Techmeme
June 13, 2024, 5:20 PM

Top News

ProPublica:
Ex-employee Andrew Harris says Microsoft for years dismissed his warnings of an Active Directory flaw that led to the 2021 SolarWinds hack; Harris left in 2020  —  Microsoft hired Andrew Harris for his extraordinary skill in keeping hackers out of the nation's most sensitive computer networks.
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp increases the limit for video call participants to 32 people, enhances screen sharing by adding audio support, and introduces a speaker spotlight tool  —  WhatsApp updated the video calling experience across devices on Thursday by introducing screen sharing with audio support, and a new speaker spotlight feature.
Sharon Goldman / Fortune:
Sources detail Amazon's struggles to build a new generative AI-powered Alexa, including privacy concerns keeping Alexa's teams from using Anthropic's Claude  —  “Alexa, let's chat.”  —  With that phrase, David Limp, at the time Amazon's head of devices and services, showed off …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple isn't paying OpenAI to add ChatGPT into its OSes and aims to eventually make money from AI by striking revenue-sharing deals with chatbot makers  —  - The iPhone maker isn't paying OpenAI to use the chatbot  — Apple announced OpenAI agreement as part of AI push this week
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Long-time Android Engineering VP Dave Burke steps down to explore “AI/bio” projects at Alphabet; sources say the Platforms & Devices team is undergoing a reorg  —  Back in April, Google announced a merger of the Platforms & Ecosystems and Devices & Services divisions.
Aernout van de Velde / Wccftech:
After a major leak of unannounced games, Epic releases an update “so third-party tools can't surface any new unpublished product titles” from its Games Store  —  “We released an update tonight so third-party tools can't surface any new unpublished product titles from the Epic Games Store catalog.”
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Samsung unveils the $199+ Galaxy Watch FE in a single 40mm size with a 1.2" OLED display, Exynos W920 chip, NFC, GPS, and 16GB of storage, on sale from June 24  —  Samsung just announced it's launching a third smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch FE.  It's meant to be the company's new entry-level smartwatch …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sony rolls out an update to Discord on the PS5 that integrates the app into the console's dashboard and lets users join voice calls directly, starting in Asia  —  Sony is improving its Discord integration on the PS5 so that you can join voice calls directly from the console.
Reuters:
Samsung cuts AI chip production time by ~20% after integrating memory chip, foundry, and chip packaging, and expects chip industry revenue to hit $778B by 2028  —  Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) said its contract manufacturing business plans to offer a one-stop shop for clients to get their AI chips …
Keith Bradsher / New York Times:
How China is testing more driverless cars than any other country, with 16+ cities letting 19+ companies test vehicles on public roads, aided by government help  —  Assisted driving systems and robot taxis are becoming more popular with government help, as cities designate large areas for testing on public roads.
Will Knight / Wired:
Apple's WWDC demos, with the integration of generative AI across its products, show the value of seeing AI as a feature rather than a standalone app or device  —  Other tech companies want to sell you chatbots.  Apple's demos show the value of seeing the AI as an integrated, holistic experience rather than a stand-alone app or device.
Boone Ashworth / Wired:
Yahoo debuts a revamped version of its free Yahoo News app, powered by Artifact's AI tech, after acquiring the Instagram co-founders' news app in April 2024  —  Artifact, the news app startup from Instagram's cofounders, was purchased by Yahoo earlier this year.
Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
The Pentagon renews a contract with SpaceX to provide Starlink internet services in Ukraine until November 30 at a cost of $14.1M  —  - Contract with Musk firm tops $40 million, runs through Nov. 30  — Relations with Pentagon have improved since 2022 Ukraine spat
Financial Times:
OpenAI has expanded its global affairs team from three at the start of 2023 to 35 now, stationed strategically in locations where AI legislation is advanced  —  ChatGPT maker beefs up global affairs unit as politicians push for new laws that could constrain powerful AI models

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More News

MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
David Pierce / The Verge:
Threads: @imdavidpierce and @reckless1280Mastodon: @kottke@mastodon.social
X: @stephenlrose, @verge, and @ambermacLinkedIn: Chris Weaver

Earlier Picks

Samuel K. Moore / IEEE Spectrum:
Kyodo News:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Mariella Moon / Engadget: