Techmeme
December 8, 2023, 9:00 PM

Top News

Adam Satariano / New York Times:
The EU reaches a deal on the AI Act, a comprehensive attempt to limit the use of the technology; the law still needs to go through a few steps for approval  —  The agreement over the A.I. Act solidifies one of the world's first comprehensive attempts to limit the use of artificial intelligence.
Leah Nylen / Bloomberg:
Source: the US FTC is examining the nature of Microsoft's investment in OpenAI and potentially antitrust law violations but hasn't opened a formal investigation  —  - The agency hasn't opened a formal probe into Microsoft-OpenAI  — Microsoft didn't report deal to FTC due to non-profit status
Bloomberg:
The UK CMA is considering an antitrust investigation into Microsoft and OpenAI's partnership, and is taking comments until January 3 before making a decision  —  - CMA seeking views on whether the relationship should be probed  — Move is less than two months since watchdog cleared Activision
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
As Beeper Mini experiences an outage, Beeper CEO Eric Migicovsky says that “all data indicates” Apple found a way to cut off the app's ability to function  —  Was it too good to be true?  Beeper, the startup that reverse-engineered iMessage to bring blue bubble texts to Android users …
Steven Levy / Wired:
How author Steven Johnson, now a Google employee for over a year, helped create NotebookLM, which lets writers extract key themes from their research material  —  Author Steven Johnson helped Google create an app that can analyze a writer's research material and help them extract and explore the key themes.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
Sources: complaints from some senior OpenAI leaders that Sam Altman had been psychologically abusive were a major factor in the board's decision to fire Altman  —  The senior employees described Altman as psychologically abusive, creating chaos at the artificial-intelligence start-up …
Wall Street Journal:
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Tencent's Lightspeed LA studio reveals Last Sentinel, an ambitious console game by GTA veteran Steve Martin and part of Tencent's push to create IP from scratch  —  - Lightspeed LA reveals ‘Last Sentinel’ at The Game Awards  — AAA game sets the stage in a futuristic, cyberpunk Tokyo
Jacob Knutson / Axios:
23andMe changed its TOS to prevent lawsuits days after its October data breach; to opt out, customers must email the company that they disagree within 30 days  —  Days after a data breach allowed hackers to steal 6.9 million 23andMe users' personal details, the genetic testing company changed …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
An untitled countdown timer viewable only on the Threads.net homepage in EU countries suggests that the service will be expanded to EU users on December 14  —  Following its rollout in countries like the US and UK this past July, Threads will finally be expanded to users in the European Union on December 14th.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is reorganizing its hardware engineering group as Tang Tan, its VP in charge of iPhone and Watch product design, plans to leave in February 2024  —  - Tang Tan is set to leave the tech company in February  — Departure will spur changes at hardware engineering group
Nikkei Asia:
Sources: in a first, Apple is working with China's BYD to move iPad product development to Vietnam, with test production set to begin around mid-February 2024  —  China's BYD helps American giant with shift to alternative tech hubs  —  Vietnam is emerging as an increasingly important production hub …
Wall Street Journal:
Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Mobile network companies have backed themselves into a corner by racing to roll out 5G, taking on piles of debt with few returns to show for their investments  —  Networks spent years telling us that 5G would change everything.  But the flashiest use cases are nowhere to be found …
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
How Meta addressed the technical challenges of developing E2EE for Messenger, including creating an encrypted storage protocol and re-architecting chat features  —  Mark Zuckerberg personally promised that the privacy feature would launch by default on Messenger and Instagram chat.

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Earlier Picks

Jessica Lyons Hardcastle / The Register:
Parmy Olson / Bloomberg:
Wall Street Journal:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Jay Peters / The Verge: