Techmeme
August 27, 2024, 11:15 AM

Top News

New York Times:
French prosecutors: Pavel Durov's arrest is part of a probe “against person unnamed” into CSAM, drug sales, and more on the app and not working with authorities  —  A case was opened last month to investigate child pornography, drug sales, fraud and other criminal activities on the platform.
New York Times:
A profile of Pavel Durov, a devout techno-optimist who trolled authorities online, started social network VKontakte in 2006, and left Russia in 2014 for Dubai  —  Pavel Durov's anti-establishment streak helped him create one of the world's biggest online platforms, which emphasizes free speech.
Politico:
Telegram is avidly used within political and media circles in France, including by President Emmanuel Macron, who has used the messaging app for nearly a decade  —  PARIS — Open the Telegram chat of anyone in the French political orbit and you'll notice lawmakers, cabinet members and presidential advisers online or recently connected.
Victor Goury-Laffont / Politico:
Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
Source: OpenAI showed a breakthrough called Strawberry to US natsec officials this summer; one of its top uses is to make training data for a new frontier model  —  In case you were wondering why Sam Altman cryptically posted a picture of strawberries earlier this month …
Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets Meta wasn't more outspoken about Biden administration pressure to restrict some COVID-19 content  —  Meta CEO also says he won't repeat 2020 efforts to fund local elections, which Republicans criticized as ‘Zuckerbucks’
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Android 14 downgrade OTA release notes confirm Google has delayed the Android 15 roll out to Pixel devices from September to October; a source says mid-October  —  - The Android Beta Exit update screen has been updated to mention that the Android 15 update will be available in October.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
nOps, which helps companies optimize AWS spend, raised a $30M Series A led by Headlight Partners and says its customer base grew 450% over the past 18 months  —  Companies don't necessarily have to produce breakthrough technology to gain market traction.  Undercutting rivals on price …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
A US federal judge orders Missouri's AG to halt his probe into Media Matters' November 2023 X ads report, after a similar order against Texas' AG in April 2024  —  Judge: Missouri AG's actions chill speech about extremist content on Musk's X.  —  A federal judge ordered Missouri's attorney general …
Caroline O'Donovan / Washington Post:
Docs: Amazon plans to launch its delayed overhaul of Alexa in October for as much as $10/month, with AI-generated news summaries, a chatbot for kids, and more  —  The revamp of the voice assistant, which documents say will include a daily AI-generated news summary, would come just weeks before the U.S. presidential election.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic becomes the first major AI vendor to publish a changelog for system prompts of top models, including Claude 3 Opus, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Claude 3.5  —  Generative AI models aren't actually human-like.  They have no intelligence or personality — they're simply statistical systems predicting …

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Zoho:
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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Tim Cook's Legacy + The Future of U.B.I. With Andrew Yang + HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor
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.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 "Spud," AI Model Moats, and Cybersecurity Risks
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.
Lenny's Podcast:
How Anthropic's product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)
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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Access:
Silicon Valley finally has its "Succession"
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
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

Elon Musk / @elonmusk:

Earlier Picks

Apple:
Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:
Anna Tong / Reuters:
Juli Clover / MacRumors: