Techmeme
May 8, 2024, 3:25 PM

Top News

Michael Peel / Financial Times:
Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs detail AlphaFold 3, an AI model to predict interactions and structures of proteins, DNA, RNA, more, beating many top methods  —  AlphaFold 3 aims to reveal biological secrets and boost drug search efforts  —  Google DeepMind has unveiled …
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
The US Commerce Department revokes some export licenses that let companies ship chips and other goods to Huawei, affecting Intel and, sources say, also Qualcomm  —  Move marks latest effort by Biden administration to target the country's tech sector  —  The Biden administration …
Lynn Doan / Bloomberg:
Tom Dotan / Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft plans to invest $3.3B to build a data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and train locals, alongside investing in a University of Wisconsin AI lab  —  Company has been on a global spending spree, trying to build infrastructure and goodwill for artificial intelligence
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 …
William Gallagher / AppleInsider:
Apple's iPad Pro ad “Crush”, which shows paints, toys, guitars, sculptures, and more being crushed to reveal the thin device, draws criticism on social media  —  The minute-long Apple ad showing art equipment and materials being crushed down into the new iPad Pro is being called heartbreaking, wanton, and creepy.
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Shopify reports Q1 revenue up 23% YoY to $1.9B, GMV up 23% YoY to $60.9B, and expects gross margins to drop by ~50 basis points YoY in Q2; SHOP plummets 18%+  —  - Gross margins in current quarter are expected to narrow  — President: ‘This is how you achieve long-term durable growth’
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.
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 5%+  —  - Bookings growth still tops 20% on rides, order frequency gains  — Operating profit falls on anticipated legal fees, settlements
Kylie Robison / The Verge:
Sources: OpenAI has been aggressively trying to poach Google employees for a team working on a ChatGPT feature to search the web and show results with citations  —  OpenAI is developing a search engine for ChatGPT, giving users the ability to crawl the web for answers to their questions, Bloomberg reports.
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
BBC:
Ofcom proposes new rules requiring tech companies to change their algorithms to hide “toxic” material from children, have more robust age checks, and more  —  Ofcom has warned social media sites they could be named and shamed - and banned for under-18s - if they fail to comply with new online safety rules.
Maggie Harrison / Futurism:
An investigation into AdVon, the company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers, finds its AI content and fake authors at the LA Times, Miami Herald, and more  —  Remember that AI company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers?  We did some digging — and it's got tendrils into other surprisingly prominent publications.
Georgia Butler / DatacenterDynamics:
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 …
André Beganski / Decrypt:
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev decries a “regulatory onslaught” and calls US SEC 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 selling all of its assets; FTX owes ~$11B to 2M+ customers and other non-governmental creditors  —  - Crypto customers to get interest on what FTX owes them  — Bankrupt firm updates plan to divide cash among creditors
Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog:
OpenAI built the gpt2-chatbot, renamed to “im-also-a-good-gpt-chatbot”, per the gpt2-chatbot's 429 rate limit error message, which appeared in the LMSYS arena  —  gpt2-chatbot confirmed as OpenAI (via) The mysterious gpt2-chatbot model that showed up in the LMSYS arena a few days ago …
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.
Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority:
Google launches Google Wallet for Android in India and partners with 20+ brands to let users store boarding passes, loyalty cards, event tickets, and more  —  - Google Wallet is now available in India, where it can be used as a digital wallet for storing passes, tickets, and more, but not for payments.
Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
DatologyAI, which aims to help researchers better curate AI training datasets, raised a $46M Series A led by Felicis, after a $11.65M seed in February 2024  —  For all that's leaked about the sizes and architectures of the advanced large language models developed by OpenAI and its ilk …
Bloomberg:
Microsoft closes the engineering section of its Africa Development Center in Nigeria, two years after its opening, reportedly impacting 100+ engineers  —  The Lagos center, one of two on the continent - the other being in Kenya - was opened in 2022 to deliver high-end engineering solutions for Microsoft.

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Earlier Picks

Mike Murphy / IBM Research:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch: