Techmeme
June 14, 2023, 10:50 AM

Top News

Jon Porter / The Verge:
The European Commission issues a preliminary antitrust complaint against Google over its ad business, suggesting breaking up the unit; Google can now reply  —  The European Commission has made a formal antitrust complaint against Google and its ad business, saying that its preliminary view is that …
The Verge:
Staff memo: Reddit's CEO says “like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass”, new moderation tools are vital, wearing Reddit gear in public is risky, and more  —  In an internal memo sent Monday afternoon to Reddit staff, CEO Steve Huffman addressed the recent blowback directed at the company …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
As over 8,000 subreddits go dark, Google's results, which often improve when adding “reddit” to the search, have suffered  —  Over 8,000 subreddits have gone dark to protest Reddit's upcoming API changes, and it's shown me just how much I rely on Reddit to find useful, human-sounding information in my Google search results.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Over 300 subreddits, including r/aww, r/music, and r/videos, plan to extend their protests indefinitely; 8,400+ have now gone private or into a restricted mode  —  / ‘More is needed for Reddit to act.’  —  Moderators of many Reddit communities are pledging to keep their subreddits private or restricted indefinitely.
The Verge:
Adam Satariano / New York Times:
The European Parliament passes the AI Act, which would curtail facial recognition, mandate data disclosures, and more; a final version should pass later in 2023  —  A draft law in the European Parliament has become the world's most far-reaching attempt to address the potentially harmful effects of artificial intelligence.
BBC:
Margrethe Vestager says discrimination, not extinction, is a more pressing concern for AI due to training models and “guardrails” are needed to counter bias  —  Discrimination is a more pressing concern from advancing artificial intelligence than human extinction, says the EU's competition chief.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI releases new GPT-3.5-turbo and GPT-4 versions that include a new “function calling” feature, and reduces the pricing of the original GPT-3.5-turbo by 25%  —  As the competition in the generative AI space grows fiercer, OpenAI is upgrading its text-generating models while reducing pricing.
Hassan Mujtaba / Wccftech:
Ryan Smith / AnandTech:
New York Times:
A US federal judge asks the SEC and Binance to strike a compromise over the Binance.US asset freeze, while criticizing the SEC's use of its enforcement powers  —  A judge urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to reach a compromise with Binance that would allow the world's largest …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
A US court issues a temporary restraining order preventing Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition and sets an evidentiary hearing for June 22 and 23, 2023  —  A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard — at least for now.
Nicole Carpenter / Polygon:
Swedish gaming conglomerate Embracer Group plans to close multiple studios, cancel games, and cut staff, after a $2B deal unexpectedly fell through  —  Embracer Group has close to 17,000 employees over more than 100 studios, many of which were acquired over the past few years
Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
Vodafone and Three agree to combine to create the UK's largest mobile network, pending regulatory approval, and will take on £6B in debt; Vodafone will own 51%  —  Vodafone Group Plc and CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. agreed to combine their UK mobile businesses in a deal that will create …
Nic Newman / Reuters Institute:
Reuters' 2023 Digital News Report: despite social media fragmentation, users' dependence on platforms for news keeps growing; Facebook drops and TikTok grows  —  This year's report comes against the backdrop of a global cost-of-living crisis, a continuing war in the heart of Europe, and further climate instability across the world.
James Cirrone / Blockworks:
After Apple threatened App Store delisting, Nostr-based social media app Damus must remove bitcoin tipping on posts but can keep the button on profiles  —  Damus creator William Casarin told his followers on the app that Apple would allow zaps, just with a slight tweak
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify shifts its podcast strategy from being a sort of HBO by releasing exclusive shows to providing tools for podcast creators, similar to YouTube's model  —  Over the past four years, Spotify Technology SA has announced a succession of splashy deals showing off how much money it's willing …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Enhancements to Zoho Writer's automation flow designer: New PDF operations, password protection, and more  —  Once we rolled out the automation flow designer in Zoho Writer's merge templates …
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

Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
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:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
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.
BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
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.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
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 10:50 AM ET, June 14, 2023.

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

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

The Block:
Clothilde Goujard / Politico:
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Steven Levy / Wired: