated draft updates …

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: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
The best time to become a Zoho Partner  —  The business world is not only changing but it is being rebuilt.  Customers want connected ecosystems that will help them automate, unify their data, and do more with less.
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

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
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.
Hard Fork:
Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
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.
Access:
Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
So what happens after AGI?
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.
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:15 PM ET, July 19, 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

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Gene Park / Washington Post:
Jon Gertner / New York Times:
Axios:
Todd Haselton / CNBC: