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February 21, 2024, 9:20 AM
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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 …
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Apple announces PQ3, a post-quantum cryptographic protocol for iMessage that uses the Kyber algorithm, launching in iOS 17.4, iPad OS 17.4, and macOS 14.4  —  Useful quantum computers aren't a reality—yet.  But in one of the biggest deployments of post-quantum encryption so far, Apple is bringing the technology to iMessage.
Emilia David / The Verge:
Google releases Gemma 2B and 7B, open-source AI models that let developers more freely use the research that went into Gemini, its flagship closed AI model  —  Google has released Gemma 2B and 7B, a pair of open-source AI models that let developers use the research that went into its flagship Gemini more freely.
Michael Acton / Financial Times:
Source: Meta and Microsoft lobby EU regulators to reject Apple's iOS and App Store changes to comply with the DMA, saying Apple's plans fail to go far enough  —  Meta and Microsoft want Brussels regulators to extract more concessions that unpick iOS mobile software
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple says the iPhone 15 lineup can retain up to 80% of its original battery capacity at 1,000 charge cycles, up from its original estimate of 500 charge cycles  —  In addition to changes to the Battery Health settings in iOS 17.4, Apple has more iPhone battery news to share today.
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 …
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.
Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE:
IBM: hackers are finding more opportunities to log in via legitimate credentials, rather than hacking into networks; infostealing malware jumped 266% in 2023  —  IBM's annual X-Force Threat Intelligence Index report released today highlights an emerging global crisis in identity as cybercriminals continue to compromise users worldwide.
Bloomberg:
Cybersecurity experts say global law enforcement agencies dealt Russia-linked LockBit a major blow, but history shows that ransomware gangs regroup quickly  —  - Disruption of LockBit praised as major blow against gang  — History has shown that hackers regroup quickly, experts say  —  Two arrests.
Counterpoint Research:
In a first, Apple had the top seven best selling smartphones globally in 2023, and Samsung had three; iPhone 14, 14 Pro Max, 14 Pro, and 13 topped the list  —  - The combined market share of the top 10 smartphones in 2023 reached the highest ever at 20%, up from 19% in 2022.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
A US jury finds two Chinese nationals guilty of a “sophisticated scheme” to defraud Apple by sending 5,000+ counterfeit iPhones for repair, losing Apple $3M+  —  Two people have been found guilty of a “sophisticated scheme to defraud Apple out of millions of dollars' worth of iPhones …
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
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple launches Apple Sports, a free app offering scores and stats for the NBA, Premier League, and more, in the US, Canada, and the UK, on iOS 17.2 or later  —  Game on!  Apple launched a free standalone app for sports fans, Apple Sports, which is engineered to fire scores and stats to your iPhone as quickly as possible.
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.
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Letter: an FTC “Twitter Files” investigation finds no evidence that Twitter violated its government data security order, despite Elon Musk's directives to do so  —  After investigating his handling of the ‘Twitter Files’ for more than a year, the agency found no evidence the company violated consent order
Christian Vasquez / CyberScoop:
Biden signs an EO to increase the cyber defenses of maritime ports via additional Coast Guard powers, invest $20B in infrastructure over five years, and more  —  President Joe Biden plans to issue an executive order Wednesday morning aimed at increasing the defenses of maritime ports through …
Juro Osawa / The Information:
Sources: some ByteDance executives expressed concerns over running the video editing app CapCut from China given the political scrutiny facing TikTok in the US  —  Last year, the second most downloaded free app in the U.S. on iPhones was CapCut, a video-editing app made by TikTok's parent ByteDance …
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 …
Katie Paul / Reuters:
Israel-based BRIA, a Getty-backed AI image generation startup that licenses 1B+ images from 18 stock providers, raised a $24M Series A from Publicis and others  —  A “responsible” AI image generation startup backed by stock photo provider Getty Images (GETY.N) has raised $24 million in a Series …
More: TechStartups

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:20 AM ET, February 21, 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

Henry Blodget / Regenerator:
Bari Weiss' 60 Minutes decision may have been a way to both signal that she's serious about shifting CBS' sensibility to the right and “improve” a story

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”, after CBS aired a Late Show rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Disney crosses the $6B milestone at the box office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic; no other studio has managed to reach $6B since 2015

More News

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

Earlier Picks

Larry Dignan / Constellation Research:
Palo Alto Networks reports Q2 revenue up 19% YoY to $1.98B, vs. $1.97B est., and lowers its full-year guidance for billings and revenue; PANW drops 19%+
Anissa Gardizy / The Information:
Source: Microsoft is developing a server networking card to boost perfomance of AI chips and lessen its reliance on Nvidia; Pradeep Sindhu is leading the effort
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Attackers have been signing up spam accounts on smaller Mastodon servers over the past several days; Eugen Rochko said previously only big servers were targeted
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
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