Techmeme
January 15, 2020, 4:50 PM

Top News

Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
Sources: Apple has acquired Seattle-based Xnor.ai, which develops low-power, edge-based AI image recognition tools, for around $200M  —  Apple has acquired Xnor.ai, a Seattle startup specializing in low-power, edge-based artificial intelligence tools, sources with knowledge of the deal told GeekWire.
James Vincent / The Verge:
In a Q&A, Jack Dorsey discusses Twitter's thinking around an edit button and says “we'll probably never do it”  —  You've got to live with your mistakes, which includes joining Twitter  —  Twitter users have been asking for the option to edit tweets ever since the service launched in 2006 …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google Smart Lock on iOS now leverages Secure Enclave to enable the iPhone's use as a physical 2FA key to sign in to Google apps via Chrome on nearby devices  —  Last year, Google announced that all Android 7+ devices can be used as two-factor authentication when signing into Gmail, Drive, and other first-party services.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft begins rolling out its Chromium-based Edge browser, available now for Windows and macOS  —  Right on schedule, Microsoft today launched its new Edge browser based on Google's Chromium open source project.  You can download Chromium Edge now for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
In a tweet, Trump criticizes Apple for refusing to unlock phones of violent criminals and says his administration helps Apple “all of the time” on trade  —  - In a tweet, president Donald Trump addressed the conflict between the FBI and Apple over locked iPhones used by the suspected Pensacola shooter.
New York Times:
Sources: Apple is preparing for a legal fight with the DOJ, similar to San Bernardino, which was not legally resolved before FBI dropped the case  —  The Silicon Valley giant is preparing for a legal fight over encryption, even as it works to reduce tensions with the Justice Department.
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Internal memo: Mozilla lays off ~70 as its plans to increase revenue from new subscription products and sources outside search in 2019 did not pan out  —  Mozilla laid off about 70 employees today, TechCrunch has learned.  —  In an internal memo, Mozilla chairwoman and interim CEO Mitchell …
More: CNET and Mercury News
Bloomberg:
Blake Hester / Polygon:
Former Microsoft employees and third-party developers reflect on the rise and fall of Microsoft Kinect, which was once billed as the future of Xbox  —  For a moment a decade ago, the game industry looked like a very different place  —  Illustrations by Cobysoft Joe for Polygon
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
As companies comply with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA, many have insecure practices for giving users their data and some outsource user identity verification  —  A new California privacy law gives consumers the right to see and delete their data.  But getting access often requires giving up more personal details.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Nicholas Thompson / Wired:
Interview with US CTO Michael Kratsios on the government's recent regulatory framework for AI, the potential for an AI cold war with China, and more  —  In a WIRED Q&A, the US chief technology officer warns against overregulating tech, underestimating the Chinese, and losing America's lead in quantum computing.
Yuan Yang / Financial Times:
A look at how US pressure, driven by national security and trade concerns, has led to China seeking increased technological self-sufficiency  —  The acrimony between China and the US over technology transfers has created plenty of losers during the past year.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Amid an antitrust probe and protests by small merchants, Jeff Bezos travels to India to announce a further $1B investment into Amazon's operations over 5 years  —  India welcomed Jeff Bezos this week with an antitrust probe.  On top of that, thousands of small merchants who typically compete …

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