Techmeme
April 13, 2024, 7:15 PM

Top News

Ken Yeung / VentureBeat:
Elon Musk's xAI previews Grok-1.5 Vision, its first multimodal model, and says the AI model will be available soon to “early testers and existing Grok users”  —  Elon Musk's OpenAI rival has introduced its first multimodal model.  Not only can it understand text …
TechCrunch:
Meta says it is testing its Meta AI chatbot with WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger users in India and parts of Africa  —  Meta has confirmed to TechCrunch that it is testing Meta AI, its large language model-powered chatbot, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger users in India and parts of Africa.
Anuj Ahooja / augment:
An experiment to see how a Threads feed would work on Mastodon, using lists and testing third-party clients, which shows the bright future of the fediverse  —  This is my journey that started as an experiment to see how my Threads feed would look like on Mastodon and ended with me finding experiences …
Wes Davis / The Verge:
Bluesky says it is now allowing heads of state to sign up, and adds features including hashtags in profile bios and the ability to long press a link to share  —  Bluesky is apparently ready for a bigger challenge.  It says it's allowing heads of state to sign up now, a little over two months after it opened for general signups.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft starts testing ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 in the Insider builds in the US, and says the app promotions can be disabled in Settings  —  Microsoft says it's starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11.  The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu …
Zoë Schiffer / Platformer:
A look at the book The Anxious Generation, as some say author Jonathan Haidt falls short in showing that social media is causing a teen mental health crisis  —  Jonathan Haidt wrote a best-selling book about teens and social media.  Not everyone buys its thesis  —  I.
More: Vox, Washington Post, and Cryptopolitan
Threads: @crumblerX: @derekeb, @binarybits, and @mausellmoliLinkedIn: Bob Gower
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Airchat, Naval Ravikant's social media app built around audio recordings, which the app transcribes, relaunches on iOS and Android; it is currently invite-only  —  Airchat is a new social media app that encourages users to “just talk.”  —  A previous version of Airchat was released last year …
Nikkei Asia:
Huawei unveils the new MateBook X Pro, its first AI PC, running on HarmonyOS and powered by Intel Core Ultra 9, available in China from April 18 for up to ~$2K  —  MateBook X Pro features HarmonyOS and Pangu LLM, both developed in-house  —  TAIPEI — China's Huawei Technologies …
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of NYC-based Nanotronics, which has raised $162M and is making modular chipmaking plants that can be assembled on site and be functional within a year  —  From New York City, Nanotronics is building small, modular chip plants designed to be shipped anywhere

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Zoho People in 2025: A year in review  —  As we wrap up 2025, we're taking a moment to look back on a year filled with progress and transformation at Zoho People.  Our team has been constantly pushing boundaries …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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.
Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 7:15 PM ET, April 13, 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

Steven Levy / Wired:
More: CNBCMastodon: @ppatel@mstdn.socialX: @levie, @stevenlevy, and @kevinbankstonLinkedIn: Kevin Werbach
Forums: r/OpenAI and r/technology

Earlier Picks

Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Jonathan Greig / The Record:
Chris Dolmetsch / Bloomberg:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter: