Techmeme
January 24, 2024, 1:45 AM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple pivots to a less ambitious design for its upcoming EV, from Level 4 autonomy to Level 2+, and pushes back its launch from 2026 to 2028 or later  —  - After board meetings, car downgraded to Level 2+ autonomy  — Company pushes back launch from 2026 to 2028 at the earliest
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
eBay plans to cut ~1,000 roles, or ~9% of full-time employees, and to scale back the contracts it has within its alternate workforce over the coming months  —  This is breaking news.  Please check back for updates.  — CNBC Councils  — CNBC on Peacock  — Join the CNBC Panel
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google announces AI features for Chrome on Mac and Windows: Organize Similar Tabs and custom themes rolling out soon in the US, and Help Me Write in February  —  Google's Chrome web browser is getting an infusion of AI technology in the latest release.  The company announced today it's soon adding …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Netflix says it's looking to retire its ad-free Basic plan in some countries where ad-supported plans are available, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2  —  Although Netflix no longer allows new or returning members to sign up for the ad-free Basic subscription that costs $11.99 per month …
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
CNBC:
Basith Rahman P P / MySmartPrice:
Alleged renders of Google's Pixel 9 Pro show a ~6.5-inch display, smaller than the Pixel 8 Pro's, a refreshed camera island with three cameras, and a flat frame  —  The upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro might feature a smaller flat display compared to the Pixel 8 Pro.  —  HIGHLIGHTS
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google unveils a new Gemini-powered chat-based tool in Google Ads to build Search ad campaigns, out in beta to all English language advertisers in the US and UK  —  Google announced today that Gemini, its family of multimodal large language models, now powers the conversational experience within the Google Ads platform.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
X adds support for passkeys for US-based iOS users; the announcement comes shortly after the hack of the US SEC's X account  —  X, formerly Twitter, today announced support for passkeys, a new and more secure login method than traditional passwords, which will become an option for U.S. users on iOS devices.
The Information:
Source: Brex told employees that the fintech is cutting 282 jobs, or ~20% of its staff, saying the team grew “too quickly” and its CTO and COO are stepping down  —  Brex is cutting 20% of its workforce and shaking up senior management ranks in a new effort to slash its cash burn …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Framework Laptop 16 review: the modular system offers unprecedented customization, is competent at mid-range gaming, but ran hot, froze, and glitched in testing  —  The Framework Laptop 16 is the most ambitious notebook I've ever touched.  There's never been anything like it before.
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
A US federal judge denies NSO Group's motion to dismiss the lawsuit from Apple and orders the Pegasus spyware maker to answer Apple's complaint by February 14  —  Apple has won an early battle against the NSO Group in court today.  Apple sued the Pegasus spyware maker in November 2021 …
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Berlin-based Kittl, which is developing a browser-based graphic design tool, raised a $36M Series B led by IVP, just a year after raising a $11.6M Series A  —  Just a year after raising $11.6 million, Kittl raised another $36 million in a Series B round led by IVP with some existing investors participating once again.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Texas Instruments reports Q4 revenue down 13% YoY to $4.08B, vs. $4.13B est., and FY 2023 sales down ~13% YoY, the company's biggest fall in over a decade  —  - Slowdown in automotive and industrial chips drag down results  — Company's wide product range makes it bellwether for industry
James Tapper / The Guardian:
A filing in a class action suit by 10 US artists against Midjourney and others lists 16,000 artist names whose work Midjourney had allegedly used for training  —  US lawyers approached about class action against Midjourney and other AI firms accused of ‘copyright laundering’
TechCrunch:
Data shows African startups raised between $2.9B and $4.1B total in 2023, down from $4.6B to $6.5B in 2022, with Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa leading  —  There was considerable debt uptake and regional VC diversification  —  After defying the global funding slowdown of 2022 …

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Earlier Picks

Sam Kessler / CoinDesk:
Mark Wilson / Fast Company:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Emma Roth / The Verge: