| Here’s a look at today's tech briefing: - TikTok plans mass layoffs in operations and marketing.
- AI hardware startup Humane seeks buyer.
- Amazon to charge for AI-upgraded Alexa.
- Biden administration opposes industry-backed crypto bill.
- Microsoft, G42 to invest $1B in Kenyan data center.
- Google will display ads in AI search results.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | TikTok plans to lay off a large share of its global operations and marketing staff starting today, according to The Information. The cuts come weeks after President Biden signed the law that forces TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a U.S. ban. More: - A source told CNN that the layoffs are unrelated to ByteDance's U.S. turmoil and potential nationwide ban.
- TikTok's user support, communications, content, and marketing teams will reportedly be impacted.
- The company may dismantle its worldwide user operations team and redistribute the remaining staff across trust and safety, marketing, content, and product teams.
- The cuts, planned for nearly a year, were delayed by recent turnover in those teams.
Zoom out: - Reports suggest the mass layoff deviates from ByteDance's usual strategy of more gradual cost-cutting.
- ByteDance's profit soared about 60% in 2023, with EBITDA increasing from $25B to over $40B, according to Bloomberg.
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| 2 | | AI wearable startup Humane is seeking a buyer, aiming for a sale price between $750M and $1B. The potential deal comes only weeks after Humane launched its "Ai Pin", its first-ever product that received generally poor reviews. More: - The wearable AI device clips onto clothing, allowing users to hold a button to communicate, similar to a Star Trek communicator.
- Users can engage with its AI assistant using voice and hand gestures. They can also place calls, send messages, play music, and project information onto their palms.
- Reviews described the potential smartphone replacement as a unique novelty, though they report it being slow, lacking features, and sometimes not functioning.
Potential sale: - In 2023, before launching the Ai Pin, Humane was valued at $850M by investors.
- Humane has engaged a financial adviser for potential sale discussions, though a deal may not materialize.
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| 3 | | Amazon plans to charge a monthly fee for an AI-upgraded version of Alexa, CNBC reports. Generative AI technology will improve Alexa's conversational abilities to better compete with OpenAI's audible ChatGPT and Google's Gemini voice assistant. More: - The smarter and more interactive Alexa will launch later this year.
- Amazon hasn't announced a price for the service, but it won't be included in its $139 annual Prime offering.
- Amazon's own Titan large language model will power the new Alexa version.
Zoom out: 
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| 4 | The Biden Administration opposes a U.S. bill to establish a new legal framework for cryptocurrencies. The industry-backed bill would determine if a cryptocurrency is classified as a commodity or security and assign oversight between the CFTC and SEC based on that classification. More: Opposition: - Hours before the vote, the Biden administration and SEC Chair Gary Gensler publicly opposed the bill.
- Gensler argued the bill could let crypto companies classify their investments as "decentralized" in a special class of digital commodities, escaping SEC oversight.
- The SEC would have limited resources to challenge these self-certifications, possibly leaving most of the crypto market unregulated, he argued.
- On Wednesday, the Biden Administration opposed the bill's passage and said it's "eager to work with Congress" to create "a comprehensive and balanced regulatory framework for digital assets."
- The statement suggests President Biden would still not consider a veto of the bill, which faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
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| 5 | | Microsoft and Emirati AI giant G42 are investing $1B to construct a geothermal-powered data center in Kenya. The center is the first phase of Microsoft's plan to grow its cloud-computing services in East Africa. More: - G42 and partners will build the center in Kenya's geothermal-rich Olkaria region.
- The project's first phase, with 100 megawatts capacity, is projected to be online in two years.
- Microsoft plans to boost sales of its Azure services by using the cloud-computing power to establish an East African Azure region.
- Under the deal, Kenya's government has agreed to shift more of its services to the cloud.
- As it expands, Microsoft will offer more Azure AI services to the region.
Zoom out: - Last month, Microsoft said it's investing $1.5B in G42 after the Abu Dhabi-based AI firm agreed to cut ties with China.
- G42 operates data centers and sells AI applications. It developed Jais, an Arabic-language AI model, and is now training an AI model in Swahili and English.
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| 6 | | Google will soon display ads in its new AI-generated summaries in search results. Google said it will start testing "Search and Shopping" ads in the summaries, which appear as experimental AI Overviews in search results. More: - Google rolled out the AI Overviews to U.S. users of its main search engine last week.
- The overviews use AI to summarize answers to complex questions at the top of search results, above its traditional ranked web links.
- Now, Google says it will soon test out ads in the overviews in a dedicated sub-section labeled "sponsored."
- The ads will only show if relevant to the user's search. For example, a Google search on removing wrinkles from clothes provides AI-generated answers, with ads at the bottom for "products to unwrinkle your clothes."
Zoom out: - Google also said it will let advertisers use generative AI to create immersive visuals like virtual try-ons.
- A merchant could submit several high-quality images of shoes from different angles, and Google would use AI to create a 360-degree view of the footwear.
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- Boeing's Starliner capsule's first crewed flight is indefinitely delayed, with no new launch date set after multiple postponements.
- The Unicode Consortium proposed seven new emoji that could launch on Android, iOS, and other devices in late 2024 to early 2025.
- EU member states signed off on the AI Act, setting the stage for the world's first comprehensive AI rules to take effect over the next two years.
- Nintendo is acquiring Switch porting studio Shiver Entertainment from Embracer Group for an undisclosed sum. The move could improve resources for third-party developers to bring high-end titles to the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Beth Duckett | |
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