Techmeme
November 19, 2024, 4:45 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the $349 Windows 365 Link, a mini PC for its Windows 365 cloud service running a “super hardened version of Windows”, shipping in April 2025  —  Microsoft is planning to launch a new purpose-built miniature PC for its Windows 365 cloud service next year.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft debuts the Windows Resiliency Initiative to help avoid another CrowdStrike-like incident, and a Quick Machine Recovery feature for fixing PCs remotely  —  Now, Microsoft has some answers in the form of a new Windows Resiliency Initiative that's designed to improve Windows security and reliability.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky has 20M+ users and, according to Appfigures, has been #1 in US App Store since Nov. 13; Similarweb: its DAU gap with Threads on the web is narrowing  —  Bluesky, the social network and X competitor has been benefiting from a surge of departures from the Elon Musk-owned app formerly known as Twitter.
Brian Merchant / Blood in the Machine:
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram says it is testing letting users reset the algorithmic suggestions that power Feed, Reels, and Explore, and the update “will soon roll out globally”  —  The app will offer users a chance for a “fresh start” with the algorithm.  —  If your Instagram recommendations …
Reuters:
Sources: Sony is in talks to acquire Kadokawa, the Japanese media powerhouse behind the Elden Ring game, in the coming weeks; Kadokawa had a ~$2.7B market cap  —  Sony (6758.T) is in talks to acquire Kadokawa (9468.T), the Japanese media powerhouse behind the “Elden Ring” game …
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Niantic says it is using data generated by Pokémon Go players to create a large geospatial model, or LGM, that can navigate the physical world and power robots  —  Niantic says it is using data generated by Pokémon Go players to create a “Large Geospatial Model” that can navigate the real world and power robots.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Google ships the first developer preview of Android 16, far ahead of schedule vs. the past few years, hoping to lower fragmentation by giving partners more time  —  Google is releasing the first developer preview of Android 16 to speed up feature rollouts in devices.
Bruna Horvath / NBC News:
Social media users criticize Coca-Cola over an AI-generated Christmas video; many creatives say it is distasteful to use AI tech instead of the work of artists  —  The video was meant to pay homage to a classic 1995 Coca-Cola commercial.  —  Coca-Cola is facing backlash online …
Helene Braun / CoinDesk:
Trump picks Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which has been a custodian for stablecoin company Tether since 2021, to serve as his Commerce Secretary  —  Lutnick, whose Cantor Fitzgerald has been a custodian for Tether since 2021, has been a vocal proponent of bitcoin and USDT for years.
Bloomberg:
Source: Microsoft reaches a deal with News Corp's HarperCollins to use nonfiction titles to train AI models; HarperCollins says authors can opt out  —  - Nonfiction books will be used for training AI models  — AI companies and publishers have butted heads in lawsuits
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google rolls out a “memory” feature for Gemini Advanced subscribers for the web app that remembers a user's interests and preferences  —  Google's Gemini chatbot can now remember things like info about your life, work, and personal preferences.  —  As flagged by posters on X …
CNN:
Two Baltic Sea internet cables, connecting Lithuania with Sweden and Finland with Germany, were suddenly disrupted, sparking concerns about Russian sabotage  —  Two undersea internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been suddenly disrupted, according to local telecommunications companies …
Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
Robinhood agrees to acquire TradePMR, a custodial and portfolio management platform for registered investment advisors, in a ~$300M deal set to close in H1 2025  —  The deal — for about $300 million in cash and stock — is expected to close in the first half of next year, Robinhood said in a statement.

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
SubQ Snap 1.1: the first long-context decision model for real enterprise work  —  Tied for #1 on the AA Decision Index, Snap is a multimodal model with a 384k-token context window for fast reasoning and agentic decisions.
Zoho:
Labels that build themselves: Simplified Label Automation in Zoho Writer  —  Anyone who ships every day knows this feeling.  Forty orders, each with a different number of items, and every item needs its own label.
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.
WebBrain:
WebBrain: an open-source AI agent for your browser  —  Read pages, fill forms and automate tasks in Chrome or Firefox.  Use local models or your preferred AI provider.  Get started free.

Featured Podcasts

The Upstarts Podcast:
How Ramp Built A $60B AI Product Factory Off A Corporate Card | Co-CEO Eric Glyman
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:
Would you let a robot do it?
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.
Training Data:
A Model For Everyone: How Ronak From Trajectory Is Building Products For Continual Learning
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Big Technology Podcast:
Can AI Keep Going After The Democrats' Big Win? — With Teddy Schleifer
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:
Crypto's Biggest Heist Ever + The Spy Who Loved Nvidia + Hacktober's Unsolved Mysteries
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Barry Diller on Big Bets, AI, and Knowing When to Walk Away
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:45 PM ET, November 19, 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

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Upmanyu Trivedi / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Mark Wilson / Fast Company:
Jason Del Rey / Fortune:
Faris Mokhtar / Bloomberg: