Techmeme
July 31, 2024, 2:20 PM

Top News

New York Times:
Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, Mark Cuban, Ron Conway, Chris Sacca, and 100+ other VCs pledge to vote for Kamala Harris and solicit donations for her campaign  —  The group, including Democratic donors such as Reid Hoffman and Vinod Khosla, has been organized under an effort called VCsForKamala.
CNBC:
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says the CrowdStrike-caused outage will cost the company $500M, after canceling 6,000+ flights, and Delta will seek damages  —  WATCH NOW  —  Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday that the massive IT outage earlier this month that stranded thousands of customers will cost it $500 million.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft says that a nine-hour outage on July 30, which disrupted multiple Microsoft 365 and Azure services worldwide, was triggered by a DDoS attack  —  Microsoft confirmed today that a nine-hour outage on Tuesday that took down and disrupted multiple Microsoft 365 and Azure services worldwide …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google rolls out online safety features to make removing explicit deepfakes from Search at scale easier and to prevent them from appearing high up in results  —  Google is rolling out new online safety features that make it easier to remove explicit deepfakes from Search at scale and prevent …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
After users reported that Meta's generative AI assistant incorrectly claimed the attempted Donald Trump assassination did not happen, Meta blames hallucinations  —  Meta's AI assistant incorrectly said that the recent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump didn't happen …
The Information:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
District of Columbia AG Brian Schwalb sues StubHub, alleging the company uses “deceptive, manipulative, and unfair practices” to advertise event fees to users  —  StubHub is facing a new lawsuit that accuses the ticketing service of hiding fees from customers until the very end of the purchasing process.
Billy Steele / Engadget:
Spotify plans to expand the availability of lyrics for Spotify Free users in the “coming weeks”; paid subscribers could access unlimited lyrics since May 2024  —  The company capped access at three songs per month in May.  —  Spotify users who don't pay for a subscription …
Steve Smith / SlashGear:
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review: premium materials and build quality, and powerful Exynos processor, but too expensive, large, bulky, and only one size  —  - Premium materials and build quality - Significantly improved GPS tracking - New powerful Exynos processor - Excellent activity and sleep tracking
Andrew Liszewski / The Verge:
Nothing unveils the Phone 2A Plus, offering the same 6.7-inch display as the 2A and a new MediaTek Dimensity 7350 Pro 5G SoC, available for $399 on August 7  —  Plus is often used in smartphone naming to delineate a larger model with a bigger screen, but that's not the case here.
Jason Del Rey / Fortune:
Interviews with 24 current and former Amazon staff say Jeff Bezos' Amazon Way principles remain core under Andy Jassy but are now less universally agreed upon  —  When Amazon ordered most workers back to the office three days a week in February 2023, Pamela Hayter was not happy about the end of a popular pandemic-era arrangement.
Forums: Hacker News
Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:
An investigation finds 450+ illicit drug ads on Facebook and Instagram from March to June 2024, some showing pill piles or cocaine bricks; Meta removed the ads  —  Instagram and Facebook, already under federal investigation, continue to run ads for illegal drugs, including ads showing piles of pills and bricks of cocaine
Aaron Holmes / The Information:
Source: TikTok was paying Microsoft ~$20M/mo. to use OpenAI's models in Azure OpenAI Service as of March, ~25% of the total revenue that service was generating  —  Microsoft has had success reselling OpenAI's artificial intelligence to its cloud customers, a core part of its plan to build a new multibillion-dollar profit machine.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Intel may unveil plans as early as this week to cut thousands of jobs to reduce costs and fund a rebound from an earnings slump and market share losses  —  - CEO Gelsinger embarks on ambitious effort to regain share  — Chipmaker is spending on research, development and new plants
Sheila Chiang / CNBC:
Samsung reports Q2 revenue up 23.42% YoY to ~$53.45B, vs. ~$53.3B est., and operating profit up 1,458% YoY to ~$7.5B, as AI memory chip demand remains strong  —  Samsung Electronics on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected second-quarter revenue and operating profit, as demand …
CNBC:
Nvidia shares jump 10%+ after Microsoft and AMD signaled no slowdown in the buildout of AI servers built around GPUs; Microsoft spent $19B on capex in Q4  —  Nvidia shares popped more than 11% Wednesday after remarks from top customer Microsoft and rival chipmaker AMD signaled no slowdown …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
AMD reports Q2 revenue up 9% YoY to $5.84B, vs. $5.72B est., Data Center revenue up 115% to $2.8B, net income up 881% to $265M, Q3 revenue forecast above est.  —  Advanced Micro Devices reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and showed continued growth …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft Q4: Windows OEM revenue up 4% YoY, devices revenue down 11% YoY, overall gaming revenue up 44% YoY, and Xbox content and services revenue up 61% YoY  —  Microsoft just posted the fourth and final quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results.  The software maker made $64.7 billion …
More: Thurrott, Pure Xbox, WinBuzzer, and Constellation Research
Threads: @tomwarrenukX: @tomwarren and @mitchydForums: r/xbox
Microsoft:

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
ETL tool evaluation checklist: 6 things to look for before you choose  —  Your data is only as valuable as your ability to move, prepare, and access it efficiently.  Choosing the wrong ETL tool can lead to months of rework …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce 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:
Are We Too Obsessed With AI Predictions? — With Carissa Véliz
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.
Great Chat:
The hills we'll die on
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Jason Blum Built a Hit-Making Movie Machine. Does It Still Work?
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.
Cheeky Pint:
The economics and trends of the restaurant industry, with Tony Xu of DoorDash
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Invest Like the Best:
Alex Karnal - The Trillion-Dollar Health Revolution
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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 2:20 PM ET, July 31, 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

Chris Miller / Financial Times:

Earlier Picks

Boone Ashworth / Wired:
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: