Techmeme: CISA warns that locks from RealPage's Chirp Systems, reportedly on ~50K US dwellings, can be unlocked via a hack; Chirp was told in 2021 but has remained quiet (Brian Krebs/Krebs on Security)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

April 16, 2024, 6:20 AM

Top News

Financial Times:

Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI group G42 for a minority stake, after G42 severed ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will join G42's board — Agreement is latest move by US tech group to extend its reach into fast-growing sector — Microsoft has agreed to invest $1.5bn …

More: Microsoft, New York Times, Bloomberg, Network World, TechCrunch, The Information, The Official Microsoft Blog, G42, Coinspeaker, Cointelegraph, Analytics India Magazine, and The Crypto Times

X: @bradsmi, @g42ai, @g42ai, @g42ai, @dinabass, and @omunderdal. Forums: Hacker News

Bloomberg:

Sources: in 2023, Abu Dhabi's G42 and the US Commerce Department held talks that led to G42 agreeing to pare back its China presence to avoid punitive measures

More: Silicon Republic, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Tech Xplore, and GeekWire

X: @dinabass and @stuartlwallace

Benjamin Sandofsky / Sandofsky:

A look at the failure of Humane's Ai Pin, which took six years to ship after raising $230M, including building the device “the Apple way” and raising too much — Why You Can't Build Apple with Venture Capital — An ex-Apple designer who went on to startup success once told me …

More: Platformer, Business Insider, TechRadar, Dexerto, and Marques Brownlee on YouTube

Mastodon: @akosma@mastodon.online, @sandofsky@mastodon.social, and @jasonpettus@mastodon.cloud

X: @samsheffer, @gergelyorosz, @carnage4life, @wesamo__, and @mkbhd. Forums: r/videos

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

EU antitrust regulators are questioning Broadcom about changes to VMware's licensing conditions, following complaints from EU business users and a trade group — U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) is being asked by EU antitrust regulators about changes to newly acquired cloud computing company …

More: Broadcom Inc., The Register, TechRadar, Constellation Research, and Benzinga

Bluesky: @marypcbuk.bsky.social. X: @codykirkpatrick, @dcasota, and @broadcom. Forums: r/vmware

Artificial Intelligence Index:

Stanford's AI Index report: training top AI models is way more expensive, AI still trails humans on complex tasks, people are more nervous about AI, and more — Welcome to the seventh edition of the AI Index report. The 2024 Index is our most comprehensive to date and arrives …

More: Artifical Intelligence Index, Axios, New York Times, IEEE Spectrum, Stanford HAI, PYMNTS.com, The Register, The Decoder, Stanford HAI, San Francisco Chronicle, EnterpriseAI, and SiliconANGLE

X: @stanfordhai, @stanfordhai, @stanfordnlp, @jsevillamol, @jamiemetzl, @stanfordhai, @jordannovet, @russellwald, @benjaminklieger, @epochairesearch, @stanfordnlp, @ankareuel, and @stanfordnlp

LinkedIn: Corey Noles and Heather E.

Forums: r/MachineLearning, r/artificial, r/singularity, and Slashdot

Jennifer A. Kingson / Axios:

Meta plans to launch a new education product for Quest that will let teachers access education apps for students ages 13+ and manage multiple headsets at once — - In time for the fall semester, it'll make available a suite of visually engrossing education apps that teachers can use with students ages 13+.

David Pierce / The Verge:

Limitless launches the $99 Limitless Pendant, a wearable AI gadget that transcribes meetings and provides real-time notes and summaries, shipping in August 2024 — The Limitless Pendant doesn't exactly scream “AI.” As Dan Siroker, the CEO of the company behind the new device …

More: Tom's Guide, iMore, and Spyglass

Threads: @hi.nixson and @martinsfp. Mastodon: @peter@thepit.social. Bluesky: @mikalfm.bsky.social

X: @rauchg, @lan8ach, @stevendarlow, @stammy, @petergyang, @dsiroker, @dsiroker, @linusekenstam, @gartenberg, @erondu, @scobleizer, @quinnypig, @dsiroker, @stammy, @stammy, @scobleizer, and @nickadobos. Forums: Hacker News

Olivia Carville / Bloomberg:

How scammers, often from Nigeria, are using sextortion to target teenage boys on social media in the US, leading to at least 20 suicides over an 18-month period — One word from a stranger on social media was all it took. “Hey,” she said. — Jordan DeMay read the Instagram message at 10:19 p.m. on a Thursday night in March 2022.

More: Bloomberg. X: @sonalibasak, @cavandy, @livcarville, @markmilian, and @rfriedman305. Forums: r/Instagram

Julie Creswell / New York Times:

Ghost kitchens and virtual restaurant brands, which boomed during the pandemic after raising billions, are disappearing due to overtaxed kitchens and complaints — Ghost kitchens and virtual brands became a way for idle restaurant kitchens to generate revenue.

More: PYMNTS.com. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Mozilla and CheckFirst: Apple, Google, Meta, and others' ad transparency efforts are a work in progress, months after the EU's DSA mandated a searchable library — Efforts by tech giants to be more transparent about the ads they run are — at very best — still a work in progress …

More: Cybernews.com, Mashable, CNBC, Adweek, CheckFirst, and Mozilla Foundation

Stephen Nellis / Reuters:

Adobe says it is in the early stages of developing a way to let Premiere Pro users tap AI models from OpenAI, Runway, and Pika Labs to generate video — Adobe (ADBE.O) on Monday said it is in the early stages of allowing the use of third-party generative artificial intelligence tools …

More: Adobe Video & Motion on YouTube, Adobe Press Releases, The Adobe Blog, Adobe Press Releases, Analytics India Magazine, The Verge, Business Today, Digital Trends, iPhone in Canada Blog, iThinkDifferent, The Information, MobileSyrup, Tech.co, Maginative, Neowin, Android Headlines, AndroidGuys, Lifewire, PCWorld, Thurrott, The Decoder, SiliconANGLE, Tech Monitor, CoinGape, WinBuzzer, XDA Developers, AppleInsider, Tom's Guide, PetaPixel, ZDNet, Engadget, and CNBC

Threads: @jakevk, @life_with_benjamin, and @benedictevans

Mastodon: @mathew@universeodon.com and @stooovie@mas.to

X: @karinaanglada, @icreatelife, @markchristiansn, @adobevideo, @beatlejase, @adobevideo, @adobe, @beatlejase, @danbarbera, @ericaddison, @tkexpress11, @bobodtech, @martin_casado, and @valentinavee

LinkedIn: Ryan Sagare, James Ratliff, Kyle Gesuelli, and Todd Burke

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

Impressions of Waymo's robotaxis after several rides: amazing tech that quickly feels “normal”, but the car failed to understand a traffic cop's hand signals — An curved arrow pointing right. — Unlike other hyped-up tech, self-driving taxis look like they could be the real thing.

Threads: @theromit, @carnage4life, @emetelka, @joeypadge3, @nick_poitier, @motorcityadam, @pkafka, and @nemeseri

X: @noampomsky, @kazanjy, @carnage4life, @tomaxwell, @alexia, and @pranay01

Forums: r/SelfDrivingCars and r/waymo

Vittoria Elliott / Wired:

Meta's Oversight Board plans to investigate two deepfake porn cases, both involving unnamed celebrities who had their images altered to create explicit content — Social platforms have struggled to quickly remove deepfake porn depicting celebrities. — As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated …

More: Reuters, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Hill, The Guardian, Oversight Board, Bloomberg, Oversight Board, and Panda Security Mediacenter. X: @oversightboard

Billy Perrigo / TIME:

Google's Jigsaw expands Perspective API, a set of ML tools that help moderators and researchers identify toxicity, with seven attributes, including nuance — In the 1990s and early 2000s, technologists made the world a grand promise: new communications technologies would strengthen democracy …

X: @mer__edith, @prestonjbyrne, @jigsaw, @billyperrigo, @jigsaw, and @jigsaw. LinkedIn: Reza Ghazinouri

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

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.

Big Technology Podcast:

Sam Altman: How OpenAI Wins, AI Buildout Logic, IPO in 2026?

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.

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:20 AM ET, April 16, 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

Paul Glynn / BBC:

HarperCollins UK drops children's author and comedian David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women

Ken Vogel / @kenvogel:

Politico ends its print edition after 19 years, as its early reliance on print ad revenue fades and its audience relies more on digital platforms

Nicholas Henriquez / New Yorker:

The New Yorker has digitized its full archive covering 100 years, including covers and adding upgraded search capabilities; subscribers get unlimited access

Upcoming Tech Events

Jan 4

Samsung "The First Look" media event

Game Developers Conference

More News

Times of India:

India-based B2B e-commerce marketplace ProcMart raised a $30M Series B led by Fundamentum and Edelweiss Discovery Fund, following a $10M Series A in 2022

More: Entrackr, The Economic Times, Livemint, The Hindu BusinessLine, Moneycontrol, and VCCircle. LinkedIn: ProcMart

Anna Heim / TechCrunch:

Berlin-based finmid, which makes embedded fintech tools for SMBs, raised a €23M Series A at a €100M post-money valuation, bringing its total raised to €35M

More: FinSMEs, Tech.eu, Silicon Canals, and finmid. LinkedIn: finmid

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

Tel Aviv-based Bridgewise, which uses AI to provide investment analysis to brokerages, wealth advisors, and exchanges, raised a $21M Series A led by SIX Group

More: CTech, Tech Funding News, and Bridgewise

Tim De Chant / TechCrunch:

Kode Labs, which develops tools that integrate data from building management systems and IoT devices, raised a $30M Series B led by Maverix Private Equity

More: KODE Labs, FinSMEs, and Venture Capital Journal

X: @tdechant and @kodelabs

LinkedIn: Etrit Demaj and Nick Viscuso

Ellen Milligan / Bloomberg:

Sources: the UK plans talks this month with Apple, Meta, and others to push a voluntary charter granting parents more control of social media use by young teens

X: @arollingsloane, @jamesrbuk, @alecmuffett, and @webdevlaw

Fred Lambert / Electrek:

Sources: Tesla is focused on building a giant Texas data center for its robotaxi project, now a top priority, after postponing work on a cheaper vehicle

More: Bloomberg, Benzinga, W Media Research, Forbes, Brad Ideas, and Notebookcheck

Threads: @sofainatl and @fredlambert94. Bluesky: @cathygellis.bsky.social

Forums: r/teslamotors, r/mlscaling, r/electricvehicles, r/teslainvestorsclub, and r/RealTesla

Katie McQue / The Guardian:

As nine US states advance online child safety bills, a look at tech giants' lobbying efforts against the legislation, led by industry group NetChoice

X: @jason_kint, @blakersdozen, @zamaan_qureshi, and @ttp_updates

Vittoria Elliott / Wired:

ISD: fake footage of Iran's attack on Israel went viral on X, including AI-made videos and photos, with many posts from verified accounts and “OSINT experts”

More: NPR and ISD

Threads: @laurengoode. X: @decodingfoxnews, @ghonchehazad, @merlynthomas, @shayan86, @shayan86, @shayan86, @shayan86, @shayan86, @shayan86, @arsenkeklikoglu, @shayan86, @talhagin, @eliothiggins, @shayan86, @shayan86, @shayan86, @vabvox, @shayan86, @shayan86, and @shayan86

Earlier Picks

New York Times:

Sources: Instagram is in the early stages of testing “Creator AI” chatbots for top influencers, which would automate DM responses to fans in a creator's “voice”

More: Benzinga, PYMNTS.com, Social Media Today, Crowdfund Insider, and The Korea Herald

Threads: @mr.michaelmiller. Bluesky: @blowdart.me and @mikalfm.bsky.social

X: @baekdal, @sen_stackhouse, @mikeisaac, @baxiabhishek, @kateconger, @mikeisaac, and @mikeisaac. LinkedIn: Emil Protalinski