Journals

Tom Henderson / Insider Gaming: A look at Ubisoft’s problems, as insiders fear further layoffs: a wild goose chase of popular fads, like NFTs, constant delays, low player numbers, and more  —  As industry-wide layoffs continue to plague headlines, Ubisoft,… Read More »A look at Ubisoft’s problems, as insiders fear further layoffs: a wild goose chase of popular fads, like NFTs, constant delays, low player numbers, and more (Tom Henderson/Insider Gaming)

Alex Barinka / Bloomberg: In prepared Senate testimony, TikTok CEO Shou Chew says the company plans to spend $2B+ in 2024 on trust and safety globally and the app has 170M US MAUs  —  – Shou Chew joins US rivals… Read More »In prepared Senate testimony, TikTok CEO Shou Chew says the company plans to spend $2B+ in 2024 on trust and safety globally and the app has 170M US MAUs (Alex Barinka/Bloomberg)

New York Times: Ahead of the Senate hearing, US lawmakers release 90 pages of internal Meta emails from 2021, showing how Mark Zuckerberg rejected calls to bulk up child safety  —  Lawmakers released internal emails detailing the company’s failed efforts… Read More »Ahead of the Senate hearing, US lawmakers release 90 pages of internal Meta emails from 2021, showing how Mark Zuckerberg rejected calls to bulk up child safety (New York Times)

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: Ahead of the Senate hearing, Mark Zuckerberg calls for requiring Apple and Google to verify ages via app stores; Linda Yaccarino and Evan Spiegel support KOSA  —  Heads of Meta and X are among five… Read More »Ahead of the Senate hearing, Mark Zuckerberg calls for requiring Apple and Google to verify ages via app stores; Linda Yaccarino and Evan Spiegel support KOSA (Hannah Murphy/Financial Times)

Eileen Sullivan / New York Times: US and UK law enforcement are bracing for an explosion of AI-generated CSAM, and criticize Meta, the authorities’ best partner for flagging CSAM, over E2EE  —  Law enforcement officials are bracing for an explosion… Read More »US and UK law enforcement are bracing for an explosion of AI-generated CSAM, and criticize Meta, the authorities’ best partner for flagging CSAM, over E2EE (Eileen Sullivan/New York Times)

Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic: Silicon Valley’s powerful companies claim to embrace Enlightenment values, but instead are leading an antidemocratic, illiberal, and authoritarian technocracy  —  Silicon Valley has its own ascendant political ideology.  It’s past time we call it what… Read More »Silicon Valley’s powerful companies claim to embrace Enlightenment values, but instead are leading an antidemocratic, illiberal, and authoritarian technocracy (Adrienne LaFrance/The Atlantic)

Jane Zhang / Bloomberg: ByteDance co-founder and CEO Liang Rubo urges staff to resist mediocrity after the company missed the initial wave of generative AI, in a company-wide meeting  —  – Co-founder said the company showed signs of complacency  —… Read More »ByteDance co-founder and CEO Liang Rubo urges staff to resist mediocrity after the company missed the initial wave of generative AI, in a company-wide meeting (Jane Zhang/Bloomberg)

Alexandra Alter / New York Times: Bookstat: the US audiobook market grew 14% YoY in Q4 2023, excluding Spotify; with Spotify, it grew 28% YoY; Spotify had an 11% market share, behind Audible  —  There are early signs that Spotify’s… Read More »Bookstat: the US audiobook market grew 14% YoY in Q4 2023, excluding Spotify; with Spotify, it grew 28% YoY; Spotify had an 11% market share, behind Audible (Alexandra Alter/New York Times)

Vitalik Buterin / Vitalik Buterin’s website: A look at the four major categories of apps that could emerge at the intersection of crypto and AI, and the prospects and challenges of each category  —  Special thanks to the Worldcoin and… Read More »A look at the four major categories of apps that could emerge at the intersection of crypto and AI, and the prospects and challenges of each category (Vitalik Buterin/Vitalik Buterin’s website)

John Seabrook / New Yorker: A profile of UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, who helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming and now hopes to do the same with generative AI  —  Lucian Grainge, the chairman of UMG,… Read More »A profile of UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, who helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming and now hopes to do the same with generative AI (John Seabrook/New Yorker)