Techmeme
April 18, 2024, 7:20 PM

Top News

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters  —  Meta's AI assistant is being put everywhere across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook.  Meanwhile, the company's next major AI model, Llama 3, has arrived.
New York Times:
Meta to add its Meta AI chatbot to Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook in 12+ countries, expanding beyond the US, powered by its new Llama 3 models  —  Users of Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger will be able to turn to the new technology, powered by Meta's latest artificial …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Meta rolls out real-time AI image generation, which changes the image as the user types a prompt, in beta on WhatsApp and Meta AI on the web in the US  —  As soon as you start typing a text-to-image prompt in a chat with Meta AI, you'll see how the image changes as you add more detail about what you want to create.
More: Redmond PieThreads: @mgsiegler, @zuck, and @chriscox
Emilia David / The Verge:
David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh  —  AI is taking over at Google, and the company is changing in big ways to try to make it happen even faster.
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Europol and 19 countries make 37 arrests and disrupt phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost in a year-long operation with help from Microsoft, Intel, and others  —  The LabHost phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform has been disrupted in a year-long global law enforcement operation …
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q1 revenue up 15% YoY to $9.37B, vs. $9.28B est., paid users up 16% YoY to 269.6M, vs. 264.2M est., and net income $2.3B, up from $1.3B YoY  —  LOS ANGELES — Netflix reported earnings that beat on the top and bottom line after the bell Thursday.  —  Here are the results:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix won't report subscriber numbers or Average Revenue per Membership starting in Q1 2025, saying time spent is its “best proxy for customer satisfaction”  —  Netflix will no longer report subscriber numbers — a key metric for streaming services for years — beginning with the first quarter of 2025.
Kris Holt / Engadget:
Meta cuts the price of the base 128GB Quest 2 from $249 to $199, its second permanent price cut in four months, after a drop from $299 to $249 in January  —  The base 128GB headset will cost $199 from now on.  —  For the second time this year, Meta has given the Quest 2 a permanent price cut.
The Information:
Sources: cloud security startup Wiz is in advanced talks to acquire competitor Lacework for $150M-$200M; Lacework raised $1.8B and was valued at $8.3B in 2021  —  Cybersecurity startup Wiz is in advanced talks to acquire Lacework, one of its largest private competitors, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks.
More: CTech, TechCrunch, and InfoRiskToday.com
X: @gregisenberg and @coryweinbergLinkedIn: Alex BurkardtForums: Hacker News
Crystal Kim / Axios:
A US jury finds Avraham Eisenberg, a crypto trader who stole $110M on the Mango Markets exchange in 2022, guilty of fraud despite his “code is law” claim  —  - He used the inflated futures holdings as collateral to borrow other cryptocurrencies on the platform …
Sheila Chiang / CNBC:
Thomas Barrabi / New York Post:
Google fires 28 employees over their participation in a 10-hour sit-in at the company's New York and Sunnyvale offices to protest its business ties with Israel  —  Google has fired 28 employees over their participation in a 10-hour sit-in at the search giant's offices in New York and Sunnyvale …
Bloomberg:
The US House Speaker plans to bundle the TikTok divestiture bill, with a longer sale deadline, in a Ukraine/Israel aid bill set to clear the House on April 20  —  - Johnson to include measure in aid package for Ukraine, Israel  — Biden has said he would sign bill forcing ByteDance to divest
Bloomberg:
Huawei releases its Pura 70 series, available for ~$760 to ~$1,380; reviewers show high-end models have a Kirin 9010 chip, an update to the Mate 60 Pro's 9000s  —  - Huawei building out portfolio with fresh upgrades and design  — New phones likely to add further pressure on iPhone in China
Amanda Lee / Wall Street Journal:
Apple plans to spend $250M+ on its regional hub in Singapore, including expanding its campus later in 2024, as Tim Cook visits Vietnam and other Asian countries  —  Apple seeks to diversify its supply chain amid rising U.S.-China tensions and global concerns of decoupling trade
Austin Carr / Bloomberg:
A look at Apple's device recycling, including shredding robots and contractor GEEP, which Apple sued in 2020 for ~$22.6M in a case that has not seen any updates  —  Apple touts its network of shredding robots and contractors as a greener way to reuse old gadgets.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Nothing unveils the $149 Nothing Ear and $99 Nothing Ear (a), offering improved sound, personalization, and battery life; Nothing plans to integrate ChatGPT  —  Nothing is churning out new earbuds at a faster clip than smartphones.  The company just introduced the Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a), priced at $149 and $99, respectively.

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Earlier Picks

Molly White / Citation Needed:
CNBC:
Sheena Vasani / The Verge: