Techmeme
July 23, 2024, 3:50 PM

Top News

Mark Zuckerberg / Meta:
Mark Zuckerberg argues “open source AI” is the path forward, that closed models are vulnerable to vendor lock-in, state-backed espionage, and more  —  In the early days of high-performance computing, the major tech companies of the day each invested heavily in developing their own closed source versions of Unix.
Bloomberg:
Meta debuts Llama 3.1 405B, the “first frontier-level open source AI model”, as well as new Llama 3.1 70B and 8B models, and says it's working on Llama 4  —  The Meta CEO defends both his open source strategy and a massive investment in artificial intelligence.
The Information:
Sources: Apple is working on a foldable, clamshell design iPhone that could launch as soon as 2026, and has reached out to component suppliers in recent months  —  Apple is working on a foldable iPhone that could be released as early as 2026 and in recent months reached out to suppliers …
CNBC:
Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz walks away from Google's $23B acquisition offer; Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport tells staff that Wiz will pursue an IPO as planned  —  Wiz has walked away from a $23 billion deal to be acquired by Google, in what would have been the search giant's largest ever deal …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Leaked images show the upcoming “Google TV Streamer”, a set-top box with a pill-shaped design, to replace the dongle form factor, and an updated, longer remote  —  Back in April, we revealed that Google is working on a sequel to the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) …
Suzanne Smalley / The Record:
The FTC seeks info from Mastercard, JPMorgan, and six other companies related to their “surveillance pricing products” that use personal data, AI, and more  —  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Tuesday that it has launched an inquiry into how companies surveil consumers …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon begins rolling out a new UI for Prime Video to help distinguish content included with Prime, update its navigation bar, manage subscriptions, and more  —  And the new UI specifically addresses something that's annoyed Prime Video users for years: Now, according to Amazon …
Danny Nelson / CoinDesk:
dYdX, which is reportedly exploring a sale, says v3, an older version of its DeFi crypto exchange that averages ~$1.5B/week in derivates trading, was hacked  —  News of the problem emerged just as Bloomberg reported dYdX v3 is for sale.  —  Decentralized crypto-exchange giant dYdX said Tuesday …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Dragos details a sample of Russia-linked malware used in a hack in January 2024 to target a heating utility in Lviv, Ukraine, cutting service to 600 buildings  —  The code, the first of its kind, was used to sabotage a heating utility in Lviv at the coldest point in the year …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to €3.8B, MAUs up 14% YoY to 626M, subscribers up 12% YoY to 246M, above est., and €266M operating income; SPOT jumps 12%+  —  Spotify Technology SA shares surged to their highest in more than three years on Tuesday after the Swedish audio …
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Meta plans to roll out its AI assistant to Quest in August, limited to US and Canada users in experimental mode, after first coming to Ray-Ban smart glasses  —  The experimental version of the AI assistant will make its way to Quest headsets in August.  —  Meta's AI-powered assistant …
Dana Mattioli / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon lost $25B+ on its devices business between 2017 and 2021, and its plan to sell hardware at a lower price and make money elsewhere hasn't worked  —  Amazon.com's Echo speakers are the type of business success companies don't want: a widely purchased product that is also a giant money loser.
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Adobe rolls out new Illustrator features like Generative Shape Fill, powered by Firefly Vector 2, now in public beta, alongside new and updated Photoshop tools  —  Adobe is introducing some new tools and generative AI features to its Illustrator and Photoshop design software that aim to help speed up creative workflows.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Posh, an iOS app that offers a TikTok-like vertical feed of events, raised a $22M Series A, taking its total funding to $31M, and claims 2M registered users  —  Platforms like TikTok and Spotify have experimented with events on their platforms.  But rather than concentrating on concerts …
More: Forbes
Reuters:
India plans to cut import duty on mobile phones and some key parts from 20% to 15%, a move that will directly benefit Apple, as part of its 2024/2025 budget  —  India announced it will cut import duty on mobile phones and some key parts to 15% from 20%, a move that will directly benefit Apple …
Neal E. Boudette / New York Times:
GM says Cruise restarted test operations in three US cities after a vehicle dragged a pedestrian in October 2023, and suspends developing its Cruise Origin cab  —  General Motors said the self-driving division's cars will operate in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix after an accident last year.

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
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Zoho:
5 common accounting mistakes  —  This is a guest post by Yaali Bizappln Solutions.  A lot of businesses manage their customers and finances on separate platforms.  This disconnect often leads to missed invoices …
Hamming:
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More News

Michael Peel / Financial Times:

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Reuters:
Paul Alcorn / Tom's Hardware:
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
Digiday: