Techmeme
September 28, 2022, 10:55 PM

Top News

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Amazon's $1,000 Astro robot gets pet detection, the ability to check specific windows and doors, Ring camera integration, and an SDK for three universities  —  There's been a standing question surrounding how seriously we should ultimately take Astro.  The product was launched exactly one year ago …
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
OpenAI removes the waitlist for DALL-E, giving everyone immediate access; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says a public release is essential to develop the tech safely  —  None of these photos were taken by a camera.  —  All of these images were created by the artificial intelligence text …
Bloomberg:
The US SEC and CFTC fine 16 financial firms $1.1B and $710M in penalties, respectively, for failing to monitor employees using unauthorized messaging apps  —  US regulators reached settlements with a dozen banks in a sprawling probe into how global financial firms failed to monitor employees' communications …
Lisa Eadicicco / CNET:
Amazon unveils the $140 Halo Rise, a bedside sleep tracker that uses contactless sensors, coming later in 2022 with a free six-month Amazon Halo subscription  —  It sits on your nightstand and functions as a sleep tracker and sunrise alarm clock.  —  Lisa Eadicicco
Samantha Cole / VICE:
Meta permanently bans Pornhub's Instagram account for “repeatedly violating” its policies, after a three-week suspension and ToS breaches accruing over 10 years  —  Pornhub claims its account was “fully PG,” and cites the uneven treatment of mainstream celebrities like Kim Kardashian …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon unveils the $340 Kindle Scribe, an Oasis-like device for reading and writing with a 10.2" E Ink display and two stylus options, available to preorder  —  The newest Kindle is the first truly new Kindle in years.  It's called the Kindle Scribe, and it's both a reading device and a writing one.
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Amazon unveils its fifth-gen $50 Echo Dot and $60 Echo Dot with Clock, which double as Eero mesh Wi-Fi extenders and have a temperature sensor and deeper bass  —  At its annual fall event, Amazon showed off its brand-new Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock.  The fifth generation …
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
A look at Portugal's Meia Praia beach, a haven where crypto supporters gather, creating a bubble of optimism about digital currencies amid crypto's downturn  —  In crypto havens such as Meia Praia beach, the confidence in digital currencies remains undimmed even after this summer's crash.
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Pornhub is testing a chatbot that redirects users searching for CSAM to a service where they can get help; the bot intervened ~174K times during the first month  —  Pornhub is trialing a new automated tool that pushes CSAM-searchers to seek help for their online behavior.  Will it work?
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon unveils a refreshed Fire TV Cube media player with Wi-Fi 6E for $140, Fire TV Omni QLED Series for $800+, and a refreshed Alexa Voice Remote Pro for $35  —  Amazon today introduced two new Fire TV devices designed to cater to customers seeking a more premium experience.
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Amazon encourages some customer service reps to work from home that sources say is meant to cut office costs; source: Amazon to close multiple US call centers  —  Amazon.com Inc. is encouraging customer service employees at some US call centers to work from home, signaling the company's preference …
Umar Shakir / The Verge:
Cloudflare releases Turnstile, a “privacy-preserving” CAPTCHA alternative that tests the browser, not the user, through JavaScript-based challenges, in beta  —  The company calls it Turnstile, and it's designed to spare us from performing those mundane click-the-traffic-light kinds …
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: GV shelved its algorithm, which for years served as a gatekeeper for new investments, suggesting that human judgement can't always be automated away  —  Google Ventures has mothballed an algorithm that for years had served as a gatekeeper for new investments, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

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

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.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
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 10:55 PM ET, September 28, 2022.

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

Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal:
Jeff Green / Bloomberg:
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Financial Times:
Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg:
Cameron Thompson / CoinDesk:
Financial Times:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg: