Techmeme
December 6, 2024, 12:50 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Trump says David Sacks will be the “White House AI and crypto czar” to “work on a legal framework so the crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for”  —  - New post will help Trump put imprint on developing industries  — Venture capitalist Sacks helped Trump make inroads with tech
Jacob Gershman / Wall Street Journal:
TikTok still faces a US ban if not sold by January 19, after a federal appeals court ruled that Congress has the power to take action to protect US interests  —  Panel rules Congress has the power to shut down Chinese-backed app in the U.S. because of national security concerns
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple's in-house modems will debut next spring in the new iPhone SE, with 2nd-gen modems expected in higher-end products like iPhone 18 lineup in 2026  —  - Company plans first modem in 2025 and high-end version in 2026  — Initial chip, in iPhone SE, won't match Qualcomm capabilities
Marius Hobbhahn / Apollo Research:
An evaluation of six frontier AI models for in-context scheming when strongly nudged to pursue a goal: only OpenAI's o1 was capable of scheming in all the tests  —  Paper: You can find the detailed paper here.  —  Transcripts: We provide a list of cherry-picked transcripts here.
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Microsoft ends production of its $4,500+ Surface Studio 2+, after announcing the all-in-one desktop in October 2022, with seemingly no plans to make a successor  —  Surface Studio 2+ is now out of stock in most markets, and there are seemingly no plans to make a new one.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
The “AI is fake and sucks” people who take phony comfort in their AI skepticism need to accept that AI is more real and dangerous than they currently admit  —  It's fun to say that artificial intelligence is fake and sucks — but evidence is mounting that it's real and dangerous  —  I.
Financial Times:
Sources: OpenAI is discussing ditching a clause that cuts off Microsoft's access to OpenAI tech if OpenAI develops AGI, so that Microsoft can continue investing  —  Start-up discusses removing provision to protect powerful technology from being misused for commercial purposes
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Samsung releases One UI 7 beta for Galaxy S24, with a huge visual overhaul, a “Now Bar”, a vertically scrolling app drawer, new security and AI tools, and more  —  Months later than expected, Samsung has officially unveiled its Android 15 update, One UI 7, and the company …
Reuters:
Sources: Ubisoft shareholders are considering how to structure a possible buyout of the game maker without reducing the founding Guillemot family's control  —  Shareholders of Ubisoft Entertainment SA (UBIP.PA) are considering how to structure a possible buyout of the Assassin's Creed video …
M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
CNN:
Romania's top court annuls presidential election, after its security council revealed “hybrid Russian attacks”, like cyberattacks and TikTok influence campaigns  —  Romania's constitutional court has annulled the first round of the country's 2024 presidential election process …
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
Sauron, which is touting a waiting list of tech CEOs and VCs for its home security system that incorporates drones and facial recognition, raised a $18M seed  —  By incorporating drones, facial recognition and high-tech sensors, Sauron aims to super-charge home security …
Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
FEC filing: Elon Musk poured at least $274M into US political groups in 2024, including $238.5M for his America PAC, making him the biggest US political donor  —  - Musk gave at least $274 million to elect Trump, GOP allies  — Trump has tapped Musk to help reshape federal bureaucracy
Emma Roth / The Verge:
xAI makes its AI chatbot Grok available to all users of X; non-Premium subscribers can send up to 10 messages to Grok every two hours  —  Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is now available to free users on X. Several users noticed the change on Friday, which gives non-Premium subscribers the ability …
Bluesky: @entropydenier
Jennifer McKiernan / BBC:
When asked if Musk is a threat to democracy, Nick Clegg says Musk has the choice of becoming an avid Trump supporter or “a sort of political puppet master”  —  Billionaire and X owner Elon Musk could become a “political puppet master” in the US, former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has said.

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More News

Shaurya Malwa / CoinDesk:
Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Victoria Song / The Verge:
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