Techmeme
July 15, 2024, 9:25 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Nullbulge, a hacktivist group critical of AI art, leaks Slack messages allegedly from Disney due to “how it handles artist contracts” and “its approach to AI”  —  ‘Hacktivist’ group critical of AI-generated art says it has obtained swaths of data from Disney's Slack channels …
Wes Davis / The Verge:
Apple launches the public betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, tvOS 18, and watchOS 11, but without any Apple Intelligence features  —  You can now download the public betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11.  Apple's updated operating systems will eventually include …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia add a “Recovered” album to the Photos app that shows previously lost or damaged photos and videos  —  There's a new feature in iOS 18 that you probably haven't heard about.  With the all-new Photos app, Apple has added a new “Recovered” …
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Researchers: hackers have exploited a Squarespace flaw to hijack domains, apparently mostly from crypto businesses, that were migrated from Google Domains  —  At least a dozen organizations with domain names at domain registrar Squarespace saw their websites hijacked last week.
Kim Zetter / ZERO DAY:
Kaspersky plans to close its US business and eliminate US-based positions, following the country's ban on the sale of its antivirus tool starting July 20  —  Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, has told workers in its U.S.-based division that they are being laid off this week …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Record labels, including UMG and Sony, sue Verizon for $2.6B+, alleging it violated copyright law by continuing to serve customers accused of pirating music  —  Lawsuit: One user's IP address was identified in 4,450 infringement notices.  —  Major record labels sued Verizon on Friday …
Gavin Bonshor / AnandTech:
A look at the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, its AI PC chip family for laptops, and the Ryzen 9000 series for desktops, both built on the new Zen 5 CPU architecture  —  Back at Computex 2024, AMD unveiled their highly anticipated Zen 5 CPU microarchitecture during AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su's opening keynote.
Sean Endicott / Windows Central:
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Microsoft researchers unveil SpreadsheetLLM, an encoding method designed to enable LLMs to efficiently understand and analyze complex spreadsheet data  —  Microsoft researchers have unveiled “SpreadsheetLLM,” a new AI model designed to understand and work with spreadsheets, in a significant development for the world of enterprise AI.
The Information:
Sources: Index is Wiz's largest outside shareholder, with an 11%+ stake; Sequoia owns 10%+, Insight owns ~9%, Greenoaks owns ~5%, and Cyberstarts owns ~4%  —  Google's proposed $23 billion acquisition of cloud security startup Wiz would help it compete with Microsoft, the top seller of security software.
Wall Street Journal:
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
A look at Trump VP pick JD Vance's tech ties, including working at Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital and investing in Rumble; Vance advocated repealing Section 230  —  Vance has long had connections to Silicon Valley through his former life as a venture capitalist, including to long-time Donald Trump supporter and investor Peter Thiel.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Elon Musk plans to commit ~$45M/month to America PAC, a new pro-Trump super PAC; other backers include Palantir's Joe Lonsdale and the Winklevoss twins  —  Other backers of America PAC include Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale and the Winklevoss twins
Dan Primack / Axios:
Source: Sequoia emailed LPs in funds raised between 2009 and 2011, offering to buy up to $861M of Stripe shares at $27.51 per share, valuing Stripe at $70B  —  - The purchasers would be other, more recent Sequoia Capital funds — a process partially enabled by the firm's 2021 restructuring.

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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT
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.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Vanta's Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning 'Nonsense' Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout
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.
Great Chat:
Who are the billboards for?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Access:
AI is turning sketches into real-world products
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Is AI Conscious?
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:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
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Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg: