Techmeme
December 13, 2023, 10:20 PM

Top News

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is testing making posts from Threads accounts “available on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol”  —  Mark Zuckerberg said today that Meta has started testing a feature to show Threads posts on Mastodon and other AcitivityPub protocol-supported networks.
Davey Alba / Bloomberg:
Google announces Gemini Pro for enterprises, letting Cloud clients build apps for free, with some limits, and plans to add Gemini Pro to AI Studio and Vertex AI  —  Gemini Pro is aimed at businesses and app developers  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google announced a slate of upgraded artificial intelligence features …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google releases Imagen 2, launched in preview in May 2023 and built using Google DeepMind tech, offering “significantly” improved image quality and new features  —  Google's making the second generation of Imagen, its AI model that can create and edit images given a text prompt …
Keith Laing / Bloomberg:
Tesla plans to update Autopilot in 2M+ cars after the NHTSA issued a recall, following a probe that found its means for keeping drivers engaged were inadequate  —  - US regulator finds system doesn't do enough to prevent misuse  — Agency will keep defect investigation open, monitor remedies
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Twitch now allows some previously prohibited sexual content, including “deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region”, with a sexual themes label  —  Twitch is updating the way it responds to sexual content.  As part of the change, the streaming platform will now allow …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available in beta on the Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro, for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers  —  Xbox Cloud Gaming is arriving on Meta's range of VR headsets today.  A beta version of the cloud gaming app is now available for the Meta Quest 2, 3 …
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Axel Springer signs a multiyear deal with OpenAI, which plans to offer ChatGPT news summaries and use Politico, Business Insider, and others to train AI models  —  Generative-AI company reaches multiyear pact with owner of Politico, Business Insider and major European properties
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Sources: sparked by Spotify's complaint in 2019, the EU may fine Apple in 2024 and plans to ban its anti-steering App Store rules used on music streaming rivals  —  - EU to ban allegedly abusive App Store rules for music rivals  — Antitrust decision due early 2024 and could come with fines
Bloomberg:
Coinbase rolls out spot crypto trading on its international exchange, starting with BTC-USDC and ETH-USDC pairs via API access for non-US institutional clients  —  - Hazy regulatory outlook deters some investors from US venues … Institutional investors can initially trade Bitcoin and Ether …
Krisztian Sandor / CoinDesk:
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
AJ Vicens / CyberScoop:
Microsoft seizes US-based infrastructure and websites used by cybercrime group Storm-1152 that created ~750M fraudulent Microsoft accounts, after a court order  —  Relying on a court order, the tech giant seized websites belonging to a top purveyor of fraudulent Microsoft accounts.
Theo Wayt / The Information:
Etsy plans to lay off ~11% of its workforce, or ~225 employees, as the e-commerce website grapples with slow consumer spending and rivals like Shein and Temu  —  Etsy is laying off roughly 11% of its workforce, a spokesperson confirmed, as the e-commerce site that helps small businesses sell …
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Apple expands Self Service Repair to the iPhone 15 lineup and M2 Macs, brings the program to 24 more countries, and releases an Apple Diagnostics tool in the US  —  Apple today announced it has expanded its Self Service Repair program to cover the iPhone 15 lineup and Mac models powered by M2 chips …
Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
The EU Council and Parliament back a deal to reclassify millions of ride-hailing and food delivery app workers as staff, which could cost the industry billions  —  European Union negotiators backed a deal to reclassify millions of people working for ride-hailing and food-delivery apps …
Bloomberg:
Sources: 3AC co-founder Su Zhu for the first time faced questioning in a Singapore court about the fund's collapse; Teneo estimates 3AC owes creditors ~$3.3B  —  - Failed crypto fund's co-founder Zhu was arrested in September  — Liquidators seek information for creditors owed $3.3 billion
Juro Osawa / The Information:
Sources: ByteDance cancels the Pico 5, an upcoming VR headset from its Pico subsidiary, after Pico 4 sales fell far short of expectations and the VR market sags  —  Chinese tech giant ByteDance might have set Facebook owner Meta Platforms on its heels with its hugely popular TikTok app.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI that works  —  Tribe builds tech for top AI companies.  Get in touch to learn how our bench of 500+ engineers and researchers can accelerate your roadmap.
Prospect:
A running list of the best startups to join  —  We've analyzed thousands of startups using the same data VCs use and distilled our list down to the top 2%.  Discover and join the next Stripe, Airbnb, or Coinbase today.
Zoho:
Optimizing Business Finances: Leveraging the Synergy of QuickBooks and Zoho Expense  —  Expenses incurred by employees are an essential part of accounting and must be captured and recorded accurately.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Gavin Purcell & Kevin Pereira, The Future of AI (#55)
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Fri. 05/03 - Apple Earnings Underline Their Predicament
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:20 PM ET, December 13, 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

Nico Grant / New York Times:

Earlier Picks

Benjamin Parkin / Financial Times:
Zoë Schiffer / The Verge:
Jay Peters / The Verge: