Sources: ByteDance acquires Chinese earphone maker Oladance, founded five years ago, for ~$50M, bringing on board seasoned ex-Bose engineers — - Shenzhen-based startup is led by former Bose sound engineers — TikTok owner sees future growth in wearables and generative AI
CyberArk acquires machine identity management company Venafi from Thoma Bravo in a deal valued at around $1.54B; Thoma Bravo bought Venafi for $1.15B in 2020 — The Israeli company is purchasing the machine identity management company from Thoma Bravo as it looks to combine Venafi's machine …
Neuralink gets US FDA approval to implant its brain chip in a second person; source: FDA signed off on proposed fixes like embedding wires deeper into the brain — Elon Musk-backed startup has proposed solutions for thread pullout problem experienced by first participant, Noland Arbaugh
OpenAI pauses the use of the Sky voice in ChatGPT after users said it sounded too much like Scarlett Johansson, says voice was not chosen to be an “imitation” — OpenAI is working to pause the use of the Sky voice from an audible version of ChatGPT after users said that it sounded too much like actress Scarlett Johansson.
SpaceX launches Starlink in Indonesia to improve internet access in remote parts of the country, starting with three local health centers — Elon Musk and Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin launched SpaceX's satellite internet service for the nation's health sector on Sunday …
Sources: Apple and OpenAI are preparing a major announcement of their partnership at WWDC; the new AirTag with a better chip is scheduled to arrive by mid-2025 — Apple was caught flat-footed in the generative AI race, and the company will need to change its strategy if it wants to catch up.
How Vermont lawmakers passed a strict online data privacy law despite significant pushback from the tech industry; GOP Gov. Phil Scott is yet to sign the bill — State lawmakers from Maine to Oklahoma say the lessons they learned from battling industry over privacy bills can provide a new playbook to fight back.
About 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are unavailable now and 8% of pages from 2023 are unavailable; 23% of news pages have at least one broken link — 38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible a decade later — Table of Contents Table of Contents
A profile of Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, who led the company's successful crackdown on password sharing and is now pushing a focus on live programming — Now all he's got to figure out is live programming, sports, gaming, pricing and, oh, advertising. — In mid-February, Greg Peters …
How bots monopolizing DeviantArt's promotional and revenue apparatuses and the platform's unwillingness to address the issue are driving artists to abandon it — Once a vibrant platform for artists, DeviantArt is now buckling under the weight of bots and greed—and spurning the creative community that made it great.
Training AI on stereotypical facial expressions is bound to mislead because scientific evidence indicates that there are no universal expressions of emotion — Training algorithms on stereotypical facial expressions is bound to mislead. — Imagine that you are interviewing for a job.
Despite banning TikTok on government devices, Taiwan isn't considering a US-style ban, saying the app is just one battle in a war against China's disinformation — The island democracy was early to ban TikTok on government phones, and the ruling party refuses to use it. But a U.S.-style ban is not under consideration.
Microsoft's partnership with Mistral AI will avoid a UK antitrust probe after the CMA finds Microsoft can't “materially influence” Mistral's commercial policy — - CMA said the tie-up does not qualify under merger rules — Watchdog is looking into Big Tech AI startup investment
Kuo: Apple to use higher energy density battery cells for iPhone 16 Pro Max and stainless steel battery cases for better replaceability, an EU requirement — Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will get a new battery that has a greater energy density than before …
Baidu reports Q1 revenue up 1% YoY to ~$4.4B, above ~$4.35B est., the slowest growth in over a year, and net income down 6% YoY to ~$755M, above ~$554M est. — Baidu Inc.'s revenue grew at the slowest pace in more than a year, as China's flagging economy put pressure on its core advertising business.
Gleb Bryanski / Reuters : Russia's finance minister says Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in i...
