Techmeme
July 6, 2023, 8:50 AM

Top News

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Meta launches Instagram's Threads, available on the App Store and Google Play in 100+ countries; users log in via Instagram and can follow the same accounts  —  - Threads is a text-based messaging app that looks very similar to Twitter.  — People will be able to use their Instagram usernames …
More: NBC News, The Guardian, PCWorld, PYMNTS.com, Dexerto, Livemint, Insider, Bloomberg, New York Times, Reuters, MacRumors, The Verge, TechCrunch, The Verge, Bloomberg, NBC 7 San Diego, Mashable, Sammy Fans, Techpoint Africa, Washington Post, iMore, Newser, SamMobile, Sam Lover, Slate, Daring Fireball, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Vox, CNET, Fortune, PetaPixel, The Verge, Engadget, Variety, Forbes, MobileSyrup, and KnowTechie
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Meta's Supplemental Privacy Policy for Threads says “your Threads profile can only be deleted by deleting your Instagram account”, surprising some users  —  Threads, Meta's Twitter rival, is drawing users at an astounding pace, amassing 10 million signups in just seven hours …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Hands-on with Threads: fairly basic text-based messaging app, log in via Instagram, no hashtags, can't search for anything other than user handles, and more  —  Programming note: I really was trying to take a vacation, but this felt like it was worth the one-day interruption.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads passed 10M signups within seven hours of launch, up from 5M within four hours and 2M in two hours  —  Update July 6, 11:45 AM IST: Zuckerberg noted that Threads crossed the milestone of 10 million signups within seven hours of launch.
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Eugen Rochko / Mastodon Blog:
Mastodon CEO says the launch of Instagram's Threads, which intends to adopt ActivityPub, “is a clear victory for our cause, hopefully one of many to come”  —  Today, Meta is launching its new microblogging platform called Threads.  What is noteworthy about this launch …
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Bloomberg:
Sources: CFTC investigators concluded that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network misled investors and that its former CEO Alex Mashinsky also broke US rules  —  Investigators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have concluded that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network …
Emily M. Bender:
Framing AI debates as a schism between people worried about AI going rogue and those illuminating actual harms is ahistorical and obscures important research  —  In two recent conversations with very thoughtful journalists, I was asked about the apparent ‘schism’ between those making a lot …
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky raised an $8M seed led by Neo and partners with Namecheap to offer easy custom domain purchasing and management, Bluesky's first paid service  —  Hours before Meta launches its anticipated Instagram competitor, Threads, another Twitter rival — Bluesky — is announcing additional funding and its first paid service.
Washington Post:
Source: the US State Department cancels meetings with Meta about the 2024 election, one day after a judge limited Biden officials' contact with tech companies  —  A Louisiana federal court's order limiting the Biden administration's communications with tech firms already is disrupting efforts to fight misinformation.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI forms Superalignment, a team for developing ways to steer and control “superintelligent” AI systems, with access to 20% of its compute secured to date  —  OpenAI is forming a new team led by Ilya Sutskever, its chief scientist and one of the company's co-founders …
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event for July 26 in Seoul at 7am ET, where the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, Watch 6, and new tablets are expected  —  Samsung has announced it's hosting its next Unpacked on July 26th at 7AM ET — bright and early for the east coast …
Lauren Weber / Wall Street Journal:
NYC's law on AI use in hiring takes effect, requiring software audits, disclosure of impact on a race or gender, and fines of up to $1.5K per violation per day  —  A closely watched effort to root out potential bias in hiring and promotion software goes into effect Wednesday
New York Times:
How Tom Brady's crypto ambitions, including a bet on FTX, collided with reality, an example of the humiliating reckoning facing celebrities who embraced crypto  —  The superstar quarterback is among the celebrities dealing with the fallout from the crypto crash.  Others, like Taylor Swift, escaped.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify no longer lets subscribers still paying via the App Store use IAP as a payment method; new subscribers were barred from using Apple's IAP in May 2016  —  Spotify hasn't let new Premium subscribers pay for service using in-app purchases via Apple's App Store since May 2016 …
Katrina Manson / Bloomberg:
The US military is running an eight-week exercise of five LLMs trained on classified info to test AI-enabled data for decision-making, sensors, and firepower  —  Matthew Strohmeyer is sounding a little giddy.  The US Air Force colonel has been running data-based exercises inside the US Defense Department for years.
More: Insider and CointelegraphTwitter: @stbaasch
Sarah McBride / Bloomberg:
PitchBook: US VCs invested $39.8B in Q2 2023, down ~50% YoY, across 3,011 startup deals, down ~33% YoY, with the number of angel or seed deals falling ~50% YoY  —  Venture capitalists are funding fewer startups, especially at the earliest stages of a company's life, according to new data from research firm PitchBook.

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Kris Holt / Engadget:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: