Techmeme: In a countersuit, chip startup Rivos and six ex-Apple staff claim Apple intimidates those who “dare to leave”; Apple sued Rivos over trade secrets theft in 2022 (Malathi Nayak/Bloomberg)

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September 23, 2023, 10:35 PM

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Reuters:

A look at Scattered Spider, which experts say is a group of 17- to 22-year-old native English speakers likely behind MGM and 52+ other hacks since March 2022 — About a year ago, the U.S. security firm Palo Alto Networks began to hear from a flurry of companies that had been hacked in ways that weren't the norm for cybercriminals.

More: Washington Post, Dark Reading, CyberScoop, and BankInfoSecurity.com

Bluesky: @nohomers.bsky.social. X: @mattjay, @aselawaid, @vchampain, @jldastin, @mattjay, @nicastronaut, @menendezrand, @darrennesbitt, @mattjay, and @ericgeller. LinkedIn: Thomas O'Malley. Forums: Beehaw

Abhirup Roy / Reuters:

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoes a bill that requires a human safety operator in heavy-duty self-driving trucks on public roads — California Governor Gavin Newsom late on Friday vetoed a bill to prevent heavy-duty driverless trucks from operating in the state, in a relief …

More: The Verge, International Brotherhood …, RedState, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Associated Press, Wired, FreightWaves, Mashable, The Messenger, NBC Bay Area, The Hill, and New York Post

X: @teamstersob, @indiaherdman, @benwerd, @teamstersob, and @danbusi_. Forums: r/news

Sanket Vijayasarathy / 91mobiles:

A leaked promo video for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro reveals camera features: an Audio Eraser, the ability to swap faces, full manual controls like ISO, more — - A new promo video focuses on the many camera features of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. — Both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will get a 50MP primary camera.

More: 9to5Google, Thurrott, The Verge, Forbes, Wccftech, Android Headlines, TweakTown, PhoneArena, TechEBlog, BigTechWire, Droid Life, The Mobile Report, Android Police, Notebookcheck, and GSMArena.com

Mastodon: @grumpasaurus@fosstodon.org. X: @za_raczke and @parkerortolani

Forums: r/GooglePixel and r/Android

Washington Post:

Academics and US agencies are overhauling or ending the study of online misinformation due to escalating pressure from Rep. Jim Jordan and other Republicans — An escalating campaign, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Republicans, has cast a pall over programs that study political disinformation …

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

A look at the flood of near-identical YouTube obituary videos, where men read obituaries scraped from funeral homes, newspapers, and other authorized publishers — If you Google someone who recently died, you might see a flood of near-identical videos of men reading obits. Here's why.

X: @waterslicer, @mattsreynolds1, @knibbs, @pearlriverflow, and @nicklucchesi. Forums: r/privacy

Bryant Francis / Game Developer:

Unity apologizes and says games made with Unity Personal will be exempt from its Runtime Fee, which will only apply to games made with Unity versions from 2024 — Unity's updated Runtime Fee will no longer apply to games made on Unity Personal, and will only apply beginning with the next LTS version of Unity.

More: Unity Blog, Wauzmons, The Verge, Ask Me About My AUs, TheGamer, Gizmodo, GameSpot, Decrypt, GeekWire, Engadget, Game Rant, MSPoweruser, IGN, GamesIndustry.biz, Pocket Gamer.biz, Mobilegamer.biz, Corndog Formica, Reuters, Blue's News, and Dot Esports

Threads: @dilmerv. Mastodon: @MrCheeze@wetdry.world, @clayzulah@mastodon …, @runevision@mastodon …, @mcc@mastodon.social, and @HeroOfDermwood@mastodon …

Bluesky: @danilo.redeem-tomorrow.com and @smi.bsky.social

X: @unity, @qntm, @georgebsocial, @tha_rami, @reduzio, @structed, @thafnine, @reduzio, @reisartjunk, @tylerglaiel, @mdsveritas, @freyaholmer, @hakitadev, @grahamoflegend, @wario64, and @mikeisaac. LinkedIn: Michael Metzger

Forums: Hacker News, r/gamedev, r/GuardianTales, r/TwoBestFriendsPlay, r/gamedev, r/gaming, r/XboxSeriesX, r/Unity3D, and r/Games

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

A look at chip equipment makers, like Applied Materials, pushing the boundaries of sculpting materials at the atomic level, in a quest to make chips faster — Few people outside of semiconductor manufacturing have ever heard of Applied Materials and its competitors—but what they do is more essential …

X: @akwyz. Forums: Hacker News

Vauhini Vara / Wired:

A writer whose AI-assisted essay went viral reflects on testing GPT-3 early, Sudowrite's novel generator, and whether AI is good for writers and literature — Despite my success with AI-generated stories, I'm not sure they are good for writers—or writing itself.

Mastodon: @AthenaHelivoy@mastodon.world. X: @srhm_ca, @dan_jeffries1, @aldaily, @notoriousrel, @vauhinivara, @chameauleon, @englishoer, and @porcupinesquill

Sean Lyngaas / CNN:

Three major US voting equipment makers grant some researchers access to their software and hardware, to fight conspiracy theories with greater transparency — Major US voting equipment manufacturers are enlisting cybersecurity experts to provide additional stress-tests of their systems …

More: Dark Reading and ComputerWeekly.com

X: @vote_mfg_qa, @knash99, and @benadida

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Walmart-backed PhonePe, which leads India's UPI-based payments market, launches the Indus AppStore on Android with zero platform fees and no commission on IAP — PhonePe launched the Indus AppStore Developer Platform on Saturday, promising zero platform fee and no commission on in-app purchases …

More: Neowin, Inc42 Media, Livemint, and Moneycontrol

X: @rahulchari9, @tsuvik, @upadhyay_harsh1, @ashishdogradir, @tsuvik, @phonepe, @indusappstore, and @pushkar_dongare

Reuters:

Sources: India will delay its import license requirement for laptops and tablets by a year and instead plans a simpler import registration process from November — India will defer an import licence requirement for laptops and tablets, two government officials said, a policy U-turn …

More: Apple Must. X: @adityakalra

Malathi Nayak / Bloomberg:

In a countersuit, chip startup Rivos and six ex-Apple staff claim Apple intimidates those who “dare to leave”; Apple sued Rivos over trade secrets theft in 2022 — - Rivos contests Apple's tech theft claims with countersuit — Apple accuses the startup of stealing proprietary information

Forums: r/hardware

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From Mediagazer

Gary Baum / The Hollywood Reporter:

A look at the first “case” brought before Objection, which aims to use AI to evaluate news stories, and a Q&A with Objection's founder; the site is now dark

The News Minute:

Delhi High Court quashes the case against NewsClick on foreign funding, saying investigators failed to establish cheating, conspiracy, or any scheduled offense

Janko Roettgers / The Verge:

Apple TV relies on a few tentpole titles to draw audiences, like HBO did in the past, while Netflix uses its catalog size and algorithms to keep viewers engaged

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More News

Ed Bott / ZDNet:

A look at Microsoft's Surface business as device revenue plunged in FY 2023 after growing steadily since FY 2014, as a major correction hits the wider PC market

X: @edbott and @mukund. Forums: r/Surface

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:

Doc: Booking.com accuses the EU of using “misleading” and “selective” facts to block its €1.63B Etraveli acquisition and plans to challenge any ban in court

More: Reuters and Skift

Paresh Dave / Wired:

A look at the antitrust activists attending the DOJ's Google antitrust trial every day and documenting their observations via social media and daily newsletters

More: Computerworld. X: @ddayen, @william_fitz, @lutherlowe, and @matthewstoller

LinkedIn: Rafael Brown and Paresh Dave

Earlier Picks

Louise Matsakis / Semafor:

Sources: The White House is weighing requiring cloud companies to disclose when a client buys computing resources above a set threshold, as part of an EO on AI

More: The Information, CRN, and PYMNTS.com

Mastodon: @jasonkoebler@mastodon.social. Bluesky: @jamesaltonsanders.com. X: @stevesi, @jason_koebler, @fredzannarbor, @phmai, @michaelkammes, and @lmatsakis