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December 17, 2024, 7:45 AM
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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:
ByteDance asks SCOTUS to block the US law that could ban TikTok on January 19; when asked about the law, Trump says he has a “warm spot” in his heart for TikTok  —  The law will go into effect on Jan. 19 if the justices don't grant the company's request.
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.
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.
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
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) …
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 …
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.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Toronto-based Hostaway, which offers vacation rental management tools, raised $365M led by General Atlantic at a $925M valuation, after raising $175M in 2023  —  The tourism and travel industries are finally back on track, expected to make a “full recovery” to pre-pandemic levels of activity, the UN said earlier this month.
More: PhocusWire

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:45 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.

From Mediagazer

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Sources: Disney executives worried about ABC's Trump case and that the company could risk damaging press protections for others, as well as harming its brand

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney confirms pulling a transgender storyline from animated series Win or Lose, saying “many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects” with their kids

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Tortoise formally signs the deal to buy The Observer, appoints acting editor Lucy Rock as the title's print editor, and launches a voluntary redundancy scheme

More News

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
Bloomberg:
Digital bank Tyme Group, which operates in South Africa and the Philippines, raised a $250M Series D led by Brazilian digital bank Nubank at a $1.5B valuation
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Chinese shopping app Temu was 2024's top free app in the US iOS App Store, same as 2023, followed by Threads, TikTok, ChatGPT, Google, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube adds a tool to let creators authorize third parties, including Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI to train AI models on their videos
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Meta rolls out three new Ray-Ban Meta features: “live AI” for videos and live translations for Early Access Program members, and Shazam for US and Canada users
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Reports: Israel-based Paragon, maker of Pegasus-rival Graphite, sold to US PE firm AE Industrial for ~$500M, a sum that may grow if profitability goals are hit
More: Reuters, Haaretz, The Record, and The Times of Israel
Bluesky: @drwhax.  X: @lorenzofb.  Forums: r/technology and r/espionage
John Melloy / CNBC:
At a meeting with Trump, Masayoshi Son claims SoftBank will invest $100B over four years in the US, creating 100K+ jobs focused on AI and related infrastructure
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Amnesty International: Serbian authorities used phone hacking startup Cellebrite's tools to unlock a journalist's phone before infecting the device with malware
Noam Scheiber / New York Times:
US Senate investigation: senior Amazon execs disregarded internal warnings over the high rates of worker injuries due to concerns about Amazon's performance
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
Ofcom says the Online Safety Act has taken effect and plans additional measures in 2025 that include proposals for removing material tied to CSAM and terrorism
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