Mark Matousek / The Information: Social media startup IRL is shutting down after an investigation by its board concluded that 95% of its claimed 20M MAUs were “automated or from bots”  —  Last year, the CEO of messaging app IRL repeatedly said it had 20 million monthly active users, who chatted about shared interests and planned real-world events together. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Tom Warren / The Verge: At the FTC v. Microsoft hearing, Phil Spencer says Microsoft bought ZeniMax for $7.5B to stop Starfield and other Bethesda games becoming PlayStation exclusives  —  Microsoft’s Xbox chief has revealed one of the key reasons behind the acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax: potential Starfield PlayStation exclusivity. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica: Midjourney adds a “zoom out” feature that builds out a larger scene around images generated within Midjourney, simulating zooming out with a camera lens  —  Midjourney v5.2 features camera-like zoom control over framing, more realism.  —  On Thursday, Midjourney unveiled version 5.2 … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jay Peters / The Verge: Google adds a Perspectives tab to search results, with information that people have posted on YouTube, Reddit, and more, after announcing the feature in May  —  Google’s new search feature that shows you different perspectives (ideally, human ones) in search results will be available on Friday, the company said on Twitter. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: A US federal court sentences UK citizen Joseph James O’Connor to five years in prison for his role in the July 2020 Twitter hack affecting high-profile accounts  —  Prosecutors called for the British hacker to serve at least seven years  —  Three years after one of the most visible hacks … Lees verder op Tech Meme