Techmeme
October 12, 2023, 8:55 PM

Top News

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
The EU opens an investigation into X over hosting disinformation tied to Hamas' Israel attack and sends X a formal request for information under the DSA  —  Investigation is the first under the bloc's Digital Services Act and comes after letter to Musk raising concerns
Reuters:
In a letter to Thierry Breton, X CEO Linda Yaccarino says X has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts, labeled tens of thousands of posts, and more  —  The X social media platform has removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and taken action to remove or label tens of thousands …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google updates its Search Generative Experience with the ability to generate images using prompts and to write drafts that can be customized for tone and length  —  Google's AI-powered search feature, SGE (Search Generative Experience), is gaining some new skills, starting today.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix plans to open Netflix House, permanent stores where fans can buy clothes, eat themed food, and try live experiences, starting with two US venues in 2025  —  - Its first permanent retail sites will be named ‘Netflix House’  — Initial locations in US will be followed by global expansion
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
The CFTC charges Voyager Digital co-founder Stephen Ehrlich with fraud, saying he and Voyager lied to clients and hid the crypto lender's true financial health  —  - Stephen Ehrlich and the firm the co-founded, Voyager Digital, lied to customers and hid the crypto lender's true financial health, according to the CFTC.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Threads rolls out voice posts and a free edit button that lets users edit a post repeatedly within five minutes of sending; Threads doesn't show an edit history  —  Meta's Twitter competitor, Threads, is now rolling out one of its most-requested features - an edit button.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Google vows to defend users of generative AI tools in Google Cloud and Workspace from copyright claims; Microsoft, Adobe, and others have made similar pledges  —  Google (GOOGL.O) said on Thursday that it will defend users of generative artificial-intelligence systems in its Google Cloud …
New York Times:
SBF's trial: the personal dynamics between him and his friends have become a vital component of the case, revealing how much his inner circle has turned on him  —  The FTX founder's criminal trial has made clear just how much his inner circle has turned against him.
Zack Abrams / The Block:
Jacquelyn Melinek / TechCrunch:
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Elliptic: the FTX hackers who stole $415M to $432M in crypto in November 2022 used Russia-linked money launderers in October 2023 after moving the funds in 2022  —  Whoever looted FTX on the day of its bankruptcy has now moved the stolen money through a long string of intermediaries—and eventually some that look Russian in origin.
Akash Sriram / Reuters:
Atlassian plans to acquire video messaging platform Loom for ~$975M, split as ~$880M in cash and the rest in stock, set to close in Q1 2024; Loom has 25M+ users  —  Atlassian (TEAM.O) said on Thursday it had agreed to acquire privately held video messaging platform Loom for about $975 million …
Michael Kan / PCMag:
SpaceX plans to offer its Starlink Direct to Cell service to LTE phones, starting with texting in 2024, and adding voice, data, and IoT device support in 2025  —  The site reveals SpaceX is targeting next year to launch the service to power satellite-based text messaging.
Amir Efrati / The Information:
Sources: Sam Altman told staff that OpenAI is generating revenue at a $1.3B/year pace, implying the company now generates $100M+/month, up 30% in three months  —  ChatGPT maker OpenAI is generating revenue at a pace of $1.3 billion a year, CEO Sam Altman told staff this week, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Filing: Qualcomm plans to cut 1,258 jobs in California, including 750+ from its engineering ranks, starting in mid-December 2023; the company has ~50,000 staff  —  - Workforce reductions to come in mid-December chipmaker says  — Company not commenting on any actions outside of California
Noema:
Today's most advanced LLMs have many flaws, but decades from now, they will be recognized as the first true examples of artificial general intelligence  —  Today's most advanced AI models have many flaws, but decades from now, they will be recognized as the first true examples of artificial general intelligence.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Over 220 VC firms, including Bain, Bessemer, and GGV, sign a statement supporting Israel and call for the investor community to support Israel's tech ecosystem  —  The open letter published on Thursday is the latest effort by startup investors to provide support for the state of Israel and its tech community, with 221 firms signed on.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Automattic expands ActivityPub support to WordPress.com hosted sites, letting blog owners reach 13.3M users across the fediverse, including Mastodon's 1.8M MAUs  —  Earlier this year, WordPress.com owner Automattic acquired a plugin that allowed WordPress blogs to be followed in the fediverse …

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