Techmeme
November 16, 2023, 12:45 PM

Top News

Will Knight / Wired:
YouTube lets some Shorts creators test Dream Track, which uses DeepMind's Lyria AI 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 that impacted ~900 staff, or 5% of its workforce, and 36 fewer games in development than in 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.
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” …
Laurent Giret / Thurrott:
Nvidia updates its GeForce Now app to introduce Game Syncing, which lets users stream PC games purchased via the Microsoft Store, PC Game Pass, and Ubisoft+  —  Nvidia is releasing a new update for its GeForce Now app today that introduces Game Syncing with the Microsoft Store, PC Game Pass, and Ubisoft+.
Katie Malone / Engadget:
Google finds and helps patch a Zimbra Collaboration email server zero-day used to steal data from governments in Greece, Moldova, Tunisia, Vietnam, and Pakistan  —  Google's threat analysis team discovered the security flaw in June.  —  Google's Threat Analysis Group revealed on Thursday …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
In a first, the Signal Foundation publishes Signal's operating costs: ~$40M in 2023, projected to hit $50M by 2025, with $14M per year going to infrastructure  —  Signal's president reveals the cost of running the privacy-preserving platform—not just to drum up donations …
Jane Zhang / Bloomberg:
Alibaba reports Q2 revenue up 9% YoY to ~$30.8B, beating est., a ~$3.8B net income, up from a ~$3B net loss in Q2 2022, and nixes its cloud business spinoff  —  - The decision marks a dramatic reversal on a signature move  — Alibaba's historic six-way restructuring is now in doubt
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases Apple Music Classical for iPadOS as part of a v1.1 update, the first major update to the app since its release in spring 2023 for iOS and Android  —  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.
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 …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Nathan Edwards / The Verge:
The Wireless Power Consortium says the first Qi v2.0 devices are set to arrive in time for the holidays and 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.
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”
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
At its conference, Unity says Unity 6 is coming in 2024 and releases early access versions of Unity Muse, an AI suite for content creation, and 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.
Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters:
TikTok joins Meta in appealing against 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 …
Niamh Rowe / Wired:
Some companies that provide Big Tech and other clients 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 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 …
Daria Mosolova / Financial Times:
Jonathan Camrose, the UK's first minister for AI and IP, says the country does not plan to regulate the AI industry “in the short term” to let the sector grow  —  Minister tells FT conference government wants to maintain a ‘pro-innovation’ approach to the technology

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Mon. 11/25 - Return Of The Vita?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:45 PM ET, November 16, 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

Suvashree Ghosh / Bloomberg:
Julia Love / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Connor Jones / The Register:
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Music Business Worldwide: