Techmeme
October 16, 2024, 3:00 PM

Top News

David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon unveils the $280 Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, its first color e-reader with a Paperwhite-like design and color E Ink display, shipping October 30  —  For years, Kindle users have asked Amazon to make a color version of its e-reader. … The Colorsoft costs $279.99 and starts shipping on October 30th.
Sheena Vasani / The Verge:
Amazon updates Kindle Paperwhite, adding a larger, brighter 7" display and faster page turns for $160+, and Kindle, adding color options and speed improvements  —  Amazon introduced updated versions of the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite on Wednesday, only a few hours after inadvertently leaking them both.
David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon updates the Kindle Scribe to add modest design improvements like white bezels, a new stylus, and a more paper-like feel, shipping December 4 for $400  —  Ever since Amazon launched the Kindle Scribe in 2022, the company has been noticing some unusual ways people are using the device.
Tony Polanco / Tom's Guide:
Kindle Colorsoft hands-on: bold and sharp color on a 7" display, wireless charging, and comfortable, lightweight design, but pricier than other Kindles at $280  —  The Kindle Colorsoft is shaping up to be a winner  —  Early Verdict … The Kindle Colorsoft ($279) is the first color Kindle and something I've been waiting years for.
Diana Olick / CNBC:
Amazon signs three deals to help develop small modular nuclear reactors in the US, with Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund leading a $500M Series C-1 for X-energy  —  Amazon Web Services is investing more than $500 million in nuclear power, announcing three projects from Virginia to Washington state.
Eduardo Baptista / Reuters:
The Cybersecurity Association of China says Intel products sold in the country should be subject to a security review, alleging it has “constantly harmed” China  —  Intel (INTC.O) products sold in China should be subject to a security review, the Cybersecurity Association of China …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
The US FTC adopts its final “click-to-cancel” rule requiring businesses to make canceling a subscription as easy as signing up, after proposing the rule in 2023  —  The US Federal Trade Commission is taking action against subscriptions that are difficult to get rid of.
Bloomberg:
ASML's stock falls the most since 1998 after projecting sluggish 2025 sales, erasing €50B from its market cap and causing Nvidia and other chip stocks to fall  —  - Magnitude of ASML's forecast cut was a surprise, Citi says  — Peer Tokyo Electron among worst hit stocks in Asia, down 10%
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Mistral releases Les Ministraux AI models in 3B and 8B sizes with 128K context windows, aimed at on-device translation, internet-less smart assistants, and more  —  French AI startup Mistral has released its first generative AI models designed to be run on edge devices, like laptops and phones.
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Airbnb launches the Co-Host Network to help homeowners hire fellow hosts to manage their rentals in the US, the UK, Canada, France, Spain, and Brazil  —  - Homeowners can pay co-hosts to set up listing, manage guests  — Firm won't take commission when hosts connect with each other
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
The EU declines to designate X as a DMA gatekeeper after an investigation found that “X is not an important gateway for business users to reach end users”  —  Elon Musk's X won't be regulated under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) the Commission decided Wednesday …
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
Lightmatter, which uses silicon photonics with waveguides instead of wires in chips, raised a $400M Series D led by T. Rowe Price at a $4.4B valuation  —  Investors put $400 million into the company, which aims to make it faster to build new AI software.
New York Times:
Filings: Trump's campaign hasn't bought an ad on Snapchat this election cycle; Trump's personal Snap account, banned after January 6, 2021, remains banned  —  The former president, whose personal account was banned after the Capitol riot, has refused to spend campaign money on Snapchat ads …
Bluesky: @dmnd.me
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Instacart names Anirban Kundu, head of engineering for Uber's delivery business, as its new CTO, a position that has been vacant for eight months  —  - Anirban Kundu to join Instacart Oct. 28, company says  — Kundu was head of engineering for Uber Eats and delivery ads
More: Grocery DiveX: @natlungfy
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Dane Stuckey, the former CISO of Palantir, joins OpenAI as its CISO and will serve alongside OpenAI head of security Matt Knight  —  Dane Stuckey, the former CISO of analytics firm Palantir, has joined OpenAI as its newest CISO, serving alongside OpenAI head of security Matt Knight.
The Citizen Lab:
An analysis of WeChat's network protocol MMTLS finds that it is a modified version of TLS 1.3 and WeChat developers' changes to its cryptography add weaknesses  —  Key contributions  — We performed the first public analysis of the security and privacy properties of MMTLS …
Jessica Piper / Politico:
FTC data: three crypto super PACs have spent $82M in 19 races, including $40M in Ohio and $10M in Arizona; the ads focus on candidates and rarely mention crypto  —  Super PACs funded by the crypto industry are pouring massive amounts into congressional races, and not a single ad actually mentions crypto.
Bloomberg:
Filing: Elon Musk poured ~$75M into his pro-Trump America PAC, making seven donations between July 3 and September 5; Musk was the PAC's only donor  —  - Disclosure is first look into Musks' donations to Trump group  — Super PAC spent $69 million to bolster Trump's ground game

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