In June, the US State Department told Microsoft that its emails in Azure were hacked; attackers stole a Microsoft key and hacked ~25 organizations' emails
The State Department discovered the Microsoft vulnerability, which affected unclassified government systems, last month
The FTC files to appeal a US court ruling that cleared the way for Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard; the existing TRO expires at 11:59pm PT on July 14
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is appealing a recent US federal court order that cleared the way for Microsoft to purchase Activision Blizzard.
Google updates Bard with support for 43 more languages, including Arabic, and releases the chatbot in Europe and Brazil after adding new privacy features
Latest version to also include a privacy hub for all users — Google is betting a new version of its artificial-intelligence chatbot will say hallo …
Microsoft says Chinese hackers gained access to US government email accounts and had access to at least some accounts for a month before the breach was detected
https://www.cisa.gov/... JosephMenn / @JosephMenn@infosec.exchange : Friday night news dump came on Tuesday this week. Free gift link: Chinese hackers breach gov email accounts via Microsoft cloud. h...
The SEC, CFTC, and FTC sue ex-Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and the company over alleged fraud and more; Mashinsky was arrested and charged with six counts
Alex Mashinsky, the former chief executive officer of Celsius Network Ltd., was accused by prosecutors of orchestrating a yearslong scheme …
Apple updates macOS Sonoma to bring iCloud Keychain passwords to non-Safari browsers for the first time, expanding on a Chrome extension
The macOS Sonoma update that is in testing allows Mac owners who opt to use Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or another browser to use Apple's Password Manager for filling passwords.
Apple launches Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UK, starting with Revolut and Tyl by NatWest as the first platforms, following the US, Australia, and Taiwan
Apple has announced the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in the United Kingdom, allowing independent sellers, small merchants …
GitHub launches support for passkeys in public beta, letting users who opt in upgrade from security keys to passkeys, and use those in place of password and 2FA
GitHub announced today the introduction of passwordless authentication support in public beta, allowing users to upgrade from security keys to passkeys.
Apple adds bilingual support to Siri, starting with Indic languages like Hindi and Telugu; Google Assistant got multilingual support in 2018 and Alexa in 2019
Apple released its first set of public beta versions of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma on Wednesday.
Sony plans to spend ~$2.13B on gaming R&D for the FY ending March 2024, accounting for ~40% of its total R&D expenditure and surpassing electronics and chips
Japan electronics giant to ramp up live-game titles to catch up to Microsoft — Sony is aiming for 60% of game development costs …
Document: the FTC sends OpenAI a 20-page demand for records on the risks of its AI models and a March 2023 security incident over payment-related information
The agency's demand for OpenAI's documents about AI risks mark the company's greatest U.S. regulatory threat to date
Nothing Phone (2) review: neat light strips, useful always-on display, and four-year software support, but only splash resistant and not certified on Verizon
Form, function, and a good midrange phone. … The Nothing Phone 2 is better than the Phone 1 in a lot of small ways.
A writer details using AI startup Writer's LLM to generate text in his writing style and says most “insights” that the tool produced felt hollow or approximated
A new wave of artificial-intelligence startups is trying to “scale language” by automating the work of writing. Mastodon: @taiyo@ostatus.taiyolab.com . Twitter: @kantrowitz , @delia_cai , @datasociety...
Sources: Meta plans to release a commercial version of LLaMA imminently and will make the AI model more widely available and customizable by companies
Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google are surging ahead in Silicon Valley development race — Meta is poised to release a commercial version …
In a major policy shift, Google Play now lets developers incorporate tokenized digital assets, such as NFTs, into their Android apps and games
The company is opening up the ability for developers to let users buy, sell or earn digital assets in apps as long as they maintain transparency and adhere to other rules.
Telly begins shipping its free, ad-supported, dual-screen TV as part of its “public beta program”; users must submit demographic info, viewing habits, and more
Start-up says it received more than 250,000 sign-ups from U.S. consumers … The start-up, which plans to ship …
Stability AI debuts Stable Doodle, a sketch-to-image tool that uses the Stable Diffusion model to generate “visually pleasing” artistic renditions, on ClipDrop
Stability AI, the startup behind the image-generating model Stable Diffusion, is launching a new service that turns sketches into images.
Elon Musk forms xAI, a startup he will lead to “understand the true nature of the universe”; the staff has worked at Google, Microsoft, Tesla, OpenAI, and more
Today we announce the formation of xAI. The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe. Reuters : Elon Musk launches AI firm xAI as he looks to take on OpenAI Kara Carlson / USA Tod...
PE firm CapVest agrees to acquire UK-based Kerridge, which provides ERP software to clients globally, from Accel-KKR; sources say the deal is valued at over $1B
Private equity firm CapVest Partners has agreed to acquire UK software provider Kerridge Commercial Systems Ltd.
Twitter asks a US federal court to terminate an FTC order that puts restrictions on its data security practices and to stay a deposition of Elon Musk
The company asked the federal court to terminate an order with the agency hours before Chair Lina Khan testified on Capitol Hill
How Apple expanded into sports since 2022, starting with the MLB, leading to an unusual deal to bring Messi to the MLS and share new subscriber revenue with him
In 2019, during an interview with Sports Illustrated, the Apple senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue …
Xbox tests reactive voice chat moderation, letting Xbox Insiders report 60-second audio clips of inappropriate voice messages for the Xbox safety team to review
Ash Parrish / The Verge :
The AP signs a two-year deal with OpenAI, under which the AP will get access to OpenAI tech and license some of its archive dating back to 1985 for AI training
The Associated Press on Thursday said it reached a two-year deal with OpenAI, the parent company to ChatGPT, to share access to select news content and technology.
A congressional investigation led by Senator Elizabeth Warren finds popular tax filing tools “recklessly” sent data, like income, to Meta and Google for years
https://www.cnn.com/... Mastodon: Paul Cantrell / @inthehands@hachyderm.io : Just beating my old drum: — The fines involved could tip some of these companies into bankruptcy. — That's good. — Co...
Meta says Roblox is coming to Meta's Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Quest 3, starting with an open beta on App Lab “in the coming weeks”, with cross-platform support
Jay Peters / The Verge :
UNESCO calls for regulation of AI-based neurotechnology; research shows private investments in Neuralink and others reached $7.3B in 2020, up ~20x since 2010
Manipulation of brain signals advancing so fast it threatens human rights, warns UN body — Neurotechnology is advancing so fast …
Telegram merchants can now accept payments via the TON blockchain-based Wallet in tether, bitcoin, and toncoin, expanding on support for transfers between users
Here's How it Works Helen Partz / Cointelegraph : Telegram Wallet bot enables in-app payments in Bitcoin, USDT and TON James Hunt / The Block : Wallet Pay enables Bitcoin, Tether and Toncoin payments ...
A look at Meta's plan to adopt ActivityPub for Threads, how ActivityPub suits Meta's goals, and the technical challenges and social pressure facing the company
Huawei reports $560M in revenue from patent licensing deals in 2023, its first disclosure of such income, and spending 25% of its 2022 sales on R&D, or ~$22.5B
Bloomberg :
Commission-free investing platform Public.com launches in the UK, the Robinhood rival's first market outside of the US, letting investors trade 5,000+ US stocks
Bloomberg :
Cloud security startup Orca sues Israeli competitor Wiz in the US for allegedly illegally copying patented software that monitors data stored on cloud servers
Aaron Holmes / The Information :
Sources reveal how contractors audit Bard's answers in subjects ranging from medication doses to state laws, sometimes with deadlines as short as three minutes
As algorithms take on an increasingly big share … Bluesky: Emily Gorcenski / @emily.gorcen.ski : In the United States, this is considered “a substantial improvement over most doctors.” [embedded post...
Some VCs reflect on the industry slowdown; QED Investors co-founder Frank Rotman estimates that up to 80% of VC firms are in strategically challenged positions
by a wide margin” @albertwenger https://www.vice.com/... Maxwell / @maxwellstrachan : I spoke with VCs about an uncomfortable truth: There are now way too many of them. “If you look at the industry as...
Analysis: the total sales of Foxconn, TSMC, and 17 more major IT companies in Taiwan fell 19.8% YoY to ~$35B in June 2023, the largest drop since at least 2013
the sharpest drop since tracking of comparable data began in 2013. https://asia.nikkei.com/...
Intel launched its Habana Gaudi 2 processor in China on July 11, to be used for AI training by Chinese cloud providers like Inspur, despite US export controls
DigiTimes :
The UK CMA opens an in-depth investigation into Adobe's $20B Figma deal after Adobe declined to offer remedies to ease concerns, setting a December 27 deadline
A look at the US Bureau of Industry and Security, which employs ~350, had a $140M+ budget in 2022, and is a key tool in cutting China off from advanced chips
Alex W. Palmer / New York Times :
JD.com unveils its ChatRhino LLM for enterprise, planning to use the tool internally for e-commerce, logistics, and more, before expanding to clients in H1 2024
Jane Zhang / Bloomberg :
Experts in Taiwan worry China could influence TikTok content ahead of the presidential election in January 2024; officials banned TikTok from government devices
Bloomberg :
Adobe: US consumers spent $6.4B at Amazon during Prime Day's first 24 hours, up 6% YoY but below estimates; Numerator: average orders were up 7% YoY to $56.64
Buenos Aires-based InvGate, which offers IT service and asset management tools, raised $35M led by Riverwood, its first external funding since its 2009 founding
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26
Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control
Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data
Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.