Techmeme
January 10, 2024, 3:40 PM

Top News

Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI launches GPT Store for paid users to share and find custom chatbots, says users made 3M chatbots so far, and it will launch a revenue share program in Q1  —  The store will feature a bot leaderboard, and will eventually introduce payments.  —  OpenAI has launched an online store …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Team, a new subscription plan for teams up to 149 people, for $30 per user per month, or $25 per user per month billed annually  —  OpenAI is launching a new subscription plan for ChatGPT, its viral AI-powered chatbot, aimed at smaller, self-service-oriented teams.
The Verge:
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirms plans to cut 500+ jobs, or 35% of its staff, and says the workforce was oversized for its current position, after March 2023 cuts  —  Twitch is laying off more than 500 employees, or around 35 percent of its staff, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced this morning.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Amazon Studios SVP Mike Hopkins says “several hundred roles” are being cut in its Prime Video and MGM Studios units; both had cuts in early 2023  —  Division leader Mike Hopkins said “we've identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas” in a memo to staff on Wednesday.
CNBC:
CoinDesk:
Kat Bailey / IGN:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
X has quietly removed the ability for paying subscribers to set an NFT as a profile picture, a feature Twitter launched in early 2022  —  On Tuesday, Elon Musk's X wrote about a grand vision for the company in 2024, which includes launching peer-to-peer payments and more AI-powered tools.
New York Times:
How RISC-V, the US-developed, open-source chip instruction set architecture, became a central tool for Chinese companies and governments, leading to US concerns  —  A U.S.-born chip technology called RISC-V has become critical to China's ambitions.  Washington is debating whether and how to limit the technology.
Threads: @sung.kim.mwX: @om, @donal888, @bgurley, @anaswanson, and @basche42Forums: Slashdot
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA signs a deal with AI voiceover company Replica Studios, requiring consent to create voice replicas for use in video games and safe storage of assets  —  The union announced the deal with Replica Studios on Tuesday at CES in Las Vegas.  Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's executive director …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Source: Humane laid off 10 staff, or 4% of its workforce, to cut costs and plans to lower budgets in 2024, as the company reshuffles some executive positions  —  Humane laid off 4 percent of employees this week in a move that was described as a cost cutting measure to those who were impacted …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sensor Tower: Netflix Games downloads rose 180% YoY to 81.2M globally across the App Store and Google Play in 2023, with Q4 accounting for 53% of downloads  —  Just over two years ago, Netflix announced it would enter a new business: gaming.  Amid a mobile gaming market dominated by free …
New York Times:
Sources: as US-China tensions rise, Microsoft debates what to do with its prized 800-person Beijing research lab, opened in 1998; Microsoft has added guardrails  —  Amid U.S.-China tensions, the company has faced questions over whether operating an advanced research lab in Beijing is politically tenable.
More: MSPoweruser
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Apple pulls Binance, Kraken, Mexc, KuCoin, and four other crypto exchanges from the App Store in India, after they were flagged for operating “illegally”  —  Apple has pulled apps of at least nine crypto exchanges including Binance and Kraken from its App Store in India …
Karen Gilchrist / CNBC:
With half of the world's adults set to vote in 2024, the WEF's Global Risks Report 2024 ranks AI mis- and disinformation ahead of war, climate change, and more  —  - Concern over the impact of artificial intelligence in disrupting election outcomes has topped the list of the biggest risks for 2024, according to a new report.
Iain Martin / Forbes:
Documents: sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich quietly invested $63M+ in European startups via London VC firm Target Global between 2015 and 2021  —  Venture capital fund Target Global managed tens of millions of dollars for Roman Abramovich and helped the now-sanctioned oligarch build …

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