Techmeme
November 5, 2023, 7:55 PM

Top News

xAI:
Elon Musk's xAI releases Grok, an AI model that the startup says surpasses rivals in its compute class, including ChatGPT-3.5, to a “limited number” of US users  —  Grok is an AI modeled after the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so intended to answer almost anything and, far harder, even suggest what questions to ask!
Wes Davis / The Verge:
A look at companies' responses, including from Meta, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple, to potential US Copyright Office rules for AI and copyrighted content  —  The biggest companies in AI aren't interested in paying to use copyrighted material as training data, and here are their reasons why.
TechCrunch:
Hands-on with Google Play Protect's real-time scanning for sideloaded Android apps, which didn't stop five predatory loan apps and two fake apps from installing  —  Here's our hands-on review of the new Android security feature  —  Android's in-built security engine Google Play Protect …
Mike Young / AIModels.fyi:
Researchers say AI models like GPT-4 respond with improved performance when prompted with emotional context because of how these models handle nuanced prompts  —  Researchers show LLMs respond with improved performance when prompted with emotional context  —  In the grand narrative …
New York Times:
Sources: GM spent an average of $588M per quarter on Cruise over the past year, up 42% YoY, and staff intervened to assist its vehicles every 2.5 to 5 miles  —  Cruise has hired a law firm to investigate how it responded to regulators, as its cars sit idle and questions grow about its C.E.O.'s expansion plans.
David Gilbert / Wired:
A look at CulturePulse, which is building an AI model to create a virtual version of Israel and Palestinian territories and has signed a nine-month UN contract  —  CulturePulse's AI model promises to create a realistic virtual simulation of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Okta's autopsy report on its support system breach understated the role of a badly configured service account, the biggest contributing factor to the breach  —  If a transgression by a single employee breaches your network, you're doing it wrong.  —  Identity and authentication management provider Okta …
Bloomberg:
Chinese startup 01.AI, launched in March 2023 by computer scientist Kai-Fu Lee, reaches a $1B+ valuation and releases its AI model Yi-34B in Chinese and English  —  - 01.AI's model outperforms Meta's Llama 2 on certain metrics  — Startup to offer open-source model; proprietary options later
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
A look at the gap between Amazon's dazzling drone delivery claims and the mundane reality, as only some small objects can be delivered when the weather allows  —  Amazon's much-hyped drone project is dropping small objects on driveways.  Some customers are not sure what it delivers beyond minestrone.
Wall Street Journal:
Q&A with Adobe General Counsel and Chief Trust Officer Dana Rao on the Content Authenticity Initiative, content credentials, deepfake detection issues, and more  —  Instead of detecting fakes, this effort aims to authenticate and track online images from the start; Adobe's chief trust officer on the strategy
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Emails: X began work on a marketplace for purchasing account handles that have been left unused, asking for a $50K flat fee from potential buyers in some cases  —  Rumored to be in the works for the past year, the initiative appears to have begun rolling out recently, with email solicitations being sent to potential buyers.

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Featured Podcasts

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Perp Walk for Selfies', With Jason Snell
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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Invest Like the Best:
Vlad Barbalat - Investing $120 Billion in Permanent Capital
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Big Technology Podcast:
The Fable Ban's Unintended Consequences + AI's New Economics — With Aaron Levie
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Acquired:
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
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More News

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Alex Cranz / The Verge:
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Gabor Cselle / Gabor Cselle on Medium:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt: