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January 30, 2024, 12:20 AM
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Top News

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Microsoft adds safeguards to its AI text-to-image tool Designer, after fake AI images of Taylor Swift went viral and a report of 4chan users misusing the tool
Washington Post:
X blocking “Taylor Swift” searches as explicit AI images spread was a blunt measure to accomplish a basic moderation task after gutting “trust and safety” staff
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the first time on January 28, and that the first Neuralink product is called Telepathy  —  - Elon Musk's neurotech startup Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the first time on Sunday, and the patient is “recovering well,” according to a post on X.
Zoe Kleinman / BBC:
Apple says proposed UK legislation could let the country try “to secretly veto new user protections globally”, preventing Apple from shipping them to customers  —  Apple has attacked proposals for the UK government to pre-approve new security features introduced by tech firms.
Bloomberg:
Amazon drops its $1.4B acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot after clashing with EU regulators and will pay a $94M fee; iRobot has ~$500M in net losses since 2021  —  - IRobot CEO steps down and company cuts workforce by 31%  — Tech giant to pay $94 million to iRobot over deal termination
Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
After Amazon ended its acquisition, iRobot plans to lay off 31% of its staff, or ~350 people, and says chair and CEO Colin Angle would step down; IRBT drops 5%+
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox President Sarah Bond says that “Apple's new policy is a step in the wrong direction”, in response to an X post by the Spotify CEO about Apple's DMA changes  —  Apple's new plan to comply with the European Union's tech regulations has already drawn criticism from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney and Spotify.
Bloomberg:
Blizzard names Johanna Faries, former general manager for Call of Duty at Activision, as its president, succeeding Mike Ybarra, who left last week amid layoffs  —  Replaces Mike Ybarra who left the video-game company last week as part of mass layoffs under new owner Microsoft
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
After a months-long probe, Italy's data protection authority tells OpenAI that it's suspected of violating EU privacy regulations, giving it 30 days to respond  —  OpenAI has been told it's suspected of violating European Union privacy, following a multi-month investigation of its AI chatbot …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Source: Apple has sold upwards of 200K Vision Pro units; Apple began accepting pre-orders for the Vision Pro on January 19  —  Apple has sold upwards of 200,000 Vision Pro headsets, MacRumors has learned from a source with knowledge of Apple's sales numbers.
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Meta releases Code Llama 70B, a new version of its code generation model, featuring improved code correctness, a variant optimized for Python, and more  —  Meta AI, the company that brought you Llama 2, the gargantuan language model that can generate anything from tweets to essays …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Zoom details its visionOS app, which will support 3D file sharing, “real-world pinning” of up to five meeting participants, Apple's Persona feature, and more  —  As promised, Zoom will be available on Apple Vision Pro from day one.  Ahead of Vision Pro's launch on Friday …
Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
TikTok is testing a feature that could make all posts shoppable, by identifying objects in videos and prompting users to “find similar items on TikTok Shop”  —  - Feature links products to any posts, not just influencers  —  TikTok is testing a feature that could make all posts shoppable …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
The US DOJ and SEC unveil charges in an alleged $1.9B crypto fraud scheme known as HyperFund  —  - The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against two people and the guilty plea of a third person for orchestrating a $1.9 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme known as HyperFund, as well as by other names.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Meta partners with the Center for Open Science to share data for researching online well-being, before January 31's Congressional hearing on kids' online safety  —  Ahead of a major Congressional hearing about children's online safety, Meta has announced a collaboration with the Center for Open Science …

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:20 AM ET, January 30, 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.

From Mediagazer

Financial Times:
Sources: WBD's board wanted a proposal it could sign immediately, and Netflix was the only bidder whose paperwork was fully executable the night of December 4

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agree to part ways and let her contract expire at the end of the year, following new allegations about her affair with RFK Jr.

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch:
A look at Hamlet, a startup that uses AI to process local government meeting videos and which plans to provide the tool to local journalists for free

More News

Ina Fried / Axios:
OpenAI partners with Common Sense Media on new AI guidelines, curating a family-friendly section of OpenAI's GPT Store, educational materials, and more
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review: bright screen, anti-glare, Circle to Search, great camera, and seven years of updates, but pricey, heavy, and AI is a mixed bag

Earlier Picks

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
AR glasses maker Xreal raised $60M from an unidentified supply chain partner at a $1B+ valuation, for $300M+ in funding, and expects $100M-$150M in 2024 revenue
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon expects Prime Video's average hourly ad load to be 2 to 3.5 minutes, below traditional TV and most streaming services, and to reach 159M monthly viewers
Chris Miller / Financial Times:
China's chipmakers are ramping up production capacity, helped by the country's subsidies, raising concerns among western nations about China flooding the market
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