In 2024, the internet is about to see the biggest reshuffling of power in 25 years, with the “human web” resurgent and regulators forcing tech giants to open up — The new year offers many of the promises of an online moment we haven't seen in a quarter-century … Everything is changing rapidly.
A look at the rise of AI-generated virtual influencers, with some charging thousands of dollars to promote products, leading to concerns from human influencers — Hyper-realistic ‘virtual influencers’ are being used to promote leading brands — drawing ire from human content creators
Chinese robotaxi companies are shifting to less advanced but more commercially viable smart-driving solutions, as funding dries up and losses continue to mount — Losses push China's self-driving upstarts to seek new revenue streams — A few years ago, robotaxis were the darlings of venture capitalists in China.
GitHub launches GPT-4-powered Copilot Chat in general availability for all users, in the sidebar of Microsoft's IDEs, Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio — Earlier this year, GitHub rolled out Copilot Chat, a ChatGPT-like programming-centric chatbot, for organizations subscribed to Copilot for Business.
Microsoft disables Windows App Installer's ms-appinstaller after the URI scheme was used to spread malware; Microsoft disabled and re-enabled the scheme in 2022 — Microsoft has disabled the ms-appinstaller URI scheme handler by default in the latest version of App Installer due to a rise in cyberattacks.
Binance CEO Richard Teng says the crypto exchange's user base grew 30% to 170M accounts in 2023; Binance Pay, Binance Earn, and Binance's P2P platform all grew — The largest cryptocurrency trading venue added 40 million accounts to 170 million. — Register Now
India seeks to block the URLs of nine crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, and Huobi, for non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws — Apart from Binance and Kucoin, the other virtual digital assets service providers (VDA SP) who have been issued notice for not registering …
Tiger, Coatue, Vision Fund, a16z, Insight, Accel, Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Index together invested in 44 unicorns in 2023, down from 213 in 2022 and 471 in 2021 — Funding to the unicorn class of companies — those private startups valued at $1 billion or more — has fallen dramatically in 2023 …
Microsoft tests a feature that lets Windows 11 users reinstall the OS using Windows Update, a method that preserves files, settings, and installed apps — A new Windows Update feature could be a game-changer for those scared of losing files or pictures when attempting to reinstall or recover their Windows 11 installations.
Nielsen: YouTube's share of US viewership by 2- to 11-year-olds jumped from 29.4% in September 2021 to 33% in September 2023, while Netflix fell from 25% to 21% — Major streaming services test releasing children's content on YouTube and cut back on fare for kids
Google Chrome's Safety Check feature, which checks if users' saved passwords have been compromised, will now run automatically in the background on desktop — Google's Safety Check feature for Chrome, which, among other things, checks the internet to see if any of your saved passwords have been compromised …
GTA V source code appears to have been leaked on Discord, Telegram, a dark web site, and more, a little over a year after Rockstar was hacked — The source code for Grand Theft Auto 5 was reportedly leaked on Christmas Eve, a little over a year after the Lapsus$ threat actors hacked Rockstar games and stole corporate data.
After vocal commitments following George Floyd's murder in 2020, DEI programs at Big Tech companies, including Meta and Google, are in broad retreat in 2023 — - After vocal commitments following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, DEI programs in the tech industry are in broad retreat.
Researchers extract business and personal email addresses for 30+ NYT staff by fine tuning GPT-3.5 Turbo, bypassing the safeguards for privacy-related queries — This is a visualization of a large email database from the Enron Corporation, which is often used to train artificial intelligence systems, like ChatGPT.
A look at Sam Altman's history at Loopt and Y Combinator, where his side activities and personal projects riled colleagues and forced his departure from YC — The OpenAI CEO lost the confidence of top leaders in the three organizations he has directed, yet each time he's rebounded to greater heights
Ubisoft is investigating reports of a new security breach after security research collective VX-Underground shared screenshots of the company's internal tools — Ubisoft is investigating whether it suffered a breach after images of the company's internal software and developer tools were leaked online.
Experts warn against unrealistic expectations for quantum computers, citing the challenges in making fault-tolerant systems, Qubits' slow operating speeds, more — Hype is everywhere, skeptics say, and practical applications are still far away — The quantum computer revolution …
How AI defense tech developer Rebellion Defense is struggling to survive after failing to win a US DOD contract, losing its founders, and shuttering its UK arm — Launched with funding from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Rebellion Defense promised to deliver cutting-edge AI for the U.S.-U.K. alliance.
Data center infrastructure company Arkon Energy raised $110M to grow its US bitcoin mining capacity and plans to launch an AI cloud service in Norway — Arkon Energy, a data center infrastructure company, closed a $110 million private funding round to expand its operations …
Humane says it will begin shipping its Ai Pin in March 2024, starting with customers who placed priority orders — Humane announced Friday that the AI Pin, its splashy AI-powered wearable, will start shipping in March 2024. … While Humane didn't share a specific date for when orders …
Cisco acquires cloud-native security and networking startup Isovalent, which had raised $69M and has helped develop open-source projects eBPF and Cilium — Cisco announced this morning that it intends to acquire Isovalent, a cloud-native security and networking startup that should fit …
A UK judge sentences Arion Kurtaj, the 18-year-old who leaked GTA VI code and hacked Nvidia, to a secure hospital until a mental health tribunal lets him leave — - Arion Kurtaj placed in hospital to protect public from harm — Two teens sentenced for hacking, blackmailing tech firms
Memo: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is leaving Microsoft on December 29; Activision's leadership remains and is being integrated into Microsoft Gaming — Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is stepping down officially December 29th. Microsoft has not appointed a direct replacement …
Okta is acquiring Israeli cybersecurity company Spera, which raised a $10M seed in March 2023; source: the deal is worth ~$100-130M, contingent on milestones — The American identity and access management giant is making its first purchase in Israel. Spera, which raised $10 million …
Analysis: Huawei's new HiSilicon Kirin 9000S, based on a 7nm SMIC process, is slower than the HiSilicon Kirin 9000, released in 2020 using TSMC's 5nm N5 process — You cannot beat a 5nm processor with a 7nm chip. — The year was 2020, and Huawei released its HiSilicon Kirin 9000 …
Data analytics company Alteryx says it has agreed to be acquired by PE firms Clearlake Capital and Insight Partners, in a deal valued at $4.4B including debt — Alteryx (AYX.N) said on Monday it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners …
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg : Sources: Seoul-based AI chip designer FuriosaAI seeks to raise a $300M-$500M Series D to fund mass production of...
