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Techmeme
June 21, 2023, 11:25 AM
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Top News

Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
A look at the recent debates in the AI industry over existential risks, as what were once considered extreme views have now become mainstream talking points  —  “Ghost stories are contagious.”  —  Who's afraid of the big bad bots?  A lot of people, it seems.
Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
A look at the White House's urgent push for AI regulation, as Biden meets with a group of AI experts for a non-industry perspective on risks and opportunities  —  President Joe Biden huddled in the Oval Office with several of his top advisers in early April as an aide typed prompts into ChatGPT …
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
A look at the vast and mostly hidden “tasker” underclass, including subject-matter experts, hired by companies like Scale AI to annotate data for AI training  —  As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
The US FTC files a lawsuit against Amazon over allegedly using “dark patterns” to enroll customers in Prime without consent and “sabotaged” attempts to cancel  —  - The FTC on Wednesday sued Amazon, alleging it tricked customers into signing up for its Prime subscription program …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon plans to hold Prime Day on July 11 and July 12 and introduce an invite-only Prime Days deals program; an Indian version will be held “later this summer”  —  Amazon will hold its 2023 Prime Day sales event on Tuesday, July 11, and Wednesday, July 12, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant announced tonight.
Kana Inagaki / Financial Times:
Masayoshi Son says SoftBank plans to go on the “counteroffensive” soon by resuming AI investments; the group has $35B+ after halting investments in recent years  —  Billionaire chief talks up AI and reveals he had breakdown in October where he questioned his achievements as an entrepreneur
Sawdah Bhaimiya / Insider:
In a tweet reply, Elon Musk says “cis” or “cisgender” are “slurs” on Twitter and the “contemptible creep” who “manufactured” the term “has serious problems”  —  - Elon Musk said terms like “cisgender” and “cis” are now considered “slurs” on Twitter.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit suspended some moderators after they changed their subreddits to NSFW; Reddit says the mods violated its policy by incorrectly marking subreddits as NSFW  —  Reddit has started removing moderator teams managing subreddits that switched the labeling on their communities to Not Safe For Work …
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Twitch plans to require streamers to add new content labels for streams with sexual themes, graphic violence, drug use, gambling, or “significant” vulgarity  —  Twitch is rethinking the way it flags mature content, swapping its existing toggle for a more granular set of topic-specific labels.
Xinghui Kok / Reuters:
Memo: Grab CEO Anthony Tan tells staff the company plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, citing costs and a need to ensure more affordable services  —  Singapore-based Grab Holdings (GRAB.O), Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing and food delivery app, is cutting 1,000 jobs or 11% …
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix tweaks its weekly top 10 rankings to include “views”, calculated by dividing the total time spent watching a film or a show in a week by running time  —  The streamer's weekly rankings will now show the most popular titles by number of accounts watching as well as total time.
Kat Bailey / IGN:
In a reorganization, EA splits EA Games and EA Sports, renaming the former as EA Entertainment, hinting at the company's possible expansion beyond games  —  EA is undergoing a major internal reorganization, with EA Games being renamed “EA Entertainment.”  —  Electronic Arts is undergoing …
Associated Press:
Bernie Sanders opens a Senate investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety practices and writes to Andy Jassy about “egregious health and safety violations”  —  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has opened a Senate investigation into Amazon's warehouse safety practices …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Activision's Bobby Kotick, and Sony's Jim Ryan plan to testify in court over the FTC's bid to block the Microsoft-Activision deal  —  Microsoft is sending CEO Satya Nadella, Xbox chief Phil Spencer, and many other Xbox executives to defend against its Federal Trade Commission …
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Q&A with Jason Del Rey, the author of Winner Sells All, on how Walmart plays catch up to Amazon, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's tenure, Amazon's missteps, and more  —  Jason Del Rey has spent the last 15 years reporting on e-commerce businesses, including Walmart and Amazon.
Dylan Tokar / Wall Street Journal:
Google Cloud launches Anti Money Laundering AI, an API used by HSBC, Banco Bradesco, and Lunar that relies on AI instead of the industry's rules-based system  —  The company is looking to set itself apart from a crowded field of surveillance platforms by reducing the amount of human input …
More: Finbold

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
PBS and a public TV affiliate in Minnesota sue the Trump administration, saying his executive order to cut federal funding violated PBS' First Amendment rights

Max Tani / Semafor:
The California State Senate opens an inquiry into whether Paramount's reported $15M proposed settlement with Trump violated bribery and unfair competition laws

Chris Willman / Variety:
Taylor Swift acquires the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital; sources say the deal was in the mid-$300M range

More News

Jesse Levine / Bloomberg:
A profile of Joseph Tsai, the Taiwan-born, US-educated Alibaba co-founder, its next chairman, a longtime Jack Ma ally, and now a prominent blockchain proponent
Kevin Purdy / Ars Technica:
A look at the vagueness and implications of the EU's plan to require that portable batteries, like those in smartphones, are “readily removable and replaceable”

Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
NYC-based ElevenLabs, whose AI can turn text into speech using synthetic or cloned voices, raised a $19M Series A, a source says at a $99M post-money valuation
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Spotify updates its desktop app with redesigned “Your Library” and “Now Playing” user interfaces, meant to align the experience with the company's mobile app
Martin Matishak / The Record:
The US DOJ announces NatSec Cyber, a new section within its National Security Division focused on disrupting and prosecuting malicious foreign cyber activity
Neesha A. Tambe / TechCrunch:
Render, which offers developers cloud services for building, deploying, and running apps and websites, raised a $50M Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners
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