Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise Site News
Techmeme
January 29, 2024, 9:55 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter

Top News

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Microsoft adds safeguards to its AI text-to-image tool Designer, after fake AI images of Taylor Swift went viral and a report of 4chan users misusing the tool  —  Microsoft has introduced more protections to Designer, an AI text-to-image generation tool that people were using to make nonconsensual sexual images of celebrities.
Washington Post:
X blocking “Taylor Swift” searches as explicit AI images spread was a blunt measure to accomplish a basic moderation task after gutting “trust and safety” staff
Bloomberg:
Amazon drops its $1.4B acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot after clashing with EU regulators and will pay a $94M fee; iRobot has ~$500M in net losses since 2021  —  - IRobot CEO steps down and company cuts workforce by 31%  — Tech giant to pay $94 million to iRobot over deal termination
Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
After Amazon ended its acquisition, iRobot plans to lay off 31% of its staff, or ~350 people, and says chair and CEO Colin Angle would step down; IRBT drops 5%+
Zoe Kleinman / BBC:
Apple says proposed UK legislation could let the country try “to secretly veto new user protections globally”, preventing Apple from shipping them to customers  —  Apple has attacked proposals for the UK government to pre-approve new security features introduced by tech firms.
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the first time on January 28, and that the first Neuralink product is called Telepathy  —  - Elon Musk's neurotech startup Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the first time on Sunday, and the patient is “recovering well,” according to a post on X.
Bloomberg:
Blizzard names Johanna Faries, former general manager for Call of Duty at Activision, as its president, succeeding Mike Ybarra, who left last week amid layoffs  —  Replaces Mike Ybarra who left the video-game company last week as part of mass layoffs under new owner Microsoft
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Meta releases Code Llama 70B, a new version of its code generation model, featuring improved code correctness, a variant optimized for Python, and more  —  Meta AI, the company that brought you Llama 2, the gargantuan language model that can generate anything from tweets to essays …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
After a months-long probe, Italy's data protection authority tells OpenAI that it's suspected of violating EU privacy regulations, giving it 30 days to respond  —  OpenAI has been told it's suspected of violating European Union privacy, following a multi-month investigation of its AI chatbot …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Zoom details its visionOS app, which will support 3D file sharing, “real-world pinning” of up to five meeting participants, Apple's Persona feature, and more  —  As promised, Zoom will be available on Apple Vision Pro from day one.  Ahead of Vision Pro's launch on Friday …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox President Sarah Bond says that “Apple's new policy is a step in the wrong direction”, in response to an X post by the Spotify CEO about Apple's DMA changes  —  Apple's new plan to comply with the European Union's tech regulations has already drawn criticism from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney and Spotify.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Source: Apple has sold upwards of 200K Vision Pro units; Apple began accepting pre-orders for the Vision Pro on January 19  —  Apple has sold upwards of 200,000 Vision Pro headsets, MacRumors has learned from a source with knowledge of Apple's sales numbers.
Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
TikTok is testing a feature that could make all posts shoppable, by identifying objects in videos and prompting users to “find similar items on TikTok Shop”  —  - Feature links products to any posts, not just influencers  —  TikTok is testing a feature that could make all posts shoppable …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
The US DOJ and SEC unveil charges in an alleged $1.9B crypto fraud scheme known as HyperFund  —  - The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against two people and the guilty plea of a third person for orchestrating a $1.9 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme known as HyperFund, as well as by other names.
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Meta partners with the Center for Open Science to share data for researching online well-being, before January 31's Congressional hearing on kids' online safety  —  Ahead of a major Congressional hearing about children's online safety, Meta has announced a collaboration with the Center for Open Science …
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon expects Prime Video's average hourly ad load to be 2 to 3.5 minutes, below traditional TV and most streaming services, and to reach 159M monthly viewers  —  Move prompts longtime subscribers to cancel Prime altogether, forgoing free shipping; ‘There is only one way to show them that this is not OK’

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
Deep analysis for deep questions  —  Introducing Superagent.  A new research product from Airtable: Subagents deeply interrogate your topic and turn it into boardroom-ready reports, slides, docs, or websites.
Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Zoho:
5 ways a custom email domain and SMTP improve your Zoho Sign experience  —  Every interaction your audience has with your brand tells a story, sometimes in ways that are subtle but incredibly meaningful.
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.
Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
 The Pentagon vs. Anthropic + An A.I. Agent Slandered Me + Hot Mess Express
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
 Loyal's Celine Halioua: From Defying Doubters To Pioneering Dog Longevity
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.
Access:
 Notion CEO Ivan Zhao on if AI is really killing software companies
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
 Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
 Davos: Burning Man for the Rich?
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
 His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World
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.
Add your podcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:55 PM ET, January 29, 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.

From Mediagazer

CNBC:
James Cameron blasts Netflix's proposed acquisition of WBD, in a letter to Senator Mike Lee, calling it “disastrous for the theatrical motion picture business”

Marina Adami / Nieman Lab:
Editors and freelance journalists say AI has brought more productivity, increased expectations of speed, a need for more vetting, and sometimes job-loss fears

James Hibberd / The Hollywood Reporter:
After a backlash, AMC opts out of screening an AI short film during its pre-show, programmed by ad company Screenvision, before feature films

More News

Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review: bright screen, anti-glare, Circle to Search, great camera, and seven years of updates, but pricey, heavy, and AI is a mixed bag
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
AR glasses maker Xreal raised $60M from an unidentified supply chain partner at a $1B+ valuation, for $300M+ in funding, and expects $100M-$150M in 2024 revenue

Earlier Picks

Chris Miller / Financial Times:
China's chipmakers are ramping up production capacity, helped by the country's subsidies, raising concerns among western nations about China flooding the market
Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta is optimistic Vision Pro can reinvigorate its $50B metaverse effort, with the Quest ecosystem filling the role played by Android in smartphones
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter