Tuesday, December 26, 2023

A legal dispute about a Bitcoin mine in a small Texas town reveals how Chinese nationals are using Tether to move money to the US without drawing attention (New York Times)

New York Times:
A legal dispute about a Bitcoin mine in a small Texas town reveals how Chinese nationals are using Tether to move money to the US without drawing attention  —  A legal dispute in a tiny Texas town unexpectedly reveals how Chinese nationals can move money to the U.S. without drawing the attention of authorities in either country.



Israel's government agrees to give Intel a $3.2B grant for a $25B chip plant the company plans to build in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, set to open in 2027 (Steven Scheer/Reuters)

Steven Scheer / Reuters:
Israel's government agrees to give Intel a $3.2B grant for a $25B chip plant the company plans to build in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel, set to open in 2027  —  Israel's government agreed to give Intel Corp (INTC.O) a $3.2 billion grant for new $25 billion chip plant it plans to build in southern Israel, both sides said on Tuesday.



A look at AI apps like Bluey-GPT, Oscar, Once Upon a Bot, and Bedtimestory.ai, which create stories for kids, and concerns over copyright, trademark, and safety (Nicole Kobie/Wired)

Nicole Kobie / Wired:
A look at AI apps like Bluey-GPT, Oscar, Once Upon a Bot, and Bedtimestory.ai, which create stories for kids, and concerns over copyright, trademark, and safety  —  Artificial intelligence can now tell tales featuring your kids' favorite characters.  It's copyright chaos—and a major headache for parents and guardians.



Monday, December 25, 2023

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 (Jennifer Elias/CNBC)

Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
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.



Kuo: Apple Vision Pro shipments are estimated to be approximately 500,000 units in 2024 and will most likely be available in late January or early February (Omar Sohail/Wccftech)

Omar Sohail / Wccftech:
Kuo: Apple Vision Pro shipments are estimated to be approximately 500,000 units in 2024 and will most likely be available in late January or early February  —  An earlier Apple Vision Pro launch timeline stated that the mixed-reality headset's shipments would start in February next year …



China's new gaming rules can be 'worse' for smaller developers: Report

China's National Press and Publication Administration recently proposed new gaming rules that would prohibit companies from incentivising daily sign-ins for games and other revenue-generating practices. Stock values of Chinese gaming giants Tencent, NetEase, and Bilibili have gone down since the announcement. According to a report by UBS, China's proposed gaming rules are expected to hit smaller developers more than large ones and may also reduce overall online advertising revenue in the gaming industry. https://ift.tt/70ENWHi

Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry anti-US views are taking root worldwide (New York Times)

New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...