Techmeme
April 2, 2024, 2:50 PM

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Sources: Microsoft is testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot that can automate support tasks via an “embodied AI character”, as part of larger Xbox AI efforts  —  Microsoft is currently testing a new AI-powered Xbox chatbot that can be used to automate support tasks.
David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo plans to acquire the tech behind news app Artifact, started by Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, for an undisclosed sum  —  Instagram's co-founders built a powerful and useful tool for recommending news to readers — but could never quite get it to scale.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart says Apple asked him not to interview FTC chair Lina Khan on his Apple podcast by saying “please don't talk to her”  —  - “Apple's conduct extends beyond just monopoly profits and even affects the flow of speech.
Raymond Wong / Inverse:
Apple debuts Spatial Personas in beta, letting up to five Vision Pro users participate together within compatible apps without being in the same physical space  —  Apple Vision Pro is above and beyond other mixed reality headsets, but even with the highest quality passthrough camera tech …
Theo Wayt / The Information:
Amazon plans to remove Just Walk Out from most of its grocery stores and add more grocery stores with Dash Carts, which let shoppers scan items while they shop  —  Amazon's grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, has been a centerpiece of its ambitions to transform bricks-and-mortar supermarkets.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, and 200+ others sign a letter to AI developers and tech companies decrying “predatory” AI that steals voices, replaces artists, more  —  - Jen Jacobson, executive director at The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), the trade group representing the artists signing the letter …
research!rsc:
A timeline of the attack on open-source project XZ Utils, which began in late 2021 and led to a backdoor with RCE in Linux distros from Debian, Red Hat, others  —  Over a period of over two years, an attacker using the name “Jia Tan” worked as a diligent, effective contributor to the xz compression library …
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
The US and the UK sign an agreement on how to test and assess risks from emerging AI models, marking the first bilateral arrangement on AI safety in the world  —  Allies reach world's first bilateral deal as global governments seek to assess and regulate risks from emerging technology
Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
Read AI, which uses generative AI to summarize meetings, emails, and other messages, raised a $21M Series A led by Goodwater Capital  —  Read AI, a leader in AI-powered meeting summaries, today announced a $21 million Series A financing round led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from existing investor Madrona Venture Group.

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Reuters:
Hema Parmar / Bloomberg:
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Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Wall Street Journal: