Techmeme
February 6, 2024, 6:20 PM

Top News

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber says the social network, launched on iOS in February 2023, is now open to the public, has 3M+ users, and plans to add developer tools  —  The upstart social network has been by invitation only since its launch last year  —  When Jack Dorsey, then Twitter's CEO …
AJ Vicens / CyberScoop:
Google's TAG publishes a report on commercial spyware, detailing ~40 vendors, and says global governments should take more aggressive steps to combat spyware  —  The commercial spyware industry continues to supply highly advanced surveillance capabilities despite efforts to better regulate it.
Sam Sabin / Axios:
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Meta proposes standards to identify AI content that its industry peers could use, and plans to label AI images posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads  —  The social network wants to promote standardized labels to help detect artificially created photo, video and audio material across its platforms.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mozilla announces Monitor Plus, a $14/month US service that scans 190+ data broker sites and automatically submits requests for removal of the user's data  —  Mozilla today is introducing a new subscription service that will help people locate and remove their personal and sensitive information from data broker websites around the web.
CNN:
New Hampshire's AG says fake robocalls using deepfaked audio of Biden to discourage voters numbered 5K to 25K and are linked to Lingo Telecom and a Texas firm  —  A robocall that used an AI voice resembling President Joe Biden's to advise New Hampshire voters against voting …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube says YouTube TV now has 8M+ subscribers, up from 5M+ in mid-2022, and that the YouTube Partner Program has 3M+ channels receiving ad revenue share  —  CEO Neal Mohan also says more than 3 million channels now receive ad-revenue share, touts 1 billion hours viewed on TV daily
Reuters:
The Netherlands says Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the Dutch Ministry of Defence's internal network in 2023, using a Fortinet vulnerability  —  Chinese state-backed cyber spies gained access to a Dutch military network last year, Dutch intelligence agencies said on Tuesday …
Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg:
DocuSign plans to lay off 6% of its workforce, or ~440 jobs, and will incur a $28M-$32M charge, after acquisition talks seemingly fell through; DOCU drops 6%+  —  - Deal talks with Bain, Hellman & Friedman stalled over price  — Restructuring to help DocuSign grow as independent company
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Apple Vision Pro review: disappointing for productivity, a very narrow field of view, and the Guest User feature is bad, all making the device hard to recommend  —  No wireless.  Less space than a nomad.  Lame.  — CmdrTaco, Slashdot  —  My one small comfort in the cold Wisconsin winters …
Wall Street Journal:
Mark Tyson / Tom's Hardware:
Researchers say ~3M smart toothbrushes with a Java-based OS were compromised by hackers and incorporated into botnets used in DDoS attacks against a Swiss site  —  Dental IoT devices caused millions of Euros in damages for Swiss company, says report.  —  According to a recent report published …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Nintendo reports Q3 net sales down 6% YoY to ~$4B, net profit up 18% YoY to ~$919M, and forecasts 15.5M Switch sales in the current fiscal year, up from 15M YoY  —  - Nintendo said it now expects to sell 15.5 million of its flagship Switch consoles in its current fiscal year, upping a previous forecast.
Josh Ye / Reuters:
Sources: Tencent plans to adapt acclaimed role-playing console game Elden Ring into a mobile version, after acquiring licensing rights from FromSoftware in 2022  —  China's Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) has been working to adapt acclaimed action role-playing console game “Elden Ring” …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Apple releases a beta version of visionOS 1.1, which brings enterprise device management to the Vision Pro  —  It's been hard to avoid news about the Apple Vision Pro, the company's entry into the virtual reality market, in recent days.  It was officially released on Friday to much fanfare, but how will it fare in the enterprise?
Qianer Liu / Financial Times:
Sources: SMIC plans to use its stock of US and Dutch-made equipment to build 5nm Kirin chips designed by Huawei's HiSilicon for smartphones, despite US curbs  —  SMIC and Huawei plan to make new 5nm processor, supporting Beijing's goal for advanced semiconductors

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: