Techmeme: The US and China are set to hold their first high-level AI talks on May 14 in Geneva, as the governments seek to prevent disastrous accidents and unintended war (Eva Dou/Washington Post)

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May 13, 2024, 6:55 AM

Top News

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:

US farmers had to halt their planting operations after the solar storm broke critical GPS and precision farming functionality in tractors and other equipment — The accuracy of some critical GPS navigation systems used in modern farming have been “extremely compromised,” a John Deere dealership told customers Saturday.

More: Silicon Republic, New York Times, John Deere, The Overspill, The Verge, and Engadget

X: @agarri_fr, @dbeyer123, @jason_koebler, @weldpond, @dancow, @ericgeller, @josephfcox, @jason_koebler, @robotbeat, @tolstoybb, and @jason_koebler

Forums: Hacker News, r/interstellar, and r/PrepperIntel

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:

Sources: the EU is set to issue new antitrust charges against Microsoft over concerns over undermining Teams competitors, despite Microsoft offering concessions — Tech group's effort to avoid action by unbundling videoconferencing app from its other software appears to have failed

More: BetaNews and The Verge

Mastodon: @1br0wn@eupolicy.social. X: @florian4gamers

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple has met with Hollywood talent representatives to propose a new performance-based compensation regime, as Amazon and Netflix work on similar plans — Apple builds a bonus system around sign-ups, viewer loyalty and production costs. — Good afternoon from 30,000 feet.

More: PhoneArena and The Information

Threads: @lucas_shaw, @carnage4life, and @carnage4life. Forums: r/television

Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green:

Following attempts to malign Signal as insecure by Telegram's CEO and Elon Musk, a look at why Signal is widely regarded by experts as more secure than Telegram — Telegram has launched a pretty intense campaign to malign Signal as insecure, with assistance from Elon Musk. The goal seems to be to get activists to switch away from encrypted Signal to mostly-unencrypted Telegram. I want to talk about this a bit. 1/

New York Times:

A look at how Elon Musk uses X to support right-wing world leaders like Narendra Modi who could help secure advantages for his businesses — Minutes after it became clear that Javier Milei had been elected president of South America's second-largest nation in November, Elon Musk posted on X: “Prosperity is ahead for Argentina.”

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X: @ryp__, @flitteronfraud, @rmac18, @rmac18, @ericgeller, @kateconger, and @markjacob16

Forums: Hacker News, r/RealTesla, and r/inthenews

Bloomberg:

The EU designates Booking as a DMA gatekeeper, saying “holidaymakers will start benefiting from more choice and hotels will have more business opportunities” — - Travel site is designated as a ‘gatekeeper’ under EU's DMA — X avoids rules for now as officials open probe into its status

More: Reuters and European Commission

Bluesky: @hern.bsky.social. X: @kayjebelli, @adamkovac, @lewis_crofts, @mseltzermayr, @eu_competition, and @eu_commission

Bloomberg:

The US, the EU, and other superpowers have funneled nearly $81B towards supporting chip companies, the first wave of ~$380B earmarked by global governments — US and allies vie with China for superconductor supremacy, powered by wave of domestic investment

More: MIT Technology Review. X: @mackhawk and @scottlincicome

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

A look at 01.AI, which is launching Wanzhi, a free generative AI assistant focused on the Chinese market; CEO Kai-Fu Lee says 01.AI is nearing profitability — - His startup 01.AI is introducing its first consumer AI app — China needs a catalyst in the same way ChatGPT fueled the US

More: Cryptopolitan and Benzinga

X: @sbeastwindy, @marikakatanuma, @01ai_yi, @saritharai, @_philschmid, and @dorialexander

Forums: Hacker News and r/LocalLLaMA

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:

SoftBank reports a $4.6B gain on its Vision Fund in the fiscal year to March 2024, the first gain since 2021, after ByteDance and DoorDash rose in value — SoftBank posted a 724.3 billion Japanese yen ($4.6 billion) gain on its Vision Fund in the fiscal year ended March …

More: Financial Times, Benzinga, RTÉ, Reuters, Financial Times, and Bloomberg

Zachary Small / New York Times:

Christie's confirms eight auctions will proceed this week after a “technology security issue” on May 9 knocked its website offline, the second breach in a year — The auction house failed to regain control of its official website on Sunday but said that its spring auctions would go on, in person and by phone.

Eva Dou / Washington Post:

The US and China are set to hold their first high-level AI talks on May 14 in Geneva, as the governments seek to prevent disastrous accidents and unintended war — The talks Tuesday are aimed at preventing disastrous accidents and unintended war amid an AI arms race.

More: Reuters, Benzinga, Axios, Nikkei Asia, Financial Times, and Nextgov/FCW

Stuart Condie / Wall Street Journal:

An Australian judge refuses the eSafety commissioner's request to extend an order for X to hide a video of a religious leader's stabbing, without giving reasons — Elon Musk previously said he was worried that if any country is allowed to censor content for all countries, then any country could control the entire internet

More: Forbes, The Guardian, Reuters, Financial Times, The Verge, Benzinga, and Social Media Today

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day

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Financial Times:

How GPS warfare is affecting civilian populations; an analysis finds ~40M people lived in areas with unreliable GPS for at least half of the past six months

X: @_nickrogers_ and @snellarthur

Washington Post:

A look at the growing number of startups offering AI deepfake detection services, with some claiming startling levels of accuracy despite untested capabilities

Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal:

As VC firms pivot to investing in startups developing defense tech for the US and its allies, some of their business ties with China still linger

X: @tomaxwell and @jchengwsj

Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:

Brad Smith says Microsoft plans to invest €4B in France, mostly focused on AI, and the company will set up a data center in the city of Mulhouse

More: RTÉ, Neowin, TechRadar, Proactive, and Bloomberg

Reuters:

Sources: Shein steps up preparations for a London listing amid regulatory hurdles for a New York IPO; a source says Shein plans to file in London as soon as May

More: TechNode, Proactive, The Sunday Times, City A.M., and The Guardian

Melissa Korn / Wall Street Journal:

A look at the rise and fall of 2U, which provides online degree programs for top US universities and is currently valued at ~$30M, down from $5B+ in 2018

More: Livemint. X: @melissakorn and @jillbarshay

Henry Mance / Financial Times:

Researcher Sonia Livingstone says constraining tech companies and empowering young people and parents are better alternatives to banning kids from social media

X: @mollyroseorg, @cooksimon, @henrymance, @soph_butch, @henrymance, @katebevan, @henrymance, @henrymance, @alecmuffett, @livingstone_s, and @ciesiolkiewicz. LinkedIn: Sonia Livingstone

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:

A look at professor-led crypto projects EigenLayer and Babylon, which seek to generate yield from cryptocurrencies, as “professor coins” spur investor interest

More: CryptoGlobe, Cryptopolitan, and CoinGape. X: @crypto

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

A look at the potential successors to Apple's top executives across all major divisions, including SVP Sabih Khan in operations and VP Kevan Parekh in finance

More: Benzinga and iMore

Threads: @marcslove. X: @james_abev and @markgurman. Forums: r/apple

Keiichi Murayama / Nikkei Asia:

Q&A with Oracle CEO Safra Catz on generative AI's risks and impact, providing cloud infrastructure to TikTok, the importance of workplace diversity, and more

X: @stanphylcap, @jeff4malaysia, and @nikkeiasia

Ju-min Park / Reuters:

South Korea's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok says the government is preparing a $7.3B+ support package for chip investments to win the “war” in the chip sector

More: Bloomberg, Tech in Asia, International Business Times, and The Korea Herald

X: @cduhaime. LinkedIn: Johannes Verst. Forums: r/technology and r/singularity

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:

Maryland Apple Store union workers vote to authorize strike over Apple's alleged refusal to fairly bargain; Short Hills NJ store workers vote against unionizing

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

The UK government's new AI safety body releases Inspect, an evaluation tool for AI model capabilities, including models' core knowledge and ability to reason

More: Silicon Republic, PYMNTS.com, GOV.UK, Financial Express, Cryptopolitan, and Infosecurity

X: @tobi, @ylecun, @clementdelangue, @rajiinio, @sophiemrose_, @peterhndrsn, @kdpsinghlab, @soundboy, and @sriramk. LinkedIn: Axel C.

Jasper Goodman / Politico:

How Trump is courting crypto traders, as GOP becomes increasingly friendly toward crypto while key Democrats remain at odds and SEC cracks down on the industry

More: Forbes, NewsBTC, Benzinga, Crypto Adventure, Bitcoinist.com, crypto.news, Bitcoin Insider, MarketWatch, New York Post, Cryptopolitan, CoinDesk, and CryptoPotato

Threads: @carnage4life, @moonhunterken, and @t.wllms

Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @briansullivan@mastodon …. Bluesky: @waxmonkey.bsky.social

X: @mcuban, @davidfbailey, @autismcapital, @ryansadams, @danheld, @3orovik, @eleanorterrett, @altcoindailyio, @jchervinsky, @samlyman33, @3orovik, @autismcapital, @frankdegods, and @macdegods. Forums: r/CryptoCurrency