Bookmarks (1055)

Caroline Haskins / The Guardian: The Palantir-sponsored AI Expo for National Competitiveness featured VR headsets for soldiers, a map tool that can “nominate targets of interest”, and more  —  America's military industrial complex took center stage at AI Expo for National Competitiveness, where a fire-breathing panel set the tone

Yuichi Shiga / Nikkei Asia: Honda plans to invest ~$12.8B in software over the decade up to the FY ending March 2031, as it prepares to join the rapid shift to EVs in markets like China  —  EV models get priority as Japanese automakers struggle in Chinese market  —  Honda plans to introduce new models in China faster than in its other markets.

Astha Rajvanshi / TIME: Access Now: 2023 was the worst year for internet shutdowns since monitoring began in 2016, with 283 shutdowns across 39 countries, led by India at 116  —  Last year, an internet shutdown in the state of Manipur, India, lasted a staggering 212 days when the state government issued 44 consecutive orders …

Jonathan Randles / Bloomberg: A US judge approves Genesis Global Capital's Chapter 11 repayment plan to return Bitcoin and other tokens to creditors, defeating a challenge by its parent DCG  —  - Genesis defeated a challenge by parent Digital Currency Group  — Judge also approved a related settlement with the New York AG

Pranshu Verma / Washington Post: A look at an ISIS-affiliated media program called News Harvest, which is using AI-generated news anchors to disseminate extremist propaganda quickly and cheaply  —  The Islamic State-affiliated media broadcast News Harvest shows how artificial intelligence can be used to disseminate extremist propaganda quickly and cheaply.

Natalie Lung / Bloomberg: Expedia fires its CTO Rathi Murthy and SVP Sreenivas Rachamadugu due to a “violation of company policy”, days after its annual product and partner conference  —  - Company declined to disclose specific reason for departures  — Murthy presented at Expedia's annual conference this week

Brendan O'Boyle / Reuters: The US DOJ charges two arrested Chinese nationals for allegedly orchestrating a crypto pig butchering scam that laundered at least $73M from defrauded victims  —  U.S. authorities charged two Chinese nationals in a cryptocurrency scam that laundered at least $73 million from defrauded victims, the Justice Department said on Friday.

Politico: Critics warn the French government's first-of-its-kind move within the EU to suspend TikTok in New Caledonia amid widespread protests sets a dangerous precedent  —  An unexpected and drastic measure to cut off access to the app in New Caledonia marks an EU first.

Leah Nylen / Bloomberg: Epic v. Apple: Phil Schiller told a US judge that Apple's new 27% fee on purchases made outside its App Store are a good-faith attempt to comply with the law  —  - Top Apple executive took stand Friday to defend new fee  — Epic Games has challenged Apple proposed antitrust remedy

Zeyi Yang / MIT Technology Review: Some researchers say GPT-4o's Chinese token-training data is polluted by spam and porn websites, likely due to inadequate data cleaning  —  Soon after OpenAI released GPT-4o on Monday, May 13, some Chinese speakers started to notice something seemed off about this newest version of the chatbot …

Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg: Photo editing and sharing app VSCO says it is now profitable, has a user base of 200M worldwide, and has 160K subscribers for its $59.99/year Pro product  —  - The photo sharing app wants to move on from ‘VSCO Girl’ meme  — VSCO is also launching a new creator hub for influencers

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica: The US SEC will require some financial institutions to notify customers whose personal information was compromised within 30 days of learning about breaches  —  Amendments contain loopholes that may blunt their effectiveness.  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) …

Reed Albergotti / Semafor: Google DeepMind releases its Frontier Safety Framework, a set of protocols for analyzing and mitigating future risks posed by advanced AI models  —  The Scoop  —  Preparing for a time when artificial intelligence is so powerful that it can pose a serious, immediate threat to people …

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: Meta is working on an Instagram feature called Peek that lets users post unedited, authentic pictures that can only be viewed once  —  Meta is once again taking on its competitors by developing a feature that borrows concepts from others — in this case, BeReal and Snapchat.

Kelsey Piper / Vox: OpenAI has an unusual, extremely restrictive off-boarding agreement with a lifelong nondisparagement commitment; those who don't sign it lose all vested equity  —  Why is OpenAI's superalignment team imploding?  —  Editor's note, May 17, 2024, 11:20 pm ET: This story has been updated …

Loni Prinsloo / Bloomberg: Prosus and parent group Naspers appoint Fabricio Bloisi as new CEO, replacing interim CEO Ervin Tu; Bloisi, who was the CEO of iFood, will start on July 1  —  - Ervin Tu will become the group's chief investment officer  — Bloisi joins the tecnology-investment firm from iFood

Matthew Hutson / Wired: A look at Maven, a new social network backed by Ev Williams, Sam Altman, and others, where users follow interests and topics instead of accounts  —  Twitter cofounder Ev Williams is backing a new social network called Maven, which trades likes and follows for algorithms designed to foster serendipity and deep discussion.

Carl Franzen / VentureBeat: OpenAI says ChatGPT can now directly import files from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, available to Plus, Team, and Enterprise users  —  The news from OpenAI this week continues: today, the company announced it has updated its signature large language model (LLM) chatbot ChatGPT …

Marina Temkin / TechCrunch: Fay, which connects registered dietitians with insurance providers and patients, emerges from stealth with $25M in funding from General Catalyst and Forerunner  —  For years, Sammy Faycurry has been hearing from his dietician mom and sister about how poorly many Americans eat and their struggles with delivering nutritional counseling.

Bloomberg: Sources: Snowflake is in talks to acquire Reka AI, which builds LLMs for businesses, for over $1B; report: Reka was valued at ~$300M in a 2023 funding round  —  - Software company's venture arm has invested in the AI startup  — Reka was started in 2022 by researchers from Google, Meta

Ken Yeung / VentureBeat: Ann Arbor-based Voxel51, which is developing a visual AI platform to reduce the failure rate of AI projects, raised a $30M Series B led by Bessemer  —  Voxel51 has raised $30 million in new funding to develop its visual AI platform, which is designed to reduce the failure rate of AI projects.

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: Analyst briefing: Microsoft will launch its Cobalt 100 chips, announced in November 2023, to Azure clients as a public preview at its Build conference next week  —  Microsoft will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips to customers as a public preview at its Build conference next week, TechCrunch has learned.

Cristiano Lima-Strong / Washington Post: Youth advocacy group Encode Justice unveils 22 policy recommendations to ensure AI protects the “lives, rights, and livelihoods” of young people by 2030  —  Youth activists issued a sweeping call to action on Thursday for heightened artificial intelligence protections …

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors: Apple previews Vehicle Motion Cues, which adds animated dots to iPhone and iPad screens to reduce motion sickness for passengers using them in moving vehicles  —  Apple today announced new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year, and one feature in particular that is likely …

Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters: OpenAI and Reddit partner to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT and more via Reddit's Data API, bring new AI tools to Reddit, and make OpenAI a Reddit ad partner  —  Reddit (RDDT.N) has partnered with OpenAI to bring the social media platform's content to ChatGPT, the companies said on Thursday.

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg: Take-Two announces a fall 2025 release date for GTA VI, reports Q4 bookings down 3% YoY to $1.35B, and lowers its FY 2025 bookings forecast from $7B+ to $5.55B+  —  - Game maker lowers forecast for 2025 bookings as a result  — The 2013 version of game has sold over 200 million copies

Wall Street Journal: DOJ charges five people for allegedly duping 300+ US companies into hiring North Korea-linked remote IT workers and helping fund the country's nuclear program  —  Justice Department alleges Arizona woman and others helped foreign workers with North Korean connections get freelance gigs at U.S. companies

Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information: AI coding startup Replit, which raised $220M+ and was last valued at $1B, lays off 30 employees, or 20% of its staff, and pivots to enterprise sales  —  Replit, a San Francisco-based startup developing an artificial intelligence-powered coding assistant, has laid off 30 employees …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: X rolls out a revamped version of its Communities feature, which lets users network around topics of interest, including improved discovery tools and search  —  X, formerly Twitter, is rolling out a revamped version of its Communities feature, which lets users network around topics of interest …

Cory Weinberg / The Information: Figma is letting staff and early investors sell up to $900M of shares in a tender at a $12.5B valuation, down ~38% from Adobe's $20B acquisition proposal  —  Figma employees and early shareholders collectively will be able to sell as much as $900 million of their shares after lining …

Harry McCracken / Fast Company: An interview with Apple's Greg Joswiak and John Ternus on the new iPad lineup, the M4 chip, why the iPad and Mac both matter, the iPad as an “AI PC”, and more  —  Apple's Greg Joswiak and John Ternus on the new iPad lineup, why the iPad and Mac both matter, the iPad as an ‘AI PC,’ and more.

Sheena Vasani / The Verge: Microsoft unveils the Proteus Controller, a $299 modular game controller kit for disabled Xbox and PC gamers by peripheral company ByoWave, shipping in the fall  —  On Wednesday, Microsoft announced the Proteus Controller, a $299 modular video game controller kit that lets Xbox gamers with disabilities customize their controllers.

Kimberley Kao / Wall Street Journal: Grab raises its annual forecast for adjusted EBITDA to $250M-$270M, up from $180M-$200M previously, after Q1 net loss narrowed to $104M from $244M a year ago  —  The ride-hailing and delivery specialist left its forecast for a 14%-17% rise in full-year revenue unchanged.

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: Consumers protection groups across the EU file coordinated complaints against Temu, accusing the e-commerce platform of a raft of breaches related to the DSA  —  Consumer protection groups around the European Union have filed coordinated complaints against Temu, accusing …

Wall Street Journal: Source: Microsoft is asking about 700 to 800 employees involved in its China-based AI and cloud computing operations to consider relocating to other countries  —  Request comes as Biden administration toughens controls on China's access to cutting-edge American technology

Todd Spangler / Variety: YouTube formally launches YouTube Select Creator Takeovers, which will let advertisers buy out the inventory on channels representing top 1% of YouTube content  —  Video platform also inks deal to bring WNBA Friday night games to YouTube TV … At its annual Brandcast event …

Associated Press: In the first high-level AI talks in Geneva, the US raised concerns about China's “misuse of AI” while China chided the US over “restrictions and pressure” on AI  —  U.S. officials raised concerns about China's “misuse of AI” while Beijing's representatives rebuked Washington over …

Paige Smith / Bloomberg: Visa rolls out tech that will allow it to share more data about customers' preferences based on their shopping history with retailers via proprietary “tokens”  —  - Consumers' preferences to be shared via proprietary tokens  — Firm competing with fintech newcomers, fellow giant Mastercard

Susie Violet Ward / Forbes: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signs a bill protecting bitcoin rights, ensuring the right to self-custody, transact, and mine bitcoin, effective November 1, 2024  —  Oklahoma has made a landmark move by passing a bill to protect bitcoin rights.  Governor Kevin Stitt signed the bill into law on May 13, 2024.

Sarah Emerson / Forbes: Bolt co-founder Ryan Breslow settles with investor Activant Capital, ending a lawsuit that accused Breslow of saddling the company with $30M in personal debt  —  The founder and former CEO of payments platform Bolt was sued by investor Activant Capital last year, who claimed he breached his duties to the company.

Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information: Source: Stability AI has talked to at least one potential buyer in recent weeks about a sale; it lost $30M+ in Q1 and owes ~$100M to cloud providers and others  —  Stability AI, which has emerged as a poster child for investors' rush to back unproven artificial intelligence startups …

Lauren Feiner / The Verge: Arizona's AG sues Amazon, accusing the company of being a monopoly and deceiving consumers in violation of state laws, similar to complaints brought by the FTC  —  Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed two new lawsuits against Amazon on Wednesday, bringing similar complaints to those the company …

Kristin Robinson / Billboard: Spotify received a cease-and-desist letter from the National Music Publishers' Association over its use of lyrics in its videos feature, remix tool, and more  —  “Spotify appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos and podcasts,” the NMPA writes.

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: Google One's VPN service will no longer be available as of June 20, 2024; Pixel 7 devices and Pixel Fold will get a built-in VPN via an update on June 3, 2024  —  Earlier this year Google announced that the Google One VPN would be shutting down and, now, we have a specific date.

Lewis Empson / What Hi-Fi?: Sony unveils the £1,299 Xperia 1 VI, with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, a 6.5-inch OLED Full HD+ display, and 7.1x optical zoom lens, and the £349 Xperia 10 VI  —  Sony's budget and flagship phones for 2024 have arrived  —  Sony has unleashed its latest pair of Xperia smartphones for 2024.

Rachel Graf / Bloomberg: Video game publishers are facing a wave of lawsuits that accuse the industry of profiting from intentionally promoting mass addiction and causing health issues  —  Attorneys for parents say publishers are addicting users and causing health issues like ADHD and depression.

Sarah Zheng / Bloomberg: Uber announces plans to acquire Delivery Hero's Foodpanda business in Taiwan for $950M in an all-cash deal, expected to close in the first half of 2025  —  - It aims to get approval to pick up Foodpanda by early 2025  — Uber's meal delivery arm has outperformed expectations

Gené Teare / Crunchbase News: AI startups in the Bay Area raised $27B+ in 2023, more than 50% of global AI funding, up from $14B in 2022 when the region accounted for 29% of all AI funding  —  There's been much talk of a resurgent San Francisco with the new technology wave of artificial intelligence washing over the software world.

Anna Heim / TechCrunch: Mexico-based BNPL startup Aplazo raised a $45M Series B led by QED Investors, bringing its total raised to $100M+ in equity and $75M in committed debt  —  Buy now, pay later services have become so ubiquitous that BNPL may as well just be another way to say “debt.”

Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Pepper, which provides tools for order management, invoicing, and more for independent food distributors, raised a $30M Series B led by Iconiq Growth  —  Pepper, the e-commerce platform for food distributors, continues to edge into Sysco and US Foods territory by giving smaller, independent distributors a technology leg up.