Techmeme
March 4, 2025, 6:45 PM

Top News

David Pierce / The Verge:
Apple updates the $599+ 11-inch and $799+ 13-inch iPad Air with M3, in four colors, and debuts a $269+ Magic Keyboard with function keys and a larger trackpad  —  Only a year after the last Air, Apple is updating the middle of its tablet lineup once again. … The iPad Air is a tricky tablet.
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple unveils the 11th-generation iPad, adding an A16 Bionic chip and starting at 128GB of storage for the same $349, and offers a 256GB and a new 512GB option  —  Apple today announced the 11th-generation iPad, now featuring the A16 Bionic chip and more storage.
Financial Times:
Sources: Apple filed a complaint to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal over the UK's demand for a backdoor to access users' encrypted data, even of non-UK users  —  iPhone maker has filed a complaint to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal over demand to access encrypted data
Hugh Son / CNBC:
The US CFPB drops its lawsuit against Zelle operator EWS, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, after suing them in December over fraud allegations  —  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday dismissed its lawsuit against the operator of the Zelle payments network …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google unveils AI-based Scam Detection in Google Messages in English, Android features like live location sharing in the Find My app, and new Pixel features  —  There are new features for Android and Pixel phones, including live location sharing in the Find My app.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI unveils NextGenAI, a consortium of research institutions including Harvard, MIT, and Oxford, and commits $50M in compute, API access, and research grants  —  OpenAI on Monday announced a consortium, NextGenAI, focused on supporting AI-assisted research at top universities.
Kamila Wojciechowska / Android Authority:
Source: Google plans to launch its rumored “Pixie” AI assistant on the Pixel 10 as “Pixel Sense”, using data from Google apps to provide contextual predictions  —  Google might finally be realizing its vision of truly smart contextual assistant.  —  •  —  •
Andrew Cunningham / Ars Technica:
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: great at 1440p but barely faster than the 4070 Super, not “4090 performance at $549”, and disproportionately high power usage  —  It's not all bad news, but in a lot of ways this is barely an upgrade.  —  “4090 performance at $549.”
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Uber launches Waymo rides in Austin, where Waymo operates within 37 square miles including Hyde Park and Downtown; in August 2024, Waymo had ~700 vehicles total  —  Residents of the Texas capital can now hail a driverless Waymo vehicle — as long as they're within the 37-square-mile service area.
Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: US Commerce Dept. plans changes to Biden's $42.5B broadband grant program, to let states award more funds to satellite-internet providers like Starlink  —  Agency plans changes that will make Elon Musk's satellite-internet service eligible for more rural broadband funding
Bloomberg:
Sources: Assured, whose AI tools automate insurance claims, raised equity funding in a round with Iconiq and Kleiner Perkins, valuing the company at about $1B  —  Assured Insurance Technologies Inc., a startup focused on automating insurance claims using artificial intelligence …
Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg:
Sources: President Trump is cutting ~40% of staff in the US government office responsible for the $52B CHIPS Act, including ~40 who are considered probationary  —  The US government office responsible for a marquee $52 billion chip subsidy program will lose about two-fifths of its staff …
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