Techmeme
December 13, 2023, 10:25 PM

Top News

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is testing making posts from Threads accounts “available on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol”  —  Mark Zuckerberg said today that Meta has started testing a feature to show Threads posts on Mastodon and other AcitivityPub protocol-supported networks.
Davey Alba / Bloomberg:
Google announces Gemini Pro for enterprises, letting Cloud clients build apps for free, with some limits, and plans to add Gemini Pro to AI Studio and Vertex AI  —  Gemini Pro is aimed at businesses and app developers  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google announced a slate of upgraded artificial intelligence features …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google releases Imagen 2, launched in preview in May 2023 and built using Google DeepMind tech, offering “significantly” improved image quality and new features  —  Google's making the second generation of Imagen, its AI model that can create and edit images given a text prompt …
Keith Laing / Bloomberg:
Tesla plans to update Autopilot in 2M+ cars after the NHTSA issued a recall, following a probe that found its means for keeping drivers engaged were inadequate  —  - US regulator finds system doesn't do enough to prevent misuse  — Agency will keep defect investigation open, monitor remedies
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Twitch now allows some previously prohibited sexual content, including “deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region”, with a sexual themes label  —  Twitch is updating the way it responds to sexual content.  As part of the change, the streaming platform will now allow …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available in beta on the Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro, for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers  —  Xbox Cloud Gaming is arriving on Meta's range of VR headsets today.  A beta version of the cloud gaming app is now available for the Meta Quest 2, 3 …
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Axel Springer signs a multiyear deal with OpenAI, which plans to offer ChatGPT news summaries and use Politico, Business Insider, and others to train AI models  —  Generative-AI company reaches multiyear pact with owner of Politico, Business Insider and major European properties
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Sources: sparked by Spotify's complaint in 2019, the EU may fine Apple in 2024 and plans to ban its anti-steering App Store rules used on music streaming rivals  —  - EU to ban allegedly abusive App Store rules for music rivals  — Antitrust decision due early 2024 and could come with fines
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg:
Coinbase rolls out spot crypto trading on its international exchange, starting with BTC-USDC and ETH-USDC pairs via API access for non-US institutional clients  —  - Hazy regulatory outlook deters some investors from US venues … Institutional investors can initially trade Bitcoin and Ether …
Krisztian Sandor / CoinDesk:
AJ Vicens / CyberScoop:
Microsoft seizes US-based infrastructure and websites used by cybercrime group Storm-1152 that created ~750M fraudulent Microsoft accounts, after a court order  —  Relying on a court order, the tech giant seized websites belonging to a top purveyor of fraudulent Microsoft accounts.
Theo Wayt / The Information:
Etsy plans to lay off ~11% of its workforce, or ~225 employees, as the e-commerce website grapples with slow consumer spending and rivals like Shein and Temu  —  Etsy is laying off roughly 11% of its workforce, a spokesperson confirmed, as the e-commerce site that helps small businesses sell …
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Apple expands Self Service Repair to the iPhone 15 lineup and M2 Macs, brings the program to 24 more countries, and releases an Apple Diagnostics tool in the US  —  Apple today announced it has expanded its Self Service Repair program to cover the iPhone 15 lineup and Mac models powered by M2 chips …
Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
The EU Council and Parliament back a deal to reclassify millions of ride-hailing and food delivery app workers as staff, which could cost the industry billions  —  European Union negotiators backed a deal to reclassify millions of people working for ride-hailing and food-delivery apps …
Bloomberg:
Sources: 3AC co-founder Su Zhu for the first time faced questioning in a Singapore court about the fund's collapse; Teneo estimates 3AC owes creditors ~$3.3B  —  - Failed crypto fund's co-founder Zhu was arrested in September  — Liquidators seek information for creditors owed $3.3 billion
Juro Osawa / The Information:
Sources: ByteDance cancels the Pico 5, an upcoming VR headset from its Pico subsidiary, after Pico 4 sales fell far short of expectations and the VR market sags  —  Chinese tech giant ByteDance might have set Facebook owner Meta Platforms on its heels with its hugely popular TikTok app.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:25 PM ET, December 13, 2023.

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Earlier Picks

Benjamin Parkin / Financial Times:
Zoë Schiffer / The Verge:
Jay Peters / The Verge: