Techmeme
January 7, 2024, 6:40 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
A look at Apple's preparations for the Vision Pro's US launch and main challenges in 2024, like lagging in generative AI, reviving revenue growth, and antitrust  —  Apple has a big year ahead for new products, but also faces challenges ranging from trying to catch up in AI to dealing with changes to the App Store.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: some executives and board members fear that Elon Musk's use of LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms, ketamine, and other drugs could harm his companies  —  Some executives and board members fear the billionaire's use of drugs—including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and ketamine—could harm his companies
IEEE Spectrum:
How Midjourney v6 and DALL-E 3 produce “plagiaristic outputs”, even when not directly asked to do so, which could expose users to copyright infringement claims  —  This is a guest post.  The views expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not represent positions of IEEE Spectrum or the IEEE.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
TRM Labs: North Korea-affiliated hackers were responsible for almost a third of all crypto thefts in 2023, stealing $600M+, which is ~30% less than in 2022  —  U.S. national security officials have raised concerns about North Korea's use of stolen crypto to develop nuclear weapons.  —  Register Now
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Linear's CEO, who uses Carta to manage its cap table, says Carta tried to sell Linear shares without its consent; Carta CEO blames a rogue employee  —  “This might be the end of Carta as the trusted platform for startups”  —  Carta, an ambitious 12-year-old Silicon Valley outfit …
Steven Levy / Wired:
A defense of AI hallucinations, which can spur creativity and, by requiring fact-checks, act as a firewall in the transition to coexist with superintelligent AI  —  It's a big problem when chatbots spew untruths.  But we should also celebrate these hallucinations as prompts for human creativity and a barrier to machines taking over.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Xreal unveils the $699 Air 2 Ultra AR glasses, adding dual 3D cameras to map the wearer's environment and enable features like hand tracking, shipping in March  —  Augmented reality company Xreal has revealed a new entry in its Air glasses lineup: the $699 Air 2 Ultra.
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Music industry insiders reflect on the waning influence of popular, human-curated Spotify playlists, as the company shifts towards AI-driven personalization  —  The streaming giant's shift to automation is impacting the supremacy of curated music selections  —  Welcome back to Soundbite, and happy New Year!
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs partners with Eli Lilly and Novartis on AI-based drug discovery, for $82.5M paid upfront and $2.9B in performance incentives  —  Isomorphic Labs, the London-based, drug discovery-focused spin-out of Google AI R&D division DeepMind, today announced that it's entered …
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Acer announces Intel Core Ultra-based Swift laptops, including the Swift X 14 with Nvidia RTX 4070 and 120Hz OLED display, starting at $1,399  —  Acer is rolling out new laptops based on Intel Core Ultra including the Acer Swift X 14, a powerhouse PC with Intel Core Ultra, RTX 4070, a 120Hz OLED display, and more.

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Featured Podcasts

Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Ring's Jamie Siminoff thinks AI can reduce crime
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
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Grit:
Synthetic Data and the Future of AI | Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
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Lenny's Podcast:
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Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
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More News

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
More: New.blicio.us, The Decoder, and Watcher Guru
Threads: @luokai and @luokaiMastodon: @Luk@mamot.frX: @nickfloatsForums: Ars OpenForum
Ann Carrns / New York Times:
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Financial Times:

Earlier Picks

Daniel Stenberg / daniel.haxx.se:
Washington Post:
The Verge: