Techmeme
August 20, 2024, 1:45 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
PitchBook: seven banks' ~$13B loans to Elon Musk to buy X have been “hung” for two years, weighing on balance sheets, the worst buyout for banks since 2008-2009  —  Loans of around $13 billion have remained ‘hung’ for nearly two years, bringing in interest payments but weighing on banks' balance sheets
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana says Waymo is now giving 100K+ paid robotaxi rides every week in LA, San Francisco, and Phoenix, a few months after passing 50K+  —  Waymo disclosed Tuesday it's now giving more than 100,000 paid robotaxi rides every week across its three main commercial markets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
CNBC:
Bloomberg:
Chinese-made, Tencent-backed game Black Myth: Wukong became Steam's second most popular title ever within hours of its launch, gaining 2.1M+ concurrent players  —  - The made-in-China blockbuster surpasses Cyberpunk play record  — Monkey King epic on track to set records for concurrent gamers
Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to make the most expensive iPhone models in India for the first time, as Foxconn rushes to produce iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max in India  —  - Plan shows Apple making further progress with India assembly  — Company is shifting output to India to diversify beyond China
Daniel Tencer / Music Business Worldwide:
The AGs of 10 states join the US DOJ's antitrust lawsuit seeking to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster; 39 states, plus DC, are now part of the lawsuit  —  The attorneys general of 10 states have joined the US Department of Justice (DoJ)'s antitrust lawsuit seeking to break off Live Nation …
Connor Jones / The Register:
Cisco Talos says eight vulnerabilities in Microsoft's macOS apps could be abused by attackers to record video and sound from a device, log user input, and more  —  Windows giant tells Cisco Talos it isn't fixing them  —  Cisco Talos says eight vulnerabilities in Microsoft's macOS apps …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Flight tracking site FlightAware, which claims 10M+ monthly users, reports a breach dating back to January 2021 that exposed names, SSNs, addresses, and more  —  Flight tracking site FlightAware has blamed a “configuration error” for exposing a raft of personal information of its customers …
Kamil Kowalcze / Bloomberg:
TSMC breaks ground on its €10B chip fab in Dresden, Germany, its first European plant and set to create 11K European jobs; the EU approves Germany's €5B subsidy  —  - Taiwanese firm begins work on its first European chip plant  — German subsidies will cover about half of the fab's costs
Nick Robins-Early / The Guardian:
Donald Trump shared AI-generated images on Truth Social that show Taylor Swift and her fans vowing their support for his campaign; Swift hasn't endorsed Trump  —  Presidential nominee shares AI-generated images, contributing to spread of online election disinformation

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Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
An AI state of the union: We've passed the inflection point, dark factories are coming, and automation timelines | Simon Willison
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Axiom's Carina Hong: Solving Math's Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Iran, Oil, and the US
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Apple at 50', With John Siracusa
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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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.
 

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More News

Ryan Smith / AnandTech:

Earlier Picks

Perry Stein / Washington Post:
Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Asa Fitch / Wall Street Journal: