Techmeme
September 22, 2020, 7:10 PM

Top News

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft says it will exclusively license OpenAI's GPT-3 language model, which will continue to be offered via the Azure-hosted API launched in June  —  Microsoft today announced that it will exclusively license GPT-3, one of the most powerful language understanding models in the world, from San Francisco-based AI startup OpenAI.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft debuts new Teams features, including virtual commute, Headspace integration, breakout rooms, and virtual coffee shops for meetings  —  Microsoft today announced a slew of Teams features available now, coming later this year, and even arriving in 2021.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google debuts Tables, a work-tracking tool to rival Airtable that can set task-based email reminders, send messages when forms are submitted, manage tasks, more  —  Google's in-house incubator Area 120 is today introducing a new work-tracking tool, Tables, which aims to make tracking projects more efficient by investing in automation.
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
iPhone users are customizing their home screen with new icons, photos, and entire color schemes using iOS 14 widgets, with some designs going viral  —  - iPhone users are using the latest iOS update to customize their home screen with new icons, photos, and even entire color schemes.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Graphika: fake Chinese accounts recently taken down by Facebook used AI-generated faces, an increasingly common tactic meant to evade detection  —  Facebook removed two networks of fake accounts spreading government propaganda on the platform Tuesday, one originating in China and one in the Philippines.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Samsung is launching its ad-supported, Pluto-like streaming service Samsung TV Plus, available on Samsung TVs since 2016, on some of its latest mobile phones  —  Samsung has long failed to build successful media services, but TV Plus seems to break that cycle.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Google says it will pull the plug on paid Chrome extensions over the next year, after temporarily banning them due to fraudulent transactions  —  Earlier this year, Google announced some changes to the Chrome Web Store in an effort to curb malicious extensions.
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Nick Clegg says Facebook will take aggressive measures to “restrict the circulation of content” if the presidential election descends into chaos or civil unrest  —  Social media platform's head of global affairs Nick Clegg says it could take exceptional measures to restrict content circulation
Wall Street Journal:
Large rival companies say Amazon restricts how competing products, like smart speakers and video doorbells, can be advertised, giving Amazon's devices an edge  —  Some makers of smart speakers, video doorbells and other hardware hit roadblocks buying key ads in search results; gadgets made by e-commerce giant get edge
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
YouTube says it will use AI-powered moderation to automatically age-restrict certain content  —  AI moderation measures will be used to automatically age-restrict certain content  —  YouTube is rolling out more artificial intelligence-powered technology to catch more videos …
Peter Slattery / OneZero :
How Spotify's UX decisions have encouraged the growth of adjective-laden generic artist names, enabling a kind of SEO spam for music  —  The platform is filled with search-optimized spammers, and there's no end in sight  —  Welcome to The Cheater's Guide to Spotify, a series about the schemes …
Thanks:@dlberes
Danny Palmer / ZDNet:
Authorities from the US, UK, Germany, Europol, and others arrest 179 during Operation DisrupTor, targeting the sale of illicit goods on the dark web  —  ‘Operation Disruptor’ involved agencies from nine countries and the seizure of over $6.5m in cash and cryptocurrencies as criminals warned law enforcement will track them down.
Microsoft:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Microsoft says the first preview of its Edge browser for Linux will be available in October  —  Microsoft's Edge browser is coming to Linux, starting with the Dev channel.  The first of these previews will go live in October.  —  When Microsoft announced that it would switch its Edge browser …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says its 85-inch Surface Hub 2S, originally unveiled in April 2019, will be available in January 2021 for $21,999.99  —  There's also a new software update for the Surface Hub 2S  —  Microsoft is starting to take preorders for its 85-inch Surface Hub 2S today.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
TikTok says it removed 104.5M videos in H1 2020 for violating community guidelines or TOS, proposes coalition of social apps to protect against harmful content  —  As the future of ByteDance's TikTok ownership continues to get hammered out between tech leviathans, investors and government officials …
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Paris-based Mirakl, which develops e-commerce tools to help companies build their online stores, raises $300M led by Permira at a $1.5B valuation  —  - U.S. CEO says company could pursue IPO in the next few years  — Private equity firm Pemira to lead Mirakl's funding round

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Earlier Picks

Maneet Ahuja / Forbes:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
David McCabe / New York Times: