CyberTechMag

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer : The FCC announces a $31.5M settlement with T-Mobile over four data breaches, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, that compromised personal info of millions of US customers   —  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a $31.5 million settlement with T-Mobile over multiple data breaches … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Yj6JO5y via IFTTT

Julie Bort / TechCrunch : Series Entertainment, a game studio startup building a generative AI-powered service for making games, raised a $28M Series A from Netflix, Dell, a16z, others   —  It's been quite the year for gaming industry exec Pany Haritatos.  —  Last month, he quietly closed an oversubscribed $28 million Series … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/JrjevEh via IFTTT

The UK is shutting down its final coal-fired power plant today, marking the end of an era for the country’s energy system. Once the backbone of the grid, coal has been steadily replaced with other, less polluting energy sources. Coal is the most emissions-intensive fuel powering the grid today, and moving away from it, even to other fossil fuels, can help reduce climate pollution. Some countries have started to replace the fuel in earnest—members of the G7, a group of wealthy economies, have all agreed to phase out coal-fired power plants that don’t use carbon capture by 2035 . But coal is still booming in other parts of the world, especially in some larger countries where electricity demand is growing quickly. A tale of two coal declines The power plant, scheduled to shut down at midnight on September 30, is called Ratcliffe-on-Soar , and it’s the last bastion of coal in the UK, where the fuel has a rich history. The country relied on coal for over 100 years, and until 1990, it mad...

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg : Antenna: Netflix cancellations spiked for a few days in late July 2024 after Reed Hastings endorsed Kamala Harris and announced a $7M super PAC donation   —  Rate of cancellations almost tripled after Trump backers called for action against the streaming service.  —  Say goodbye to another tough week in Hollywood. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/lLWBGrk via IFTTT

Stephanie Stacey / Financial Times : Interview with SolarWinds CISO Tim Brown on the 2020 breach, facing the US SEC's charges that were largely dismissed in July, global cyber regulations, and more   —  Tim Brown was first cyber executive to face SEC charges after a massive Russian hack  —  The first cyber chief to fight … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/vMs6J74 via IFTTT

Wall Street Journal : California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes AI safety bill SB 1047; source: Newsom vetoed because the bill applies only to large AI models and leaves others unregulated   —  Governor seeks more encompassing rules than the bill opposed by OpenAI, Meta and supported by research scientists from Techmeme https://ift.tt/TpykZvS via IFTTT

Alex Perry / Bloomberg : Mark Zuckerberg's personal wealth has climbed almost sixfold to $200B+ in less than two years, buoyed by Meta's record-high share price, which is up 60%+ YTD   —  - Meta CEO's wealth has jumped sixfold in the past two years  — Shares of Meta are trading near record high, up 60% this year from Techmeme https://ift.tt/oyMJues via IFTTT

Steven Levy / Wired : Q&A with Trae Stephens, partner at Founders Fund and Executive Chairman of Anduril, on autonomous AI's role in warfare, building a wearable e-reader, and more   —  He's deep in the defense-startup world as a Founders Fund partner and Anduril cofounder.  His bunker, though, isn't fully prepped for the end times. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/RYGhtli via IFTTT

Stephanie Stacey / Financial Times : Bumble, Muzz, and Match Group are pushing their friend-finding and community-building products to attract young users hit by so-called dating app fatigue   —  Bumble and Match Group launch friendship and social products to help reverse post-pandemic slowdown from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Xd87u0i via IFTTT

Brian Steinberg / Variety : Sources: Amazon Prime Video is in talks with veteran anchor Brian Williams to host a live Election Night special, its first entry into news-related programming   —  Brian Williams may have found his next TV-news job....except it won't be on traditional TV.  —  The veteran NBC News … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Qy5chxi via IFTTT

Abner Li / 9to5Google : Google rolls out Gemini-powered contextual Smart Replies, which analyzes the context of an email and suggests a detailed reply, in Gmail for paid users   —  Following the announcement at I/O 2024, Google is now rolling out Contextual Smart Replies to Gmail for Android and iOS. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/vtKwiWO via IFTTT

Washington Post : Neo-Nazis are creating AI videos of Hitler making English versions of his speeches and to rebrand him as “misunderstood” via TikTok, X, Instagram, and YouTube   —  Videos of the Nazi leader speaking in English are reaching millions online.  Experts fear they are fueling a surge of antisemitism. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Fq4os93 via IFTTT

Reuters : Indian food delivery company Swiggy files for an IPO in India; source: Swiggy plans to raise $1.25B at a $15B valuation   —  SoftBank-backed Swiggy filed papers on Thursday for an initial public offering, which a source said would be worth $1.25 billion, as the food delivery firm looks to tap … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/4klnCwQ via IFTTT

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge : X is preventing users from posting links to a newsletter containing a hacked JD Vance dossier; X suspended the newsletter author Ken Klippenstein's account   —  X is preventing users from posting links to a newsletter containing a hacked document that's alleged to be the Trump campaign's research … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/7jp3zfY via IFTTT

Reuters : LG Display agrees to sell its stake in its large LCD display plant in China to TCL's LCD unit CSOT for ~$1.54B; LG will now no longer make LCD panels in China   —  South Korea's LG Display (034220.KS) said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its stake in its large liquid crystal display (LCD) … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/WseaC3I via IFTTT

Alex Heath / The Verge : Meta unveils a prototype of Orion, its first AR glasses, with a 70-degree FoV, wireless neural input wristband, silicon carbide lenses, and micro-LED projectors   —  Orion is an impressive demo of AR glasses, but can Mark Zuckerberg beat everyone else to the next big platform? from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Dj6uOQw via IFTTT

Recorded on September 25, 2024 Putting AI’s Climate Impact Into Perspective Speakers: David Rotman , Editor-at-large, Melissa Heikkilä , Senior AI Reporter, and James Temple , Sr Editor for Energy The rise of AI comes with a growing carbon footprint and an increased demand for electricity.  Analysts project  that AI could drive up data centers’ energy consumption by 160% this decade. So how worried should we be about AI’s electricity demands and carbon emissions? How can this technology be used responsibly in the face of the climate crisis? Join editor-at-large David Rotman, senior AI reporter Melissa Heikkilä, and senior editor for energy James Temple for a conversation exploring the energy trade-offs involved in AI. Related Coverage AI is an energy hog. This is what it means for climate change. Making an image with generative AI uses as much energy as charging your phone AI’s carbon footprint is bigger than you think from MIT Technology Review https://ift.tt/U...

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge : The US DOJ sues Visa, alleging it has an illegal monopoly over debit network markets and has tried to unlawfully crush competitors, including PayPal and Square   —  The financial service company reportedly tried to ‘smother’ competitors and feared Apple as an ‘existential threat.’ from Techmeme https://ift.tt/bBMrOoj via IFTTT

OpenAI is broadening access to Advanced Voice Mode, a feature of ChatGPT that allows you to speak more naturally with the AI model. It allows you to interrupt its responses mid-sentence, and can also sense and interpret your emotions based on your tone of voice and adjust its responses accordingly.  These features were teased back in May when OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o but they were not released until July —and then just to an invite-only group. (At least initially, there seem to have been some safety issues with the model; OpenAI gave several WIRED reporters access to the voice mode back in May, but the magazine reported the company “pulled it the next morning, citing safety concerns.”) Users who’ve been able to try it have largely described the model as an impressively fast, dynamic, and realistic voice assistant—which has made its limited access particularly frustrating to some other OpenAI users.  Today is the first time OpenAI has promised to bring the new voice mode to...

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch : OpenAI adds five voices to Advanced Voice Mode, which is now rolling out to ChatGPT Plus and Teams users and, next week, to enterprise and education users   —  OpenAI announced it is rolling out Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) to an expanded set of ChatGPT's paying customers on Tuesday. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/dG5WN0P via IFTTT

Sam Altman : Sam Altman claims “deep learning worked”, superintelligence may be “a few thousand days” away, and “astounding triumphs” will incrementally become commonplace   —  In the next couple of decades, we will be able to do things that would have seemed like magic to our grandparents. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/RSIN45F via IFTTT

Ionut Arghire / SecurityWeek : Researchers find a new version of Necro malware in Google Play apps with 11M+ total installs; Necro malware in 2019 was found in Play apps with 100M+ installs   —  The Necro trojan was found in two Android applications in Google Play with a combined downloads count of over 11 million. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/bedFzw8 via IFTTT

Tom Warren / The Verge : Microsoft releases a progress report on its efforts to make security its top priority, which began in November 2023 after a scathing report from the US CSRB   —  Microsoft made security its No. 1 priority for every employee earlier this year, following years of security issues and a scathing report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/JIZAW3G via IFTTT

Bloomberg : Sources: Apollo Global Management has offered to make an equity-like investment of as much as $5B in Intel   —  - Investment firm offered equity-like investment in chipmaker  — Move comes as rival Qualcomm makes approach about takeover … The alternative asset manager has indicated … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/Na48RgS via IFTTT

Morgan Meaker / Wired : A profile of French billionaire Xavier Niel, a driving force of French AI and ByteDance's newest board member, who believes Europe should pursue homegrown AI   —  The TikTok owner's newest board member revels in challenging the establishment. … I wait to meet Xavier Niel in a room that feels fitting for one of France's richest men. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/C437cyQ via IFTTT

Wall Street Journal : Sources: TSMC and Samsung execs have visited the UAE and are considering building chip factories funded by the UAE, with a central role for Abu Dhabi's Mubadala   —  Potential projects in the United Arab Emirates could be worth more than $100 billion, though major hurdles remain from Techmeme https://ift.tt/tTLfgv3 via IFTTT

Bloomberg : Sources: US Commerce Department plans to reveal proposed rules that would ban Chinese- and Russian-made hardware and software for smart cars as soon as Monday   —  - Bans stem from an investigation into cybersecurity risks  — Restrictions would be enforced by the Commerce Department from Techmeme https://ift.tt/bM8i53G via IFTTT

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch : At the UN Summit of the Future, Sundar Pichai says Google will create a $120M fund to provide AI education globally, calls for “smart product regulation”, more   —  Speaking Saturday at the UN Summit of the Future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described AI as “the most transformative technology yet” … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/07RAftT via IFTTT