Techmeme
August 16, 2023, 9:40 PM

Top News

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
NYC bans TikTok on city-owned devices and asks agencies to remove the app within 30 days; a NYC Cyber Command review found that TikTok “posed a security threat”  —  New York City is banning TikTok from city-owned devices and requiring agencies to remove the app within the next 30 days.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI acquires New York-based AI design studio Global Illumination, marking the company's first public acquisition; the terms of the deal weren't disclosed  —  OpenAI, the AI company behind the viral AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, has acquired Global Illumination, a New York-based startup leveraging AI …
Timmy Shen / The Block:
Coinbase says the exchange received regulatory approval from the CFTC-backed National Futures Association to offer futures trading services to eligible US users  —  - Coinbase is now allowed to operate as a futures commission merchant and offer eligible U.S. customers access to crypto futures from its platforms, the company said.
Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Sources: Foxconn's plant in Tamil Nadu, India plans to deliver iPhone 15 units weeks after Chinese factories; output previously lagged by six to nine months  —  - Apple is diversifying iPhone supply chain away from China  — India's push to become a manufacturing hub is bearing fruit
Financial Times:
Nico Grant / New York Times:
Docs: Google DeepMind has been developing generative AI to perform 21+ different types of personal and professional tasks, including to give users life advice  —  The tech giant is evaluating tools that would use artificial intelligence to perform tasks that some of its researchers have said should be avoided.
Bloomberg:
Docs: Amazon plans to impose a new 2% fee per sale on merchants who ship products themselves, on top of the ~15% commission they already pay, from October 2023  —  - The new levy comes even with an FTC antitrust suit looming  — Merchant fees generate revenue as online sales growth slows
Bloomberg:
Intel ends its $5.4B bid to acquire Israeli company Tower Semiconductor, announced in February 2022, after failing to win Chinese regulatory approval in time  —  - Deal for Tower Semiconductor needed Chinese antitrust approval  —  Intel Corp. walked away from its attempt …
Caitlin Harrington / Wired:
OSHA investigations and 11 interviews: Amazon's first aid clinics put warehouse staff at risk by keeping them working instead of referring them to medical care  —  A WIRED investigation and federal citations show how first aid clinics in Amazon warehouses sometimes direct injured employees …
More: GeekWireBluesky: @epro.socialX: @lfelizleon, @jbarab, and @tonyajoriley
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Epic Games expands its Epic Online Services crossplay tools from PC to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, helping developers more easily add crossplay multiplayer  —  The change could mean that developers will be able to more easily bring crossplay multiplayer to their games.
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Crypto custody startup BitGo raised $100M at a $1.75B valuation from unnamed US and Asian investors; Galaxy Digital scrapped a $1.2B BitGo acquisition in 2022  —  The crypto company raised $100 million from new investors, emphasizing its focus on following rules and regulations.
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple backtracks and moves the iPhone's “end call” button back to the middle of the screen, from the bottom-right corner, in the latest iOS 17 beta  —  - Apple has moved the end call button back to the middle of the screen in the the newest developer version of iOS 17 released on Tuesday.
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Chris Vallance / BBC:
Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez says the company no longer plans to take harmful content moderation work from Meta and she regrets the work, after some staff sued Sama  —  A firm which was contracted to moderate Facebook posts in East Africa has said with hindsight it should not have taken on the job.
Elizabeth Howcroft / Reuters:
PayPal plans to “temporarily pause” letting UK users buy crypto from October 1, to work on complying with new regulations, and restart support in “early 2024”  —  Payments giant PayPal (PYPL.O) will stop allowing UK customers to buy cryptocurrencies through its platform …

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