Techmeme: Court filing: X faces 2,200 arbitration cases from employees laid off after Elon Musk took over; the filing fees alone could be $3.5M for such a volume of cases (Lora Kolodny/CNBC)

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August 30, 2023, 2:25 PM

Top News

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Sony will raise PlayStation Plus annual subscription prices in September; Essential will go from $60 to $80, Extra from $100 to $135, Premium from $120 to $160 — Sony is raising the price of its PlayStation Plus subscription next month. The service's annual Essential plan will go from $60 to $80 …

Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft plans to address an “unintended behavior” causing malware-like notification pop-ups in Windows 11 for months that promote Bing search in Chrome — I thought I had malware on my main Windows 11 machine this weekend. There I was minding my own business in Chrome …

More: Thurrott, Windows Central, and iPhone in Canada Blog

Mastodon: @AAKL@infosec.exchange. X: @tealfuleyes, @quinnypig, @crashthompsonxo, @tomwarren, @darkpatterns, and @darkpatterns

Forums: Hacker News and r/microsoft

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple is testing 3D printing the stainless steel Apple Watch Series 9's chassis to speed up production, boost sustainability, and lower costs over time — - New approach will use less material and be more eco-friendly — Company is trying out the process with steel Apple Watches

More: MacRumors, 9to5Mac, The Verge, AppleInsider, Forbes, Supercharged, Redmond Pie, The Voice of 3D Printing, and iPhone in Canada Blog

Forums: r/apple and MacRumors Forums

Reuters:

Huawei quietly launches the ~$960 Mate 60 Pro, giving no advance notice and releasing no ads; some investors speculate that Huawei used its own 5G chip — Chinese chip stocks rallied on Wednesday following Huawei Technologies' (HWT.UL) launch of its new Mate 60 Pro phone …

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google announces a hardware event on October 4 at 10am ET in New York City, where the company is expected to unveil the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel Watch 2 — Google this morning announced that it will be hosting its annual Pixel hardware event on Wednesday, October 4.

Richard Lawler / The Verge:

An image with the alt text “A person takes a call on a Pixel 8 Pro phone in Porcelain” popped up on a Google Store page, revealing the as-yet-unannounced device — Continuing the storied tradition of Google's Pixel devices being some of the most-leaked hardware ever …

Steve Dent / Engadget:

Samsung launches Food, an AI-powered food and recipe app in eight languages and 104 countries, with 160K+ recipes based on a database by Whisk, acquired in 2019 — It builds on Whisk, an app it acquired a few years back. — As it promised last week, Samsung has launched Food, a …

More: Samsung Newsroom, PCMag, Silicon Republic, Gizmodo, iPhone in Canada Blog, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, SlashGear, Sammy Fans, Mashable, SamNews 24, and Notebookcheck. Bluesky: @epro.social

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:

JBL announces the $330 Authentics 200, $700 Authentics 500, and portable $430 Authentics 300, the first smart speakers featuring both Alexa and Google Assistant — Three new JBL smart speakers from Harman will be the first to offer simultaneous voice assistants, so you can ask Alexa to start the music and then ask Google to stop it.

More: XDA Developers, 9to5Google, GeekWire, TechHive, TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, ZDNet, Bloomberg, The Keyword, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, About Amazon, T3, What Hi-Fi?, Harman International, Stuff, and MSPoweruser

LinkedIn: Eric Olason. Forums: r/gadgets

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Source: OpenAI is on pace to generate $1B+ in revenue over the next 12 months by selling its AI tools and the computing capacity for them, up from $28M in 2022 — OpenAI is currently on pace to generate more than $1 billion in revenue over the next 12 months from the sale …

More: The Decoder, Tech Startups, New York Post, CryptoSlate, Analytics India Magazine, OnMSFT.com, WinBuzzer, Tech in Asia, and Reuters

Mastodon: @VaughnVernon@mastodon.social and @matt@isfeeling.social

X: @ejzim, @emollick, @kazanjy, @benitoz, @aaronpholmes, @amir, @pradeeepk, and @scobleizer. LinkedIn: John Curtius

Forums: Hacker News and r/singularity

Lora Kolodny / CNBC:

In July 2023, the NHTSA ordered Tesla to provide data on Autopilot's “Elon mode”, which eliminates prompts for drivers to their keep hands on the wheel — - Tesla received a special order from the National Highway Transportation Administration in late July requiring …

More: Gizmodo, Bloomberg, Electrek, Associated Press, The Register, Tech.co, TweakTown, Reuters, and The Verge. Forums: Hacker News

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Seattle-based Hyperproof, which offers SaaS risk and compliance management tools, raised $40M led by Riverwood Capital, taking its total funding to $66.5M — Hyperproof, a software-as-a-service risk and compliance management company, today announced that it raised $40 million in a funding round led …

More: SiliconANGLE, GeekWire, FinTech Global, Hyperproof, and FinSMEs

Lora Kolodny / CNBC:

Court filing: X faces 2,200 arbitration cases from employees laid off after Elon Musk took over; the filing fees alone could be $3.5M for such a volume of cases — - Elon Musk's X Corp. is facing 2,200 arbitration cases, a court filing in Delaware revealed on Monday.

More: Forbes, CourtListener, Mashable, Cybernews.com, 9to5Mac, and Insider

Mastodon: @chikorita157@sakurajima.moe. X: @zenofdesign. LinkedIn: Lora Kolodny. Forums: r/news and r/EnoughMuskSpam

Gabriel Sanchez / Bloomberg:

Bumble, Match, and Grindr explore more expensive subscription tiers for users seeking a more curated experience; Bumble says some users feel $40 to $50 is “low” — - New weekly subscriptions are driving Gen Z subscription growth — Premium tiers are also planned as paying user growth stalls

More: 9to5Mac and South China Morning Post. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to

Jordan Fragen / VentureBeat:

Data.ai and IDC project that consumers will spend $108B on mobile games in 2023, or ~55% of game spending globally, $43B on consoles, and $40B on PC and Mac — While the games industry isn't growing according to Data.ai and IDC's latest report, spending declines are leveling off faster than expected.

More: Data.ai, Pocket Gamer.biz, and Mobilegamer.biz

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Fairphone announces the €699 Fairphone 5, with a 6.46" 90Hz OLED display, dual 50MP cameras, 30W charging, and eight years of patches, shipping on September 14 — The Fairphone 5 is the latest sustainably produced and repairable handset from Dutch smartphone company Fairphone.

More: CNET, XDA Developers, T3, TechRadar, TechEBlog, nextpit, SPARROWS NEWS, Phandroid, TechSpot, OSnews, PhoneArena, Fairphone, PCMag, Android Headlines, Engadget, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Android Authority, Gizchina, Liliputing, Digital Trends, Wccftech, Android Police, ZDNet, Phone Scoop, Notebookcheck, and GSMArena.com

X: @mishaalrahman, @dvrkplayer, @fairphone, and @mishaalrahman

Forums: r/gadgets and Beehaw

Caiwei Chen / Rest of World:

Chinese sextortion scammers have flooded X, harassing political dissidents and influential opinion leaders since the site added paid blue checks in April 2023 — Scammers are targeting Chinese-language users, harassing political dissidents and influential figures.

More: MIT Technology Review and New York Post

Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @casilli@mamot.fr

X: @mvzelenks, @restofworld, @restofworld, @caiweic, @restofworld, @hrichina, and @restofworld. LinkedIn: Thomas Freeman

Bloomberg:

Sources: China will approve the first batch of generative AI services for public rollout as soon as this week, with Baidu among the first to win approval — - Regulators may give out the green-light as soon as this week — Beijing deems AI a business as well as political imperative

More: Reuters, Reuters, and Seeking Alpha. X: @pingroma

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Instagram is internally testing the ability to create Reels up to 10 minutes long; TikTok expanded its maximum video length to 10 minutes in February 2022 — Instagram is internally testing the ability to create Reels that are up to 10 minutes in the length, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday.

More: Engadget, The Verge, MSPoweruser, and Zee News. X: @alex193a

Leo Lewis / Financial Times:

Sources: Chinese hackers accessed Japanese cybersecurity agency NISC's emails for up to nine months; experts: China may be behind Port of Nagoya's July 4 attack — Infiltration comes as allies scrutinise Tokyo's defences against hacking — The organisation responsible for Japan's national defences …

More: Security Affairs, The Record, Metacurity, and The Information

X: @shashj, @matthew_pines, @war_student, @johnnysaks130, @lukolejnik, and @danwblack

Financial Times:

UAE-linked G42, MBZUAI, and Cerebras launch Jais, an open-source, English and Arabic bilingual LLM; the UAE once trained an LLM, Falcon, using 300+ Nvidia GPUs — Jais software part of regional powers' effort to take world-leading role in technology's development

More: Gulf News, G42, EnterpriseAI, The National, and Reuters

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

A look at the wave of child safety legislation in the US aimed at age-gating minors' access to the internet, backed by Republicans and Democrats alike — By the end of this month, porn will get a lot harder to watch in Texas. Instead of clicking a button or entering a date of birth …

X: @eff, @mike_salter, @matthew_d_green, and @matthew_d_green. Forums: r/technology

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From Mediagazer

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:

The Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a supplement featuring an AI-generated guide to summer books that do not exist

Saleah Blancaflor / Adweek:

IAB releases its updated Terms for Digital Advertising Agreements and opens a 60-day public comment period until July 21; IAB last updated its T&Cs in 2010

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Three US senators send Shari Redstone a letter questioning whether Paramount is engaging in bribery by settling Trump's lawsuit to influence merger approval

More News

Blassy Boben / Reuters:

India says 32+ international electronics firms, including HP, Dell, Asus, Acer, and Lenovo, applied to the country's $2B incentive program under “Make in India”

More: ZDNet, Bloomberg, and International Business Times

Jordyn Holman / New York Times:

GOP AGs from 16 states express concerns to the SEC about Shein filing for a US IPO and urge the agency to have Shein prove the company doesn't use forced labor

Financial Times:

Critics say India's personal data protection bill passed earlier in August gives authorities the power to surveil via equipment at subsea cable landing stations

More: Livemint and DatacenterDynamics

Wall Street Journal:

Despite a rough year for the memory chip business, SK Hynix's stock rose almost 60% in 2023, benefiting from AI applications that rely on high bandwidth memory

More: Tom's Hardware

Lilian Zhang / South China Morning Post:

Alibaba's T-Head, VeriSilicon, and seven other Chinese chip companies form a patent protection alliance for RISC-V to share and license patents to third parties

Alex Zorn / Chicago Business Journal:

Chicago-based Mediafly, which provides a revenue enablement service to Adobe, ADP, Honeywell, Nestlé, and other large companies, raised $80M led by BIP Ventures

More: Tech Funding News, Chicago Business, Mediafly, and Forrester

X: @mediafly and @bipventures

Danny Nelson / CoinDesk:

Source: Robinhood, whose entry into crypto was powered by Jump Trading, parted ways with the firm in early July; Jump has reportedly pulled back from the US

More: Fortune, Coinspeaker, and Bloomberg

X: @hsakatrades and @twobitidiot. Forums: r/CryptoCurrency

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Meta's Oversight Board took 234 days to rule in an incitement to violence case involving Cambodian PM Hun Sen, revealing the board's glacial pace for operations

More: Transparency Center, Gizmodo, Engadget, and The Hill

Threads: @crumbler. Bluesky: @zitron.bsky.social. X: @ttp_updates, @oversightboard, @jackshafer, @johnwilson, and @oversightboard

Earlier Picks

Kosaku Narioka / Wall Street Journal:

Xiaomi reports Q2 revenue down 4% YoY to ~$9.24B and a ~$503.4M net profit, beating analyst estimates of ~$440.3M and more than doubling from a year earlier

More: Xiaomi and Reuters

Bloomberg:

Sources: Tether added Britannia Bank & Trust, a privately held bank based in the Bahamas, in recent months to process USD transfers, as US banks cut crypto ties

More: PYMNTS.com, crypto.news, Coinspeaker, Bitcoinist.com, Crypto Daily, Cryptonews, Ethereum World News, Protos, Cryptopolitan, and The Block

X: @parrotcapital, @parrotcapital, @quinnypig, @bitfinexed, and @danny_mx

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:

HPE reports Q3 revenue up 1% YoY to $7B, HPC & AI revenue up 1% YoY to $836M, Intelligent Edge revenue up 50% YoY to $1.4B, and bumps its FY 2023 profit outlook

More: Blocks and Files, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HPCwire, and SiliconANGLE. X: @patrickmoorhead

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:

Letter: the UFC, the NBA, and the NFL tell the USPTO that the DMCA needs to be updated so live content can be removed “instantaneously or near-instantaneously”

More: Ars Technica, The Verge, TechSpot, UFC-NBA-NFL, and Engadget

Bluesky: @pnppl.bsky.social. Forums: r/nba