Techmeme
October 6, 2023, 4:55 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Source: Microsoft plans to close its $68.7B Activision Blizzard acquisition on October 13, with a final approval of the deal from the UK CMA expected next week  —  Microsoft is planning to finalize its $68.7 billion proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard next week.
Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
Source: MGM Resorts refused to pay a hackers' ransom in the September cyberattack; filing: MGM estimates the hack will cost the company $100M+ in its Q3 2023  —  Fallout will have a $100 million negative impact on quarterly earnings, Las Vegas-based company says
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
23andMe says the genetics company is aware of user data from its platform circulating on hacker forums and attributes the leak to a credential-stuffing attack  —  23andMe has confirmed to BleepingComputer that it is aware of user data from its platform circulating on hacker forums and attributes …
Matt Binder / Mashable:
X appears to be rolling out a new mobile ad format that can't be reported or blocked, lacks an ad label and user profile, and doesn't disclose the advertiser  —  The new ads also don't disclose who the advertiser is or that they are even ads.  —  X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter …
Aisha Counts / Bloomberg:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Yuga Labs, the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club and other prominent NFTs, restructures, lays off some US staff, and is still evaluating its international teams  —  Yuga Labs reveals a restructuring effort that has impacted U.S. employees as the $4 billion Bored Ape startup rethinks its priorities.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office issues a preliminary enforcement notice to Snap over its My AI chatbot possibly being a risk to children's privacy  —  Snap's AI chatbot has landed the company on the radar of the UK's data protection watchdog which has raised concerns the tool may be a risk to children's privacy.
Reuters:
Sources: OpenAI is exploring making its own AI chips and has evaluated a potential acquisition target; Sam Altman made acquiring more AI chips a top priority  —  OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring making its own artificial intelligence chips and has gone as far as evaluating …
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Amazon updates its Luna cloud gaming service to let users buy individual games, starting with select Ubisoft titles; users must first link their Ubisoft account  —  Amazon Luna has been struggling to some extent with big library shuffles, but the cloud gaming platform is now introducing a big new feature - the ability to buy games.
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Report: the US DHS finds that ICE, CBP, and the Secret Service illegally used phone location data; a CBP official tracked coworkers for no investigative purpose  —  In a bombshell report, an oversight body for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement …

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More News

James Hunt / The Block:
Knight First Amendment Institute:
Michael Lewis / Wall Street Journal:
Jacquelyn Melinek / TechCrunch:
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:

Earlier Picks

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Austin Weinstein / Bloomberg:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Natalie Korach / The Wrap: