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February 8, 2024, 8:55 PM
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WeSmirchTop News
| David Pierce / The Verge: |
Google debuts Gemini Ultra 1.0, its largest and most capable LLM, renames Bard as Gemini, debuts a dedicated Android app, and plans to add Gemini to its iOS app — Google is famous for having a million similar products with confusingly different names and seemingly nothing in common.
More: The Keyword, The Keyword, Google on YouTube, 9to5Google, Reuters, CNET, TechCrunch, XDA Developers, Australian Financial Review, CNBC, Financial Times, Engadget, Fortune, Wired, Investing.com, Gizmodo, SlashGear, CBS News, Android Headlines, ExtremeTech, SD Times, TechSpot, ITBusiness.ca, Metaverse Post, TalkAndroid.com, Futurism, TestingCatalog, How-To Geek, Droid Life, Android Authority, PCWorld, The Information, Fox News, MobileSyrup, GSMArena.com, AndroidGuys, CRN, France 24, Neowin, Techpoint Africa, TechRadar, PhoneArena, Digital Trends, BGR, IndraStra Global, Analytics India Magazine, TechCircle, Phandroid, Wired, and Google DeepMind
Threads: @technologizer, @thatadamguy, @fredericl, @gwestr, and @daveleebbg
X: @googledeepmind, @migueldeicaza, @mkbhd, @mishaalrahman, @mishaalrahman, @mishaalrahman, @jackk, @artemr, @jeffdean, @googledeepmind, @graadient, @marie_haynes, @marie_haynes, @jackk, @marie_haynes, @google, @haydenfield, @carnage4life, @jackk, @aravsrinivas, @marie_haynes, @google, @marie_haynes, @stevesi, and @google
LinkedIn: Aaron Lax, Christophe Dubos, Vikas Kansal, Lisa Cohen, Guillaume Leygues, Emil Protalinski, and Greta Krupetsky
| Ethan Mollick / One Useful Thing: |
Google Gemini Advanced hands-on: clearly a GPT-4 class model, but doesn't obviously blow away GPT-4 in benchmarks; Gemini is better than GPT-4 at explanations — And then there were two. — Right around the time you are getting this email, Google finally released their long-awaited powerful AI … | Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
| Lauren Goode / Wired: |
More: The Register, Benzinga, Mashable, TechStartups, Hindustan Times, CryptoGlobe, and Business Insider
Threads: @laurengoode and @sundarpichai
X: @wired and @alexmacgregor__
| Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer: |
LastPass warns users about a fake copy of its app on Apple's App Store, with a similar name and logo, likely used as a phishing app to steal users' credentials — LastPass is warning that a fake copy of its app is being distributed on the Apple App Store, likely used as a phishing app to steal users' credentials.
More: The LastPass Blog, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, The Register, Ars Technica, PhoneArena, Daring Fireball, Mashable, Malwarebytes, The Boston Globe, The Mac Security Blog, PCMag, Hackread, RestorePrivacy, BGR, Tom's Guide, and The Verge
Threads: @ianbetteridge. Mastodon: @hagen@mastodon.social, @nickheer@c.im, and @mike@libertynode.net
Bluesky: @emilprotalinski.bsky.social and @marypcbuk.bsky.social
X: @9to5mac, @mysk_co, @dylanmcd8, @rsgnl, @patrickwardle, @krzyzanowskim, @gcluley, and @lastpass
Forums: r/apple and MacRumors Forums
| Leah Nylen / Bloomberg: |
Filing: Microsoft says Activision had planned layoffs before the merger, responding to the FTC's claims that the layoffs contradict Microsoft's court statements — - Xbox maker cutting 1,900 workers, including at Activision — Tech giant responds to Federal Trade Commission over layoffs| Thomas Claburn / The Register: |
PWAs no longer work as standalone apps in iOS 17.4 betas, presumably as part of Apple's preparation for EU DMA which forces it to allow alt browser engines — PWAs demoted to OWB: Operating Within Browser — Apple has argued for years that developers who don't want to abide by its rules …
More: MacRumors, Bruce Lawson's personal site, 9to5Mac, Open Web Advocacy, Danny Moerkerke, and Mysk on YouTube
Mastodon: @uliwitness@chaos.social, @rileytestut@mastodon.social, @slightlyoff@toot.cafe, and @owa@mastodon.social. Bluesky: @marypcbuk.bsky.social
X: @firt, @krzyzanowskim, @chrismaddern, @openwebadvocacy, @mysk_co, @firt, @firt, @brucel, @firt, @dannymoerkerke, @firt, @passle_, @timsweeneyepic, @mysk_co, and @mysk_co
Forums: Hacker News and MacRumors Forums
| Cory Weinberg / The Information: |
Source: Disney's $1.5B investment in Epic Games will give Disney a 9% stake in Epic at a valuation of $22.5B, down ~29% from its 2022 valuation of $31.5B — Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games values the Fortnite maker at $22.5 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.| David Shepardson / Reuters: |
The US says 200+ entities, like OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, and Palantir, are joining the AI Safety Institute Consortium — The Biden administration on Thursday said leading artificial intelligence companies are among more than 200 entities joining … | Diane Brady / Fortune: |
Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker steps down to focus on AI and internet safety as the chair of the nonprofit; board member Laura Chambers will step in as interim CEO — Mozilla has named a new CEO effective immediately. — Mozilla Corp., which manages the open-source Firefox browser …
More: The Mozilla Blog, Thurrott, OSnews, and Phoronix
Threads: @fredericl. Mastodon: @mozilla@mozilla.social, @ploum@mamot.fr, and @mozilla@mozilla.social. LinkedIn: Laura Chambers
Forums: Hacker News, r/privacy, and Slashdot
| Jordan Pearson / VICE: |
Chris Dixon's book becomes an NYT Best Seller but with a dagger icon denoting bulk orders; a16z and some startups linked to it gave the book to staff and others — Motherboard found that firms linked to a16z and general partner Chris Dixon bought numerous copies of his new book promoting cryptocurrencies …
More: New York Times. X: @wendysmithe62, @smc90, @quinnypig, @kantrowitz, @avichal, @neuwaves, and @iandaos
| Molly White / Citation Needed: |
| Brian Fung / CNN: |
The FCC outlaws scam robocalls featuring fake, AI-created voices, giving state AGs more legal tools to pursue illegal robocallers that use such voices — The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it is immediately outlawing scam robocalls featuring fake, artificial intelligence-created voices …
More: Associated Press, Wired, Federal Communications …, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Hill, 9to5Mac, International Business Times, Axios, BGR, StateScoop, ExtremeTech, The Record, The Register, Engadget, HealthcareInfoSecurity.com, PYMNTS.com, Semafor, NPR, New York Times, Broadband Breakfast, Newser, Tech Xplore, PCMag, HotHardware, CoinGape, Nextgov/FCW, New York Post, Fast Company, SiliconANGLE, and New York Daily News
Mastodon: @b_fung@masto.ai. X: @fcc, @agrobbonta, @racheltobac, @jonathanuriarte, and @rakeshlobster
| CNBC: |
Arm closed up 47.89% after issuing a strong profit forecast, adding ~$38B to its market cap, with $34B+ of that accruing to SoftBank, which owns 90% of Arm — - Shares of chip designer Arm climbed 48% on Thursday. — The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, and issued an optimistic forecast.| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Xiaolang Zhang, a former Apple engineer who pled guilty in August 2022 to IP theft of Apple's car project, is sentenced to 120 days in prison and a ~$147K fine — For the last six years, we've been following the case of Xiaolang Zhang, a former Apple engineer who pled guilty to stealing Project Titan trade secrets.
More: AppleInsider
| Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: |
Pinterest reports Q4 revenue up 12% YoY to $981.3M, vs. $991M est., MAUs up 11% to 498M, vs. 487M est., and a weaker-than-expected Q1 forecast; PINS drops 5%+ — - Pinterest missed on sales but beat on earnings in its fourth-quarter earnings report. — The company also issued a weaker-than-expected forecast.
More: Pinterest, PYMNTS.com, The Information, Search Engine Land, Bloomberg, Reuters, and NBC 7 San Diego
X: @thetranscript_ and @richlightshed
| Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter: |
X signs a two-year deal with the WWE for a new exclusive weekly video series called WWE Speed featuring timed matches of 5 minutes or less, coming spring 2024 — ‘WWE Speed’ will stream timed matches meant to end in five minutes or less on the Elon Musk-owned platform.| Taylor Soper / GeekWire: |
Expedia says CEO Peter Kern will step down after four years in the role and names its president for business, Ariane Gorin, as CEO, effective May 13, 2024 — Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern will step down in May, the travel giant announced Thursday. He will be replaced by Ariane Gorin, currently president of Expedia for Business.
More: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Seattle Business Journal, Expedia, Business Wire, Reuters, and Skift
X: @rafat and @thetranscript_
| Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer: |
The Danish data protection authority orders schools to stop sending student data to Google via Chromebooks and Workspace, after an over four-year investigation — The Danish data protection authority (Datatilsynet) has issued an injunction regarding student data being funneled to Google through …
More: The Verge, TechSpot, and The Privacy Dad's Blog
Mastodon: @reay@mastodon.social, @jdelacueva@mastodon.social, and @lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nz. Forums: Hacker News
| The Information: |
Sources: Flexport lost at least $2M/month in 2023 on its air freight deal with Apple, started in late 2022 to ship products from some Asian factories to the US — For Flexport, a logistics company billing itself as the future of trade, it's hard to think of a more impressive client than Apple, the poster child of globalization.
X: @ilirsela, @anngehan, and @theo_wayt
| Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg: |
A profile of OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, tasked by Sam Altman with striking a deal with Axel Springer, which may offer a road map for additional media deals — Brad Lightcap helped seal the startup's deal with publisher Axel Springer. Now he's experimenting with the company's business model.| Jordan Novet / CNBC: |
Cloudflare reports Q4 revenue up 32% YoY to $362.5M, vs. $353.1M est., net loss of $27.9M, vs. $45.9M YoY, and Q1 revenue guidance above est.; NET jumps 17%+ — - Cloudflare's revenue and adjusted earnings surpassed expectations, as did quarterly guidance.| Aisha S Gani / Bloomberg: |
Plaid names Jen Taylor as its first president as it readies itself for an IPO; Taylor was most recently chief product officer at Cloudflare — - Firm names Cloudflare's product head Jen Taylor as president — Her hiring comes months after fintech announced its first CFO| Jessica Hagen / MobiHealthNews: |
Unlearn, which helps researchers run small clinical trials by creating digital twins of participants, raised a $50M Series C, taking its total funding to $130M+ — The California-based company will put the funds toward its workforce, growing its data and further investing in R&D initiatives and engineering capabilities.
More: VC News Daily, FinSMEs, Axios, Business Wire, and HIT Consultant
| Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority: |
A leaked image allegedly shows the Google Pixel Fold 2, including a narrower cover screen, a squarer inner screen aspect ratio, and redesigned camera bump — Here's a very early look at what could be Google's second-generation foldable phone. — • — TL;DR
More: XDA Developers, Engadget, Ars Technica, ZDNet, TalkAndroid.com, HotHardware, Creative Bloq, SamMobile, and Pocketnow
Mastodon: @MishaalRahman@androiddev …. Forums: r/GooglePixel, r/Android, r/PixelFold, and Ars OpenForum
| Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: |
Take-Two reports Q3 net bookings down 3% YoY to $1.34B, net revenue down 3% YoY to $1.37B, and plans cost reductions “more robust” than in 2023; TTWO drops 9%+ — Take-Two Interactive reported results for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31 that fell short of its expectations … | Reed Albergotti / Semafor: |
Q&A with Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine on Medium expecting to turn a profit in 2024, distribution, training LLMs, AI-generated content, media layoffs, and more — The Scene — Amid turmoil in the media industry, online publishing platform Medium expects to post its first profit around the middle of this year.
Mastodon: @nicol@social.coop. X: @nbj914, @emilybell, @bigmeaninternet, @seamushughes, @te_rowley, and @semaforben
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