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| Welcome to today's Inside Tech newsletter! Here are the top stories: - EU urges Big Tech to address terrorist content following Hamas attack.
- Google re-adds Nest features after legal victory against Sonos.
- Samsung expects Q3 operating profit to drop by 78%.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | European Commissioner Thierry Breton has called on Meta and X/Twitter to take action against a surge in disinformation on the social networks related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which recently took effect, requires social media companies like Meta and X to hire more content moderators and adopt more risk mitigation measures to combat harmful content. More: - On Tuesday, Breton sent a letter to X owner Elon Musk, saying the platform is being used to disseminate illegal content and potentially harmful disinformation following Saturday's attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
- X has been inundated with graphic images, videos, and hashtags depicting the deaths and abductions of hundreds of Israelis. According to X's own policies, the content should be removed.
- A day later, Breton followed up with a similar letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging the company to exercise strong vigilance in removing illegal terrorist content and hate speech amid the ongoing conflict.
Zoom out: - Both companies were given 24 hours to respond. The EU's DSA calls for penalties for non-compliance, including potential fines of up to 6% of a platform's global annual turnover.
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| 2 | | Following a legal victory in a patent lawsuit against Sonos, Google is reintroducing features to its Nest speakers, displays, and Chromecast devices. On Friday, a California judge invalidated Sonos' $32.5M fine against Google. More: - As a result, Google is now reinstating software features it had previously removed due to Sonos' lawsuit.
- These include rolling back a change that allowed certain Nest speakers, displays, and Chromecast devices to belong to only a single speaker group at a time in the Google Home app.
- Devices can now belong to multiple groups without encountering errors, Google said.
Zoom out: - In 2020, Sonos sued Google for patent infringement, prompting Google to counter with its own claims.
- In May, a jury awarded Sonos $32.5M for Google's infringement of its multi-room audio technology patent.
- U.S. District Judge William Alsup has since thrown out that verdict, saying two of Sonos' key patents are unenforceable and invalid.
- Sonos plans to appeal that ruling.
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| 3 | | Samsung announced that its third-quarter operating profit is expected to drop by 78% amid the ongoing slump in memory chip prices. However, the decline is still smaller than earlier estimates, suggesting that the memory chip market is experiencing early signs of recovery. 
What the numbers show: Samsung, the world's largest memory chip maker and smartphone player, estimates its Q3 2023 operating profit at around 2.4 trillion Korean won ($1.8B), a significant drop from last year's 10.85 trillion won ($8B), but notably higher than Q1's 640 billion won and Q2's 670 billion. What it means: Samsung's clients, including manufacturers of PCs and smartphones, have been reducing their orders to address sluggish demand for electronic devices and an oversupply of chips. What's next: However, analysts anticipate a recovery in the memory chip sector in the coming quarters. "The bottom for the memory chip industry is behind us and Samsung's results showed that," said Lee Seung-Woo, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. The South Korean company is expected to see a "price recovery" in the second quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, investors are awaiting Samsung's more detailed earnings report on October 31 for more insights into the chip industry's recovery. | | | |
| 4 | | Utah has filed a lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the Chinese-owned app of deliberately encouraging children to spend too much time on the platform. Utah's Division of Consumer Protection (UDCP) claims TikTok traps children into excessive social media use, misrepresents its safety, and deceptively hides its relationship with its parent company, ByteDance. More: - In a statement, Utah Governor Spencer Cox claimed TikTok "illegally baits children into addictive and unhealthy use" by adding features that promote endless scrolling.
- In the complaint, state Attorney General Sean Reyes accused TikTok of violating Utah's consumer protection laws.
- The suit alleges that as TikTok's popularity has grown, the mental health of Utah minors has deteriorated.
- In response, TikTok told Axios that it has "industry-leading safeguards" for young users, including a 60-minute time limit and parental controls.
Zoom out: Q: Do you believe TikTok deliberately encourages children to spend too much time on the platform? Join the conversation here. | | | |
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| 5 | | CCS Insight predicts that smartphones with self-healing displays could start appearing on the market within five years. The analyst firm included the prediction in its tech forecasts for 2024 and beyond. More: - According to CCS, the self-healing displays would involve a "nano-coating" that reacts to scratches, creating new material to fill imperfections upon exposure to air.
- The technology, which has yet to see mass adoption in handsets, would work on minor cosmetic scratches and not shattered screens.
- In 2013, LG introduced the G Flex smartphone, featuring undisclosed self-healing technology.
- Motorola has also patented a self-healing screen concept using a "shape memory polymer" that heals when exposed to heat.
Zoom out: | | | |
| 6 | | Chipmaker AMD announced plans to acquire Nod.AI, an open-source AI software startup. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. More: - Nod.AI, also known as Nod Labs, develops open-source technologies for next-generation AI systems.
- Its technology makes it easier for companies to deploy AI models optimized for AMD chips.
- Nod's SHARK software, known for compiler-based automation, reduces manual optimization and deployment time for AI models on various AMD platforms.
- Nod.ai has previously raised $36.5M.
Zoom out: - In August, AMD revealed its acquisition of Mipsology, a French AI software startup, to bolster its AI inference software capabilities.
- Mipsology's Zebra AI software is compatible with FPGAs, including those from AMD-Xilinx, and is positioned as a GPU inference performance competitor.
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INSIDE TECH LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is an editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters, with a career spanning journalism since 2007. She has written for publications including The Arizona Republic and USA Today and authored a book on the solar industry in 2016. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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