Techmeme
September 20, 2023, 12:10 PM

Top News

BBC:
After Meta criticizes potential UK encryption rules, the UK says Meta “failed to provide assurances” over keeping its platforms “safe from sickening abusers”  —  Facebook's owner Meta has hit back at a new government campaign strongly critical of its plans to encrypt messages.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
The UK's parliament passes the Online Safety Bill, in the works since 2019, paving the way for Royal Assent and the bill becoming law in the coming days  —  Controversial UK legislation that brings in a new regime of content moderation rules for online platforms and services …
The Verge:
Everything Amazon announced at its product event: Alexa Emergency Assist for $6/month, Alexa Eye Gaze to control devices, the $50 Echo Pop Kids, and more  —  Amazon is kicking off its annual fall product announcements at its HQ2 campus in Arlington, Virginia.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Amazon announces the $150 Echo Show 8 with a new design, a centered camera, a smart home hub, Spatial Audio, and a changing home screen based on proximity  —  Amazon kicked off today's Fall Devices Event with an update to its Echo Show 8.  The small smart screen features smart home hub functionality and improved audio quality.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
CNBC:
Sources: as equities soared in 2020, Apple and Goldman were working on a stock trading feature for iPhones, shelving the project in 2022 as markets turned  —  - Apple was exploring the launch of an iPhone feature that would let users buy and sell stocks, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Meta expands its Meta Verified program to businesses on Facebook and Instagram in select markets, for $21.99/month/page for each or $34.99/month/page for both  —  Meta announced today that it is expanding Meta Verified to businesses after first launching it for creators in March.
Financial Times:
The Verge:
Memo: Phil Spencer tells staff the FTC v. Microsoft documents leak is “disappointing” and that the company failed to live up to its confidentiality expectations  —  / ‘We all put incredible amounts of passion and energy into our work, and this is never how we want that hard work to be shared with the community.’
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 review: Precision Finding, Double Tap is great, and some Siri and brightness improvements, but many of the tweaks feel minor  —  Iterative updates aren't flashy, but these smartwatches are mainly for folks who don't have Apple Watches yet.
Mariam Sunny / Reuters:
Neuralink opens enrollment for the first human trial of its brain implant for paralysis patients, expected to take about six years, likely to include <10 people  —  Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink said on Tuesday it has received approval …
Nikkei Asia:
In a WeChat post, China's Ministry of State Security accuses the US of hacking Huawei's servers, stealing critical data, and installing backdoors since 2009  —  Beijing says Washington forces tech companies to install backdoors for spying  —  China has accused the U.S. of hacking Huawei's servers continuously since 2009.
WABetaInfo:
WhatsApp releases a beta for iOS via Apple's TestFlight with a companion mode for iPadOS, built using Mac Catalyst, after years of user requests for an iPad app  —  WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Program, bringing the version up to 23.19.1.71.
Qianer Liu / Financial Times:
Sources and analysis: four of the eight CPUs in the Kirin 9000S SoC use Arm designs and four use Huawei-modified Arm designs, HiSilicon made the GPU, and more  —  Facing US sanctions, Chinese company emulates Apple by using its own designs in chips for Mate 60 Pro
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Bard's “Google it” feature adds the ability to “double check” answers by highlighting phrases with “supporting or contradicting information found by Search”  —  Can you stop chatbots from making stuff up using search?  —  Today let's talk about an advance in Bard …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
The Linux Foundation launches the Unified Acceleration Foundation to create an open standard for accelerator programming, an evolution of the oneAPI initiative  —  At the Open Source Summit Europe in Bilbao, Spain, the Linux Foundation today announced the launch of the Unified Acceleration (UXL) Foundation.
Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
An Uber executive says the EU's Platform Work Directive that designates gig workers as employees may raise prices and cause Uber to close in hundreds of cities  —  Brussels starts negotiations on final text of legislation to improve conditions for workers  —  A top Uber executive has warned …

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Prospect:
A running list of the best startups to join  —  We've analyzed thousands of startups using the same data VCs use and distilled our list down to the top 2%.  Discover and join the next Stripe, Airbnb, or Coinbase today.
Zoho:
15 live chat best practices to improve customer support  —  Every interaction customers have with your business shapes their perception about you and can either make them more loyal or send them elsewhere looking for alternatives.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Carolina Reis Oliveira & Alessandra Zonari | OneSkin: Aging Myths, Senescent Cells, and How to Age Slower (#56)
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 05/13 - The Solar Storm Is Real (Ask Farmers)
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:10 PM ET, September 20, 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

Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Ehren Kret / Signal:
Richard Nieva / Forbes: