Techmeme
December 15, 2023, 9:55 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Microsoft Copilot answers some political queries in the US and other countries with conspiracies, misinformation, and out-of-date or incorrect info  —  Research shared exclusively with WIRED shows that Copilot, Microsoft's AI chatbot, often responds to questions about elections with lies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.
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.
Financial Times:
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.’
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 …
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 …
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
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.
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.
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
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.

Sponsor Posts

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Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)
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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OpenAI's User Growth Miss, Musk vs. Altman, Prediction Market Ban
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Training Data:
OpenAI's Greg Brockman: Why Human Attention Is the New Bottleneck
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Runway's Cris Valenzuela: Building The Hollywood-Friendly Video AI That OpenAI Couldn't
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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Hard Fork:
OpenAI's Big Reset + A.I. in the Doctor's Office + Talkie, a pre-1930s LLM
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.
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Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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

Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central:
Glenn Fleishman / Retool:

Earlier Picks

Wall Street Journal:
Stacy Elliott / Decrypt:
Forbes:
Will Knight / Wired:
Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Aria Alamalhodaei / TechCrunch: