Techmeme: Cruise names its first chief safety officer, Steve Kenner, to rehabilitate its image; Kenner has held top safety roles at Uber, Aurora, Kodiak, and Locomation (Sean O'Kane/TechCrunch)

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February 13, 2024, 11:20 AM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Sources: Microsoft plans to launch select Xbox games on the PS5 and Switch, starting with Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Sea of Thieves, a seismic strategy shift — With rumors of some Xbox games coming to PS5 and Switch, Microsoft gets ready to lay out its vision for the future of Xbox.

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft plans an Xbox business update event on February 15 at 12PM PT, delivered via a podcast hosted by Xbox's Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty — After weeks of rumors of Xbox exclusives coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, Microsoft is now planning to discuss its vision for the future of Xbox at an event later this week.

More: Engadget, Game Rant, T3, TechRadar, PC Gamer, BGR, Gameranx, MobileSyrup, TechRaptor, Kotaku, Polygon, 9to5Toys, Windows Central, Pure Xbox, GameSpot, IGN, GamingBolt, GamesIndustry.biz, Cryptopolitan, Video Games Chronicle, Benzinga, Dot Esports, and TrueAchievements

X: @xbox, @genepark, @jezcorden, @destinlegarie, @tomwarren, @dustincanfly, and @ordinarygamers. LinkedIn: Emil Protalinski

Forums: r/xcloud, r/TwoBestFriendsPlay, and r/gaming

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:

The EU ends its DMA investigation into iMessage and Microsoft Bing, Edge, and Advertising, deciding not to regulate the services due to their lack of dominance — - Services not dominant enough to face Digital Markets Act … A probe concluded that the services don't hold a dominant enough position …

More: European Commission, MacRumors, The Verge, Engadget, Appleosophy, Thurrott, Android Authority, Silicon Republic, Business Post, PCMag, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Silicon UK, iThinkDifferent, CNBC, Neowin, Supercharged, BGR, and Benzinga

X: @lewis_crofts, @eu_competition, @lewis_crofts, @vittoriobertola, @samuelstolton, and @games_fray

Forums: r/technology and MacRumors Forums

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Nvidia releases an early version of Chat with RTX, an app that lets users run an AI chatbot on a PC powered by an RTX 30- or 40-series GPU with 8GB+ of VRAM — Nvidia is releasing an early version of Chat with RTX today, a demo app that lets you run a personal AI chatbot on your PC.

More: NVIDIA, TechCrunch, Dexerto, VentureBeat, XDA Developers, ExtremeTech, and Wccftech. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to

Rebekah Valentine / IGN:

Interviews with 40+ developers detail the reasoning behind layoffs in gaming, including high costs, growing risks, and executives with little regard for staff — An estimated 10,000 game workers lost their jobs in 2023 alone. — In August of last year, Ascendant Studios developer Aaron …

More: Video Games Chronicle, GamesRadar, TrueAchievements, TweakTown, Pure Xbox, Game World Observer, Metro.co.uk, Gameranx, Wccftech, Push Square, and GamingBolt

X: @domsplaying, @duckvalentine, and @mooresaiyan

Forums: r/pcgaming, r/Games, r/gaming, and r/XboxSeriesX

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google rolls out its Companion Mode to Meet for Android and iOS, letting users check in, share an emoji reaction, raise their hand, turn on captions, and more — Originally introduced for the web and Nest Hub Max, Google is now bringing its second screen “Companion Mode” to the Meet app on Android and iOS.

More: Google Workspace Updates, Thurrott, The Verge, Android Central, Android Headlines, TechRadar, and PhoneArena

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

US court notice: the sentencing of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for money laundering has been postponed until April 30, 2024; CZ is free on a $175M release bond — - The sentencing of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on a money laundering rule charge has been postponed until April 30, a notice in Seattle federal court shows.

More: Bloomberg, Blockworks, Decrypt, Crypto Briefing, Milk Road, CryptoPotato, Coinspeaker, crypto.news, Cryptopolitan, The Crypto Basic, ZyCrypto, Coinpedia Fintech News, The Block, Cryptonews, Bitcoin Insider, Unchained, CoinGape, Cointelegraph, and CryptoSlate

X: @quinnypig. Forums: r/CryptoCurrency and r/ethtrader

Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo:

Flipper Devices, which makes the Flipper Zero multi-tool device, announces a new $49 Video Game Module, powered by a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller — The creators behind the popular Flipper device have teamed up with Raspberry Pi to expand its capabilities.

More: Engadget, Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Dexerto, PCMag, ZDNet, The Verge, and Flipper Blog

X: @flipper_zero. Forums: r/gadgets

John Archer / Forbes:

Amazon Prime Video's basic ad tier, which US subscribers who didn't pay extra were downgraded to on January 29, doesn't support Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos — Amazon AMZN caused a furor recently when it announced that it was introducing advertisements right across its Prime Video streaming service.

Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times:

Sources: Temu is scooping up suppliers of cheap goods that once worked with Shein, as Shein moves to clean up its supply chain ahead of a planned US listing — PDD Holdings-owned marketplace takes on Chinese sellers of cheap goods as fast-fashion competitor prepares for IPO

More: Tom's Guide

Rachel Phua / Bloomberg:

Temu bought six Super Bowl ad slots, likely for tens of millions, to win back US shoppers; US observed sales fell 12.5% MoM in December 2023 and 4.8% in January

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:

Shopify reports Q4 revenue up 24% YoY to $2.1B, above $2.08B est., and Gross Merchandise Volume up 23% YoY to $75.1B, above $71.6B est.; SHOP drops 10%+ — - Fourth-quarter sales and profit beat analysts' estimates — Company earlier this month raised prices it charges merchants

More: Investor's Business Daily, BetaKit, CNBC, Shopify, Proactive, Reuters, and MarketWatch

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Proofpoint: unknown hackers are targeting hundreds of Azure accounts, some belonging to senior executives, to steal sensitive data and financial assets — The wide range of employee roles targeted indicates attacker's multifaceted approach. — Hundreds of Microsoft Azure accounts …

More: The Register, SC Media, Petri IT Knowledgebase, ITPro, WinBuzzer, SiliconANGLE, BleepingComputer, GovInfoSecurity.com, Windows Report, SecurityWeek, and Infosecurity

X: @rootsecdev, @proofpoint, and @proofpoint

Forums: r/cybersecurity and Ars OpenForum

Bloomberg:

A look at Adobe's very cautious gambit to add AI to Creative Cloud, pushed by Dall-E and Midjourney, and questions over whether creatives will embrace the tools — Dall-E and Midjourney pushed the Photoshop behemoth to develop Firefly, a suite of AI tools. Will creatives get on board?

Kylie Robison / Fortune:

Sierra, an enterprise-focused conversational AI startup from Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, launches with $110M in fundraising led by Sequoia Capital and Benchmark — Bret Taylor, right, launches Sierra, a conversational AI platform for businesses, with former Google executive Clay Bavor, left.

More: TechCrunch and Sierra

Threads: @jonfortt. X: @claybavor and @btaylor

Mia Sato / The Verge:

Websites with seemingly AI-generated obituaries litter Google search, sometimes listing living people as deceased and turning private individuals into clickbait — In the wake of death, AI-generated obituaries litter search results, turning even private individuals into clickbait. … part of /

More: Los Angeles Times. Threads: @miasato.2 and @knguyen. Mastodon: @annaecook@mstdn.social. Bluesky: @djcentos7.bsky.social. Forums: Slashdot

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer:

Q&A with Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko on the platform, its future, collaborating on ActivityPub with Meta's Threads team, why Bluesky should ditch AT, and more — The news last week that Bluesky is open to the public left me wondering how Mastodon, the original federated social network, is faring these days.

More: Mark Carrigan. Threads: @reporterzoe and @crumbler. Mastodon: @leonido@chaos.social. Bluesky: @t1u.bsky.social

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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

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Paramount's Makan Delrahim says everything is on the table to end the suit against Paramount's WBD deal and chatter about leaving California is not “blackmail”

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan's media company Unwell raised an undisclosed sum from WME co-founder Patrick Whitesell's WTSL at a $500M valuation

The Guardian:

Lawyers for UK Reform Party's deputy leader say they will seek documents that could reveal Guardian journalists' sources; critics call the move a legal threat

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More News

Zachary Small / New York Times:

GLAAD releases its first gaming industry survey, with 1,500 participants: <2% of console video games include LGBTQ characters, 17% of gamers are queer, and more

More: Engadget, GamesIndustry.biz, PC Gamer, TheGamer, TechRaptor, IGN, Kotaku, and Variety. X: @glaad

Krystal Hu / Reuters:

Virginia-based software testing startup Antithesis raised a $47M seed, a source says led by Amplify, Tamarack Global, and First In at a $215M valuation

More: Antithesis. X: @brooke and @antithesishq

Forums: Hacker News and Lobsters

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

Netherlands-based Finom, a challenger bank aimed at SMEs and freelancers, raised a €50M Series B, after a €33M Series A in early 2022 and €16.8M seed in 2020

More: FinTech Global, Tech.eu, Silicon Canals, and Finextra

Jeanne Whalen / Washington Post:

How the US CHIPS Act is helping boost the economy of Arizona's Maricopa County, with TSMC and other manufacturers building factories and creating high-tech jobs

X: @whcommsdir

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

Helsinki-based Bob W, an Airbnb-like marketplace for premium short-term apartment rentals, raised a €40M Series B led by Evli Growth

More: Tech.eu, FinSMEs, AIN.Capital, Silicon Canals, Tech Funding News, ArcticStartup, and EU-Startups

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Music encyclopedia EveryNoise, which uses Spotify data, stopped updating after Spotify laid off the employee running the site in December, angering its fans

Reuters:

Sources: Founders Fund bought $100M in bitcoin and $100M in ether from late summer to early fall 2023; the VC sold its crypto portfolio in 2022, making ~$1.8B

More: Cryptopolitan, Milk Road, Crypto Daily, The Information, CoinDesk, Coinpedia Fintech News, crypto.news, Cryptonews, Cointelegraph, CoinGape, and The Block

X: @readkrystalhu, @wublockchain, and @mdudas

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

A US federal judge blocks Ohio from implementing a law that would require social media companies to obtain parental consent for kids under 16 to use their apps

More: Associated Press, Techdirt, Governor DeWine Communications, NetChoice, NetChoice, WCMH-TV, Bloomberg Law, and Florida Politics

X: @katewsyx6, @govmikedewine, @aricohn, @ltgovhusted, @senatorshoshana, @netchoice, and @jamescz19

Earlier Picks

Brandon Vigliarolo / The Register:

Cloudflare defeats a second “patent troll”, invalidating parts of three Sable Networks' patents after crowdsourcing prior art findings through Project Jengo

More: The Cloudflare Blog and WebProNews

Threads: @gergelyorosz_. X: @eastdakota and @cloudflare. LinkedIn: Steven Callahan

Forums: Hacker News and r/technology

Michelle F Davis / Bloomberg:

ContextLogic agrees to sell the discount online retailer Wish for $173M to Singaporean company Qoo10; Wish had a $14B valuation after its 2020 IPO

More: Wish, CNBC, San Francisco Business Times, and The Information

Threads: @tomgara. X: @carnage4life

Sean O'Kane / TechCrunch:

Cruise names its first chief safety officer, Steve Kenner, to rehabilitate its image; Kenner has held top safety roles at Uber, Aurora, Kodiak, and Locomation

More: AppleInsider, Cruise Self Driving Cars, and The Verge

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

Apple releases visionOS 1.0.3, the first update since the Vision Pro launch, adding an option to reset the device if the passcode has been forgotten

More: PCMag, Benzinga, iThinkDifferent, GSMArena.com, Android Authority, O'Grady's PowerPage, BGR, iPhone in Canada Blog, NewsBytes, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, MobileSyrup, Engadget, BGR, Supercharged, AppleInsider, and Gizmochina

Forums: r/VisionPro and MacRumors Forums

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Meta begins testing “today's topics” on Threads in the US, surfaced in the app on the Search page and in the For You feed, that can feature political content

More: Washington Post, Silicon Republic, The Verge, 9to5Mac, SamMobile, PhoneArena, Livemint, Android Headlines, JapanTrendMedia, Technical Terrence, ReadWrite, Engadget, and SiliconANGLE

Threads: @zuck, @mosseri, @mosseri, @fredericl, @timothybucksf, @hardin, @willoremus, @katienotopoulos, @renee.diresta, @kimberleyannjohnson, @harryjsisson, @daveleebbg, @chris, @bmotheprince, @greeblehaus, @carlas, @mattnavarra, @keithedwards, and @willoremus. X: @willoremus. Forums: Slashdot