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January 29, 2024, 9:35 PM
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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.
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’
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  —  The Galaxy S24 Ultra is packed with top-tier hardware, but its highly touted AI features are hit-or-miss — and the price is higher than ever.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:35 PM ET, January 29, 2024.

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From Mediagazer

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
President Trump told reporters “it's imperative” for CNN to be sold: “Any deal it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately”

David Bauder / Associated Press:
The NYT says it won't be deterred in its work after Trump posted on Truth Social that reporting by The NYT and others about his health was “seditious”

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mirror Editor-in-Chief Caroline Waterston steps down after less than two years, to be succeeded by Chloe Hubbard, currently UK editor at The Independent

More News

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
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