Techmeme
May 8, 2024, 9:20 AM

Top News

Wesley Yin-Poole / IGN:
Memo: Microsoft's Xbox plans to shut down multiple Bethesda studios and consolidate teams to prioritize high-impact titles and invest in Bethesda's portfolio  —  Staff told via email.  —  Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin …
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
The US revokes some licenses that allow companies to ship chips and other goods to Huawei; sources say the decision affects Intel and Qualcomm  —  Move marks latest effort by Biden administration to target the country's tech sector  —  The Biden administration has revoked export licences …
Reuters:
Sources: US prosecutors are examining if Tesla committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about Autopilot and Full Self-Driving  —  U.S. prosecutors are examining whether Tesla (TSLA.O) committed securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers …
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
Source: OpenAI is developing a feature for ChatGPT that can search the web and show results with citations to sources and images  —  The feature would let ChatGPT users search the web and cite sources in its results.  —  OpenAI is developing a feature for ChatGPT that can search the web …
More: Engadget and The Decoder
Threads: @alexheath and @crumblerBluesky: @jdrch.bsky.social
Forums: r/singularity and r/ChatGPT
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple unveils $999+ 11" and $1,299+ 13" iPad Pros, with M4, an OLED Ultra Retina XDR screen, up to 1,600 nits; the 13" is Apple's thinnest product yet, at 5.1mm  —  At its “Let Loose” virtual event this morning, Apple introduced its long-awaited iPad Pro updates.
The Verge:
André Beganski / Decrypt:
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev decries a “regulatory onslaught”, calling the SEC's actions “another improper attempt by the administrative state to stifle innovation”  —  Though Robinhood Crypto thought its “safety-first” approach was distinct, the SEC said that enforcement action is on its way.
Steven Church / Bloomberg:
FTX says it will have as much as $16.3B to distribute after finishing selling all of its assets; FTX owes customers and other non-governmental creditors ~$11B  —  - Crypto customers to get interest on what FTX owes them  — Bankrupt firm updates plan to divide cash among creditors
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
TikTok vs. US filing: ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming owns a 21% stake in TikTok's parent company, and is living in Singapore while keeping Chinese citizenship  —  - Zhang has a 21% stake in the world's most valuable startup  — Chinese tech founders have built up a presence on the island
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Uber reports Q1 revenue up 15% YoY to $10.1B, Gross Bookings up 20% YoY to $37.7B, below $38B est., and adjusted EBITDA up 82% YoY to $1.4B; UBER falls 10%+  —  - Bookings growth still tops 20% on rides, order frequency gains  — Operating profit falls on anticipated legal fees, settlements
Georgia Butler / DatacenterDynamics:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
UK and US authorities identify and charge the leader of the LockBit ransomware gang, a 31-year-old Russian national; the US also issued sanctions against him  —  The identity of the leader of one of the most infamous ransomware groups in history has finally been revealed.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
The Connectivity Standards Alliance releases Matter 1.3, adding support for more appliances, energy and water management, and new casting protocol features  —  The latest Matter spec brings a number of improvements to the smart home standard founded by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Filing: Orlando-based lidar manufacturer Luminar says Tesla was its “largest LiDAR customer in Q1”, contributing 10%+ of its revenue, or ~$2.1M for the quarter  —  Elon Musk previously dismissed the laser sensor as a ‘crutch’ and said that any company relying on lidar to power self-driving was ‘doomed.’
Carsten Frauenheim / iFixit News:
A look at LPCAMM2, a totally modular, repairable, and upgradeable memory standard for laptops that doesn't require soldering LPDDR chips to the motherboard  —  If you've ever tried to “future-proof” a purchase by paying for everything you might eventually need up front, you know it can be a sucker's game.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Researchers say they have unlocked a kind of sperm whale “alphabet” with the aid of machine learning, a breakthrough in understanding cetacean communication  —  Researchers at MIT CSAIL and Project CETI believe that they have unlocked a kind of sperm whale alphabet with the aid of machine learning technologies.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta announces an update to its AI ad tools, which can now make full new images, not just backgrounds, and claims to add strong guardrails to prevent abuse  —  Meta is rolling out an expanded set of generative AI tools for advertisers, after first announcing a set of AI features last October.

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More News

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Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority:

Earlier Picks

Mike Murphy / IBM Research: