Techmeme
August 27, 2024, 2:25 PM

Top News

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.
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.
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:
Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
Sources: China-linked hackers penetrated deep into two big US ISPs and several smaller ones in recent months, using a zero-day flaw in Versa Networks software  —  Beijing's hacking effort has “dramatically stepped up from where it used to be,” says former top U.S cybersecurity official.
Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
Source: OpenAI demoed a breakthrough called Strawberry to US natsec officials; one of its top uses is to make training data for a flagship LLM codenamed Orion  —  In case you were wondering why Sam Altman cryptically posted a picture of strawberries earlier this month, the answer almost certainly …
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Snap rolls out a native Snapchat app for iPadOS, 13 years after launching on iOS; the app can only run in portrait mode  —  Snapchat was launched for iOS in 2011, but since then the app has only had iPhone support. iPad users, on the other hand, could only run the iPhone app …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta says it will shut down Meta Spark, its third-party AR tools and content platform that launched in 2017, effective January 14, 2025, angering some creators  —  Creators are unhappy with Meta's decision on Tuesday to shut down its Spark platform, which allowed third parties to build augmented reality (AR) effects.
Bloomberg:
Former staff of video games payments company Xsolla say in lawsuits that CEO Aleksandr Agapitov leans heavily on company revenue for his new, flashier lifestyle  —  Aleksandr “Shurick” Agapitov spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure his company's name - Xsolla …
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Cerebras launches the “world's fastest” AI inference service with “GPU-impossible performance”, costing 10+ cents per million tokens, to rival Nvidia  —  Ambitious artificial intelligence computing startup Cerebras Systems Inc. is raising the stakes in its battle against Nvidia Corp. …
Max A. Cherney / Reuters:
Sources: ex-Intel board member Lip-Bu Tan, an industry veteran, left over what he considered a bloated workforce, risk-averse culture, and lagging AI strategy  —  The sudden resignation of a high-profile Intel (INTC.O) board member came after differences with CEO Pat Gelsinger and other directors …
More: Silicon UK.  Forums: Slashdot
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.
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’

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
We can build it.  Can we judge it?  —  As agentic AI shortens the path from idea to shipped code, journey evaluation becomes a critical design skill.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: Map My Client Location for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
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

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Lubricate the Inside of the Hinge', With Joanna Stern
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Lenny's Podcast:
An 86-minute guide to finding PMF | Rob Snyder (Author, The Power of Pull)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Google's Potential, AI Money Spigot Shutting?, PHP Bug & Cybersecurity's "Black October"
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.
Machine Gods:
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Parking Startup That Swallowed A 100-Year-Old Giant | Metropolis CEO Alex Israel
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.
Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:25 PM ET, August 27, 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

Kim Eun-jin / Businesskorea:
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

Earlier Picks

Elon Musk / @elonmusk:
Caroline O'Donovan / Washington Post:
Apple:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Juli Clover / MacRumors: