Techmeme
May 17, 2023, 9:25 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signs the country's first bill that bans TikTok in a state, set to go into effect on January 1, 2024  —  Ban is slated to take effect next year—if it survives expected litigation  —  Montana's governor signed the country's first bill that outright bans TikTok …
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Tether plans to invest up to 15% of its profits in bitcoin, as the stablecoin developer shifts its reserves toward crypto and away from US government debt  —  - Tether is set to purchase bitcoin on a regular basis from its profits.  — It held $1.5 billion in bitcoin as of the end of the first quarter …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Logitech partners with iFixit to help with DIY repairs, supplying spare parts, batteries, and guides for select Logitech hardware starting this summer in the US  —  / Official spare parts, batteries, and repair guides for select Logitech hardware will be available through iFixit starting ‘this summer.’
Michelle Faverio / Pew Research Center:
Survey: 60% of Americans who used Twitter in the past year have taken a break from the social network; 25% say they are not likely to use Twitter in a year  —  A majority of Americans who have used Twitter in the past year report taking a break from the platform during that time …
Tatum Hunter / Washington Post:
Ovulation tracking app Premom agrees to pay $200K to settle with the FTC and state AGs for allegedly sharing user information with third parties without consent  —  The app allegedly shared sensitive user information with China-based companies known for privacy problems
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Docs: Google plans to use new AI models for ads, customer service, and to help YouTube creators, and is working on an internal Stable Diffusion-like product  —  - Google has approved several ad-related artificial intelligence projects to help advertisers and YouTube creators, internal documents show.
More: NeowinThanks:@mattrosoff
Ryan Weeks / The Block:
Ripple acquires Switzerland-based digital asset custody startup Metaco for $250M in cash and stock and plans to keep the brand and founder Adrien Treccani  —  San Francisco-based crypto company Ripple today announced an audacious swoop for Swiss custody firm Metaco in a deal worth $250 million.
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
An update to Google's Personal Safety app for Android suggests the company plans to offer a Dashcam recording feature for Pixel phones and other select devices  —  Rather than needing to buy a (sometimes pricey) dedicated gadget, you should soon be able to use your Pixel (and select other Android devices) …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon announces the new $40 semi-circle design Echo Pop, updates the $90 Echo Show 5, $100 Echo Show 5 Kids Edition, $50 Echo Buds, expands Echo Auto, and more  —  After last fall's Amazon hardware event which brought us a handful of new Echo devices, like the Dot with the clock and other minor updates …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Beats Studio Buds+ review: better sound, ANC, battery, and calls, but ANC lags AirPods Pro 2, no wireless charging, and lacks some of Apple's ecosystem tricks  —  With better sound, improved noise cancellation, and a standout translucent design, these are everything the original Beats Studio Buds should've been.
CoinDesk:
Grayscale says the US SEC warned that the Filecoin token meets the definition of a security and asked Grayscale to withdraw its Filecoin Trust application  —  Grayscale announced last month that the SEC suggested FIL might be a security.  —  CORRECTION (May 18, 2023, 00:25 UTC) …
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:
Sources: the Irish DPC is set to hand Meta a record EU privacy fine and order the company to stop all data transfers to the US that rely on certain clauses  —  Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is set to be handed a record European Union privacy fine eclipsing a €746 million ($809 million) penalty doled out to Amazon.com Inc..
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix says its ad tier has nearly 5M global MAUs, with a median age of 34, six months after launch, and makes up 25%+ of signups in countries with the option  —  In its inaugural upfront advertising event, executives touted the the streaming service's growing ad tier, and unveiled new sponsorship options.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Instagram adds support for GIFs in comments on posts and Reels, plans to launch a lyrics feature for Reels, and will roll out Instagram Gifts in India  —  On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg held a chat with Instagram head Adam Mosseri as part of the company launching collaboration feature on broadcast channels.

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 6: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Fri. 11/15 - Crypto Ascendant
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:25 PM ET, May 17, 2023.

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

Heather Kelly / Washington Post:
Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Jonathan Greig / The Record:
Financial Times:
Tech Transparency Project:
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Kevin Purdy / Ars Technica:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch: