Kevin Mitnick, a hacker best known for his crime spree in the 1990s, who later became a consultant, writer, and public speaker after leaving prison, dies at 59
Mr. Mitnick, best known for a crime spree during the 1990s that involved the theft of thousands of data files and credit card numbers, died from pancreatic cancer.
Sources: Google tests an AI tool to produce news stories, pitching the service to the NYT, WaPo, News Corp, and other outlets as a helpmate for journalists
The product, pitched as a helpmate for journalists, has been demonstrated for executives at The New York Times, The Washington Post and News Corp …
A study claims GPT-4's outputs became worse between March and June 2023, but some experts are not convinced and urge OpenAI to be less opaque with its AI models
Either way, experts think OpenAI should be less opaque about its AI model architecture. — On Tuesday, researchers …
Apple threatens to remove FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security under a proposed security bill amendment, dubbed a “snooper's charter”
Apple says it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon.
Sources: Apple built Ajax, a framework for building LLMs, created a chatbot app that some engineers call “Apple GPT”, and is planning an AI announcement in 2024
- Company builds large language models and internal chatbot — Executives haven't decided how to release tools to consumers
Netflix reports Q2 revenue up 2.7% YoY to $8.2B, vs. $8.3B est., net income up 3.3% YoY to $1.5B, 5.9M net new subs, and a Q3 forecast below est.; NFLX down 8%+
Lisa Richwine / Reuters :
TSMC reports Q2 revenue down 10% YoY to ~$15.68B and net profit down 23.3% YoY to ~$5.9B, the first quarterly decline since 2019, as all non-AI chip sales lag
Taiwan chipmaker logs quarterly net profit drop on consumer electronics slump — Sluggish demand for smartphones …
Netflix brings its password-sharing crackdown to India and other markets and says an “extra member” option won't be offered in places with its new restrictions
Netflix is bringing password-sharing crackdown to consumers in India and every other market starting today …
In Llama 2's commercial terms, Meta says companies with 700M+ MAUs must request a license, and users are prohibited from utilizing Llama 2 to improve other LLMs
Although Meta has announced that it will open-source its LLM and allow free usage for commercial and research purposes …
TSMC says its Arizona factory will miss its target of mass production of 4nm chips by 2024 due to US skilled worker shortages, aiming instead for 2025
Yang Jie / Wall Street Journal :
Amazon plans to roll out its Amazon One palm scanning payment tech to all of its more than 500 Whole Foods Market stores in the US by the end of 2023
- Amazon is bringing its pay-by-palm system to all of its Whole Foods stores by the end of the year. — Amazon One lets users enter …
YouTube increases the US price for YouTube Premium from $11.99 to $13.99 per month and for YouTube Music from $9.99 to $10.99 per month
The price of an individual YouTube Premium subscription is increasing by $2 to $13.99 per month in the US. — YouTube has yet to announce this price increase …
The US Federal Reserve launches FedNow Service, its long-awaited real-time payments system, enabling individuals and businesses to instantly transfer money
The U.S. Federal Reserve has launched a long-awaited service which will aim to modernize the country's payment system …
Sources: North Korea-linked hackers breached JumpCloud in late June and used their access to target crypto clients; JumpCloud says <5 customers were impacted
A North Korean government-backed hacking group penetrated an American IT management company and used it as a springboard to target …
Google launches Nearby Share for Windows, letting users transfer files between PCs and Android devices close to each other, after debuting a beta in March 2023
Anyone can download Nearby Share for Windows now, but your future laptop might come with it pre-installed. — • — TL;DR
The US Army says Microsoft plans to deliver improved goggles by July 31 for intensive testing ahead of a decision on their deployment or cancelation by 2025
- Delivery by July 31 would start three rounds of soldier tests — Device based on HoloLens may yield a $21.9 billion program
Researchers identify 200K+ OpenAI credentials for sale on the dark web in the form of stealer logs, as hackers show an increased interest in generative AI tools
Threat actors are showing an increased interest in generative artificial intelligence tools, with hundreds of thousands …
Sources: Samsung begins developing a smart ring, the so-called Galaxy Ring, using circuit boards made by Japan-based Meiko; the launch date remains uncertain
Device to offer health information to wearers Samsung has started the development of a new smart device that will come in the form of a ring, TheElec has learned.
Sources: Netflix told advertisers in the past two weeks that its ad-supported tier has ~1.5M US subscribers; Hulu's 15-year-old ad tier has ~30M US subscribers
Cerebras launches the first of three supercomputers for Abu Dhabi-based G42 as part of its Condor Galaxy network; G42 trained an Arabic GPT model in April 2023
The new supercomputer, made by the Silicon Valley start-up Cerebras, was unveiled as the A.I. boom drives demand for chips and computing power.
Adobe releases an emergency ColdFusion security update that fixes a zero-day RCE flaw used in the wild, after its July 11 fix was marked incomplete by Rapid7
Adobe released an emergency ColdFusion security update that fixes critical vulnerabilities, including a fix for a new zero-day exploited in attacks.
Analysis: tweets about CVEs, which peaked before Elon Musk took over, show a steep decline in recent months, suggesting the infosec Twitter community has shrunk
https://www.cyentia.com/... Eduardo Cuducos / @cuducos.me : So long Infosec Twitter https://www.cyentia.com/... Mastodon: Dr. Juande Santander-Vela / @juandesant@astrodon.social : @Techmeme they might...
Caroline Ellison's private Google docs detail her thoughts before FTX's collapse, including doubts over running Alameda and her breakup with Sam Bankman-Fried
Ms. Ellison, a top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried's business empire, recorded her thoughts on private Google documents that offer …
Analysis: Microsoft's 1,000%+ stock rise under Satya Nadella, most recently driven by AI, takes his total windfall to above $1B, following Tim Cook's Apple arc
- Figure includes equity grants, salary, bonuses and dividends — Haul puts executive in exclusive club of corporate titans
On Tesla's Q2 earnings call, Elon Musk says the company may license its FSD software and hardware to carmakers and is “already in discussions with a major OEM”
One-Time “Amnesty” Offer Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge : Tesla in discussion to license Full Self-Driving software to another automaker Twitter: Tasha Keeney / @tashaark : Tesla is in discussion with ...
Ofcom survey: TikTok is the top news source for 12- to 15-year-olds in the UK, followed by YouTube and Instagram; 16- to 24-year-olds prefer Instagram for news
Hibaq Farah / The Guardian :
Meta launches a standalone WhatsApp app for Wear OS 3, letting smartwatch users start chats, reply to messages, and take calls without their connected phone
A look at Gigi Sohn's unsuccessful FCC confirmation: Joe Biden nominated her in October 2021 and she withdrew 497 days later after a fierce opposition campaign
‘Dark money’ and the never-ending election cycle kept a qualified consumer advocate out of the Federal Communications Commission. Twitter: @kellymakena Twitter: Makena Kelly / @kellymakena : I profile...
A US House committee plans to investigate GGV's, GSR's, Walden International's, and Qualcomm Ventures' VC investments in Chinese AI, chip, and quantum companies
House select committee says American firms' investments contributed to China's military buildup and rights abuses
France designates Société Générale's blockchain unit Forge a digital asset service provider, issuing the country's first license under its new crypto rules
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg :
After releasing Chrome 115 on July 18, Google plans to begin gradually enabling Privacy Sandbox APIs for developers on July 24, phasing out cookies by Q3 2024
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge :
IBM reports Q2 revenue flat YoY at $15.48B, vs. $15.58B est., net income up 14% YoY to $1.6B, software up 7% YoY to $6.6B, and consulting up 4% YoY to $5B
Earnings Preview Eric J. Savitz / Barron's Online : IBM Earnings Top Estimates on Strong Software Sales
Microsoft plans to give 31 security logs to its lower-cost cloud service licensees for free in September 2023, after its China hack disclosures drew criticism
Tencent CEO Pony Ma and Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun pen separate op-eds backing China's pledges to resuscitate the private sector, as the economy fails to gain momentum
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg :
Used car retailer Carvana restructures its debt to lower interest payments over at least two years and reports a $105M loss in Q2, vs. a $439M loss in Q2 2022
New York Times :
Sources: Meta delayed releasing AR glasses to at least 2027, after having to cut the microLED display, lidar, 3D projector, and more due to technical setbacks
Wayne Ma / The Information :
Beijing-based ForwardX Robotics, which makes autonomous mobile robots for warehouses, raised an additional $30M on July 7, bringing its Series C total to $61M
Mike Oitzman / The Robot Report :
Researchers say hate speech and misinformation on Twitter are up; CEO Linda Yaccarino says that's “incorrect” and touts improvements, like ad placement controls
Coupled with $13 billion of debt, the company is in more than a shaky position. … Twitter: @twitterbusiness : To our partners, we want to address a recent Bloomberg article which claims that harmful c...
Sources: Threads uses a largely replicated Instagram algorithm, prioritizing creators' and friends' posts over hard news, and relies on Instagram moderators
Meta unfriends the news industry in growing rift with publishers https://www.ft.com/... Twitter: Jason Kint / @jason_kint : Good report. I see they quoted me at the kicker. I also said Facebook was “f...
Los Angeles-based Karat Financial, which offers creators banking and credit card services, raised a $70M Series B, split as $40M in equity and $30M in debt
Emmy Lucas / Forbes :
Miami-based Cosmic Wire, which sells blockchain infrastructure and metaverse creation tools, raised a $30M seed led by the Solana Foundation and Polygon
Brandy Betz / CoinDesk :
Q&A with Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena on LLMs and building a website in 2023, how the company is structured, competition, acquiring Google Domains, and more
Nilay Patel / The Verge :
Silicon Box, created by Marvell's co-founders and CEO BJ Han, opens a Singapore-based chip foundry for chiplets, planning to spend $2B and creating 1,000+ jobs
Fanny Potkin / Reuters :
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.