Techmeme
February 21, 2024, 4:35 AM

Top News

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Messaging app Signal finally rolls out usernames in beta, letting users conceal their phone numbers; Signal still requires inputting a phone number to register  —  We tested the end-to-end encrypted messenger's new feature aimed at addressing critics' most persistent complaint.  Here's how it works.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Gary Geaves, Apple's longtime VP in charge of acoustics, is stepping down, replaced by Ruchir Davé, adding to the hardware engineering group's upheaval  —  - Apple acoustics chief Gary Geaves is stepping down from role  — Executive has been key to development of AirPods and HomePod
Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo:
Demos from AI chipmaker Groq go viral after the startup's inference engine shows lightning-fast speeds when running LLMs, including for real-time conversations  —  Two AI companies are claiming the science fiction term, “Grok,” as their own, but only one is turbocharging the AI industry.
Tom Wilson / Reuters:
Circle no longer plans to mint USDC tokens on the Tron blockchain, effective immediately, to “ensure that USDC remains trusted, transparent, and safe”  —  Major U.S. crypto firm Circle will end support for its USDC token on the Tron blockchain network, a decision the company said on Wednesday …
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Walmart agrees to acquire TV maker Vizio for $2.3B, or $11.50/share, to boost its ad business via Vizio's SmartCast OS, which lets users stream content with ads  —  Walmart's acquisition of Vizio for $2.3BN was confirmed today.  The European Commission rejected Amazon's acquisition of iRobot for $1.7BN.
Michael Acton / Financial Times:
Meta and Microsoft are lobbying EU regulators to reject Apple's proposed App Store changes to comply with the DMA, saying Apple's plans don't go far enough  —  Meta and Microsoft want Brussels regulators to extract more concessions that unpick iOS mobile software
Stephen Totilo / Game File:
An interview with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on Xbox growth, job cuts, and why getting rid of physical Xbox discs is “not a strategic thing for us”  —  Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer is upbeat about his vast Xbox team's future.  But he also tells Game File …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Byju's says the $200M rights issue that cuts its valuation by 99% to $20M-$25M is fully subscribed; source: some of Byju's major investors are yet to take part  —  Byju's says its recently launched $200 million rights issue has been fully-subscribed, but the startup's founder urged …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple debuts a monthly Apple Music Replay, offering insights like total listening time, top songs, artists, and albums, and releases 2024's Replay Mix playlist  —  Apple today updated the Apple Music Replay experience, available at replay.music.apple.com, with visualizations of your favorite music habits …
Daphné Leprince-Ringuet / Sifted:
Paris-based Bioptimus, which aims to build an LLM to understand biological processes on different scales, launches with a $35M seed led by Sofinnova Partners  —  Bioptimus plans to build an LLM that is based on the complex data needed to represent organisms

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