Techmeme
November 21, 2024, 10:20 PM

Top News

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well  —  Google is pulling the plug on its next Pixel Tablet, citing fears the product wouldn't sell very well.  —  •  —  TL;DR
Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership  —  President, Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer, Google & Alphabet  —  As part of its lawsuit over how we distribute Search …
M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
Paresh Dave / Wired:
Michael Liedtke / Associated Press:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16  —  - Company is working on overhaul that employees call ‘LLM Siri’  — Unveiling planned for next year, with rollout coming in 2026
Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Sources: a16z, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are jostling for a seat on Trump's promised crypto advisory council, which is expected to set up a bitcoin reserve  —  A slew of crypto companies including Ripple, Kraken and Circle are jostling for a seat on President-elect Donald Trump's promised …
Brady Dale / Axios:
SEC chair Gary Gensler will step down on January 20; it has been traditional for SEC chairs to resign if the administration changes in the middle of their term  —  - “I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility. … The agency had resisted launching exchange …
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta is rolling out voice message transcripts on WhatsApp globally over the coming weeks in select languages, and says they are generated on users' devices  —  WhatsApp announced on Thursday it's rolling out voice message transcripts.  The Meta-owned company says the new feature will come …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down  —  As Bluesky's user numbers continue to rise, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says Threads will change its For You page to show fewer posts from accounts you don't follow.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
SafeRent, an AI screening tool used by landlords, agrees to pay ~$2.3M to settle a discrimination lawsuit and will no longer display certain tenant scores  —  SafeRent, an AI screening tool used by landlords, will no longer use AI-powered “scores” to evaluate whether someone using housing vouchers would make a good tenant.
Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks  —  The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will now treat those companies more like banks as long as they handle …
James Reddick / The Record:
In its latest security report, Meta says it removed 2M+ accounts this year connected to pig butchering scams conducted from Southeast Asia and the UAE  —  Meta has taken down more than 2 million accounts this year connected to pig butchering scams conducted from Southeast Asia and the United Arab Emirates, the company said Thursday.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Cybersecurity startup Wiz acquires Dazz, a specialist in security remediation and risk management; sources say the cash-and-stock deal is valued at $450M  —  Wiz, one of the most talked-about names in the world of cybersecurity, is making a significant acquisition to expand its product reach …
Bloomberg:
Klarna's planned US IPO in H1 2025 could presage an uptick in IPOs by fintechs like Trustly, Chime, Zilch, Plaid, and Revolut after a relatively slow period  —  - Trustly, Chime, Zilch among candidates for a stock listing  — Sector stocks have bounced back after painful IPO losses
Steven Levy / Wired:
How Satya Nadella put Microsoft back on top, including by cleaning up its toxic culture, embracing open source, and crafting the OpenAI deal, as it nears 50  —  When Satya Nadella took over as CEO, the company was lumbering and uncool.  He cleaned up a toxic culture, crafted the deal of the decade, and put Microsoft back on top.
Michelle Conlin / Reuters:
Nick Pickles, who left X as VP of Global Affairs in September, joins Sam Altman's Tools for Humanity, which is building World Network, as chief policy officer  —  Nick Pickles, the former head of global affairs at Elon Musk's social media platform X, is joining forces with one of Musk's rivals, his fellow OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman.
More: Proactive and TechCrunch
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Snap files to dismiss New Mexico's lawsuit over Snap's alleged child safety issues with predators, saying the complaint misrepresents the state's investigation  —  Snap says the basis of a scathing lawsuit suggesting it systematically recommends teens' accounts to child predators is backwards …
Guthrie Scrimgeour / Wired:
Hawaii's The Garden Island stops using AI-generated newscasters on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram after two months, likely due to the negative public response  —  A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership.  After two months, the bots have been shelved.
Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:
The Trump administration's promises of mass deportations may lead to increased use of spyware like Graphite; ICE has a $2M contract with Graphite maker Paragon  —  Other Western democracies have been roiled by the use of spyware to target political opponents, activists, journalists, and other vulnerable groups.

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.
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.
Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 11/21 - What The DOJ Wants Google To Do
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 10:20 PM ET, November 21, 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

Washington Post:

Earlier Picks

Anna Gross / Financial Times:
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: