Techmeme: Sources: DocuSign is working with advisers to explore a sale; DocuSign went public in 2018 and now has a $12B+ market cap; DOCU closes up 12.46% (Wall Street Journal)

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December 15, 2023, 9:45 PM

Top News

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Microsoft Copilot answers some political queries in the US and other countries with conspiracies, misinformation, and out-of-date or incorrect info — Research shared exclusively with WIRED shows that Copilot, Microsoft's AI chatbot, often responds to questions about elections with lies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.

More: Washington Post, AlgorithmWatch, AIForensics, Mashable, The Verge, Neowin, Cointelegraph, and TNW

X: @salv_romano, @daithaigilbert, @fabiochiusi, @algorithmwatch, @aiforensics_org, @jodyserrano, @textually, @leahfeiger, @jeffjarvis, @algorithmwatch, and @daithaigilbert

Alex Heath / The Verge:

Docs: ByteDance used OpenAI's API to develop its own LLM, codenamed Project Seed; employees discussed “whitewashing” the evidence through “data desensitization” — TikTok's entrancing “For You” feed made its parent company, ByteDance, an AI leader on the world stage.

Threads: @alexheath and @alexheath

Mastodon: @researchbuzz@researchbuzz … and @carnage4life@mas.to

X: @petergyang, @revhowardarson, @alexeheath, @minimaxir, and @armanddoma

Financial Times:

Sources: Elon Musk verbally guaranteed some US banks that they would not lose money on the Twitter deal; banks face serious losses on the “uninvestable” debt — Banks are facing serious losses on the debt as social media platform's business deteriorates

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple agrees to pay $25M to settle a class action lawsuit alleging Apple misrepresented the way that third-party app subscriptions worked with Family Sharing — Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over Family Sharing, and will pay out $25 million to put an end to the case.

More: KCC Class Action Services LLC, Engadget, The Verge, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Business Times, AppleInsider, and Cord Cutters News. Forums: MacRumors

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 …

More: Gizmodo, AppleInsider, Ars Technica, Metro.co.uk, Fast Company, PhoneArena, Mashable, Phandroid, TechSpot, BGR, MobileSyrup, Variety, Pixel Envy, iPhone in Canada Blog, KnowTechie, Search Engine Land, 9to5Mac, The Messenger, and iMore

Mastodon: @drahardja@sfba.social, @ben@werd.social, @jasonkoebler@mastodon.social, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, @samvarma@fosstodon.org, and @cdarwin@c.im

Bluesky: @epro.social, @datanerd.bsky.social, and @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social

X: @impstrsyndrome, @iwschlom, @bettinaboomboom, @inregray, @jsrailton, @supersat, @jason_kint, @mikko, @heatherkaiserwa, @normative, and @kashhill

Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot

See also Mediagazer

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Adam Mosseri details Threads' fediverse plans, including following non-Threads accounts, showing replies from other platforms, and follower portability — The head of Instagram says a full integration with the fediverse could take ‘the better part of a year.’

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: DocuSign is working with advisers to explore a sale; DocuSign went public in 2018 and now has a $12B+ market cap; DOCU closes up 12.46% — Suitors for the $11 billion company could include private equity and technology firms — E-signature company DocuSign is working with advisers …

More: PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, The Information, Bloomberg, CNBC, Investor's Business Daily, and Reuters

Mastodon: @NIH_LLAMAS@mastodon.social. X: @howardlindzon, @buccocapital, and @joshuaogundu

Ash Parrish / The Verge:

Days after updating its content policy to permit certain kinds of sexual content, Twitch rescinds the “artistic nudity” portion, citing “community concern” — Mere days after Twitch updated its content policy to permit certain kinds of sexual content …

More: Twitch, Engadget, TweakTown, NBC News, Kotaku, PetaPixel, The Messenger, Neowin, MSPoweruser, Decrypt, PCMag, TechCrunch, Dot Esports, PC Gamer, Tubefilter, Gizmodo, and UPROXX

X: @wonni__, @freyaholmer, @morgan_sung, and @morgan_sung. Forums: Hacker News

See also Mediagazer

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

YouTube creators MrBeast and Chucky Appleby launch ViewStats, which uses the YouTube API to unveil detailed stats about channels for creators and fans, in beta — The top YouTuber in the U.S., MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) co-founded the new analytics platform ViewStats, which is now available in beta.

Mastodon: @kierkegaank@mastodon.sdf.org. X: @nickadobos, @alexisohanian, @bria_sullivan, and @gregisenberg. LinkedIn: Justin Gerrard

See also Mediagazer

Bloomberg:

Memo: Weibo sent notices warning users to “avoid expressing pessimism about the economy” and “avoid crossing the red lines” around economic or financial topics — - The social media service sent warning notices to users — China has stepped up control on online discourse in past years

X: @haifeng_huang and @wexler. LinkedIn: Ethan Tan

New York Times:

A California state agency drops its 2021 sexual harassment case against Activision Blizzard, saying that no “investigation has substantiated any allegations” — The California Civil Rights Department said in a settlement agreement that no “investigation has substantiated any allegations” against the video game maker.

More: CRD, Bloomberg, Axios, The Information, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, IGN, and Kotaku

Bluesky: @docrevan.xyz. X: @stephentotilo, @michaelguimarin, and @stephentotilo

Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:

The US SEC rejects Coinbase's petition for formal digital asset rules, because the “existing securities regime appropriately governs crypto asset securities” — The U.S. exchange had formally petitioned the agency to start writing comprehensive crypto rules, but after “careful” consideration, the SEC said no.

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.

More: The Verge, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, iThinkDifferent, and Supercharged. Forums: MacRumors Forums

Bloomberg:

Sources: more Chinese government agencies and state-backed firms have ordered staff to stop bringing iPhones, Samsung phones, and other foreign devices to work — - Agencies from Beijing to Tianjin instruct staff to go local — The formal directives follow a general mandate from months ago

More: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacDailyNews, Reuters, Stock Market News, and Benzinga

X: X and @lord_fed

Jordan Pearson / VICE:

Some X users report seeing ads for apps that use AI to “undress” women in photos; TikTok and Meta have started to block search terms related to “nudify” apps — A week after TikTok and Meta blocked certain search terms related to so-called “nudify” apps, X has not taken the same measures, Motherboard found.

More: 404 Media. Threads: @info_rosalie and @mattnavarra. Bluesky: @janety.bsky.social

X: @maria_antoniak, @kevinish, @thechildweb3, @davidthewid, @athundt, @jason_koebler, @bumblejack_, @thatstarwarsgrl, @theebonymaw, @davbatz, @neuwaves, and @eshumarneedi

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.

More: Thurrott, The Verge, MSPoweruser, WinBuzzer, Windows Central, Neowin, and UploadVR

Threads: @noise.in.vacuum and @darthmcdo

X: @cixliv, @cixliv, @swiftonsecurity, @generalkidd, @pashkaplays, @richgel999, @lunayian, @tomwarren, and @gwanatu

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From Mediagazer

Axios:

Sources: WH officials believe NYT's Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan obtained audio recordings of Situation Room meetings for their upcoming book Regime Change

Gary Baum / The Hollywood Reporter:

A look at the first “case” brought before Objection, which aims to use AI to evaluate news stories, and a Q&A with Objection's founder; the site is now dark

Marah Eakin / Current:

Fred Rogers Productions launches a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood YouTube channel, curating content based on monthly themes and focusing on reach over monetization

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More News

James Titcomb / Telegraph:

The UK approved Google's selfie scanning tech to estimate a user's age, per the Age Check Certification Scheme registry, ahead of Ofcom's rules for adult sites

X: @matthfield and @mikestabile

Financial Times:

A look at the complex Microsoft-OpenAI alliance structure, which sources say entitles Microsoft to up to 49% of the earnings from OpenAI's for-profit subsidiary

X: @tim

Tyler Pathe / FinTech Futures:

Toronto Stock Exchange owner TMX acquires the rest of US-based analytics company VettaFi for $848M, taking ownership after buying 22% for $175M in January 2023

More: Pulse 2.0, FinTech Global, and Canadian Press

Eduardo Baptista / Reuters:

China proposes a four-tier, color-coded system for data security incidents; for red and orange warnings, companies must notify the government within 10 minutes

More: Metaverse Post, ITPro, and Bitcoin Insider. Forums: Slashdot

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

Threads: @j_lewis, @susanbeebe, @theromit, @chambararenaissance, @mshobe, @elatable, @sugarfreejones, @pavelsurmenok, @codedrift.social, and @jank0

Mastodon: @joesteel@duck.haus, @PizzaDemon@mastodon.online, and @glennf@twit.social

X: @panzer, @stammy, and @ryanlucas

LinkedIn: Pasha Sadri and Luke Wroblewski. Forums: Hacker News

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

Krutrim, an AI startup founded by Ola Group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, unveils India's first multilingual LLM, capable of generating text in 10 Indian languages

More: PYMNTS.com, TechCircle, Metaverse Post, MediaNama, Inc42 Media, and Business Today. X: @pranavdixit

Lily Hay Newman / Wired:

How Microsoft's 10-year-old Digital Crime Unit uses unique legal tactics and the company's technical reach to disrupt global cybercrime and state-backed actors

More: BankInfoSecurity.com

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

More: PCMag, TechCrunch, Android Headlines, Near Media, WinBuzzer, Media Nation, Media Voices, Hindustan Times, and Press Gazette

Threads: @malwaretech. Mastodon: @blogdiva@mastodon.social, @carnage4life@mas.to, and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social. LinkedIn: Max Hogan

See also Mediagazer

Earlier Picks

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

More: nextpit, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, SamMobile, SiliconANGLE, iPhone in Canada Blog, iThinkDifferent, TweakTown, Dexerto, T3, Redmond Pie, Supercharged, Macworld, BGR, Tom's Guide, iMore, TechRadar, MySmartPrice, NewsBytes, AppleInsider, and Benzinga

LinkedIn: Jonas Sundqvist. Forums: MacRumors Forums

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”

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

More: Hindustan Times, The Verge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Mirror, The Keyword, Daily Mail, SamMobile, The Register, Android Headlines, ExtremeTech, TechSpot, Mashable, SiliconANGLE, RestorePrivacy, Gizmodo, MediaNama, Metro.co.uk, emptywheel, Silicon Republic, Bloomberg, and Reason

Threads: @carnage4life. Mastodon: @chetwisniewski …, @Colarusso@mastodon.social, and @cfarivar@journa.host

X: @orinkerr, @orinkerr, @orinkerr, @emptywheel, @joesphwiegand50, @daveyalba, @bastionbucks, @cfarivar, @matthew_d_green, @iblametom, @iampaulgrewal, and @sarahfrier. LinkedIn: Thomas Brewster

Will Knight / Wired:

OpenAI details how its Superalignment research team is exploring ways to control stronger AI models like GPT-4 using weaker supervisor models like GPT-2

More: OpenAI, Gizmodo, The Messenger, BGR, The Decoder, Metaverse Post, MIT Technology Review, TechCrunch, and IEEE Spectrum

X: @miramurati, @sama, @swarnanlp, @alextmallen, @leopoldasch, @nabla_theta, @collinburns4, @gdb, @binarybits, @_akhaliq, @stephenlcasper, @openai, and @adrienle. Forums: Hacker News

Rohan Goswami / CNBC:

The US DOJ announces an indictment for four people, two of whom have been arrested, in an alleged international pig butchering crypto scam costing victims $80M+

More: US Department of Justice, The Daily Hodl, The Record, Trend Micro, CCN.com, Infosecurity, Bankless Times, SiliconANGLE, and BleepingComputer. Mastodon: @brianstorms@mastodon.social

Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:

Google DeepMind's FunSearch model cracks the unsolved cap set problem in pure mathematics, the first time an LLM has solved a long-standing scientific puzzle

More: Nature, Google DeepMind, Politico, The Independent, Synced, TNW, The Decoder, Tech Xplore, Cybernews.com, Gizchina, Silicon Republic, Nature, Simon Willison's Weblog, SiliconANGLE, The Guardian, and New Scientist

Mastodon: @dkalintsev@infosec.exchange. Bluesky: @epro.social and @lakewitchhouse.bsky.social

X: @demishassabis, @johnjnay, @barekatainamin, @googledeepmind, @mfigurnov, @sashavnovikov, @pengmingwang, @alhusseinfawzi, @pushmeet, @wtgowers, @matejbalog, @ber24, @gfodor, and @emollick

Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google launches a Pixel Diagnostic App and repair manuals in English in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and European countries where Pixel devices are sold

More: The Keyword, Android Headlines, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, The Register, Gizmodo, ZDNet, ExtremeTech, T3, PhoneArena, The Verge, iThinkDifferent, and Android Authority

Aria Alamalhodaei / TechCrunch:

Amazon validates Project Kuiper's optical inter-satellite links, which use infrared lasers to move data around 30% faster than terrestrial fiber optical cables

More: About Amazon, TechSpot, Engadget, Silicon Republic, SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg, and CircleID

X: @richontech and @ajassy. LinkedIn: Tim Kilbride