Techmeme
February 7, 2024, 5:05 PM

Top News

Wayne Ma / The Information:
Source: Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise; the phones are in early development and not set for production in 2024 or 2025  —  Apple is building prototypes of at least two iPhones that fold widthwise like a clamshell, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Apple partners with University of California researchers to release open-source AI model MGIE, which can edit images based on natural language instructions  —  Apple has released a new open-source AI model, called “MGIE,” that can edit images based on natural language instructions.
Carl Franzen / VentureBeat:
Microsoft updates Copilot with a redesigned look, a new AI model for Copilot's Balanced mode called Deucalion, and new AI image creation and editing features  —  In a startling move, Microsoft today announced a redesigned look for its Copilot AI search and chatbot experience on the web …
Sam Sabin / Axios:
US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand advisory: China-backed hacking group Volt Typhoon has had access to some major US infrastructure for over five years  —  China-backed hackers have had access to some major U.S. critical infrastructure for “at least five years,” according to an intelligence advisory released Wednesday.
Charlie Sorrel / iFixit News:
Apple Vision Pro teardown: 50 Vision Pro pixels fit into a single iPhone 15 Pro pixel, the display is not technically 4K, has a ~100° field of view, and more  —  After the whirlwind of team activity that was our initial Vision Pro teardown, we've been digging much, much deeper into those dual displays …
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney plans to invest $1.5B for a stake in Epic Games and work with the gaming studio to create new games with content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and more  —  - Disney is investing $1.5 billion for an equity stake in Epic Games in its biggest jump yet into the gaming world.
Chainalysis:
Ransomware payments in 2023 hit a record $1.1B, up from $567M in 2022 and $983M in 2021, after a major escalation of the frequency, scope, and volume of attacks  —  The Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report  —  Coming soon  —  In 2023, ransomware actors intensified their operations …
Emilia David / The Verge:
OpenAI says DALL-E 3 will add watermarks to images with C2PA metadata but acknowledges the metadata can “easily be removed either accidentally or intentionally”  —  OpenAI's image generator DALL-E 3 will add watermarks to image metadata as more companies roll out support for standards …
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
An interview with Nebojša Vujinović Vujo, who runs 2,000+ AI-generated news sites, often hosted on once-popular domains, and claims to have ~12 human editors  —  Serbian DJ turned internet entrepreneur Nebojša Vujinović Vujo floods abandoned news sites with AI-generated articles.
Jane Zhang / Bloomberg:
Alibaba reports Q3 revenue up 5% YoY to ~$36.7B, net income down 69% YoY to ~$2B, Taobao and Tmall revenue up 2% YoY to ~$18B, and approves a $25B share buyback  —  - The move may appeal to some investors as growth plateaus  — Alibaba is grappling with market and internal uncertainty
Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
Disney begins emailing Disney+ subscribers about TOS changes that will make sharing accounts harder, days after sending out similar notices to Hulu subscribers  —  Today, Disney Plus began sending out emails informing subscribers about new changes to its terms of service that will …
Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
Roblox reports Q4 revenue up 30% YoY to $749.9M, bookings up 25% YoY to a record $1.1B, DAUs up 22% YoY to 71.5M, and $2.8B in 2023 revenue; RBLX jumps 13%+  —  - Roblox reported results for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year that beat consensus estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google updates Google Maps for Android to overlay the weather and air quality index when browsing the map layer, a feature the iOS app has had for some time  —  Like the iOS app, Google Maps for Android now overlays the weather and AQI when you're browsing the map layer.
Camilla Hodgson / Financial Times:
Uber reports Q4 revenue up 15% YoY to $9.9B, Gross Bookings up 22% YoY to $37.6B, a $1.9B net income, 150M MAUs, and first full-year operating profit of $1.1B  —  Rides, deliveries and ads increase as company celebrates ‘inflection point’  —  Uber has reported its first annual operating profit …
Manya Saini / Reuters:
PayPal reports Q4 revenue up 9% YoY to $8B, vs. $7.87B est., and total payment volume up 15% YoY to $409.8B, vs. $404.45B est.  —  PayPal (PYPL.O) beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday as more Americans used its payments platform for shopping during the holiday season.
More: Bloomberg, CNBC, and PayPal
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is testing the ability to save posts, a “heavily requested feature” that allows users to bookmark posts and revisit them later  —  Instagram Threads is getting a highly requested feature that puts it in closer competition with X/Twitter.

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Zoho:
How remote support can make your Christmas stress-free  —  As Christmas approaches, the air fills with the anticipation of joy, family gatherings, and gift-giving.  While the season brings immense happiness …
Genesys:
Executive Insights: The Era of Contact Center AI Copilots  —  How AI copilots are transforming customer experience and agent performance.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Techmeme Ride Home:
(BNS) Calvin And Hobbes - With Daniel Kibblesmith
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:05 PM ET, February 7, 2024.

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

Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:

Earlier Picks

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Kylie Robison / Fortune:
Nelson Wang / Unchained:
Wall Street Journal:
AJ Vicens / CyberScoop: