Techmeme
January 8, 2024, 8:05 PM

Top News

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Apple plans to ship the $3,499+ Vision Pro on February 2 in the US, after opening pre-orders on January 19 at 8am ET, with a Solo Knit Band and a Dual Loop Band  —  It's finally time: Apple has announced it will start shipping its Vision Pro headset on February 2nd in the United States.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple says the base Vision Pro model has 256GB of storage and the ZEISS Optical Inserts for readers cost $99 and prescription ZEISS Optical Inserts cost $149  —  Apple has announced more details on Vision Pro availability.  In a press release today, Apple announced that Vision Pro …
OpenAI:
OpenAI responds to The New York Times' lawsuit: training is fair use and there is an opt-out, “regurgitation” is a rare bug, and NYT “manipulated” its models  —  We support journalism, partner with news organizations, and believe The New York Times lawsuit is without merit.
Anna Tong / Reuters:
Filing and memo: Unity Software plans to lay off ~25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs, by the end of March 2024, its largest layoff ever and affecting all teams  —  Videogame software provider Unity Software (U.N) will target laying off approximately 25% of its workforce, or 1,800 jobs …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Wes Davis / The Verge:
The Wi-Fi Alliance begins certifying devices with Wi-Fi 7, which could offer big speed and efficiency gains over Wi-Fi 6 in phones, laptops, and routers in 2024  —  The Wi-Fi Alliance is now officially certifying devices that support Wi-Fi 7, the next generation of wireless home internet.
Alan Ohnsman / Forbes:
Waymo plans to test self-driving SUVs on Phoenix freeways later in January, initially with its staff, the first robotaxi company to prep for higher-speed rides  —  Starting this month the Alphabet Inc. unit will operate autonomous Waymos on Phoenix-area freeways.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Volkswagen plans to integrate ChatGPT into its cars to control basic functions and answer “general knowledge questions”, starting in Europe in Q2 2024  —  Volkswagen is jumping on the generative AI bandwagon by announcing plans to install OpenAI's ChatGPT into its vehicles starting in the second quarter of 2024.
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO and from the company board, replaced by Khozema Shipchandler, amid slow growth and activist investor pressure  —  Lawson will be replaced by Khozema Shipchandler, who most recently led the communication business unit, Twilio said in a statement Monday.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
MSI unveils the Claw, a Windows-based gaming handheld powered by Intel's Meteor Lake Core Ultra processor with a 7" 1080p 120Hz IPS display, starting at $699  —  MSI is the latest PC manufacturer to attempt to take on Valve's Steam Deck with the Claw, a new Windows-based gaming handheld it's announcing at CES.
Kate Clark / The Information:
Sources: former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal's new AI startup, which is making software for LLM developers, raised ~$30M led by Khosla Ventures  —  Parag Agrawal, who was CEO of Twitter for a year before Elon Musk took over the social media app in late 2022, recently raised about $30 million …
Sam Rutherford / Engadget:
HP debuts the $1,600+ Omen Transcend 14 with a 14" OLED, Intel Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9, two USB-A, two USB-C, and an RTX 4070, weighing 1.6kg, coming in Q1 2024  —  HP's Omen Transcend 14 weighs just 3.5 pounds while packing up to an RTX 4070 GPU.  —  Senior Writer, Reviews
Gavin Bonshor / AnandTech:
AMD announces the $329 Ryzen 7 8700G, $229 Ryzen 5 8600G, and $179 Ryzen 5 8500G for desktop, offering Zen 4 cores and Radeon 780M graphics, shipping January 31  —  While it's been touted for many months that AMD will release APUs for desktops based on Zen 4, rumors and wishes have finally come …
Tom Warren / The Verge:

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
ETL tool evaluation checklist: 6 things to look for before you choose  —  Your data is only as valuable as your ability to move, prepare, and access it efficiently.  Choosing the wrong ETL tool can lead to months of rework …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Tim Cook's Legacy + The Future of U.B.I. With Andrew Yang + HatGPT
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.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor
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.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 "Spud," AI Model Moats, and Cybersecurity Risks
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Lenny's Podcast:
How Anthropic's product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Access:
Silicon Valley finally has its "Succession"
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:05 PM ET, January 8, 2024.

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

Alex Cranz / The Verge:
Tom Warren / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Qianer Liu / Financial Times:
Raphael Minder / Financial Times:
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch: