Network Support Blog

The Guardian: An investigation into ClothOff, an app being used to make deepfake porn images of underage girls, finds a brother and sister in Belarus are linked to the app  —  Exclusive: Guardian investigation for podcast series Black Box reveals names connected to app that generated nonconsensual images of underage girls around the world http://www.techmeme.com/240229/p32?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240229p32

Brody Ford / Bloomberg: HPE reports Q1 revenue down 14% YoY to $6.76B, vs. $7.1B est., Server revenue down 23% YoY to $3.4B, and reduces its FY 2024 outlook for sales growth and profit  —  Revenue will increase as much as 2%, excluding currency fluctuations, in the fiscal year ending in October. http://www.techmeme.com/240229/p31?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240229p31

Abner Li / 9to5Google: Google adds Photomath, which lets users solve math problems by taking a photo, to its Play Store and App Store publisher accounts, after buying the app in 2022  —  In May of 2022, Google announced that it was acquiring a math solver app called Photomath.  The deal closed last year … http://www.techmeme.com/240229/p29?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240229p29

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: GitHub enables push protection by default for all public repositories to prevent accidental leaks of secrets like access tokens and API keys when pushing code  —  GitHub has enabled push protection by default for all public repositories to prevent accidental exposure of secrets such as access tokens and API keys when pushing new code. http://www.techmeme.com/240229/p28?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240229p28

Jon Porter / The Verge: Microsoft outlines the new DirectSR API, which lets game developers integrate super resolution AI-upscaling features from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel  —  Microsoft has outlined a new Windows API designed to offer a seamless way for game developers to integrate super resolution AI-upscaling features from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. http://www.techmeme.com/240229/p18?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240229p18

Hannah Miao / Wall Street Journal: Webull plans to go public via a SPAC merger with SK Growth Opportunities around September 2024 and expects to raise ~$100M, valuing the online brokerage at $7B+  —  The brokerage, which surged in popularity during the GameStop mania, had previously considered an IPO http://www.techmeme.com/240228/p41?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240228p41

Reuters: Sources: cloud storage service Egnyte has hired underwriters for a US IPO as early as this year that could value it at $3B+; Egnyte was valued at $460M in 2018  —  Cloud storage service Egnyte has hired underwriters for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York that could value it at more than $3 billion … http://www.techmeme.com/240228/p37?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240228p37

Reuters: Sources: Fiserv and Amadeus are the two main contenders to acquire Shift4 Payments, which provides payment processing services and has a market value of $6.5B  —  Fiserv (FI.N) and Amadeus IT Group (AMA.MC) are competing to acquire Shift4 Payments (FOUR.N), a payments processor that has a market value … http://www.techmeme.com/240228/p29?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240228p29

Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac: Kuo: Vision Pro demand is higher than Apple originally expected, with US shipments expected to hit 200-250k units this year; return rates are now below 1%  —  Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Vision Pro demand is higher than Apple originally expected, with US shipments expected to hit 200-250k units this year. http://www.techmeme.com/240228/p20?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240228p20

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters: Axel Springer and 31 other media groups in Europe file a $2.3B lawsuit against Google, alleging that they suffered losses due to its digital ad practices  —  Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google was hit with a 2.1-billion-euro ($2.3 billion) lawsuit by 32 media groups including Axel Springer and Schibsted … http://www.techmeme.com/240228/p19?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240228p19

Bloomberg: Sources: Klarna is in talks with banks for a potential US IPO as soon as Q3 2024 and is considering seeking a valuation of around $20B  —  - Swedish firm may list as soon as in the third quarter  — Fintech giant was once Europe's most valuable startup  —  Klarna Bank AB … http://www.techmeme.com/240227/p32?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240227p32

Ashley Capoot / CNBC: Bumble reports Q4 revenue up 13% YoY to $273.6M, a $32M net loss, vs. $159.2M YoY, and plans to eliminate 350 roles, about 37% of its workforce  —  - Bumble announced plans to lay off about 350 employees as part of its fourth-quarter earnings report Tuesday. http://www.techmeme.com/240227/p31?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240227p31

Paul Alcorn / Tom's Hardware: Leaked presentation: Intel's 14A process is slated for production in 2026, and its previously unannounced Intel 10A, its first 1nm chip, is set for late 2027  —  Single-digit nanometer chips to arrive in late 2027.  —  We've already covered the first major announcements … http://www.techmeme.com/240227/p28?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240227p28

The Information: Sources: TikTok has replaced several senior executives, including the one running its trust and safety unit, giving the CEO more oversight of content moderation  —  TikTok has shaken up its senior ranks, replacing several senior executives including the person running its trust & safety unit … http://www.techmeme.com/240227/p19?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240227p19

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: GitHub announces the general availability of Copilot Enterprise, which is able to reference an org's code and knowledge base, for $39 per user per month  —  GitHub today announced the general availability of Copilot Enterprise, the $39/month version of its code completion tool and developer-centric chatbot for large businesses. http://www.techmeme.com/240227/p18?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240227p18

Forbes: Admissions essay reviewers say that certain words, such as “tapestry”, appear more frequently in submissions now and can be seen as red flags that AI was used  —  ChatGPT and other generative AI are being widely used in higher education in school admissions. http://www.techmeme.com/240206/p21?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240206p21

Mike Isaac / New York Times: Meta proposes standards to identify AI content that its industry peers could use, and plans to label AI images posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads  —  The social network wants to promote standardized labels to help detect artificially created photo, video and audio material across its platforms. http://www.techmeme.com/240206/p13?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240206p13

Qianer Liu / Financial Times: Sources: SMIC plans to use its stock of US and Dutch-made equipment to build 5nm Kirin chips designed by Huawei's HiSilicon for smartphones, despite US curbs  —  SMIC and Huawei plan to make new 5nm processor, supporting Beijing's goal for advanced semiconductors http://www.techmeme.com/240206/p3?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240206p3

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC: Nintendo reports Q3 net sales down 6% YoY to ~$4B, net profit up 18% YoY to ~$919M, and forecasts 15.5M Switch sales in the current fiscal year, up from 15M YoY  —  - Nintendo said it now expects to sell 15.5 million of its flagship Switch consoles in its current fiscal year, upping a previous forecast. http://www.techmeme.com/240206/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240206p1

Sam Sabin / Axios: The US State Department announces a new policy allowing “the imposition of visa restrictions on individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware”  —  - The visa restrictions would prevent those who have profited from or facilitated the misuse of commercial spyware from traveling to the U.S., the official added. http://www.techmeme.com/240205/p28?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240205p28

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: Thoma Bravo takes critical event management software company Everbridge private in a $1.5B all-cash deal; Everbridge had a market cap of $6.4B in 2021  —  Everbridge, a critical event management (CEM) software company, is going private in a $1.5 billion all-cash deal that will see it taken over by private equity giant Thoma Bravo. http://www.techmeme.com/240205/p12?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240205p12

Malena Carollo / The Markup: Q&A with Andrew Farnsworth, a Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientist, about BirdCast, a project that uses AI to process weather data and predict how birds migrate  —  Machine learning is powering new insights into how birds migrate—and forecasts about where they'll go next http://www.techmeme.com/240205/p3?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240205p3

Bloomberg: A Seoul court acquits Samsung Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee of stock manipulation charges, removing the threat of a jail time for the billionaire  —  A Seoul Central District Court judge delivered the verdict after about an hour's recitation of the ruling, which focused on whether evidence pointed … http://www.techmeme.com/240205/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240205p1

Eduardo Baptista / Reuters: A look at China's interest in the “geopolitically neutral” RISC-V open-source chip architecture, as US sanctions put the top x86 and ARM chips out of reach  —  When a Beijing-based military institute in September published a patent for a new high-performance chip … http://www.techmeme.com/240204/p12?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240204p12

Umar Farooq / ProPublica: US police departments are using AI software from Chicago-based Truleo and other companies to analyze millions of hours of unreviewed body-cam footage  —  Black Boxes: How Police Undermined the Promise of Body Cameras  —  Body-worn cameras were supposed to deliver a revolution in transparency and accountability to policing. http://www.techmeme.com/240204/p10?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240204p10

Gabriel J.X. Dance / New York Times: A look at the dispute between Bitcoin miners in Arkansas and residents, who say the noise is ruining lives, lowering property values, and driving away wildlife  —  Pushed by an advocacy group, Arkansas became the first state to shield noisy cryptocurrency operators from unhappy neighbors. http://www.techmeme.com/240204/p8?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240204p8

Danny Crichton / Securities: TechCrunch+'s founding editor about its launch to complement TechCrunch's ads and events revenue and its failure due to issues with finding business reporters  —  January was a brutal month for journalists, globally from death and locally from layoffs.  The latter hit home this week … http://www.techmeme.com/240204/p6?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240204p6

Wall Street Journal: Sources: some Tesla and SpaceX directors have consumed drugs with Elon Musk feeling there is an expectation to do so, raising concerns about their independence  —  Board members have reaped hundreds of millions from stock awards and separate investments, even as some have done drugs with Musk … http://www.techmeme.com/240204/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240204p1

Pkl Blog: Apple open sources Pkl, a configuration-as-code language with rich validation and tooling, with Swift, Go, Java, and Kotlin integration  —  We are delighted to announce the open source first release of Pkl (pronounced Pickle), a programming language for producing configuration. http://www.techmeme.com/240203/p14?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240203p14

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer: Remote desktop software maker AnyDesk says it has suffered a cyberattack recently; source: hackers stole source code and private code signing keys  —  AnyDesk confirmed today that it suffered a recent cyberattack that allowed hackers to gain access to the company's production systems. http://www.techmeme.com/240203/p12?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240203p12

Reed Albergotti / Semafor: Meta's Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) lab, which is responsible for Llama, is made up largely of women; sources say ~60% of FAIR's leadership team are women  —  In the high stakes, brutally competitive AI race, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has been an outlier.  While most of the big foundation … http://www.techmeme.com/240203/p7?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240203p7

Aarian Marshall / Wired: Records show Apple's secretive auto unit almost quadrupled its self-driving miles on public roads in 2023, compared to 2022, jumping 2021's total by over 30x  —  Government records show Apple's secretive auto division almost quadrupled its self-driving miles in 2023. http://www.techmeme.com/240203/p2?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240203p2

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post: More than 100 human rights and LGBTQ groups and many kids condemn the Kids Online Safety Act after the January 31 hearing, saying it is “to control information”  —  Gen Z TikTokers, LGBTQ organizations and free speech advocates react angrily to Wednesday's hearing http://www.techmeme.com/240203/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240203p1

Harry McCracken / Fast Company: Interviews with Disney executives about Apple Vision Pro, how the device is changing the studio's production pipelines, future plans for the device, and more  —  Years in the works, the new Disney+ app has an immersive new twist.  But the company sees it as one small step into a new entertainment medium with rich possibilities. http://www.techmeme.com/240202/p25?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240202p25

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Apple starts selling the Vision Pro in the US; Tim Cook compares Vision Pro debut to the birth of Mac, iPod, and iPhone in a memo to employees  —  Apple Inc. faithful lined up at its US stores on Friday to pick up the first Vision Pro headsets, ushering in what the company calls “the era of spatial computing.” http://www.techmeme.com/240202/p18?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240202p18

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: On Apple's Q1 earnings call, CFO Luca Maestri said that the EU represents “roughly 7% of our global app store revenue”  —  Nearly a week after Apple announced big changes to the App Store because of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules, the company … http://www.techmeme.com/240202/p8?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240202p8

Kevin Roose / New York Times: Hands-on with Perplexity and the $20-per-month Perplexity Pro tier, which show that AI-powered search engines could loosen Google's grip on the search market  —  A start-up called Perplexity shows what's possible for a search engine built from scratch with artificial intelligence. http://www.techmeme.com/240202/p1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240202p1

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: Paytm shares fell 20% on February 2, after falling 20% on February 1, as the company reels from the RBI clampdown; Paytm lost $2.1B in market cap in two days  —  Shares of Paytm fell another 20% Friday before hitting the lower circuit that temporarily halts trading as the Indian financial services firm reels … http://www.techmeme.com/240201/p57?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240201p57

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Apple reports Q1 sales in Greater China fell 13% YoY to $20.82B, vs $23.5B est., its weakest December quarter in the region since Q1 2020  —  - The iPhone helped boost revenue during holiday quarter  — China sales were even weaker than analysts had feared http://www.techmeme.com/240201/p49?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240201p49

Rohan Goswami / CNBC: Meta says it will pay a 50 cent dividend for the first time, and has authorized a $50B share buyback  —  - Meta will pay a 50 cent dividend, its first ever, and has authorized a $50 billion share buyback.  —  Meta announced Thursday that it will pay a dividend for the first time … http://www.techmeme.com/240201/p39?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240201p39

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: CISA orders US federal agencies to disconnect all Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure VPN appliances vulnerable to actively exploited bugs before February 3  —  CISA has ordered U.S. federal agencies to disconnect all Ivanti Connect Secure or Policy Secure VPN appliances vulnerable … http://www.techmeme.com/240201/p24?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger#a240201p24