Techmeme
August 4, 2024, 3:15 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI developed a watermarking method for detecting text written by ChatGPT with 99.9% reliability, but its launch has been mired in internal debates  —  Technology that can detect text written by artificial intelligence with 99.9% certainty has been debated internally for two years
More: PCMag, TechCrunch, and The Decoder
X: @simonw, @simonw, and @benfritzForums: r/singularity
Dave Lee / Bloomberg:
A look at the flurry of so-called Zoom rallies supporting the campaign to elect Kamala Harris; one Zoom call reportedly attracted 190K people and raised $4M  —  Online rallies give the vice president a platform her opponent can't match.  —  Advancements in technology can play a defining role in how an election cycle plays out.
More: Slate and Inc.com
Threads: @daveleebbg, @daveleebbg, and @daveleebbgForums: r/politics
New York Times:
An investigation finds an active trade in Nvidia chips in China despite US restrictions; some Chinese orgs with state military ties have bought restricted chips  —  The U.S. is trying to stop China from getting Nvidia microchips to advance its military.  The private sector is fighting back.
The Information:
Sources: Nvidia told Microsoft, and another large cloud provider, that its new Blackwell AI chips will be delayed by three months or more due to design flaws  —  Nvidia's upcoming artificial intelligence chips will be delayed by three months or more due to design flaws …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Thoughts on first Apple Intelligence beta, which may arrive after the new iPhones launch, Apple's industrial design team leadership reshuffle, and Q3 earnings  —  The first preview of Apple Intelligence for developers shows just how far the company has to go to live up to the hype.
Financial Times:
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta boosted capex by 50% to a total of $106B in H1 2024, as they build AI infrastructure and pledge more investment hikes  —  Technology stocks have been volatile as Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Google report huge increases in their investments in artificial intelligence
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Google Chrome warns uBlock Origin may soon be disabled and tells users to switch to other ad blockers before deprecation of Manifest V2 extensions  —  Google Chrome is now encouraging uBlock Origin users who have updated to the latest version to switch to other ad blockers before Manifest v2 extensions are disabled.
Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times:
Sources: JD.com founder and chair Richard Liu has been quietly leading the company from overseas, primarily in London, despite stepping down as the CEO in 2022  —  Despite stepping down as chief in 2022, Richard Liu has continued to quietly steer the business from London
Josh Noble / Financial Times:
How YouTube, NBC, Eurosport, and others are enlisting creators to cover the Paris Olympics, to fill in storytelling gaps and captivate a younger generation  —  NBC and Eurosport among those using ‘creators’ to spur interest and reach wider audiences  —  Sandra Kwon's life …
Jason Snell / Six Colors:
Apple Services Q3 revenue topped Mac, iPad, and wearables combined and may soon exceed hardware profits, but its services can't ever have priority over hardware  —  Apple's latest quarterly results were about as boring as you can get while still featuring $21.4 billion in profit and setting an all-time third-quarter record.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is offering Hollywood celebrities like Judi Dench millions of dollars for the right to use their voices for AI projects; SAG-AFTRA agreed to terms  —  - Judi Dench, Awkwafina are among the celebrities holding talks  — Some terms sought by Meta trigger actors' fears of AI
Eric Platt / Financial Times:
Filings: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashed its stake in Apple by ~50% in Q2, following a 13% cut in Q1, leaving it with a position worth $84.2B  —  Cash holdings hit a record high as billionaire investor dumps $76bn of stocks  —  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has slashed …

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More News

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Riley Griffin / Bloomberg:
Wall Street Journal:
Michael McWhertor / Polygon:

Earlier Picks

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The Information:
Josh Sisco / Politico: