Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Go here to apply, or tell a friend!
Techmeme
December 18, 2023, 5:15 AM

Top News

New York Times:
Disney, WBD, and other studios are licensing more content to Netflix in return for much-needed cash, but are holding back their most popular movies and shows  —  When building their own streaming companies, many entertainment studios ended lucrative licensing deals with Netflix.
Wall Street Journal:
Western intelligence officials say that former Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek, who fled to Moscow after nearly $2B went missing, was likely a Russian agent for years  —  Jan Marsalek, the jet-setting former COO of now-defunct Wirecard, enabled Moscow to fund covert operations around the world, officials say; ‘whiff of Silicon Valley’
Justine Calma / The Verge:
How conservationists are using AI tool CeruleanAI, developed by the Coral Restoration Foundation, to analyze 3D maps of reefs and monitor restoration  —  Time is running out to save the world's coral reefs, so conservationists are turning to every tool they can to protect vanishing reefs — including AI.
Yue Wang / Forbes:
SenseTime says co-founder Tang Xiao'ou, who was also a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, died of an unspecified illness at 55; 0020.HK drops 11%  —  Tang Xiao'ou, who also taught information engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, died of an unspecified illness, according to SenseTime.
Michael Acton / Financial Times:
An interview with Tim Sweeney about Epic's win over Google and his concern that Google will “get away with continuing their scheme” by offering “fake” remedies  —  ‘Fortnite’ maker's boss Tim Sweeney hopes court will avoid ‘fake’ remedies following landmark legal win over tech giant
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple announces contingent pricing for App Store subscriptions, letting developers give users a discounted price if they are subscribed to another subscription  —  Apple has announced a new “contingent pricing” feature for subscriptions in the App Store.  According to the company …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Generate videos with Veo 3 in Google Gemini  —  Create high-quality, 8-second videos with Veo 3, our state-of-the-art AI video generator.  Try it with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.
UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
AI meeting assistants: A game-changer in communication  —  We've come a long way from live video call demonstrations at world's fairs.  What was once considered a futuristic idea is now a vital part of how we collaborate …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
Bret Taylor's Journey Leading Salesforce, Sierra & OpenAI
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
The Steve Ballmer Interview
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why Uber's CPO delivers food on weekends | Sachin Kansal
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Big Meta/Anduril Deal Is A Big Deal
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Social Radars:
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel Part 4 (Bonus)
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
Hard Fork:
The A.I. Jobpocalypse + Building at Anthropic with Mike Krieger + Hard Fork Crimes Division
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:15 AM ET, December 18, 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

Washington Post:
George Hammond / Financial Times:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Erin Woo / The Information:

Earlier Picks

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Margi Murphy / Bloomberg:
Alex Williams / New York Times:
New York Times: