Techmeme
February 5, 2024, 10:30 PM

Top News

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
How researchers used AI to read the Herculaneum papyri, charred in 79 AD by Mount Vesuvius' eruption, potentially rewriting key parts of ancient world history  —  A few years ago, during one of California's steadily worsening wildfire seasons, Nat Friedman's family home burned down.
Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
Snap plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce, or ~529 employees, in part to “promote in-person collaboration”; the company cut 20% of staff in August 2022  —  Social media company Snap said on Monday that it would lay off 10% of its global workforce, or around 529 employees.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer announces an event next week to share “our vision for the future of Xbox”, amid rumors that Xbox exclusives are coming to PS5  —  Details of Microsoft's multi-platform plans have been gradually leaking, with The Verge revealing over the weekend …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
A look at OnlyFake, an underground website that claims to use “neural networks” to generate highly convincing fake IDs for $15; one ID passed OKX's verification  —  This piece was produced with support from The Capitol Forum.  —  An underground website called OnlyFake is claiming to use …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple is telling users who forget their Vision Pro passcode that they need to bring the device to a store or mail it to AppleCare customer support to reset it  —  Buyers of Apple Inc.'s new Vision Pro headset are finding it can be a major hassle if they lose their passcode.
Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Roblox rolls out real-time AI chat translations, with support for 16 languages, built on an LLM trained on open-source and internal Roblox data  —  Works in 16 languages  —  Metaverse platform Roblox is bringing a new AI translation tool online for its millions of users around the world …
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Microsoft strikes an AI deal with Semafor for a breaking news feed called Signals; Ben Smith says it will be written by journalists, using AI as a research tool  —  Collaboration comes as tech giant faces multibillion-dollar lawsuit from the New York Times  —  Microsoft is working …
Sam Sabin / Axios:
The US State Department announces a new policy allowing “the imposition of visa restrictions on individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware”  —  - The visa restrictions would prevent those who have profited from or facilitated the misuse of commercial spyware from traveling to the U.S., the official added.
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Will Canny / CoinDesk:
Oobit, which lets consumers pay using crypto while merchants receive fiat currency, raised a $25M Series A led by the investment arm of Tether and others  —  The round also included participation from Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of Solana.  —  Register Now

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
The new primitives of agentic software delivery  —  This goes beyond code generation.  We're connecting people, AI, and feedback across the software development lifecycle.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Pro Tips: 5 ways to keep your OKR rollout on track past the three-month mark  —  Three months into an OKR rollout is when the cracks appear.  Manual tracking stalls, CRM data and strategic goals drift apart, and missed targets catch leaders by surprise.
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

Sources:
Tobi Lütke on the AI agent revolution and future of Shopify
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Big Technology Podcast:
This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick
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.
Machine Gods:
Inside Anthropic's IPO + How AI Agents Spy on Your Messages
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
You Can't Escape AI. Here's How to Live With It.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
European Defense Sovereignty Starts in the Factory: Stark's Uwe Horstmann and Johannes Schaback
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Cheeky Pint:
The airline CEO putting Starlink on every plane
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:30 PM ET, February 5, 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

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Kim Bhasin / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Financial Times:
Sandali Handagama / CoinDesk:
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Reuters:
Sylvia Westall / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg: