Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Go here to apply, or tell a friend!
Techmeme
December 21, 2023, 9:05 AM

Top News

Jon Porter / The Verge:
Evan Blass leaks a purported countdown to Galaxy Unpacked on January 17, which says “Galaxy AI is coming”, and a spec sheet for the Galaxy S24, Plus, and Ultra  —  If rumors are to be believed, we're less than a month away from the launch of Samsung's latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S24 range.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is ramping up Vision Pro production, aiming for customer-bound units to be ready by the end of January and a retail debut planned for February  —  - Overseas manufacturing of the headset is running at full speed  — Vision Pro debut will vault Apple into new product category
Daniel Boffey / The Guardian:
Privacy campaigners say the UK quietly introduced legislation to let police run facial recognition searches on 50M+ driving license holders without oversight  —  Exclusive: Privacy campaigners say clause in new criminal justice bill will put all UK drivers on ‘permanent police lineup’
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Filing: the US ITC denies Apple's motion to stay the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 import and sales ban while awaiting an appeal; Biden can veto the ban  —  Apple has lost its bid to delay an import and sales ban on the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.  In a filing on Wednesday …
The Verge:
Memo: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is leaving Microsoft on December 29; Activision's leadership remains and is being integrated into Microsoft Gaming  —  Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is stepping down officially December 29th.  Microsoft has not appointed a direct replacement …
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Apple's AI researchers publish papers on using human gaussian splats to generate animated 3D avatars and deploying LLMs on devices with limited memory  —  Apple, a company practically synonymous with technological innovation, has once again positioned itself at the forefront of the AI revolution.
Moneycontrol:
Email: Meta's India policy head Shivnath Thukral says the government could choose to apply its proposed telecom law to Meta's OTT services at a “future date”  —  Meta's India policy head Shivnath Thukral writes in an internal email, 'Govt could have sufficient discretion …
Kamya Pandey / MediaNama:
The Information:
Sources: Anthropic is in talks to raise $750M led by Menlo Ventures at a $15B valuation, tripling from spring 2023; its final valuation may top $18B  —  Anthropic is in talks to raise $750 million in a venture round led by Menlo Ventures that values the two-year-old artificial intelligence startup …
Cristiano Lima / Washington Post:
Greg S. Fink / Car and Driver:
Aston Martin and Porsche preview bespoke interfaces for the next generation of Apple CarPlay, which integrates into all the displays of upcoming vehicle models  —  Apple is working with automakers to make a brand-distinct CarPlay experience.  — Apple's next-generation CarPlay environment arrives in 2024.

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:
New in Zoho Payroll USA: Multi-state payroll and more  —  Running payroll shouldn't get harder as your business grows.  Whether you've expanded into new states or built a team with unique needs …
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

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'Sewing Machine Repair Shop', With Patrick McGee
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Somebody Knows Victoria's Secrets
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
How private equity kills companies and communities
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Jordan Bramble from Antares
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
How to Reinvent a Magazine, with Wired's Katie Drummond
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
GitHub CEO on what AI means for developer salaries, SaaS, and more
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:05 AM ET, December 21, 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

Morgan Sung / TechCrunch:
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Reed Albergotti / Semafor:

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Leah Nylen / Bloomberg: