Techmeme: A Google Play Services update suggests Google's file-sharing feature Nearby Share could be rebranded to Quick Share, the name Samsung uses for a similar tool (Mishaal Rahman/Android Authority)

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December 22, 2023, 6:15 PM

Top News

New York Times:

Sources: Apple discussed multiyear $50M+ deals with NBC News, Condé Nast, IAC, and other media organizations to train its generative AI systems on news articles — The company has discussed multiyear deals worth at least $50 million to train its generative A.I. systems on publishers' news articles.

More: 9to5Mac, The Information, The Verge, MacRumors, Reuters, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada Blog, Supercharged, and Pixel Envy

Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to. X: @_felixsimon_, @mikeisaac, @claytonwbryan, @davidclinchnews, and @benmullin. Forums: MacRumors Forums

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New York Times:

Sources: the US DOJ, which has an ongoing four-year-old probe into Apple's alleged anticompetitive behavior, has taken interest in Apple blocking Beeper Mini — Beeper Mini, which offers iPhone messaging on Android phones, has grown fast and its duel with the tech giant has gotten the attention of antitrust regulators.

More: Beeper Blog, Federal Trade Commission, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, SiliconANGLE, Wired, Benzinga, Livemint, MacRumors, The Indian Express, iMore, Dexerto, Android Headlines, BGR, mjtsai.com, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, Tom's Guide, Pocket-lint, Supercharged, and MacDailyNews

Threads: @esg.hound, @carnage4life, and @carnage4life. Mastodon: @jeff@indieweb.social. Bluesky: @epro.social

X: @senwarren and @techftc

Forums: Slashdot and MacRumors Forums

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:

A Google Play Services update suggests Google's file-sharing feature Nearby Share could be rebranded to Quick Share, the name Samsung uses for a similar tool — - Nearby Share is Google's peer-to-peer file sharing service available on all Android devices with Google apps.

Bloomberg:

Sources: OpenAI is in early talks to raise funding at a $100B+ valuation, and discussed raising between $8B and $10B from Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a chip venture — OpenAI is in early discussions to raise a fresh round of funding at a valuation at or above $100 billion …

More: The Information and Reuters. X: @edludlow

Leo Schwartz / Fortune:

Paxos plans to expand its products to the Solana blockchain on January 17, 2024, after receiving approval from the New York Department of Financial Services — The leading stablecoin issuer Paxos has received regulatory approval to expand its products to the Solana blockchain, which it plans to launch on January 17, 2024.

More: Paxos, Unchained, Cryptopolitan, Bitcoin News, Coinpedia Fintech News, crypto.news, Bitcoin Insider, The Block, CoinGape, Cryptonews, Cointelegraph, and Crypto Briefing

X: @solana, @austin_federa, @solana, and @yashhsm

Anissa Gardizy / The Information:

Source: Cisco is paying ~$650M in cash for Isovalent, or 32 times the startup's ARR; Isovalent raised a $40M Series B at a ~$250M valuation in September 2022 — Cisco Systems' acquisition of Isovalent, a cloud networking and security startup backed by Google and Microsoft, announced on Thursday …

More: Dark Reading and Cisco

X: @anissagardizy8. LinkedIn: Timothy Snow

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:

ScamSniffer: Google and X ads are promoting sites containing “MS Drainer”, a cryptocurrency drainer that has stolen $59M from 63,210 victims since March 2023 — Google and Twitter ads are promoting sites containing a cryptocurrency drainer named ‘MS Drainer’ that has already stolen $59 million …

More: Scam Sniffer, Infosecurity, CryptoPotato, SC Media, Cryptonews, Cryptopolitan, CoinXposure, Unchained, BeInCrypto, DailyCoin, Cointelegraph, Crypto Briefing, and CoinGape

Bloomberg:

China publishes draft rules for online gaming, including setting spending limits and banning daily login rewards; stocks for Tencent and NetEase both drop 10%+ — - Tencent, NetEase shares dive in Hong Kong after new rules — Beijing has in recent years sought to combat gaming addiction

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Humane plans to begin shipping its Ai Pin in March 2024, starting with customers who placed priority orders and in order of the date of purchase — Humane announced Friday that the AI Pin, its splashy AI-powered wearable, will start shipping in March 2024.

More: Engadget, Android Authority, Liliputing, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Android Headlines. X: @humane

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

Spotify pulls support for two music festivals in France, in protest against a new tax that would impose a levy of 1.5% to 1.75% on all music streaming services — Spotify is pulling support for two music festivals in protest against a controversial new tax directed at music-streaming platforms operating …

More: The Hill, PYMNTS.com, NME, Supercharged, The Verge, and Digital Music News

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:15 PM ET, December 22, 2023.

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From Mediagazer

Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:

The FCC approves Paramount's request for foreign ownership above 25% in its proposed WBD acquisition; foreign owners would hold 49.5% of its Class B shares

Protect Democracy:

A bipartisan group of 18 former FCC officials files a brief supporting ABC's request to halt the FCC's early review of its broadcast licenses

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

Universal says it remains committed to releasing Alex Gibney's Musk documentary internationally, after a report said it was reconsidering; US debut is October 9

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More News

Bloomberg:

Court docs: Google considered changing its Play Store pricing model in 2021 but abandoned the plans over potential $1B-$2B losses for apps and $6B-$9B for games

Jacquelyn Melinek / TechCrunch:

Data center infrastructure startup Arkon Energy raised $110M led by Bluesky Capital to grow its US BTC mining capacity and launch an AI cloud service in Norway

More: SiliconANGLE, The Block, and Blockworks

Max Ramsay / Bloomberg:

EU member states reject a provisional deal that would have required platforms like Uber and Deliveroo to give full employment status to around 5.5M gig workers

More: PYMNTS.com, Euractiv, TechCrunch, and Fast Company. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to

Financial Times:

How SoftBank's $500M bet on US mortgage lender Better, once valued at $7B, backfired; BETR is down 90%+ since its August 2023 IPO after a US SEC investigation

Erin Nolan / New York Times:

Prosecutors: Pornhub operator Aylo admits to profiting for years from porn depicting sex trafficking victims, will pay a $1.8M+ fine, and be assigned a monitor

More: Agence France-Presse, TechCrunch, US Department of Justice, The Verge, The Hill, Variety, Associated Press, New York Daily News, and The Messenger

Aisha S Gani / Bloomberg:

Revolut publishes delayed 2022 accounts, removing a hurdle in its UK banking license bid, reporting revenue up 45% YoY to £922.5M and a £25.4M pretax loss

More: Financial Times, Independent.ie, Coinspeaker, PYMNTS.com, Reuters, Sifted, UKTN, AltFi, and Business Post

X: @ownsomeshares, @ownsomeshares, @yoramdw, @sytaylor, @revolutapp, and @ownsomeshares

Wall Street Journal:

Former staff say Meta considered exempting underage Facebook and Instagram user accounts from encryption but chose not to due to costs and potential liability

More: New York Post, Business Insider, and Benzinga

Earlier Picks

Makiko Yamazaki / Reuters:

Toshiba sees power management chips as a profit driver and plans to spend ~$175M to double production, as private equity firm JIP completes its $14B buyout

Kate Park / TechCrunch:

ImpriMed, which builds AI-powered drug response prediction tech for cancer in dogs, cats, and soon humans, raised a $23M Series A led by SoftBank Ventures Asia

More: Cryptopolitan, Business Wire, Pulse 2.0, and Sifted

X: @unpackdottech and @messier51exo

Reuters:

Analysis: ABBA Voyage, the London show performed by 3D avatars of the band created using motion capture, made £322.6M in revenue in the 12 months since May 2022

Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to

Anastassia Gliadkovskaya / Fierce Healthcare:

Boston-based knownwell, which provides virtual and in-person primary care and obesity treatment for patients, raised a $20M Series A led by a16z

More: knownwell, ENDPOINTS NEWS, VatorNews, Boston Business Journal, MedCity News, and Axios

X: @chrissyfarr, @lydiapflanzer, @yasaman, and @fiercehealthit

Ethan Gach / Kotaku:

Hacked files show Insomniac's challenges juggling teams, timelines, and budgets amid possible Sony cuts; Spider-Man 2 cost ~$300M, almost 3x Spider-Man's cost

Katharine Gemmell / Bloomberg:

A UK judge sentences Arion Kurtaj, the 18-year-old who leaked GTA VI code and hacked Nvidia, to a secure hospital until a mental health tribunal lets him leave

More: BBC, The Verge, Business Insider, WFLA-TV, The Guardian, Forbes, The Record, InfoRiskToday.com, Hackread, ITPro, Metacurity, TechSpot, Newser, TechRadar, Silicon Republic, TechPowerUp, GamesIndustry.biz, The Register, DataBreaches.net, The News International, PC Games Insider, Reuters, Business Today, Press Start, Gameranx, BleepingComputer, Destructoid, Cybernews.com, The Messenger, Android Headlines, Game Rant, PC Gamer, Engadget, IGN, Polygon, Neowin, UPROXX, Dot Esports, Kotaku, TheGamer, RockstarINTEL, Video Games Chronicle, and Bloomberg Law

Mastodon: @corbin@toot.community. X: @tomgara, @trungtphan, @noahpinion, @spicydll, @omgimalexis, @mattjay, @swiftonsecurity, @t3dotgg, @argvee, @hates_place, @mj__hernandez, @tomwarren, @joetidy, @localghost, @tomwarren, @gazthejourno, @joetidy, and @margimurphy. LinkedIn: Andrew Thompson

Forums: news.ycombinator.com, Hacker News, and Hacker News

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:

Apple AI researchers publish papers on using human gaussian splats to generate animated 3D avatars from videos and deploying LLMs on devices with limited memory