Techmeme
September 25, 2023, 5:05 AM

Top News

Financial Times:
Amazon to invest up to $4B in Anthropic, with an initial investment of $1.25B for a minority stake in the AI startup, and an option to increase the total to $4B  —  Amazon Web Services lures Claude chatbot maker, which was valued at nearly $5bn earlier this year
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta plans to release AI chatbots with personalities, internally called Gen AI Personas, across its apps at this week's Connect, to attract young users  —  Facebook parent is developing bots with personalities, including a ‘sassmaster general’ robot that answers questions
Sanket Vijayasarathy / 91mobiles:
A leaked Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro promo video reveals new camera features: an Audio Eraser, the ability to swap faces, full manual controls like ISO, and 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.
Los Angeles Times:
The WGA and AMPTP reach a tentative deal to end the strike; sources: the proposed three-year contract adds new AI rules, increases streaming residuals, and more  —  The Writers Guild of America and the major Hollywood studios have reached a tentative deal that would end a strike that has lasted …
Jody Serrano / The Messenger:
Q&A with Kevin Systrom about Artifact's Links discovery feature, moderation, the bear case and bull case for Threads, the current state of Instagram, and more  —  Kevin Systrom hopes a fresh jolt of growth to his Artifact app allows it to compete better with the industry's bigger relics
More: Observer and PhoneArena
Threads: @corybe.  X: @jodyserrano and @jodyserrano
Abhirup Roy / Reuters:
California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoes a bill that would have required a human safety operator in heavy-duty self-driving trucks on public roads in the state  —  California Governor Gavin Newsom late on Friday vetoed a bill to prevent heavy-duty driverless trucks from operating in the state …
Washington Post:
Academics and US agencies are overhauling or ending online misinformation research due to Representative Jim Jordan and other Republicans' escalating campaign  —  An escalating campaign, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Republicans, has cast a pall over programs that study political disinformation …
New York Times:
Some employees reminisce about Netflix's DVD subscription service, which upended the entertainment industry and is shutting down on September 29 after 25 years  —  The company's DVD subscription service is ending this month, bringing to a close an origin story that ultimately upended the entertainment industry.
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.

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
We can build it.  Can we judge it?  —  As agentic AI shortens the path from idea to shipped code, journey evaluation becomes a critical design skill.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: Map My Client Location for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
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:
Google's Potential, AI Money Spigot Shutting?, PHP Bug & Cybersecurity's "Black October"
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.
Machine Gods:
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Parking Startup That Swallowed A 100-Year-Old Giant | Metropolis CEO Alex Israel
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
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.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
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 5:05 AM ET, September 25, 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

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Vauhini Vara / Wired: