Techmeme
December 17, 2024, 8:35 AM

Top News

NBC News:
Source: Trump meets with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago, the same day that the company asks the Supreme Court to block the law that could ban the app  —  President-elect Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by the courts.  He has since changed his position on the issue.
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google debuts Whisk, an image generator that takes other images as prompts to suggest the subject, scene, and style, and uses the new, “latest” Imagen 3 version  —  Google has announced a new AI tool called Whisk that lets you generate images using other images as prompts instead of requiring a long text prompt.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google DeepMind unveils Veo 2, a video generation model that can create clips over two minutes long at resolutions up to 4K, available in VideoFX via a waitlist  —  Google DeepMind, Google's flagship AI research lab, wants to beat OpenAI at the video generation game — and it might just, at least for a little while.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads now has 100M+ DAUs, revealing its DAU figure for the first time, and 300M+ MAUs, up from 275M+ MAUs in November 2024  —  It's a notable milestone not just because it's a big number; it's also the first time Meta has a daily active user figure publicly.
Rishav Chatterjee / Reuters:
Australia's privacy watchdog says Meta agreed to a AU$50M settlement over a 2020 Cambridge Analytica lawsuit alleging 300K+ Facebook users' data was exposed  —  The Australian Information Commissioner said on Tuesday it has withdrawn civil penalty proceedings against Meta Platforms (META.O) …
CNBC:
Waymo plans to test its robotaxis in Tokyo in early 2025, its first international expansion, partnering with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu and taxi hailing app GO  —  Alphabet-owned Waymo announced Monday that it will start testing its autonomous vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025, the company's first step toward international expansion.
Edith Hancock / Wall Street Journal:
The European Commission opens a formal DSA investigation into TikTok over concerns foreign actors used it to interfere in the Romanian presidential elections  —  The probe comes after judges in the country annulled the outcome of the first round of presidential elections, citing concerns of Russian interference
Financial Times:
The UK opens a consultation on AI and copyright, and aims to offer an “opt out” copyright exception, force companies to open models to scrutiny, and more  —  Consultation could see easier access to copyrighted works but require tech groups to be clearer on what they have used
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Search available to logged-in users, not just subscribers, and says users can set ChatGPT Search as their browser's default search engine  —  The product, called ChatGPT Search, will be available to any user who is logged in with an account for the chatbot across …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Zoho Billing Enterprise Edition: A platform for strategic revenue operations  —  Today's enterprises are adopting more flexible pricing models, charging customers based on actual consumption.
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

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Is Upending Law. Is That A Sign For The Rest Of Us? — With Melia Russell
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.
[trading places]:
Ben Black Akkadian Ventures🏆 | Secondaries Secrets 💎 | RAISE Conf 🎯 | Vercel $9B 🚀
a very bad podcast about broken unicorns & busted carry hosted by dave mcclure and aman verjee
Subscribe to [trading places].
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Invest Like the Best:
Gavin Baker - Nvidia v. Google, Scaling Laws, and the Economics of AI
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Pat Grady & Alfred Lin from Sequoia
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:35 AM ET, December 17, 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

Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Victoria Song / The Verge:
John Melloy / CNBC:
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: