Techmeme
January 24, 2023, 2:15 AM

Top News

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 …
Bloomberg:
Sources: the DOJ is poised to sue Google this week for dominating the $278.6B US digital ad market, the fifth major US case challenging its business practices  —  The US Justice Department is poised to sue Alphabet Inc.'s Google as soon as Tuesday regarding the search giant's dominance …
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 …
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.
Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:
The FBI says North Korea-backed hacking groups Lazarus and APT38 are behind the June 2022 theft of ~$100M in ETH, USDT, and wBTC from Harmony's Horizon bridge  —  Lazarus Group and APT38, both associated with North Korea, are responsible for the attack in June, the agency concluded.
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.
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:
Ben Bajarin / Creative Strategies:
Vitalik Buterin / Vitalik Buterin's website:
How a “stealth address system” using zero-knowledge proofs could improve Ethereum's privacy vs. trying to hide or mix transfers using services like Tornado Cash  —  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 …
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 …
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.
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.
Aidan Ryan / The Information:
Source: Gemini is laying off 10% of staff, at least the third round of cuts at the crypto exchange in eight months; Gemini had 650 to 700 staff near 2022's end  —  Gemini, the crypto startup whose customers have been caught up in the Genesis bankruptcy, is laying off 10% of staff …
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Sundar Pichai asked staff to stay motivated as Google faced competition in areas like AI and indicated there would be executive bonus cuts, during a town hall  —  - Google CEO Sundar Pichai and executive leaders addressed employee questions at a town hall meeting on Monday after last week's job cuts.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
The FTC fines HomeAdvisor up to $7.2M for using deceptive tactics to sell home improvement project leads, marking the agency's first fine related to gig work  —  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has ordered home services marketplace HomeAdvisor up to $7.2 million for its use of deceptive …

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Earlier Picks

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
AnnaMaria Andriotis / Wall Street Journal:
David Pan / Bloomberg: