Techmeme
May 3, 2023, 2:15 PM

Top News

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google enables passkeys, a new FIDO Alliance-developed cryptographic keys solution that requires a preauthenticated device, for all accounts on major platforms  —  Google's next step into a passwordless future is here with the announcement that passkeys — a new cryptographic keys solution …
Bryce Baschuk / Bloomberg:
Microsoft Chief Economist Michael Schwarz says AI will be used by “bad actors”, such as spammers, to cause “real damage” and “clearly” must be regulated  —  Artificial intelligence will be dangerous in the hands of unscrupulous people, according to Microsoft Corp. Chief Economist Michael Schwarz.
Parmy Olson / Bloomberg:
Geoffrey Hinton should have spoken up years ago when others like Timnit Gebru were criticizing Google over LLMs; hopefully Hinton spurs others to speak up now  —  It is hard not to be worried when the so-called godfather of artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, says he is leaving Google and regrets his life's work.
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Meta warns that malware actors are spreading their infrastructure across multiple platforms and blocks 1K+ links using generative AI-themed lures since March  —  The company is adding new tools as bad actors use ChatGPT-themed lures and mask their infrastructure in an attempt to trick victims and elude defenders.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Google plans to change Chrome's URL bar lock icon, introduced to show HTTPS, to a “variant of the tune icon”, saying HTTPS is now present on malicious websites  —  Google announced today that the lock icon, long thought to be a sign of website security and trustworthiness …
Sarah Jeong / The Verge:
Bluesky, which has ~55,000 users, feels absolutely wild, highlighted by the CEO pleading to stop “skeets” and increasingly weird struggles over norms and vibes  —  Early last week, barely anyone had heard of Bluesky.  On Wednesday, it was just one of many alternatives vying …
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
The FTC proposes barring Meta from monetizing kids' data, accusing the company of violating a 2020 order with its privacy program and COPPA with Messenger Kids  —  - The Federal Trade Commission proposed to bar Facebook parent company Meta from monetizing kids' data after it says the company violated …
Stephen Alpher / CoinDesk:
Balaji Srinivasan “settles” his $1M bet from mid-March, predicting one BTC would be worth $1M+ within 90 days, ahead of time, by giving $500K to three entities  —  Amid the initial bank failures in the U.S., the tech entrepreneur in mid-March had bet $1 million that bitcoin would hit $1 million within 90 days.
Gavin Bonshor / AnandTech:
AMD announces the Ryzen Mobile 7040U series, offering up to 8-cores with RDNA 3 graphics and claiming better performance than Apple's M2; price and release TBC  —  Back at CES 2023, AMD announced the first wave of Ryzen Mobile parts based on its Zen 4 architecture, the Ryzen Mobile 7040HS series.
Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Unity is cutting ~600 jobs, or ~8% of its staff, the company's largest round of cuts in the past year, after laying off 500+ in January and last June  —  Software company's move to let go about 600 employees follows string of job cuts in tech industry and beyond
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft tells IT admins that Edge will soon open links from Teams and some Outlook accounts to “help increase productivity”; Enterprise IT admins can opt out  —  Microsoft Edge is a good browser but for some reason Microsoft keeps trying to shove it down everyone's throat …
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Thrasio, Razor, Perch, and other Amazon “aggregators”, which raised $16B in mostly debt, are struggling under rising rates, higher costs, and slow online demand  —  During the pandemic, Wall Street banks and private equity firms invested billions of dollars in startups rolling …
More: Slashdot
Justin Sink / Bloomberg:
Kamala Harris plans to meet the CEOs of Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic on May 4 at the White House to discuss risks in current and near-term AI  —  Vice President Kamala Harris is meeting Thursday with the chief executive officers from top artificial intelligence firms Alphabet Inc. …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple and Google submit a proposed industry specification to help combat unwanted location tracking by Bluetooth devices and ask for input from other companies  —  - Apple and Google said that they are working together to prevent lost item trackers like Apple's AirTag from being used to track people without their permission.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Jack Dorsey has posted 59 times per day on average on Nostr since January 2023, often talking about crypto and open source while criticizing Elon Musk  —  The Twitter co-founder has posted prolifically on two new social networks, Nostr and Bluesky, which he also backed financially.
Financial Times:
A guide to how quantum computing, qubits, and “quantum algorithms” work, the biggest challenges, government involvement, and potential for hacking, or “Q-day”  —  The next generation of quantum computers will open a new world of possibilities, but also pose enormous risks to our online security
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
In an unprompted email to an NPR reporter, Elon Musk asked if NPR planned to start posting on Twitter again, “or should we reassign @NPR to another company?”  —  Elon Musk has threatened to reassign NPR's Twitter account to “another company.”  —  In a series of emails sent …
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Twitter restores free API access for verified government or publicly owned services tweeting weather alerts, transportation updates, and emergency notifications  —  Twitter's decision to shut off its free API caused more than a few problems for public institutions that depend on the functionality …
Sonia Faleiro / Rest of World:
How on-demand home services startup Urban Company became the biggest employer of women in India's gig economy, creating a rare opportunity for social mobility  —  By disrupting the age-old home services industry, the Indian unicorn offered many women a rare opportunity for social mobility.

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Earlier Picks

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Frank Chaparro / The Block: