Techmeme
December 11, 2024, 2:35 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Google releases its new flagship model Gemini 2.0 and plans to test it in search and AI Overviews, saying 2.0 makes “it possible to build agents that can think”  —  Company expects AI assistants will follow its users around the web  —  Google debuted a new version …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google unveils Deep Research, an AI tool to let its Gemini chatbot scour the web and write a detailed report, available in English for Gemini Advanced users  —  Google has just revealed a new AI tool called Deep Research that lets you call upon its Gemini bot to scour the web for you and write a detailed report based on its findings.
Ina Fried / Axios:
Google unveils an updated Project Astra, which can record and summarize videos recorded using an Android app or prototype glasses and answer questions  —  Astra can then summarize what it sees and answer a wide range of questions, drawing on an array of Google services including Search, Maps, Lens and Gemini.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google releases Gemini 2.0 Flash to generate images, audio, and text, and use third-party apps and services, available via Gemini API and developer platforms  —  Google's next major AI model has arrived to combat a slew of new offerings from OpenAI.  —  On Wednesday, Google announced Gemini 2.0 Flash …
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Google unveils Trillium, its sixth-gen AI chip powering Gemini 2.0, with 4x the training performance of its predecessor while using significantly less energy  —  Google has just unveiled Trillium, its sixth-generation artificial intelligence accelerator chip, claiming performance improvements …
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Google unveils Jules, an AI coding assistant that can autonomously fix software bugs and prepare code changes, built on Google's new Gemini 2.0 platform  —  Google unveiled “Jules” on Wednesday, an artificial intelligence coding assistant that can autonomously fix software bugs …
More: The Verge
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Apple rolls out iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2, adding major AI updates, including Image Playground on iPhone 15 Pro, 16, and 16 Pro, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration  —  ChatGPT integration is also included with this update.  —  Apple has begun rolling iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 to iPhones and iPads.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple Intelligence launches outside of the US for the first time and is now available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, and South Africa  —  Apple Intelligence is officially launching outside of the U.S. for the first time today, as a result of the features gaining expanded language support.
Alexander Maxham / Android Headlines:
Sources: Google Pixel 9a will cost $499 for the 128GB model with Tensor G4, 8GB of RAM, a 6.3" screen with 2,700 peak nits, 5,100mAh battery, 23W wired charging  —  We're getting closer and closer to the Pixel 9a being announced by Google.  While we've already confirmed a number of specs about the device …
The Information:
Sources: Apple is working with Broadcom to develop its first AI server chip, codenamed Baltra and set for 2026 mass production, a milestone for its silicon team  —  Apple is developing its first server chip specially designed for artificial intelligence, according to three people …
TechCrunch:
David Welch / Bloomberg:
Kurt Wilms / YouTube Official Blog:
YouTube says viewers streamed 1B+ hours of content daily on TVs in 2024 globally, including 400M+ hours of podcasts monthly; sports content watchtime grew 30%  —  The living room was the place to be for entertainment this year: We watched J Balvin and Lana Del Rey rock Coachella …
Emilia David / VentureBeat:
OpenAI expands Canvas, its side-by-side digital editing space, to all ChatGPT users and adds support for Python, more text pasting, and launching in custom GPTs  —  OpenAI is extending access to its side-by-side digital editing space, Canvas, to all ChatGPT users and added new features …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
A California District Court judge orders Automattic to stop blocking WP Engine's access to WordPress.org resources and interfering with WP Engine's plugins  —  WP Engine just won a preliminary injunction against WordPress.com parent company Automattic.  On Tuesday, a California District …
Venkat / Windows Report:
Mozilla is removing Do Not Track from Firefox in version 135, the first major browser to add and now remove it, saying few websites honor the privacy preference  —  Will Chrome, Edge, and Other Privacy-Focused Browsers follow this move?  —  Mozilla is removing the Do Not Track (DNT) setting from the Firefox browser.
Aaron Holmes / The Information:
Source: Google asked the US to break up Microsoft's exclusive agreement to host OpenAI's tech on Azure, after the FTC asked Google about Microsoft's practices  —  Google recently asked the U.S. government to break up Microsoft's exclusive agreement to host OpenAI's technology on its cloud servers …
Scharon Harding / Ars Technica:
Embodied, which made Moxie, an $800 companion robot for kids aged 5 to 10, says it is shutting down after a failed funding round and Moxie will soon be bricked  —  Startup Embodied is closing down, and its product, an $800 robot for kids ages 5 to 10, will soon be bricked.

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Niantic Spatial:
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Zoho:
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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Tim Cook's Legacy + The Future of U.B.I. With Andrew Yang + 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.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 "Spud," AI Model Moats, and Cybersecurity Risks
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Lenny's Podcast:
How Anthropic's product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Access:
Silicon Valley finally has its "Succession"
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

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Earlier Picks

Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Jody Godoy / Reuters:
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch: