Techmeme
April 2, 2024, 9:55 PM

Top News

research!rsc:
A timeline of the attack on open-source project XZ Utils, which began in late 2021 and led to a backdoor with RCE in Linux distros from Debian, Red Hat, others  —  Over a period of over two years, an attacker using the name “Jia Tan” worked as a diligent, effective contributor to the xz compression library …
Washington Post:
The US Cyber Safety Review Board faults Microsoft for a “cascade of avoidable errors” that led to the 2023 Chinese hack of top US government officials' emails  —  The independent Cyber Safety Review Board's forthcoming report knocks the tech giant for shoddy cybersecurity practices …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo acquires the news app Artifact, shuts down its standalone app, and plans to use its technology on Yahoo News and other services in the coming months  —  Instagram's co-founders built a powerful and useful tool for recommending news to readers — but could never quite get it to scale.
Theo Wayt / The Information:
Amazon plans to remove Just Walk Out from most of its grocery stores and add more grocery stores with Dash Carts, which let shoppers scan items while they shop  —  Amazon's grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, has been a centerpiece of its ambitions to transform bricks-and-mortar supermarkets.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sources: Microsoft is testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot that can automate support tasks via an “embodied AI character”, as part of larger Xbox AI efforts  —  Microsoft is currently testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot that can be used to automate support tasks.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, and 200+ others sign a letter to AI developers and tech companies decrying “predatory” AI that steals voices, replaces artists, more  —  - Jen Jacobson, executive director at The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the trade group representing the artists signing the letter …
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Anthropic researchers detail “many-shot jailbreaking”, which can evade LLMs' safety guardrails by including a large number of faux dialogues in a single prompt  —  How do you get an AI to answer a question it's not supposed to?  There are many such “jailbreak” techniques …
Raymond Wong / Inverse:
Apple debuts Spatial Personas in beta, letting up to five Vision Pro users participate together within compatible apps without being in the same physical space  —  Apple Vision Pro is above and beyond other mixed reality headsets, but even with the highest quality passthrough camera tech …
David Ingram / NBC News:
X promotes Kylie McRoberts to Head of Safety, after Ella Irwin left in June 2023, when Musk overruled a decision that limited the spread of an anti-trans video  —  Musk's heads of safety have traditionally attracted intense scrutiny.  —  Elon Musk's X said Tuesday it was appointing …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart says Apple asked him not to interview FTC chair Lina Khan on his Apple podcast by saying “please don't talk to her”  —  - “Apple's conduct extends beyond just monopoly profits and even affects the flow of speech.
Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
Replit launches Code Repair, an AI agent to automatically fix coding errors, and Teams, which allows developers to collaborate in real time on software projects  —  The Scoop  —  A Silicon Valley AI coding startup is launching a new tool that it hopes will change the way companies develop software.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Intel says its Foundry division had $18.9B in 2023 revenue, down 31% YoY, and a $7B operating loss, up from $5.2B, and expects 2024 to be the peak of its losses  —  - In a change, company breaks out numbers for manufacturing unit  — New Intel Foundry division is expected to break even by 2030

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
Zoho Books now enables direct VAT filing with EmaraTax  —  We're excited to announce that Zoho Books is now recognised as a Digital Tax Integrator by the Federal Tax Authority, enabling direct VAT return filing from within your favorite accounting software.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Tim Apple's Very Bad Week
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Jeffrey Katzenberg & Sujay Jaswa (WndrCo) on What Startup Founders Can Steal From Hollywood
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Hard Fork:
Google DeepMind C.E.O. Demis Hassabis on Living in an A.I. Future
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.
BG2 Pod:
AI, Middle East, China, Tariffs, Recon Bill, Invest America
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is okay with reinventing the bus
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
Unconventional product lessons from Binance, N26, Google, more | Mayur Kamat (CPO at N26, ex-Binance Head of Product)
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:55 PM ET, April 2, 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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
Bloomberg:
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Wall Street Journal: