Techmeme
July 19, 2023, 2:55 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple built a framework called Ajax to build LLMs, created a chatbot app that some engineers call “Apple GPT”, and aims for a consumer product in 2024  —  - Company builds large language models and internal chatbot  — Executives haven't decided how to release tools to consumers
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard agree to extend their merger agreement to October 18, pending the outcome of negotiations with UK regulators  —  Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to extend their merger agreement pending the outcome of negotiations with UK regulators.
Or Goren / Cord Busters:
Netflix removes its $10 Basic tier, its most affordable ad-free tier, in the US and UK for new and rejoining members  —  This post may contain affiliate links*  —  Breaking: In a major shakeup of its pricing model, Netflix, the global streaming giant, has abandoned its low-cost ‘Basic’ tier …
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft will make 31 security logs available for free to its lower-cost cloud service licensees from September, after criticism about China hack disclosures  —  Company says it will make security logs available to customers with lower-cost cloud services  —  Microsoft said it plans …
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
Microsoft, OpenAI, Cohere, and others are testing the use of “synthetic data”, as they find generic data from the web is no longer good enough for training LLMs  —  Microsoft, OpenAI and Cohere experiment with “synthetic data,” as they reach the limits of information created by humans
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
France issues Societe Generale Forge the first license to offer crypto services under the country's new crypto rules  —  - Forge awarded permissions to act as custodian, trade crypto  — License will help meet demand from institutional clients: CEO
Todd Haselton / CNBC:
Microsoft's stock closed up 4% at $359.49 on July 18, an all-time high, after announcing pricing for Microsoft 365 Copilot service; MSFT is up ~50% in 2023  —  - Microsoft shares rallied to an all-time high after the company announced pricing for its new Microsoft 365 artificial intelligence subscription service.
Will Shanklin / Engadget:
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Meta launches a WhatsApp app for Wear OS 3 smartwatches, letting users start chats, reply to messages, and take calls without having their connected phone  —  WhatsApp has finally launched its standalone app for smartwatches running Google's Wear OS, after much anticipation and months-long beta testing.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Sources: Google is piloting an opt-in program that gives volunteer employees internet-free PCs, in a bid to reduce the risk of cyberattacks against the company  —  - Google is enlisting employees for a pilot program to work without internet access.  — The search giant …
Matthew Humphries / PCMag:
Intel grants Asus a non-exclusive license to its NUC designs; Asus plans to make, sell, and support 10th to 13th gen systems and can develop new system designs  —  The agreement covers existing NUCs and allows Asus to design new models. … , Asus is granted a non-exclusive license …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Hands-on with the Framework Laptop 16, a modular gaming laptop that lets you replace and upgrade the GPU; the DIY edition is available for pre-order for $1,399+  —  Four layers of modular components — including a swappable discrete GPU — right at your fingertips.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Beats Studio Pro review: headphones with a good transparency mode, lossless USB-C audio, and native iOS and Android support, but a subpar build quality for $350  —  They look like a lazy refresh from the outside, but the noise-canceling Studio Pros include a ton of new features like transparency mode and lossless USB-C audio.
Axios:
Sources: Vox Media plans to stop using Chorus, its CMS that the company licensed to external publishers from 2018 to 2022, and move its websites to WordPress  —  Vox Media, the parent company to websites such as New York Magazine, Eater and SB Nation, will no longer use Chorus …
Gene Park / Washington Post:
A look at “non-playable character” TikTok creators, like Pinkydoll, who livestream themselves saying phrases and doing robotic actions repetitively for tips  —  On TikTok, a woman named Pinkydoll with a thousand-yard stare faces you, undulating just enough to let you know she's alive.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Unity launches PolySpatial, which was unveiled alongside the Vision Pro at WWDC to help developers port and create 3D experiences for Apple's visionOS, in beta  —  Unity this morning announced that it has opened the beta version of its development platform for visionOS.
Katharine Gemmell / Bloomberg:
The UK CMA provisionally clears Broadcom's $61B VMware acquisition, after finding that the deal “would not harm competition”; the deal still needs US approval  —  - CMA looks to clear technology deal after an in-depth review  — The decision follows a green light from its EU counterpart
Bloomberg:
Researchers say hate speech and misinfo are rising on Twitter; CEO Linda Yaccarino says that's not true and touts improvements, like more ad placement controls  —  Since Musk's takeover, a number of researchers see a rise in hate speech, violent content  —  Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition …
Ryan Smith / AnandTech:
Samsung completes developing its first generation of GDDR7 tech, slated for a 2024 release, and projects a 32Gbps/pin data transfer rate, up ~33% from GDDR6  —  Samsung has announced this evening that they have completed development on their first generation of GDDR7 memory.

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
Are you ready for the era of agentic AI?  —  Tech leaders are always talking about what's next, and right now, agentic AI is dominating the discourse.  Equip yourself with the info you need in this recorded webinar.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
Everything new in the Zoho Sign Android mobile app  —  With a 4.5 star user rating in the Google Play Store, Zoho Sign's native mobile app for Android is a must-have for secure, swift, and hassle-free paperwork management.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Invest Like the Best:
Neil Mehta - Finding Future S&P 500 Companies
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Tariff Groundhog Day
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Grit:
Flexport's Third Act: Winning in a Broken Global Trade System
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Everyone's an engineer now: Inside v0's mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder & CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Derek Thompson (Writer, The Atlantic) and Zach Weinberg (Co-founder & CEO, Curie.Bio) Discuss the Tariff Withdrawal and America's Future
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:55 PM ET, July 19, 2023.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Brian Fung / CNN:
Jon Gertner / New York Times:

Earlier Picks

Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
The Verge:
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: