Techmeme
June 15, 2023, 2:00 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Sources: Alphabet cautions staff not to enter confidential info into chatbots, including Bard, or directly use AI-generated code, following Amazon and others  —  Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) is cautioning employees about how they use chatbots, including its own Bard, at the same time as it markets …
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Valve releases a Steam update, announced in April, offering a big UI makeover, unifying the codebase for Desktop, Big Picture Mode, and Steam Deck, and more  —  While much of that has been available in beta, today's the day it goes wide with a full stable release.  So if your Steam is looking rather different, that's why!
Gavin Bonshor / AnandTech:
Intel announces a chip naming refresh: dropping the “i”, opting for a straightforward Core 3, 5, and 7 structure, and placing premium chips under an Ultra brand  —  As first hinted at by Intel back in late April, Intel is embarking on a journey to redefine its client processor branding …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft begins selling replacement Surface components via the Microsoft Store, including displays, batteries, and SSDs, for “out-of-warranty, self repair”  —  Microsoft is starting to sell replacement components for its Surface devices.  The software giant now supplies replacement parts …
Matt Walsh / @mattwalshinbos:
[Thread] After the SEC approved Prometheum's SPBD for digital assets, a look at CEO Aaron Kaplan's bizarre Congressional testimony and issues with the SPBD  —  This Prometheum storyline has got to be the strangest thing I have seen in awhile in this industry. Has anyone actually looked into this? Beyond bizarre...
Mandiant:
A look at Barracuda's Email Security Gateway zero-day, exploited by a China-linked actor since October 2022 to spy on governments, mostly in the Americas  —  On May 23, 2023, Barracuda announced that a zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2023-2868) in the Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) …
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft researchers detail Cadet Blizzard, a GRU group they say was behind the WhisperGate data-wiping attacks in Ukraine just before Russia's 2022 invasion  —  Microsoft has linked a threat group it tracks as Cadet Blizzard since April 2023 to Russia's Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (also known as GRU).
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Russia-linked ransomware gang Clop lists its first victims targeted via Progress' MOVEit Transfer tool since May 2023, including US banks and universities  —  Researchers say the newly discovered security flaw was exploited as far back as 2021  —  Clop, the ransomware gang responsible …
Chris Vallance / BBC:
Meta's Yann LeCun says experts' fears of AI threatening humanity are “preposterously ridiculous” and keeping AI research “under lock and key” would be a mistake  —  One of the three “godfathers of AI” has said it won't take over the world or permanently destroy jobs.
Nick Perry / Associated Press:
New Zealand sentences two men who ran the once wildly popular pirating website Megaupload to over two years in prison, ending an 11-year US extradition battle  —  Two men who helped run the once wildly popular pirating website Megaupload were each sentenced by a New Zealand court on Thursday to more than two years in prison.
Financial Times:
Sources: at a May 2023 meeting, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority pushed HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China to take on crypto exchanges as clients  —  Regulators are pushing for banks to accept more exchanges as clients in quest to develop digital assets industry
Christina Warren / Inverse:
A look at Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, based on a 20K-lines-of-code patch to Wine, easing ports to Apple silicon, and possible paths Apple may take with gaming  —  At WWDC last week, most of the focus was rightfully on the new Apple Vision Pro headset and the new visionOS.
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Uber plans to add video ads to its main app, Uber Eats, and alcohol app Drizly, starting in the US; 345K merchants bought ads on Uber in Q1, up from 315K in Q4  —  The company, which sees ad sales as a key growth area, will debut long-form videos on Uber Eats, Drizly and its ride-hailing app
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Twitch launches a Partner Plus tier offering a 70/30 revenue split to streamers who have at least 350 recurring paid subscriptions for three months in a row  —  Twitch is introducing a new “Partner Plus” program that will give streamers an increased 70 percent of the share of their subscription revenues …
Jarrett Renshaw / Reuters:
The White House says Live Nation and Ticketmaster plan to offer consumers upfront all-in pricing starting in September, as part of a crackdown on “junk fees”  —  Live Nation and Ticketmaster will soon offer consumers all-in pricing on their popular ticket platforms …
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Hackers are impersonating cybersecurity researchers on Twitter and GitHub to post fake proof-of-concept zero-day exploits that push Windows and Linux malware  —  Hackers are impersonating cybersecurity researchers on Twitter and GitHub to publish fake proof-of-concept exploits for zero …
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The Senate Judiciary Committee advances the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which enables news outlets to jointly negotiate with tech companies  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee revived the prospects for a long-proposed bill that would bolster print and broadcast news outlets in their negotiations with tech giants.
Kari Paul / The Guardian:
The CCDH estimates Google made $10M in two years from anti-abortion organizations' ads misdirecting users to “pregnancy crisis centers” that do not provide care  —  Study finds the search giant has profited since Roe was overturned from anti-abortion groups buying misleading search terms

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