Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Apply here or tell a friend!
Techmeme
January 10, 2024, 8:25 AM

Top News

CoinDesk:
An X post from US SEC Chair Gary Gensler says that the @SECGov's “twitter account was compromised”, and that the agency has not approved spot bitcoin ETFs  —  The X account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is deciding whether to approve bitcoin ETFs, “was compromised,” the regulator told CoinDesk.
CNBC:
X confirms the @SECGov account was compromised and says “the compromise was not due to any breach of X's systems” and that the account didn't have 2FA enabled  —  - X said late Tuesday it has completed a preliminary probe into the compromised account of the U.S. Securities …
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Sources: Twitch could cut ~500 employees, or ~35% of its staff, as soon as January 10, after concerns over company losses and several top executives leaving  —  Move is designed to stem losses after two rounds of layoffs last year.  —  Amazon.com Inc.'s livestreaming site Twitch is poised …
Kat Bailey / IGN:
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA signs a deal with AI voiceover company Replica Studios, requiring consent to create voice replicas for use in video games and safe storage of assets  —  The union announced the deal with Replica Studios on Tuesday at CES in Las Vegas.  Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's executive director …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Source: Humane laid off 10 staff, or 4% of its workforce, to cut costs and plans to lower budgets in 2024, as the company reshuffles some executive positions  —  Humane laid off 4 percent of employees this week in a move that was described as a cost cutting measure to those who were impacted …
Julian Chokkattu / Wired:
Startup Rabbit debuts the R1, a $199 handheld AI device meant to be a virtual assistant to complete tasks without a smartphone, shipping in late March 2024  —  The startup has developed a virtual assistant that learns whatever digital errands you teach it.  The interface is extra cute …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
HPE plans to acquire networking gear maker Juniper Networks for about $14B, or $40 per share, in an all-cash deal; JNPR jumps 21%+  —  - HPE is acquiring Juniper Networks for about $14 billion in cash, the companies said Tuesday.  — Juniper shares had their best day in 20 years …
Nelson Aguilar / CNET:
Google and Samsung merge their respective Nearby Share and Quick Share features under the Quick Share name, for a more unified cross-Android sharing experience  —  Apple has AirDrop.  Android now has Quick Share.  —  At CES 2024 today, Google announced Quick Share, a collaboration …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Apple pulls Binance, Kraken, Mexc, KuCoin, and four other crypto exchanges from the App Store in India, after they were flagged for operating “illegally”  —  Apple has pulled apps of at least nine crypto exchanges including Binance and Kraken from its App Store in India …
Adam D'Angelo / Quora:
Quora raised $75M from Andreessen Horowitz and plans to accelerate the growth of Poe and pay bot creators through its creator monetization program  —  We are excited to announce that we have raised $75M from Andreessen Horowitz.  This funding will be used to accelerate the growth of Poe …
Julie Carr Smyth / Associated Press:
A US federal judge temporarily halts the enforcement of a pending Ohio law that would require children to get parental consent to use social media apps  —  A federal judge issued an order Tuesday temporarily halting enforcement of a pending Ohio law that would require children to get parental consent to use social media apps.
Sheila Chiang / CNBC:
Meituan's market cap fell ~60% from ~$138.2B to ~$56.4B since the start of 2023, weighed down by rising competition and a slowdown in its food delivery business  —  - Chinese food delivery giant Meituan lost about $82 billion in market cap in 2023 from its yearly high, according to CNBC calculations.
Bloomberg:
Magnitt: startups in Saudi Arabia raised $1.4B in 2023, up 33% YoY, for a 52% share of VC funding in the MENA region, beating the UAE for the first time  —  - Saudi Arabia dominates tech scene with 52% share of funding  — Overall regional funding drops 23% amid shifting landscape
Amrita Khalid / The Verge:
YouTube partners with Mass General Brigham and the Mexican Red Cross to show brief, step-by-step first-aid videos atop searches about heart attacks and more  —  If you search YouTube for what to do if someone is suffering a heart attack, the platform will now display credible first-aid explainer videos …
More: CNBC
Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo:
Pennsylvania becomes the first US state to use ChatGPT Enterprise in a pilot with OpenAI, in which state employees will use AI tools for daily operations  —  State employees in Pennsylvania will begin using ChatGPT to assist with their work in the coming weeks.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Generate videos with Veo 3 in Google Gemini  —  Create high-quality, 8-second videos with Veo 3, our state-of-the-art AI video generator.  Try it with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.
Warp:
The #1 Coding Agent  —  #1 on Terminal-Bench.  71% on SWE-bench Verified.  Trusted by 600K+ devs.  Try the top agentic dev tool for $1 for 1st month with code TECHMEME.
Zoho:
Boost technician productivity on the go with the Zoho FSM mobile app  —  Life on the move: Inside a technician's daily workflowIn field service, unpredictability is part of the job.  One moment, a technician is on schedule.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Why ChatGPT will be the next big growth channel (and how to capitalize on it) | Brian Balfour (Reforge)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Can The Web Survive Generative AI? -- With Matthew Prince
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.
Tech Brew Ride Home:
AI Business Bigger Than The Smartphone Business?
Tech news headlines every day. 15 minutes and you're up to date. From Tech Brew, Morning Brew's tech hub.
Subscribe to Tech Brew Ride Home.
Hard Fork:
GPT-5 Backlash + Perplexity C.E.O. Aravind Srinivas on the Browser Wars + Hot Mess Express
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.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
The head of ChatGPT on AI attachment, ads, and what's next
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Great Chat:
Warm intros and hot takes: It's time to get ready for fundraising season
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:25 AM ET, January 10, 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

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
The Economic Times:

Earlier Picks

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Carly Page / TechCrunch: