Techmeme
January 23, 2024, 7:50 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple pivots to a less ambitious design for its upcoming EV, from Level 4 autonomy to Level 2+, and pushes back its launch from 2026 to 2028 or later  —  - After board meetings, car downgraded to Level 2+ autonomy  — Company pushes back launch from 2026 to 2028 at the earliest
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Netflix says it's looking to retire its ad-free Basic plan in some countries where ad-supported plans are available, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2  —  Although Netflix no longer allows new or returning members to sign up for the ad-free Basic subscription that costs $11.99 per month …
CNBC:
Netflix buys the exclusive rights to WWE programs like Raw, airing in 2025 in the US, Canada, Latin America, and more; filing: the 10-year deal is worth $5B+  —  - Netflix and TKO Group Holdings said Tuesday that the streaming platform will air the WWE's flagship program Raw starting next year.
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces AI features for Chrome on Mac and Windows: Organize Similar Tabs and custom themes rolling out soon in the US, and Help Me Write in February  —  Google's Chrome web browser is getting an infusion of AI technology in the latest release.  The company announced today it's soon adding …
The Information:
Source: Brex told employees that the fintech is cutting 282 jobs, or ~20% of its staff, saying the team grew “too quickly” and its CTO and COO are stepping down  —  Brex is cutting 20% of its workforce and shaking up senior management ranks in a new effort to slash its cash burn …
Basith Rahman P P / MySmartPrice:
Alleged renders of Google's Pixel 9 Pro show a ~6.5-inch display, smaller than the Pixel 8 Pro's, a refreshed camera island with three cameras, and a flat frame  —  The upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro might feature a smaller flat display compared to the Pixel 8 Pro.  —  HIGHLIGHTS
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
X adds support for passkeys for US-based iOS users; the announcement comes shortly after the hack of the US SEC's X account  —  X, formerly Twitter, today announced support for passkeys, a new and more secure login method than traditional passwords, which will become an option for U.S. users on iOS devices.
Bloomberg:
Supermicro stock has jumped 430%+ since early 2023 amid an AI frenzy, outpacing Nvidia and boosting the value of its founder's 12% stake, plus options, to $3.3B  —  - Charles Liang founded Super Micro in 1993 with wife Sara Liu  — Company's shares gained more than 430% since the start of 2023
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
MIT CSAIL study: only 23% of US wages for doing vision tasks would be economically attractive to automate with AI, due to large upfront and operating expenses  —  Will AI automate human jobs, and — if so — which jobs and when?  —  That's the trio of questions a new research study …
Sam Kessler / CoinDesk:
A bug in Ethereum's Nethermind client took down ~8% of Ethereum's validators on January 21, raising concerns about Geth, which powers ~85% of ETH validators  —  The lion's share of Ethereum's validators rely on the same piece of software to power their operations.  According to some experts, this could be a big risk.
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
A look at Palworld, a Pokémon-like game launched on January 19, which has sold 5M+ copies and is now the most played game on Steam, amid IP infringement claims  —  The Pokémon-like has sold over 5 million copies in the three days since its early access launch.

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More News

Ben Sin / XDA Developers:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Mark Wilson / Fast Company:

Earlier Picks

Scharon Harding / Ars Technica:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Jon Porter / The Verge: