Techmeme
November 16, 2023, 11:30 AM

Top News

Will Knight / Wired:
YouTube lets some Shorts creators test Dream Track, a new DeepMind-powered AI tool to generate and remix music in the styles of nine artists, including Sia  —  YouTube creators will get to test a new AI tool that generates and remixes music in the style of several famous musicians, including Sia, Demi Lovato, and T-Pain.
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Embracer reports Q2 net sales up 13% YoY to ~$1B, layoffs impacted 900 employees, or 5% of its workforce, and 36 fewer games are in development than Q2 2022  —  “Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer Group has reported a 13% increase in net sales year-on-year in Q2, in part thanks to its intensive restructuring program.
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases Apple Music Classical on iPad as part of a v1.1 update, the first major update to the app after its release in spring 2023 on iPhone  —  Apple Music Classical, included as part of a standard Apple Music subscription, launched as an iPhone only app in the spring ... but is now available on the iPad too.
Jane Zhang / Bloomberg:
Alibaba reports Q2 revenue up 9% YoY to ~$31B, beating ~$30.9B est., a ~$3.8B net income, up from a ~$3B loss in Q2 2022, and calls off its cloud spinoff  —  - The decision marks a dramatic reversal on a signature move  — Alibaba's historic six-way restructuring is now in doubt
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Microsoft launches a Windows App in preview for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Windows, and the web, letting enterprise customers securely access Windows via other devices  —  Microsoft brings Windows to non-Windows devices.  —  What you need to know  — Microsoft is launching the “Windows app” …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google's Search Generative Experience adds shopping tools to help find niche or unique items and expands virtual try-ons to men's tops from hundreds of brands  —  Google's AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) is behind a bunch of new shopping features that aim to help users find niche …
Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:
Elon Musk replied “You have said the actual truth” to an X user who, replying to a “Hitler was right” inquiry, accused Jewish groups of “hatred against whites”  —  The billionaire amplified a post Wednesday accusing the Jewish community of promoting “dialectical hatred against whites”
Nathan Edwards / The Verge:
The Wireless Power Consortium says the first Qi v2.0 devices are arriving in time for the holidays and over 100 are in certification testing or waiting in line  —  Qi2 — the next version of the wireless charging standard, now with more magnets! — is more almost-here than ever.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Threads tests tags, which categorizes and links posts with a hashtag but without showing the # symbol, initially in Australia and “soon” in other countries  —  Instagram's Threads app has been duping Twitter/X in a number of ways and today it's adding one more feature that's …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters:
TikTok joins Meta in challenging its EU DMA “gatekeeper” status, saying the service is “arguably the most capable challenger to more entrenched” rivals  —  TikTok on Thursday joined Meta (META.O) in appealing against the “gatekeeper” status under the Digital Markets Act …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
At its conference, Unity says the company plans to launch Unity 6 in 2024, details Unity Muse, an AI suite for content creation, and announces Unity Cloud  —  Unity, the global game engine and monetizationplatform, said that its Unity 6 platform will launch in 2024 with AI innovations and platform updates.
Niamh Rowe / Wired:
Some companies providing Microsoft, Google, and others with AI data-labeling services are inadvertently hiring minors, often exposing them to traumatic content  —  Companies that provide Big Tech with AI data-labeling services are inadvertently hiring young teens to work on their platforms, often exposing them to traumatic content.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google rolls out Bard access in English for teens who “meet the minimum age requirement to manage their own Google Account”, offering safety guardrails  —  Following the Search Generative Experience (SGE) in September, Google is rolling out Bard access for teens with safety guardrails in place.
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Pew: 30% of US adults regularly get their news from Facebook, 26% from YouTube, 16% from Instagram, 14% TikTok, 12% X, 8% Reddit, and 5% Nextdoor and LinkedIn  —  Facebook may be ready to divorce the news business, but it's still the No. 1 source of news on social media for Americans.
Music Business Worldwide:
Amy-Jo Crowley / Reuters:
Advent International acquires myPOS, a UK-based payments services provider for small merchants; sources: the deal is expected to value myPOS at around €500M  —  Advent International has signed a deal to buy payments firm myPOS as part of the London-based buyout group's latest push into digital payments …
More: FinTech Global and Nuvei
Natasha Mascarenhas / The Information:
Two Israeli startups, Lasso Security and Ask-AI, reject the investments of Web Summit's venture arm after its ex-CEO Paddy Cosgrave accused Israel of war crimes  —  Web Summit attempted to put a turbulent chapter behind it this week, drawing more than 70,000 attendees to the annual tech conference in Lisbon.
More: PreSeed Now
Connor Jones / The Register:
Security researchers detail the largest cyberattack against Danish critical infrastructure, which involved Zyxel zero-days and 22 breached companies in May 2023  —  Zyxel zero days and nation-state actors (maybe) had a hand in the sector's worst cybersecurity event on record

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Abner Li / 9to5Google: