Techmeme
February 15, 2024, 3:10 AM

Top News

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
X removes paid checkmarks from some accounts after a watchdog group found 28 verified accounts allegedly tied to Hezbollah and other US-sanctioned entities  —  X (aka Twitter) accused of violating sanctions by taking payment from terrorists.  —  A watchdog group's investigation found …
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
The European Court of Human Rights rules backdoors that weaken E2EE violate human rights law, after Russia began requiring Telegram to decrypt messages in 2017  —  Cops have alternative means to access encrypted messages, court says.  —  The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) …
Ashley Gold / Axios:
NYC sues ByteDance, Meta, Snap, and Google to hold the companies accountable “for fueling the nationwide youth mental health crisis” by manipulating young users  —  New York City filed a lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Snap and Google's YouTube to hold the companies accountable …
Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac:
Many Vision Pro users are returning their devices, saying it's too expensive, heavy, or isolating, as the 14-day return window nears its end for first buyers  —  Many early adopters seem set on returning their Apple Vision Pro headsets.  As the 14-day return window approaches for people …
Aaron Holmes / The Information:
Source: OpenAI has been developing a web search product partly powered by Bing  —  OpenAI has been developing a web search product that would bring the Microsoft-backed startup into more direct competition with Google, according to someone with knowledge of OpenAI's plans.
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:
A look at The Shotline, a project using ElevenLabs' tech to create audio deepfakes of kids killed in gun violence, to place AI-generated calls to US lawmakers  —  Grieving parents made these audio deepfakes to stir the emotions of lawmakers.  But they also mark a new era for artificial intelligence.
Sean Michael Kerner / VentureBeat:
Stability AI details Stable Cascade, a new image generation model built on the Würstchen architecture, which improves performance and accuracy compared to SDXL  —  Stability AI, the company behind the popular Stable Diffusion text-to-image generative AI technology is now previewing …
M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
Alex Heath / The Verge:
More: TechEBlog, CNBC, Newser, The Michigan Daily, TweakTown, Creative Bloq, ZDNet, Bitcoin Insider, MobileSyrup, Business Insider, UploadVR, Wait But Why, and Marques Brownlee on YouTube
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft and OpenAI say hackers, including Russian, North Korean, Iranian, and Chinese-backed groups, are already using LLMs to refine and improve cyberattacks  —  Microsoft and OpenAI are revealing today that hackers are already using large language models like ChatGPT to refine and improve their existing cyberattacks.
Subrat Patnaik / Bloomberg:
Nvidia passed Alphabet on February 14 as the third most valuable US company and the world's fourth with a market cap of ~$1.83T, one day after overtaking Amazon  —  - Chip giant is up 49% in 2024, adding $602 billion in value  — Market cap of $1.83 trillion exceeds Alphabet's $1.82 trillion
Brian Fung / CNN:
Prospects of a wide-ranging AI bill in the US this year are rapidly dimming, despite Senator Chuck Schumer's push to put AI regulation at the top of the agenda  —  Artificial intelligence is already sowing chaos and confusion in US elections — from a bogus robocall impersonating President Joe Biden …
The Information:
Sources: Meta is reducing payments to news orgs that fact-check potential WhatsApp misinformation, including on elections, and has cut funding for CrowdTangle  —  Meta Platforms is reducing payments to news organizations that fact-check potential misinformation on WhatsApp, including around elections …
Owen Walker / Financial Times:
The CEO of Greek payments company Viva Wallet, co-owned by JPMorgan, sues the bank for allegedly suppressing Viva's growth, as JPMorgan files a counter claim  —  Wall Street bank accused of trying to drive down the valuation of Greek payments company Viva Wallet
Wes Davis / The Verge:
DuckDuckGo adds a Sync & Backup tool to its browser that syncs passwords, bookmarks, and favorites without requiring an account, and says the data is E2EE  —  DuckDuckGo has added a new “Sync & Backup” feature to its privacy-first browser that will keep passwords, bookmarks …
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Meta struggles to precisely define what political content is, offering only a vague statement, after saying it wouldn't amplify political content on Threads  —  What constitutes “political” content?  —  It's an important question that Meta has conspicuously left unanswered …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Cisco reports Q2 revenue down 6% YoY to $12.79B, vs. $12.71B est., and plans to cut 5% of its global workforce, or about 4,250 jobs; CSCO drops 5%+ after hours  —  - Cisco said it would let go of 5% of employees, which works out to around 4,250 people.  — The company's quarterly and full-year forecasts were light.
Financial Times:
A look at OpenAI's business model as the company believes it can more than double the yearly run rate by 2025; ChatGPT enterprise now has 300+ paying customers  —  The AI startup is one of the fastest-growing companies in history, but questions remain about the long-term viability of its revenue stream

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Equals:
Stop vibe coding analytics  —  Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards.  Build once, iterate for years.
Zoho:
How to Build Your Agentic Data Foundation with Zoho Analytics and Zoho DataPrep  —  Parts 1 and 2 covered why agents need a data foundation and what the right architecture looks like.
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

Training Data:
Memory and Continual Learning: Engram's Dan Biderman and Jessy Lin
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.
Access:
This AI tells you what your friends won't
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
The Ad Industry's Weirdest Tradition
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.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Perp Walk for Selfies', With Jason Snell
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Invest Like the Best:
Vlad Barbalat - Investing $120 Billion in Permanent Capital
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:10 AM ET, February 15, 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

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority:

Earlier Picks

Lauren Kaori Gurley / Washington Post:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg:
Alfred Ng / Politico:
David Pierce / The Verge: