Techmeme
January 24, 2024, 12:20 AM

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
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
eBay plans to cut ~1,000 roles, or ~9% of full-time employees, and to scale back the contracts it has within its alternate workforce over the coming months  —  This is breaking news.  Please check back for updates.  — CNBC Councils  — CNBC on Peacock  — Join the CNBC Panel
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 …
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 …
Pranav Dixit / Engadget:
Netflix says user engagement with games on its service tripled in 2023 and Grand Theft Auto has become its most successful launch to date  —  The company added the Grand Theft Auto trilogy to its offerings late in the year.  —  Netflix said that user engagement with games on the service tripled in 2023.
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
CNBC:
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
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google unveils a new Gemini-powered chat-based tool in Google Ads to build Search ad campaigns, out in beta to all English language advertisers in the US and UK  —  Google announced today that Gemini, its family of multimodal large language models, now powers the conversational experience within the Google Ads platform.
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.
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 …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Framework Laptop 16 review: the modular system offers unprecedented customization, is competent at mid-range gaming, but ran hot, froze, and glitched in testing  —  The Framework Laptop 16 is the most ambitious notebook I've ever touched.  There's never been anything like it before.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Texas Instruments reports Q4 revenue down 13% YoY to $4.08B, vs. $4.13B est., and FY 2023 sales down ~13% YoY, the company's biggest fall in over a decade  —  - Slowdown in automotive and industrial chips drag down results  — Company's wide product range makes it bellwether for industry
Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post:
Xianyu, Alibaba's online second-hand goods trading platform that claims to have 500M+ users, is opening its first bricks-and-mortar store in Hangzhou, China  —  - Xianyu Recycle Shop is a consignment store, allowing users to leave their used items for sale or buy directly from there, the platform says
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
TechCrunch:
Data shows African startups raised between $2.9B and $4.1B total in 2023, down from $4.6B to $6.5B in 2022, with Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa leading  —  There was considerable debt uptake and regional VC diversification  —  After defying the global funding slowdown of 2022 …

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Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough  —  Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
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More News

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

Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Emma Roth / The Verge: