Techmeme
December 14, 2023, 12:35 PM

Top News

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Meta launches Threads in the European Union, following the US, the UK, and 100+ other countries, and adds a way for EU users to browse Threads without a profile  —  Meta's Twitter competitor, Threads, is now available in the European Union, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Email: Cruise lays off 900 employees, or about 24% of its workforce, targeting non-engineering jobs, as part of a plan to slash costs and revamp the company  —  Cruise, the embattled GM self-driving car subsidiary, is laying off 900 employees, or about 24% of its workforce …
Reuters:
Gavin Bonshor / AnandTech:
Intel unveils the Core Ultra H and the Core Ultra U series, its first mobile processors based on the Meteor Lake platform, designed for ultra-portable notebooks  —  Intel has released their first mobile processors based on their highly anticipated Meteor Lake platform, the Core Ultra H and the Core Ultra U series.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
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 …
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Three Polish hackers say they fixed trains allegedly bricked by manufacturer Newag because an independent repair shop worked on them; Newag denies bricking them  —  Join the newsletter to get the latest updates.  —  Success  —  Great!  Check your inbox and click the link.  —  Error
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.
Malak Saleh / Engadget:
Umar Shakir / The Verge:
Google plans to start testing Tracking Protection on January 4 on ~1% of global Chrome users to block third-party cookies, ahead of a phased rollout in H2 2024  —  Google is about to launch its grand plan to block third-party cookies in Chrome that many websites use to track your activity across the web for profit.
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
After an on-by-default AI toggle caused confusion, Dropbox says user data is only shared with OpenAI if the AI-powered search feature is actively being used  —  AI feature turned on by default worries users; Dropbox responds to concerns.  —  On Wednesday, news quickly spread on social media …
Guthrie Scrimgeour / Wired:
A look at Koolau Ranch, Mark Zuckerberg's 1,400-acre, $270M+ compound in Kauai, Hawaii, with a 5,000 sq. ft. underground shelter, a project shrouded in secrecy  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is building a sprawling, $100 million compound in Hawaii—complete with plans for a huge underground bunker.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Apple begins selling a $99 USB-C charging case for its second-generation AirPods Pro as a standalone purchase; delivery estimates are for after Christmas  —  Apple has begun selling the USB-C charging case for its second-generation AirPods Pro as a standalone purchase.  But it doesn't come cheap.
Subrat Patnaik / Bloomberg:
Apple's stock rose 1.7% to close at $197.96 on December 13, surpassing its previous record close in July 2023 and up 52% for the year, for a $3.08T market cap  —  - Shares surpass July high, putting market cap at $3.08 trillion  — Revenue seen growing again in 2024 after falling this year
David Averre / Daily Mail:
A deepfake of Putin, built by a student from Saint Petersburg State University, quizzed Putin about AI and doppelgangers during a Q&A session with the public  —  - The moment saw the Russian president caught uncharacteristically off guard  — It came amid his end of year press conference that lasted some four hours
More: Telegraph and CNBC
Emma Roth / The Verge:
YouTube updates its TV app to show longer but less frequent ad breaks, after testing since September 2023, and now shows a countdown in the bottom-right corner  —  The next time you sit down to watch YouTube on your TV, you might notice fewer ads breaking up the video you're watching.
More: 9to5Google

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Earlier Picks

Natasha Singer / New York Times:
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Tom Warren / The Verge:
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal: