Techmeme
December 20, 2024, 5:50 PM

Top News

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI unveils o3 and o3-mini, trained to “think” before responding via what OpenAI calls a “private chain of thought”, and plans to launch them in early 2025  —  OpenAI announced its new o3 models on Friday.  —  In a tweet ahead of its final livestream for its …
ARC Prize:
o3, trained on the ARC-AGI-1 Public Training set, scored 87.5% on ARC Prize's Semi-Private Evaluation in a high-compute configuration; GPT-4o scored 5% in 2024  —  OpenAI's new o3 system - trained on the ARC-AGI-1 Public Training set - has scored a breakthrough 75.7% on the Semi-Private Evaluation set …
Bloomberg:
Hugh Son / CNBC:
The US CFPB sues Zelle operator EWS, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, alleging that customers lost $870M+ to fraud since Zelle's launch in 2017  —  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday sued the operator of the Zelle payments network and the three U.S. banks …
Bloomberg:
A federal jury in Delaware finds that Qualcomm didn't violate the terms of an agreement covering Arm's chip designs that was part of the $1.4B buyout of Nuvia  —  - US jury finds Qualcomm didn't violate terms of agreement  — Delaware jurors were unable to agree on Nuvia's alleged breach
Liz Pelly / Harper's:
How Spotify used its Perfect Fit Content program to rig its system against musicians, filling popular playlists with “ghost artists” to cut its royalty payouts  —  I first heard about ghost artists in the summer of 2017.  At the time, I was new to the music-streaming beat.
Jamie Tarabay / Bloomberg:
The US charges dual Russian and Israeli national Rostislav Panev for allegedly working with the LockBit ransomware group and seeks his extradition from Israel  —  - Extortion group targeted Boeing, Royal Mail and thousands more  — Israeli-Russian national allegedly hired via Telegram chat app
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
US DOJ says a Romanian involved in Netwalker ransomware attacks has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to computer fraud and wire fraud  —  Daniel Christian Hulea, a Romanian man charged for his involvement in NetWalker ransomware attacks, was sentenced to 20 years …
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
US hospital operator Ascension notifies nearly 5.6M patients and employees that their personal and health data was stolen in a May 2024 Black Basta cyberattack  —  Ascension, one of the largest private U.S. healthcare systems, is notifying over 5.6 million patients and employees that their personal …
Robert Booth / The Guardian:
The UK ICO criticizes Google as “irresponsible” after the company announced plans to let advertisers employ fingerprinting techniques from February 16, 2025  —  ICO says allowing advertisers to track digital ‘fingerprints’ will undermine consumers' control over information
Fortune:
Sam Altman says Elon Musk is “clearly a bully” who is suing OpenAI because the startup is doing really well and calls the lawsuits “a little bit of a sideshow”  —  - Sam Altman called Elon Musk a “bully” for his continued criticism of and several lawsuits against OpenAI, the organization they cofounded in 2015.
Bloomberg:
Sony's shares surged 50%+ from an August 2024 low to hit an all-time high last week, as investors are bullish on 2025 gaming growth; its prior ATH was in 2000  —  - Next year ‘one of the greatest’ for video games: Smithers  — M&A and good management boost stock's appeal: Janus Henderson
Kiyoshi Takenaka / Reuters:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Key moments of 2025: A year of smarter, simpler, and more connected work  —  As this year comes to a close, it feels like the perfect time to pause and look back at how much the modern workplace has been transformed.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
ACCESS Wrapped: Our favorite guest moments so far
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Big Technology Podcast:
Best of Big Technology: Demis Hassabis On AGI, Deceptive AIs, Building a Virtual Cell
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Craig Finn on Friendship, Fans and The Hold Steady's Second Life
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.
The Social Radars:
Jared Friedman, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-founder, Scribd
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
Hard Fork:
The Wirecutter Show: Tips for Using A.I. Smartly With Kevin Roose
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:50 PM ET, December 20, 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

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Malcolm Owen / AppleInsider:
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: