Techmeme
January 23, 2023, 7:05 PM

Top News

Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Microsoft invests in OpenAI, a source says totaling $10B over many years, after 2019 and 2021 investments, to build “increasingly safe, useful, and powerful” AI  —  Microsoft Corp. is making a $10 billion investment over several years in OpenAI, the creator of the artificial …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro) review: terrific performance, many ports, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3, but no front ports or SD card slot and a tricky peripherals setup  —  With two processor choices — one for everyday computing, the other for conquering creative work — Apple's littlest Mac has never been more appealing.
Monica Chin / The Verge:
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Max) review: amazing performance and speakers, big battery life gains, and a great display, but pricey and limited upgradability  —  Apple's new MacBook Pro 16 with M2 Max has exactly one significant upgrade from the 2021 model: a more powerful chip.
Ben Bajarin / Creative Strategies:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple's ~$3,000 MR headset will have eye and hand tracking, a 3D iOS-like interface, AR and VR modes, a Mac external display feature, and more  —  Apple Inc.'s long-anticipated mixed-reality headset is an ambitious attempt to create a 3D version of the iPhone's operating system …
Eva Mathews / Reuters:
Spotify plans to lay off ~6% of its workforce, or ~600 jobs, says content and ad head Dawn Ostroff is leaving, and reorganizes its engineering and product units  —  Music streaming firm Spotify plans to cut 6% of its workforce, the company said on Monday, a move that will add to a glut …
Jon Christian / Futurism:
An investigation finds extensive evidence that AI used by CNET appears to have plagiarized the work of competitors and human writers at Bankrate and even CNET  —  CNET's AI-written articles aren't just riddled with errors.  They also appear to be substantially plagiarized.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Meta brings more features to Messenger end-to-end encrypted chats, such as themes, custom emoji, and link previews, and adds more users to its default E2EE test  —  That means encrypted chats can now incorporate themes, custom emoji, reactions, group profile photos, and a whole lot more.
Vitalik Buterin / Vitalik Buterin's website:
How a system for “stealth addresses”, using zero-knowledge proofs, may offer an easier, better way to improve privacy on Ethereum vs. hiding or mixing transfers  —  Special thanks to Ben DiFrancesco, Matt Solomon, Toni Wahrstätter and Antonio Sanso for feedback and review
James Vincent / The Verge:
After OpenAI opened a waitlist for a faster, paid version of ChatGPT, some users report seeing a “pro” plan for $42/month; the company hasn't announced pricing  —  Earlier this month, OpenAI said it was exploring ways to monetize its AI chatbot ChatGPT, giving users the opportunity …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Netflix is well-positioned due to a low debt load, its investments, and first-mover advantage; long-term success will require making compelling content at scale  —  Netflix's moment of greatest peril is, in retrospect, barely visible in the company's stock chart:
PYMNTS.com:
Stripe partners with Amazon to expand its AWS use and become a “strategic payments partner” for Amazon in the US, Europe, and Canada  —  Amazon plans to “significantly expand” its use of payments platform Stripe.  —  “Under the new agreement, Stripe will become a strategic payments partner …
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta expands NBA and WNBA partnerships to offer 52 NBA games in VR, including five 180-degree monoscopic VR games, some WNBA, NBA G, and NBA 2K games, and more  —  Meta is expanding its partnership with the NBA and WNBA to offer more than 50 live games in VR on Meta Quest, the company announced on Monday.
AnnaMaria Andriotis / Wall Street Journal:
Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and four other banks are working on a digital wallet, managed by Zelle owner Early Warning Services, slated for H2 2023  —  Financial institutions behind Zelle are working on a wallet for consumers to use at online checkout
Mahmoud Itani / XDA Developers:
Apple releases iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, and macOS Ventura 13.2 with FIDO key support for Apple ID, Advanced Data Protection out globally, security fixes, and more  —  Following several weeks of beta testing, iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura 13.2 are now available to the public as stable releases.
Kevin McLaughlin / The Information:
Source: Satya Nadella voiced concerns Microsoft was slow to commercialize its AI research advances; in 2022, its researchers said Apple and Google seemed ahead  —  For more than a decade, Microsoft Research, the company's in-house research group, has touted artificial intelligence breakthroughs …
Kaya Yurieff / The Information:
Internal messages: TikTok told some of its US workers they could lose their jobs unless they show they have moved to an address near their assigned offices  —  TikTok is cracking down on remote work, telling some U.S. workers they could lose their jobs unless they show they have already moved near their assigned offices.

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Earlier Picks

David Pan / Bloomberg:
Rolling Stone: