Techmeme
November 6, 2023, 6:30 AM

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.
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
Johana Bhuiyan / The Guardian:
WhatsApp's AI generates stickers of kids with guns when prompted with “Palestine”, but prompts for “Israeli” generate stickers of people who are mostly smiling  —  A WhatsApp feature that generates images in response to users' searches returns a picture of a gun …
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.
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 …
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 …
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Epic's case against Google Play's app payment restrictions goes to trial in San Francisco, after Google settled with Match on October 31 ahead of a trial  —  The maker of Fortnite is suing the search giant as it is defending a DoJ antitrust case  —  The long-running attempt by Epic Games …
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.
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 …

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Pro tips: 5 ways to simplify invoicing and payments in Zoho Books  —  Many businesses still rely on manual processes to collect payments and reconcile invoices.  This often results in delayed payments …
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

Lenny's Podcast:
A child psychologist's guide to working with difficult adults | Dr. Becky Kennedy
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Flush a Radar', With Brent Simmons
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Big Technology Podcast:
The Anthropic Rocketship, AI's Spending Limits, SpaceX IPO
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.
Access:
Where we'll go when the bots take over, with Sublime's Sari Azout
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
Tech Grapples With ICE + Casey Tries Clawdbot, a Risky New A.I. Assistant + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:30 AM ET, November 6, 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

Nancy Scola / Politico:
Billy Perrigo / TIME:
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Alex Cranz / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Gabor Cselle / Gabor Cselle on Medium:
New York Times: