Siemens investigating report employee worked for Russian hacking firm

Siemens has launched an investigation after Der Spiegel reported a former programmer from Russian IT company NTC Vulkan - which has reported links to Russian security services - worked for the German engineering and tech company. https://ift.tt/y45lWOe

Huawei reports 2022 revenue up 0.9% YoY to ~$93.4B and net profit down 69% YoY to ~$5.18B, its biggest drop since 2011, amid pandemic controls and US sanctions (Arjun Kharpal/CNBC)

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Huawei reports 2022 revenue up 0.9% YoY to ~$93.4B and net profit down 69% YoY to ~$5.18B, its biggest drop since 2011, amid pandemic controls and US sanctions  —  - Huawei reported net profit for 2022 totaled 35.6 billion yuan ($5.18 billion), a 69% year-on-year decline.

Italy's privacy regulator temporarily bans ChatGPT and will probe OpenAI, claiming the company lacks a basis for "mass collection and storage of personal data" (Clothilde Goujard/Politico)

Clothilde Goujard / Politico:
Italy's privacy regulator temporarily bans ChatGPT and will probe OpenAI, claiming the company lacks a basis for “mass collection and storage of personal data”  —  The Italian privacy regulator Friday ordered a ban on ChatGPT over alleged privacy violations.

Indian-origin robotics engineer to head NASA's new Moon to Mars office

Indian-origin software and robotics engineer, Amit Kshatriya has been appointed as first head of NASA's new Moon to Mars Programme Office at the agency's headquarters in Washington. https://ift.tt/Ak9qLe3

Reddit's new Transparency Center to serve as hub for its safety, security info

Social discussion forum Reddit has launched a new online Transparency Center, which will serve as a central source for the platform's safety, security, and policy information. https://ift.tt/w9EpG8r

Twitter 'Verified Organisations' rolled out globally: What is it and how is it important

Twitter has rolled out a new feature called "Verified Organisations" that will allow pre-approved organisations to verify the Twitter handles associated with them, reducing the dependency on the platform to verify accounts. It will also allow companies to differentiate themselves on Twitter, and includes an affiliate badge to the accounts associated with the organization. Many organizations from different industries have already started using this Twitter feature. https://ift.tt/wrneIgz

How the foldable smartphone market may grow 27% by 2027

Chinese smartphone makers like Oppo and Vivo are entering the foldable smartphone market dominated by Samsung. The segment is expected to grow despite a decline in 2022 by over 11%, as more brands invest in enhancing the durability and user experience of the devices. IDC predicts shipments of foldable phones will reach 21.4 million units in 2023 -- a growth of over 50% from 2022. https://ift.tt/631GoHR

An interview with Vinod Khosla on how AI will "free humanity from the need to work", seeing the AI future early, OpenAI investment, AI and geopolitics, and more (Reed Albergotti/Semafor)

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
An interview with Vinod Khosla on how AI will “free humanity from the need to work”, seeing the AI future early, OpenAI investment, AI and geopolitics, and more  —  At nearly 70, Vinod Khosla is an elder statesman in Silicon Valley but he's been on top of the most cutting-edge trends, including artificial intelligence.

How to enrol into Apple Swift Student Challenge: Steps by step guide, things to keep in mind and more

Apple has announced the Swift Student Challenge. According to Apple, Swift Student Challenge is aimed at students and young developers who have just started with software development and nurturing their skills. https://ift.tt/PIeJwZ7

Report: Google AI engineer Jacob Devlin quit to join OpenAI in January after complaining that Bard was being trained with ChatGPT data; Google denies the charge (Sean Hollister/The Verge)

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Report: Google AI engineer Jacob Devlin quit to join OpenAI in January after complaining that Bard was being trained with ChatGPT data; Google denies the charge  —  Google's Bard hasn't exactly had an impressive debut — and The Information is reporting that the company is so interested …

FreedomGPT, a chatbot from Austin VC firm Age of AI, is free of ChatGPT's safety filters and ethical guardrails, and praises Hitler, uses the N-word, and more (Pranav Dixit/BuzzFeed News)

Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed News:
FreedomGPT, a chatbot from Austin VC firm Age of AI, is free of ChatGPT's safety filters and ethical guardrails, and praises Hitler, uses the N-word, and more  —  FreedomGPT spews out responses sure to offend both the left and the right.  Its makers say that is the point.

Berlin-based Parloa, which uses AI and low-code tools to automate call center operations, raised a €20M Series A led by EQT Ventures (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Berlin-based Parloa, which uses AI and low-code tools to automate call center operations, raised a €20M Series A led by EQT Ventures  —  It's estimated that over $400 billion are spent annually to run customer contact centers around the world.  To cut costs, in recent years …

A US court rules bZx protocol meets the definition of a general partnership and finds token holders of the DAO liable for losses from a $55M hack in 2021 (Sam Reynolds/CoinDesk)

Sam Reynolds / CoinDesk:
A US court rules bZx protocol meets the definition of a general partnership and finds token holders of the DAO liable for losses from a $55M hack in 2021  —  Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are beginning to look like general partnerships in the eyes of U.S. courts.

The UK CMA launches an in-depth probe, which can take up to six months, of Broadcom's $69B VMware acquisition, after Broadcom failed to address concerns (Reuters)

Reuters:
The UK CMA launches an in-depth probe, which can take up to six months, of Broadcom's $69B VMware acquisition, after Broadcom failed to address concerns  —  Britain said it would investigate Broadcom's (AVGO.O) acquisition of VMware (VMW.N) in depth after the U.S. chipmaker offered …

This OnePlus phone is ‘inspired’ by Jupiter

We are not even halfway into the year, and OnePlus has launched not one, two but a third OnePlus 11. This OnePlus 11 is out of the earth and comes straight from Jupiter. Not literally, as it is dubbed OnePlus 11 Jupiter Rock Special Edition, which has a back cover that resembles Jupiter. https://ift.tt/f0PeEcV

Goldman Sachs research: generative AI could increase annual global GDP by 7% over a 10-year period and expose 300M full-time jobs to automation globally (Delphine Strauss/Financial Times)

Delphine Strauss / Financial Times:
Goldman Sachs research: generative AI could increase annual global GDP by 7% over a 10-year period and expose 300M full-time jobs to automation globally  —  Technology could boost global GDP by 7% but also risks creating ‘significant disruption’  —  The latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence …

Facebook parent Meta is bringing Google-like review system for bonus payouts: Report

Citing an internal memo, Wall Street Journal reported that Meta is planning to lower bonus pays for some employees and assess staff performance more frequently. The report also mentioned that employees who get a rating of "met most expectations" in their 2023 year-end reviews, will receive a smaller percentage of bonuses and restricted stock award due in March 2024. https://ift.tt/jnaT74A

An Indian appellate tribunal upholds the ~$160M fine imposed on Google by the Competition Commission of India in the Android antitrust case (Indu Bhan/The Economic Times)

Indu Bhan / The Economic Times:
An Indian appellate tribunal upholds the ~$160M fine imposed on Google by the Competition Commission of India in the Android antitrust case  —  The NCLAT, an appellate authority for orders passed by the CCI, had started its hearing in the Android matter on February 15 following a directive by the Supreme Court.

How to request for Adobe generative AI model Firefly beta access

Adobe has launched its generative AI model, Firefly, which applies text-based commands to produce images and edit them. Its usage is not just restricted to expert users but also accessible to beginners. https://ift.tt/bILGEUv

Ubisoft to skip E3 2023, will host its own event instead

French video game publisher Ubisoft will skip Electronic Entertainment Expo 2023 (E3 2023) and has decided to host its own event instead. https://ift.tt/UlGLE9X

China launches project to promote use of AI in sci-tech research

China has started a project to promote the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in frontier science and technology research, the media reported. https://ift.tt/lRGpPcU

Google Chrome bookmark syncing issue: How users are affected and what it means for them

Google has reportedly restricted the number of bookmarks a user can access on multiple devices while being logged in to the same Google account. Though Google has not specified the maximum number of bookmarks that can be synced across devices, according to a bug report, bookmarks are limited to 20,000 for mobile devices and 100,000 for Chrome desktops. https://ift.tt/9DqbvfQ

Japan's FTC says it does not expect the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal to stifle competition and closes its review without issuing a cease and desist order (Kiyoshi Takenaka/Reuters)

Kiyoshi Takenaka / Reuters:
Japan's FTC says it does not expect the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal to stifle competition and closes its review without issuing a cease and desist order  —  Japan's antitrust watchdog said on Tuesday it did not expect a merger between Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Activision Blizzard …

The UK cancels plans to launch an NFT, proposed in 2022 by Rishi Sunak in a bid to make the UK a crypto hub, and says it will keep the proposal "under review" (BBC)

BBC:
The UK cancels plans to launch an NFT, proposed in 2022 by Rishi Sunak in a bid to make the UK a crypto hub, and says it will keep the proposal “under review”  —  Plans for a government backed non-fungible token (NFT) produced by the Royal Mint have been dropped, the Treasury has announced.

Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers and prosecutors agree on new bail terms, including giving SBF a phone without internet and a monitored laptop with limited functions (Reuters)

Reuters:
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers and prosecutors agree on new bail terms, including giving SBF a phone without internet and a monitored laptop with limited functions  —  Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried said they reached an agreement with U.S. prosecutors on Monday on revised bail conditions …

Government wants you to update your Android device, here’s why

https://ift.tt/dCq6lSk

A look at OBNbrandon, a prolific scammer in a booming community focused on banning influencers' Instagram accounts and demanding payment for reactivation (ProPublica)

ProPublica:
A look at OBNbrandon, a prolific scammer in a booming community focused on banning influencers' Instagram accounts and demanding payment for reactivation  —  Just after midnight on Sept. 13, Kristian “Murda” Murphy was watching TV at home in Boca Raton, Florida, when his phone began buzzing.

Filing: some Twitter source code was leaked by a user called "FreeSpeechEnthusiast" on GitHub, which took it down to comply with a DMCA notice sent on Friday (New York Times)

New York Times:
Filing: some Twitter source code was leaked by a user called “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” on GitHub, which took it down to comply with a DMCA notice sent on Friday  —  The leak adds to the challenges facing the Elon Musk-owned company, which is trying to unmask the person responsible and any other people who downloaded the code.

A profile of Atlanta-based Yellow Card, Africa's largest centralized crypto exchange, which has done ~$1.75B in transactions since 2019 and raised $57M (MacKenzie Sigalos/CNBC)

MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
A profile of Atlanta-based Yellow Card, Africa's largest centralized crypto exchange, which has done ~$1.75B in transactions since 2019 and raised $57M  —  - Yellow Card is the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in Africa.  — For its nearly 1.4 million users across the continent …

Eight current and former Apple employees share concerns about the upcoming MR headset's $3,000 price, utility, and unproven market (New York Times)

New York Times:
Eight current and former Apple employees share concerns about the upcoming MR headset's $3,000 price, utility, and unproven market  —  The company is expected to unveil an augmented reality headset in a few months.  Some employees wonder if the device makes sense for Apple.

Sources: Apple demoed its mixed reality headset, likely dubbed Reality Pro or Reality One, for a group of its top ~100 executives, ahead of their annual offsite (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple demoed its mixed reality headset, likely dubbed Reality Pro or Reality One, for a group of its top ~100 executives, ahead of their annual offsite  —  Apple's push into mixed reality will take years to pay off, with the company hoping the device follows the same trajectory as its smartwatch.

A look at the Chinese social e-commerce app and women-friendly "lifestyle bible" Xiaohongshu, which has 200M MAUs and critics describe as a consumerist trap (Viola Zhou/Rest of World)

Viola Zhou / Rest of World:
A look at the Chinese social e-commerce app and women-friendly “lifestyle bible” Xiaohongshu, which has 200M MAUs and critics describe as a consumerist trap  —  Known as China's “lifestyle bible,” the social media platform is an aspirational living guide or a consumerist trap.

An interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI's iPhone moment, DGX Cloud service, export controls, Nvidia's position in the stack in an LLM world, and more (Stratechery)

Stratechery:
An interview with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI's iPhone moment, DGX Cloud service, export controls, Nvidia's position in the stack in an LLM world, and more  —  I first spoke with Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang after last March's GTC conference, and again after last fall's GTC …

Email: Twitter offers new equity grants to staff, in addition to legacy equity, that will start to vest after six months and plans a liquidity event in a year (Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal)

Alexa Corse / Wall Street Journal:
Email: Twitter offers new equity grants to staff, in addition to legacy equity, that will start to vest after six months and plans a liquidity event in a year  —  New stock will start to vest after six months, according to an email  —  Twitter Inc. is offering new equity grants to staff …

Microsoft researchers claim GPT-4 showed early signs of AGI, with performance close to human levels in tasks spanning coding, medicine, law, psychology, more (Chloe Xiang/VICE)

Chloe Xiang / VICE:
Microsoft researchers claim GPT-4 showed early signs of AGI, with performance close to human levels in tasks spanning coding, medicine, law, psychology, more  —  The eyebrow-raising claim from Microsoft—which is banking on GPT putting it ahead of Google—contrasts with the model's clear limitations.

Some national security concerns about TikTok are valid, but forcing it to divest its US operations could undermine TikTok's ability to fight adversarial threats (Yoel Roth/Techdirt)

Yoel Roth / Techdirt:
Some national security concerns about TikTok are valid, but forcing it to divest its US operations could undermine TikTok's ability to fight adversarial threats  —  from the when-government-demands-backfire dept  —  Back in August 2020, the Trump White House issued an executive order purporting …

In his first visit to China since 2020, Tim Cook praises Apple's "symbiotic kind of relationship" with China, amid Apple's moves to diversify from the country (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
In his first visit to China since 2020, Tim Cook praises Apple's “symbiotic kind of relationship” with China, amid Apple's moves to diversify from the country  —  Chief executive's visit comes despite rising trade and geopolitical tensions between Beijing and US

LLMs will demolish barriers for software creation and unleash the next great technology cycle, marking a kind of Gutenberg moment for the software industry (Irregular Ideas)

Irregular Ideas:
LLMs will demolish barriers for software creation and unleash the next great technology cycle, marking a kind of Gutenberg moment for the software industry  —  There is immense hyperbole about recent developments in artificial intelligence, especially Large Language Models like ChatGPT.

How to use ChatGPT on mobiles and PCs

If you haven't tried ChatGPT yet, here's how you can use it on your computer or laptop and mobiles. It is to be noted that there is no dedicated app for ChatGPT so people will have to use a browser, like Google Chrome, to run ChatGPT on their Android smartphones or iPhones. https://ift.tt/vaFo3y8

Binance suspends spot trading on its exchange due to an "issue" and says it is working "to resolve this as soon as possible" (CoinDesk)

CoinDesk:
Binance suspends spot trading on its exchange due to an “issue” and says it is working “to resolve this as soon as possible”  —  Bitcoin slightly dipped as Binance spot trading was suspended.  —  Join the most important conversation in crypto and Web3 taking place in Austin, Texas, April 26-28.