Techmeme
November 5, 2023, 3:45 PM

Top News

xAI:
Elon Musk's xAI releases Grok, an AI model that the startup says surpasses rivals in its compute class, including ChatGPT-3.5, to a “limited number” of US users  —  Grok is an AI modeled after the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so intended to answer almost anything and, far harder, even suggest what questions to ask!
Wes Davis / The Verge:
A look at companies' responses, including from Meta, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple, to potential US Copyright Office rules for AI and copyrighted content  —  The biggest companies in AI aren't interested in paying to use copyrighted material as training data, and here are their reasons why.
New York Times:
Sources: GM spent an average of $588M per quarter on Cruise over the past year, up 42% YoY, and staff intervened to assist its vehicles every 2.5 to five miles  —  Cruise has hired a law firm to investigate how it responded to regulators, as its cars sit idle and questions grow about its C.E.O.'s expansion plans.
TechCrunch:
Hands-on with Google Play Protect's real-time scanning for sideloaded Android apps, which didn't stop five predatory loan apps and two fake apps from installing  —  Here's our hands-on review of the new Android security feature  —  Android's in-built security engine Google Play Protect …
Mike Young / AIModels.fyi:
Researchers say AI models like GPT-4 respond with improved performance when prompted with emotional context because of how these models handle nuanced prompts  —  Researchers show LLMs respond with improved performance when prompted with emotional context  —  In the grand narrative …
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Emails: X began work on a marketplace for purchasing account handles that have been left unused, asking for a $50K flat fee from potential buyers in some cases  —  Rumored to be in the works for the past year, the initiative appears to have begun rolling out recently, with email solicitations being sent to potential buyers.
Maria Heeter / The Information:
Sources: Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Tel Aviv-based startup Talon Cyber Security for $600M to $700M, and may announce the deal as soon as Monday  —  Palo Alto Networks is close to acquiring Israeli startup Talon Cyber Security in a deal that could value it at $600 million to $700 million …
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
A look at the gap between Amazon's dazzling drone delivery claims and the mundane reality, as only some small objects can be delivered when the weather allows  —  Amazon's much-hyped drone project is dropping small objects on driveways.  Some customers are not sure what it delivers beyond minestrone.
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:
How chip companies are experimenting with obscure materials, like synthetic diamonds and ultrapure glass, to improve performance and combat heat in microchips  —  To beat the heat that our devices throw off, engineers are experimenting with synthetic diamonds, ultrapure glass and other obscure materials
Wall Street Journal:
Q&A with Adobe General Counsel and Chief Trust Officer Dana Rao on the Content Authenticity Initiative, content credentials, deepfake detection issues, and more  —  Instead of detecting fakes, this effort aims to authenticate and track online images from the start; Adobe's chief trust officer on the strategy
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Okta's autopsy report on its support system breach understated the role of a badly configured service account, the biggest contributing factor to the breach  —  If a transgression by a single employee breaches your network, you're doing it wrong.  —  Identity and authentication management provider Okta …
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
NFT marketplace Magic Eden and Yuga Labs plan to launch an Ethereum platform that will be “contractually obligated” to honor creator royalties on NFT sales  —  Magic Eden's new Ethereum NFT marketplace will be “contractually obligated” to pay royalties.  What does that mean for traders?

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Earlier Picks

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Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: