Techmeme
January 20, 2023, 8:00 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Alphabet plans to cut ~12,000 jobs, 6%+ of its global workforce; CEO Sundar Pichai says he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that led us here”  —  Google parent Alphabet Inc. said it will cut about 12,000 jobs, more than 6% of its global workforce …
Nico Grant / New York Times:
Sources: Google executives met with Larry Page and Sergey Brin in December to discuss AI products; Google plans to demo web search with chatbot features in 2023  —  A rival chatbot has shaken Google out of its routine, with the founders who left three years ago re-engaging and more than 20 A.I. projects in the works.
Emily Baker-White / Forbes:
According to six employees and an internal doc, TikTok and ByteDance staff engage in “heating”, or inflating video view counts, to court influencers and brands  —  TikTok and ByteDance employees regularly engage in “heating,” a manual push that ensures specific videos …
Kevin Simauchi / Bloomberg:
Crypto lender Genesis Global files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York, listing the estimated range for both assets and liabilities as between $1B and $10B  —  Cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy, the latest firm to collapse in the aftermath of FTX's swift downfall.
Ryan Weeks / The Block:
Bankruptcy filing: Genesis Global owes more than $3.6B to its top 50 creditors, including $766M to the Winklevoss' Gemini Trust Company and $151M to Mirana  —  - Genesis Global filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
The Verge:
Source: CNET owner Red Ventures has used AI tools like Wordsmith to write stories for at least a year and a half, causing unease amid layoffs and restructuring  —  Fake bylines.  Content farming.  Affiliate fees.  What happens when private equity takes over a storied news site and milks it for clicks?
Mia Sato / The Verge:
In a staff call, CNET and Red Ventures executives said they were pausing AI-generated content on CNET and other websites and detailed their proprietary AI tool  —  The call, which lasted under an hour, was held a week after CNET came under fire for its use of AI tools on stories …
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
The US SEC charges Avraham Eisenberg with manipulating Mango Markets' governance token MNGO to steal $116M of crypto assets and says MNGO was sold as a security  —  - The SEC brought charges against Avraham Eisenberg on Friday after the U.S. securities regulator said Eisenberg stole $116 million from Mango Markets.
Josh Scott / BetaKit:
Waterloo-based Magnet Forensics, which develops digital investigation software, agrees to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for CA$1.8B  —  Announcement comes hours after IIROC halted trading of Magnet's shares.  —  Kitchener-Waterloo's Magnet Forensics has entered into a definitive agreement …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo plans to increase production of its six-year-old Switch console in the coming fiscal year, starting in April 2023, as demand remains strong  —  Nintendo Co. plans to increase production of its six-year-old Switch console in the coming fiscal year after shipping roughly 21 …
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Experts argue that 24+ US states banning TikTok is a reflection of government groupthink and an overreaction to an app that officials don't entirely understand  —  Some states' have copied others' wording, including mistakes, as some professors complain the bans rob them of a teaching tool

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