Tech Meme

Sara Fischer / Axios: Snap announces that Snapchat+, which lets users access experimental and pre-released features for $3.99 per month, reached 4M paid subscribers in its first year  —  Snapchat on Thursday will announce that its subscription service, Snapchat+, has reached 4 million paid subscribers in its first year, executives told Axios. Lees verder op Tech Meme

The Citizen Lab: An analysis of WeChat’s tracking ecosystem using reverse engineering: the app records and tracks user behavior when executing Mini Programs, a privacy risk  —  Key findings  — This work performs the first analysis of WeChat’s tracking ecosystem.  Using reverse engineering methods … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Alex Konrad / Forbes: Inflection AI, a startup led by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman that released its Pi chatbot in May 2023, raised $1.3B, a source says at a $4B valuation  —  Backed by Microsoft, Nvidia and billionaires Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt, the startup led by ex-DeepMind leader Mustafa Suleyman … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Rachel Metz / Bloomberg: NYC-based Runway AI, which lets customers generate videos from text prompts, raised $141M from Google, Nvidia, and others, taking its total funding to ~$237M  —  Runway AI Inc., whose artificial intelligence software can create a short video from just a few typed words … Lees verder op Tech Meme

The Citizen Lab: An analysis of WeChat’s tracking ecosystem using reverse engineering: the service records activity and usage when users launch Mini Programs, a privacy risk  —  Key findings  — This work performs the first analysis of WeChat’s tracking ecosystem.  Using reverse engineering methods … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Matt Burgess / Wired: Activists and researchers file a GDPR complaint against Pornhub in Italy, claiming the company is “illegally” handling user data; the process may take years  —  Complaints filed in the European Union claim the porn site fails to follow basic data-collection policies under GDPR. Lees verder op Tech Meme

John Biju / Reuters: Chinese food delivery giant Meituan plans to acquire AI startup Light Year from Meituan co-founder Wang Huiwen for ~$233.7M in cash and ~$50.7M in debt  —  Chinese food delivery giant Meituan (3690.HK) said on Thursday that it is acquiring artificial intelligence (AI) company Light Year … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: Documents and sources: the FTC plans to file a far-reaching case focused on Amazon’s core marketplace in the coming weeks after months of honing the complaint  —  Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission has already filed three cases against Amazon.com Inc. Now she’s gearing up for the Big One. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Washington Post: Meta’s Oversight Board calls for Cambodian PM Hun Sen to be suspended on Facebook and Instagram, the first time the Board has asked for a ban of a head of state  —  MANILA — The social media giant Meta’s Oversight Board called Thursday for the immediate suspension of Cambodian Prime Minister … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Hema Parmar / Bloomberg: Sources: Tiger Global rejected hundreds of bids for its private assets in recent months; as of January 1, the firm managed $51B, including $37B via its VC unit  —  Tiger Global Management turned down hundreds of bids for its private assets in recent months because it felt the offers were too low … Lees verder op Tech Meme