GENERAL
Elizabeth Holmes’s Victims Likely Won’t Get Much Restitution for Theranos Fraud
James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey, The Wall Street Journal
Convicted fraudsters Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani are on the hook to pay $452 million in restitution for lying to investors about Theranos, but the chances of victims getting all their money back are slim.
Salesforce Earnings Rise as Margins Grow
Denny Jacob, The Wall Street Journal
Salesforce on Wednesday posted higher first-quarter profit as margins came in ahead of the company’s expectations, a sign that cuts from its nascent turnaround plan are taking hold.
The big question of how small chips can get
Tim Bradshaw and Annie Gross, Financial Times
For decades, ever-tinier semiconductors have allowed huge leaps in computing progress. Not for much longer, warn experts.
ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION
IKEA Looks to Speed Up E-Commerce With Software Acquisition
Trefor Moss, The Wall Street Journal
IKEA said it would buy U.S. supply-chain software provider Made4net, as the furniture giant aims to make its growing e-commerce business faster and more precise.
Google Invests in AI Startup Runway to Wrest Cloud Business From AWS
Kate Clark et al., The Information
Google is investing in Runway, a New York–based startup that lets customers generate video from text descriptions using artificial intelligence it pioneered, at a valuation of around $1.5 billion including the new capital, according to two people familiar with the matter.
US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting
Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters
The United States and the European Union pledged on Wednesday to join forces to counter China's non-market economic practices and disinformation, particularly over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
EU's Vestager sees draft code of conduct on AI within weeks
Philip Blenkinsop and Bart Meijer, Reuters
European Union tech chief Margrethe Vestager said she believed a draft voluntary code of conduct for generative AI could be drawn up "within the next weeks", with a final proposal for industry to sign up "very, very soon".
Nvidia’s CEO Plans Trip to Meet China Executives Despite US Curbs
Jane Zhang et al., Bloomberg
Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang is heading to China to meet with tech executives in the world’s biggest chip market, despite rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to people familiar with the matter.
As U.S. Races Ahead, Europe Frets About Battery Factory Subsidies
Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy, The New York Times
The European Union is trying to assemble the building blocks to produce electric cars, but subsidies are luring companies to the United States.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE/AUTOMATION
U.S. Auto-Safety Regulators Urge Automatic Emergency Braking in Future Vehicles
Ryan Felton, The Wall Street Journal
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed Wednesday a new regulation that would require automakers to sell cars with the advanced safety technology, which uses a combination of sensors and software to detect roadway dangers and brake the car itself if the driver doesn’t act fast enough.
Musk discusses EVs, ‘intelligent networked’ vehicles with Chinese official
Julia Shapero, The Hill
Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed electric and “intelligent networked” vehicles with China’s industry minister during a Wednesday visit to Beijing.
OpenAI is pursuing a new way to fight A.I. ‘hallucinations’
Hayden Field, CNBC
OpenAI is taking up the mantle against AI “hallucinations,” the company announced Wednesday, with a newer method for training AI models.
Amazon Turns to AI to Weed Out Damaged Goods
Liz Young, The Wall Street Journal
Amazon.com is rolling out artificial intelligence across a dozen of its largest warehouses to screen items for damage before orders are shipped to customers.
China warns of ‘complicated and challenging circumstances’ posed by AI risk
Lauren Sforza, The Hill
China is warning about the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) and has called for increased security measures.
Eating Disorder Helpline Disables Chatbot for 'Harmful' Responses After Firing Human Staff
Chloe Xiang, Motherboard
The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has taken its chatbot called Tessa offline, two days before it was set to replace human associates who ran the organization’s hotline.
AI Is Writing Code Now. For Companies, That Is Good and Bad.
Isabelle Bousquette, The Wall Street Journal
Chief information officers could see their job getting more complex even as generative AI makes software development easier.
More Artists Are Embracing Artificial Intelligence, Not Fighting It
Jackie Davalos et al., Bloomberg
Even as artificial intelligence tools like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E that turn text into images draw lawsuits from copyright-holders who claim the apps are stealing their work to train algorithms, AI-generated art is being legitimized by mainstream institutions.
TELECOM, WIRELESS AND INTERNET ACCESS
FCC reauthorizes FirstNet’s use of Band 14
Monica Alleven, Fierce Wireless
The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the FCC last week granted the use of the 700 MHz Band 14 to FirstNet for 10 more years, although that’s contingent on Congress extending FirstNet’s authorization. Separately, efforts are underway in Congress to make FirstNet’s authorization permanent.
MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
China’s Oppo debuts ‘mixed reality’ headset as Apple, Microsoft explore similar devices
Arjun Kharpal, CNBC
Chinese electronics giant Oppo debuted a mixed reality headset on Wednesday, pushing into an area in which U.S. technology companies Microsoft and Apple have taken a keen interest.
Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges
Wayne Ma, The Information
If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone. It will also test the company’s prowess in design and manufacturing like nothing before.
CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY
North Korean IT Workers Help Spy from UAE and Russia, UN Says
Jeff Stone, Bloomberg
Oh Chung Song was working in the tech industry in Dubai, developing IT systems he found through the freelancing marketplace Upwork, when his boss found out he was a North Korean.
Amazon to Pay $25 Million to Settle Children’s Privacy Charges
Natasha Singer, The New York Times
Regulators said the tech giant kept children’s Alexa voice recordings “forever,” violating a children’s privacy law.
Amazon Settles FTC Claims Ring Doorbell Spied on Users
Leah Nylen and Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg
Amazon.com Inc.’s Ring unit agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations Wednesday its doorbell cameras spied on users.
Russia says U.S. accessed thousands of Apple phones in spy plot
Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had uncovered a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) plot using previously unknown malware to access specially made so-called backdoor vulnerabilities in Apple phones.
Meta Seeks to Force FTC Into Court to Change Privacy Settlement
Leah Nylen, Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. is asking a federal court to bar the Federal Trade Commission from moving forward with an agency proceeding to revise its 2020 privacy settlement.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENT MODERATION
Russia fines WhatsApp for first time for not deleting banned content
Alexander Marrow, Reuters
A Russian court on Thursday fined messenger service WhatsApp three million roubles ($37,080) for not deleting banned content, its first fine in Russia for that offence.
Musk Stays Off Twitter for Longest in a Year During China Trip
Linda Lew and Jinshan Hong, Bloomberg
Elon Musk, a prolific presence on Twitter and owner of the social media platform, didn’t send any tweets while he was in China for his first visit since the pandemic.
Instagram tests new user control for recommended posts, transparency tool for creators
Aisha Malik, TechCrunch
Instagram announced today that it’s testing a new feature that gives users more control over what they see on the social network, along with a new transparency tool for creators. Now, when users see recommended posts, they can select a new “Interested” button that will inform the app that they want to see more of that type of content.
TECH WORKFORCE
Bobby Kotick Breaks His Silence: Embattled Activision CEO Addresses Toxic Workforce Claims as Microsoft Deal Hangs in Balance
Cynthia Littleton, Variety
The executive says he has been both humbled and outraged by what he considers malicious distortions about the company that he has taken to great heights over 32 years. He makes no apologies for Activision or its culture.
Amazon workers plan to walk out over ‘lack of trust’ in leadership
Annie Palmer, CNBC
Amazon employees plan to walk off the job Wednesday in protest of the company’s recent return-to-office mandate, layoffs and its environmental record.
Firaxis is latest video game studio hit by layoffs
Stephen Totilo, Axios
Firaxis Games, the video game studio behind Civilization, has laid off about 30 developers, a source familiar with the studio tells Axios.
Amazon workers planning walkout at Seattle headquarters
Olafimihan Oshin, The Hill
Amazon employees are planning a walkout at the company’s Seattle headquarters Wednesday in protest of a slew of moves the company made in the past year.
OPINIONS, EDITORIALS AND PERSPECTIVES
Lisa Su Saved AMD. Now She Wants Nvidia's AI Crown
Iaian Martin and Richard Nieva, Forbes
AMD's CEO orchestrated one of the great turnarounds in Silicon Valley history, driving the dying semiconductor maker's stock price up nearly 30-fold in less than a decade. Next, she's preparing for battle in the coming AI revolution—and she expects to keep winning.
How We’ll Know If the CHIPS Act Is Working
Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, Bloomberg
The US government is spending billions of dollars to build out state-of-the-art domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity. But spending money is no guarantee of success.
8 Big Questions About A.I.
Phoebe Lett and Jeremy Ashkenas, The New York Times
Interest in artificial intelligence has exploded over the past six months. But the technology has been steadily improving for years. So why now?