Journals

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: Clubhouse launches group voice chats, which will read out texts sent by members in the sender’s custom voice  —  Clubhouse, the once-popular live audio app, announced today that users can now text their friends and they’ll… Read More »Clubhouse launches group voice chats, which will read out texts sent by members in the sender’s custom voice (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Bloomberg: Sources: Sam Altman is working to get US approval for his chip project as the involvement of UAE and others risks raising national security, antitrust concerns  —  – Middle East investors, factories may prompt security concerns  — Potential new… Read More »Sources: Sam Altman is working to get US approval for his chip project as the involvement of UAE and others risks raising national security, antitrust concerns (Bloomberg)

Abner Li / 9to5Google: Google Search Labs is testing a “Talk to a Live Representative” feature, which will call businesses on users’ behalf and hold until a human becomes available  —  Google Search Labs is testing a “Talk to a… Read More »Google Search Labs is testing a “Talk to a Live Representative” feature, which will call businesses on users’ behalf and hold until a human becomes available (Abner Li/9to5Google)

New York Times: South Korea’s FTC delays a bill modeled after the EU’s DMA, after a furious backlash from South Korean industry lobbyists and consumers, along with the US  —  South Korea pledged to protect it online platforms from marketplace… Read More »South Korea’s FTC delays a bill modeled after the EU’s DMA, after a furious backlash from South Korean industry lobbyists and consumers, along with the US (New York Times)

Bloomberg: Reserve Bank of India says it is not planning harsher rules to curb the country’s fintech sector, weeks after abruptly suspending Paytm Payments Bank operations  —  – RBI wants to have a hands-off approach on fintech regulation  — Comments… Read More »Reserve Bank of India says it is not planning harsher rules to curb the country’s fintech sector, weeks after abruptly suspending Paytm Payments Bank operations (Bloomberg)

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Ahead of the 2024 US election, Anthropic is testing Prompt Shield, which will redirect users asking political topics to “authoritative” sources of voting info  —  Ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Anthropic, the well-funded AI… Read More »Ahead of the 2024 US election, Anthropic is testing Prompt Shield, which will redirect users asking political topics to “authoritative” sources of voting info (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer: An interview with Kurt Wagner on his new book Battle for the Bird, a Jack Dorsey biography morphed into a deep dive on Twitter’s tumultuous transition to X  —  Was it Jack Dorsey or Elon Musk? … Read More »An interview with Kurt Wagner on his new book Battle for the Bird, a Jack Dorsey biography morphed into a deep dive on Twitter’s tumultuous transition to X (Zoë Schiffer/Platformer)

TechCrunch: PitchBook: Q4 2023 saw only 12 crypto exits, the lowest number since Q4 2020 and consistent with the “low-level activity seen throughout 2023”  —  The global venture capital market is enduring a long period of limited exits.  Startups are… Read More »PitchBook: Q4 2023 saw only 12 crypto exits, the lowest number since Q4 2020 and consistent with the “low-level activity seen throughout 2023” (TechCrunch)

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: In a letter, 28 civil rights organizations, including noyb, urge the EDPB to reject Meta’s approach of asking EU users to pay or consent to be tracked for ads  —  A coalition of more than two… Read More »In a letter, 28 civil rights organizations, including noyb, urge the EDPB to reject Meta’s approach of asking EU users to pay or consent to be tracked for ads (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

Reuters: Carl Jenkins, head of hardware at Cruise, says he has resigned after six years with the company, the latest in a series of executive departures  —  The head of hardware at General Motors’ (GM.N) Cruise self-driving unit, Carl Jenkins,… Read More »Carl Jenkins, head of hardware at Cruise, says he has resigned after six years with the company, the latest in a series of executive departures (Reuters)