Techmeme
December 15, 2023, 4:13 PM

Top News

Forbes:
Google says it will no longer respond to geofence warrants after making changes to how Google Maps stores and accesses users' opt-in Location History  —  “Geofence warrants,” which allow law enforcement to get location data across a wide area, have become commonplace in recent years.
David Gilbert / Wired:
Researchers: Microsoft Copilot answers some political queries in the US and other countries with conspiracies, misinformation, and out-of-date or incorrect info  —  Research shared exclusively with WIRED shows that Copilot, Microsoft's AI chatbot, often responds to questions about elections with lies and conspiracy theories.
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Cox Media Group claims it can listen to consumers' conversations through microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices and use the data to target ads  —  A marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations …
Stacy Elliott / Decrypt:
Crypto wallet maker Ledger updates Connect Kit to remove some malicious code, live for five hours, after a former employee “fell victim to a phishing attack”  —  Crypto wallet manufacturer Ledger has confirmed an exploit that led it to warn users to “stop using dapps” …
Financial Times:
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Glenn Fleishman / Retool:
A look back at Yahoo Pipes, which from 2007 to 2015 let users drag and drop elements in a browser to make data feeds, influencing a generation of UI designers  —  Want to know whether the latest logged earthquakes were near you?  Aggregate 100 top news sites, but only see items that mention cats?
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / ZDNet:
iOS 17.2 closes off Flipper Zero devices' ability to carry out DoS attacks on iPhones within a 30-foot radius by continuously sending Bluetooth pairing requests  —  Apple has finally closed off the ability of the Flipper Zero pen-testing tool to flood iPhones with so many popups that the handset would lock up and require a reboot.
Nikkei Asia:
Sources: Apple plans to use advanced OLED screens in high-end iPads in 2024 and in a MacBook model in H2 2025, and is also considering making foldable tablets  —  Display industry in for disruption as investment pours into newer technology  —  Apple is the leader in the global tablet computer market thanks to its popular iPad lineup.
Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central:
Microsoft launches its basic Office suite on the Meta Quest store for free, letting all Quests run Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a mixed reality environment  —  Now you can tweak spreadsheets while playing Xbox, all in VR.  —  What you need to know  — Meta Quest users can now use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in VR.
Wall Street Journal:
Some publishers estimate that Google's Search Generative Experience could cut referral traffic by 20% to 40% if the final version resembles recent iterations  —  Tech giant's AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Toy startup Curio launches three AI-powered plush toys, including a $99 one called Grok, that use OpenAI's tech to converse with kids and are voiced by Grimes  —  Grok is the first in a line of toys from start-up Curio intended to allow kids to converse with an AI chatbot

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Azure Content Understanding: Building on lessons from a decade of Document Intelligence  —  What a decade of teaching machines to read real-world documents taught us about what LLMs can and can't do.
Will Reed:
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Featured Podcasts

Cheeky Pint:
Muse Wonder: Zuckerberg and Wang's $100B AI
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why every company now needs to think and operate like a lab team | Josh Woodward (Google Labs, Gemini, AI Studio)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Meta & Microsoft's Claude Slowdown, His Agent Leaked His Banking Info, Don't Bully Your AI
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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Sources:
Qualcomm's CEO on the coming AI phone supercycle
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.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Bringing Back Mammoths And Building Noah's Ark 2.0 | Colossal's Ben Lamm
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.
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Great Chat:
The launch industrial complex
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.
 

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More News

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