Techmeme
December 17, 2024, 8:15 AM

Top News

NBC News:
Source: Trump meets with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago, the same day that the company asks the Supreme Court to block the law that could ban the app  —  President-elect Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by the courts.  He has since changed his position on the issue.
Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google debuts Whisk, an image generator that takes other images as prompts to suggest the subject, scene, and style, and uses the new, “latest” Imagen 3 version  —  Google has announced a new AI tool called Whisk that lets you generate images using other images as prompts instead of requiring a long text prompt.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google DeepMind unveils Veo 2, a video generation model that can create clips over two minutes long at resolutions up to 4K, available in VideoFX via a waitlist  —  Google DeepMind, Google's flagship AI research lab, wants to beat OpenAI at the video generation game — and it might just, at least for a little while.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads now has 100M+ DAUs, revealing its DAU figure for the first time, and 300M+ MAUs, up from 275M+ MAUs in November 2024  —  It's a notable milestone not just because it's a big number; it's also the first time Meta has a daily active user figure publicly.
Rishav Chatterjee / Reuters:
Australia's privacy watchdog says Meta agreed to a AU$50M settlement over a 2020 Cambridge Analytica lawsuit alleging 300K+ Facebook users' data was exposed  —  The Australian Information Commissioner said on Tuesday it has withdrawn civil penalty proceedings against Meta Platforms (META.O) …
CNBC:
Waymo plans to test its robotaxis in Tokyo in early 2025, its first international expansion, partnering with taxi operator Nihon Kotsu and taxi hailing app GO  —  Alphabet-owned Waymo announced Monday that it will start testing its autonomous vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025, the company's first step toward international expansion.
Financial Times:
The UK opens a consultation on AI and copyright, and aims to offer an “opt out” copyright exception, force companies to open models to scrutiny, and more  —  Consultation could see easier access to copyrighted works but require tech groups to be clearer on what they have used
Edith Hancock / Wall Street Journal:
The European Commission opens a formal DSA investigation into TikTok over concerns foreign actors used it to interfere in the Romanian presidential elections  —  The probe comes after judges in the country annulled the outcome of the first round of presidential elections, citing concerns of Russian interference
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Search available to logged-in users, not just subscribers, and says users can set ChatGPT Search as their browser's default search engine  —  The product, called ChatGPT Search, will be available to any user who is logged in with an account for the chatbot across …
Wired:
Interpol says calling online scams “pig butchering”, a widely used phrase, is unhelpful as gangs “appear to have” created the phrase to describe victims  —  Experts say the catchall term for online fraud furthers harm against victims and could dissuade people …
Molly White / Bloomberg:
After Trump's win, a look at what the crypto industry could do next, including weakening financial rules that might protect consumers from the next crypto crash  —  The industry is now in a position to weaken financial rules that might protect consumers from the next crypto crash.

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
Are you ready for the era of agentic AI?  —  Tech leaders are always talking about what's next, and right now, agentic AI is dominating the discourse.  Equip yourself with the info you need in this recorded webinar.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
Everything new in the Zoho Sign iOS mobile app  —  Ranked highly in the iOS App Store (4.9 stars), Zoho Sign's mobile app for iPhone is a user favorite.  We're thrilled to share that the app has been enhanced …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Why COULDN'T Apple Make An iPhone In The US?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Derek Thompson (Writer, The Atlantic) and Zach Weinberg (Co-founder & CEO, Curie.Bio) Discuss the Tariff Withdrawal and America's Future
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Hard Fork:
Big Tech's Tariff Chaos + A.I. 2027 + Llama Drama
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Great Chat:
The bull case for domestic manufacturing
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Why DOGE is killing the agency that keeps banks from ripping you off
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI's CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:15 AM ET, December 17, 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

Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
More: Reuters, Haaretz, The Record, and The Times of Israel
Bluesky: @drwhaxX: @lorenzofbForums: r/technology and r/espionage
John Melloy / CNBC:
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: