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April 28, 2025, 4:30 PM
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Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Researchers say bots on Reddit posing as rape victims and more were effective at changing minds in over 1,000 posts, in an unauthorized AI persuasion experiment  —  A team of researchers who say they are from the University of Zurich ran an “unauthorized,” large-scale experiment …
Ben Smith / Semafor:
A look at the network of group chats that surged in 2020 as a place where Silicon Valley leaders allied with the new right, revolving around Marc Andreessen  —  THE SCOOP  —  Last Thursday morning, a bit before 10 am in Austin and nearly 11 pm in Singapore, Joe Lonsdale had enough of Balaji Srinivasan's views on China.
More: The Verge, Inc, Vanity Fair, Boing Boing, Garbage Day, New Republic, emptywheel, Fortune, Raw Story, The Present Age, How Things Work, Spyglass, and New York Daily News
Bluesky: @espiers, @monteiro, @maxread.info, @karlbode.com, @harikunzru, @claireconnelly, @leahmcelrath, @ryanlcooper.com, @nicholasgrossman, @joshsternberg.com, @nathalievanraemdonck.com, @sethcotlar, @otsumamiboy, @tomscocca, @evanurquhart, @aaronhuertas, @cgallaher, @reckless, @karlbode.com, @jonathanfriedman.com, @nathantankus, @wafoli, @esqueer.net, @mmasnick, @twesq, @kyledchurch, @hunterwalk.com, @gaberivera, @donmoyn, @protecttruth, @donmoyn, @originalist, @peark.es, @anildash.com, @jamellebouie.net, @greene.haus, @davidklion, and @davidklion.  Mastodon: @BrideOfLinux@mastodon ….  Threads: @carnage4life
X: @balajis, @discourse_blog, @benryanwriter, @hissgoescobra, @growing_daniel, @taylorlorenz, @tvietor08, @zichenwanghere, @bmeiselas, @antoniogm, @richardhanania, @silvermanjacob, @jessicalessin, @oyhsu, @semaforben, @davidklion, @levie, @semaforben, @richardhanania, @jordanschnyc, @jtlonsdale, @kathyf, @bigmeaninternet, @ktmboyle, @nicknotned, @lessin, @semaforben, @richardhanania, @evanoconnell, @mikeisaac, @semaforben, @semaforben, @jefflonsdale, @richardhanania, @teddyschleifer, @semaforben, @semaforben, @davidklion, @austen, @joshelman, @buccocapital, @semaforben, and @semaforben
Forums: Hacker News, r/TrueReddit, r/ezraklein, r/samharris, r/BetterOffline, r/signal, r/neoliberal, r/billsimmons, and r/politics
Reece Rogers / Wired:
OpenAI announces that it will start showing product recommendations in ChatGPT, even for logged-out users, with buy buttons that link to merchants' sites  —  OpenAI is launching a shopping experience inside of ChatGPT, complete with product picks and buy buttons.
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Kickstarter introduces a “Tariff Manager tool” that lets creators add extra charges for backers on projects that were already fully funded  —  Kickstarter projects have the option of asking backers for more money in order to manage the costs of Trump's tariffs.
More: The Verge, Engadget, and Gizmodo
Bluesky: @jasonkoebler, @josephcox, and @emanuelmaiberg.  Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to.  Forums: Slashdot
CNBC:
Temu adds “import charges” of between 130% and 150% “due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs”; Shein also hikes prices but without explicit fees  —  Chinese e-tailer Temu has started adding “import charges” of about 145% in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
IBM plans to invest $150B in the US over the next five years, including in R&D, to fuel the economy and “accelerate its role as the global leader in computing”  —  IBM plans to invest $150 billion in the US over the next five years, including funds for research and development …
David Heinemeier Hansson / HEY:
Google won the browser wars fair and square, and the web will be far worse off if Google is forced to sell Chrome, even to atone for ad market monopoly abuses  —  The web will be far worse off if Google is forced to sell Chrome, even if it's to atone for legitimate ad-market monopoly abuses.
The Citizen Lab:
In March 2025, World Uyghur Congress members were targeted with a spearphishing campaign via Windows malware in a legitimate Uyghur language word processor  —  Key Findings  — In March 2025, senior members of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) living in exile were targeted …
Financial Times:
A deep dive into Apple's iPhone manufacturing process, which uses ~2,700 parts from 187 suppliers in 28 countries; just 30 suppliers have no presence in China  —  The administration wants the iPhone to be manufactured in America.  The components that power it show why that is highly impractical
Zvi Mowshowitz / Don't Worry About the Vase:
A deep dive on GPT-4o's tendency to give sycophantic responses, an issue Sam Altman promised to fix and that may be caused by OpenAI optimizing for engagement  —  GPT-4o tells you what it thinks you want to hear.  —  The results of this were rather ugly.  You get extreme sycophancy.  Absurd praise.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:30 PM ET, April 28, 2025.

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.

From Mediagazer

Alex Ritman / Variety:
In Channel 4's 2025 Alternative Christmas Message, Jimmy Kimmel said “tyranny is booming” in the US and, on his ABC suspension, “We won, the president lost”

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”, after CBS aired a Late Show rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Disney crosses the $6B milestone at the box office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic; no other studio has managed to reach $6B since 2015

More News

Prakhar Khanna / ZDNET:
Nothing announces the $279 CMF Phone 2 Pro, with a 6.77" 120Hz AMOLED display and three rear cameras, including a 50MP telephoto lens, plus three new earbuds
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
Spotify says it has paid $100M+ to podcast publishers and creators since January 2025 via a new creator program based on Premium subscribers' video engagement

Earlier Picks

Samm Sacks / Bloomberg:
Huawei's recovery shows the limits of US policies aimed at restricting China, and how those policies can backfire, spurring Chinese firms to innovate and grow
CBS Mornings on YouTube:
Geoffrey Hinton fears AI companies are under-investing in safety research, embracing military usage, and sharing model weights while pushing for less regulation
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