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Steven Rosenbush / Wall Street Journal: Q&A with cognitive scientist Gary Marcus on technical limitations and moral inadequacies of LLMs, constructing a regulatory framework for AI, and more  —  The U.S. should create an artificial intelligence agency led by a cabinet-level position, Marcus argues

Vanessa Friedman / New York Times: How Amazon Haul, a storefront for fashion, home, and other items at “ultralow prices”, reflects the “haul” shopping phenomenon popularized by YouTube and TikTok  —  It is the shopping phenomenon of our times, and now it's an Amazon store.

Craig Coben / Financial Times: MicroStrategy is now the largest corporate holder of bitcoins, owning ~2% of them, and its stock is up 450%+ this year, as its risky bitcoin strategy continues  —  Despite massive fundraising plans, the stock is up 450% this year, valuing the company at about $90bn

Josh Rubin / Toronto.com: Major Canadian news organizations, including Torstar, Postmedia, and CBC, sue OpenAI, alleging breach of copyright and terms of use  —  A broad coalition of Canada's major news organizations, including the Toronto Star, Metroland Media, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press and CBC …

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: Report: Russia arrested notorious cybercriminal Mikhail Matveev for developing malware and running hacking groups; US DOJ filed charges against him in 2023  —  Russian citizen and notorious ransomware affiliate Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev (also known as Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x …

Allison Johnson / The Verge: Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: reasonable price, telephoto camera, and a big screen, but the screen isn't that sharp and other ~$500 phones offer more value  —  The S24 FE feels less like a ‘Fan Edition’ and more like an exercise in retail positioning. … There's something bugging me about Samsung's “Fan Edition” phone line.

Shannon Connellan / Mashable: Bluesky replies now default to appear by “hotness”, which weights liked replies that are more recent more heavily; some say this rewards clout farming like X  —  Not everyone is happy about it being the default.  —  Bluesky replies will now default to appear by “hotness” …

The Information: Sources: ByteDance execs fear that launching its own AI models, or apps powered by the models, in the US could give lawmakers another excuse to attack TikTok  —  TikTok owner ByteDance, whose artificial intelligence chatbot is a major hit in China, wants to compete worldwide in generative AI.

Akila Quinio / Financial Times: Sources: European regulators rebuked Wise in 2022 after finding it lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers, forcing it into remediation  —  Regulatory review in 2022 found fintech lacked proof of address for hundreds of thousands of customers

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Sources: Meta plans to build a fiber-optic subsea cable that is 40,000+ kilometers long and extends around the world, a project that could cost more than $10B  —  Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the second-biggest driver of internet usage globally.

Bloomberg: Japan allocates another $9.9B to boost its chip, quantum computing, and AI endeavors, with an undisclosed amount going to chip startup Rapidus  —  - Ishiba promised more than ¥10 trillion in outlays on chips, AI  — Some of the funds are seen going to foundry startup Rapidus

Claire Che / Bloomberg: Didi reports Q3 revenue up 5% YoY to $7.44B and a net income of $128M, its second straight quarterly profit, as the company prepares for a Hong Kong IPO  —  How Swiggy Beat Amazon to 13-Minute Grocery Deliveries in India … Quicktake

Casey Hall / Reuters: Chinese food delivery giant Meituan reports Q3 revenue up 22.4% YoY to $12.9B, net profit up 3x YoY to $1.78B, and core delivery business up 20.2% YoY to $9.57B  —  China's largest food delivery firm Meituan (3690.HK) posted a bigger-than-expected 22.4% rise in third-quarter revenue on Friday, defying sluggish Chinese consumption.

Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg: DefiLlama: the total market cap for stablecoins has risen 46% in 2024 to a record ~$190B, regaining ground lost after TerraUSD's infamous collapse in 2022  —  - The overall market cap for stablecoins has risen 46% this year  — The tokens are cementing a more durable role in global trade

Umar Shakir / The Verge: The US FTC finalizes amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule, letting the agency pursue scam tech support companies even when consumers initiate the calls  —  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), making it easier to protect consumers …

The Information: Source: Amazon's new generative AI model, codenamed Olympus, can process images, video, and text, and could be unveiled at next week's AWS re:Invent  —  Amazon has developed new generative artificial intelligence that can process images and video in addition to text, according to a person …

Alex Konrad / Forbes: Young founders and coders applying for Elon Musk's DOGE cite a range of professional and civic motivations; sources: DOGE is seeking 100 full-time hires in DC  —  The incoming Trump administration's planned agency for cutting government excess is seeking 100 full-time hires in the nation's capital …

New York Times: Mark Zuckerberg met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on November 27; sources: Zuckerberg, who has had a strained relationship with Trump, initiated the meeting  —  The president-elect has long been critical of Mr. Zuckerberg's social media platforms, saying they censor conservative viewpoints.

Richard Lawler / The Verge: Microsoft says a feature to let US users play and buy Xbox games from the Xbox app on Android is “ready to go live as soon as the court makes a final decision”  —  A few weeks ago, Microsoft exec Sarah Bond said that in November, “players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the...

Stephen Nellis / Reuters: Filing: Intel's $7.86B US government subsidy requires the company to own at least 50.1% of Intel Foundry if the unit is split into a new privately held entity  —  Intel (INTC.O) said on Wednesday its deal for $7.86 billion in U.S. government subsidies restricts the company's ability …

Ana Altchek / Business Insider: On Joe Rogan's podcast, Marc Andreessen criticizes the “raw administrative power” of US agencies like the CFPB, SEC, and FTC, discusses Elon Musk and DOGE, more  —  - Marc Andreessen discussed Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Brody Ford / Bloomberg: Filing: Zoom offers $18M to settle an SEC probe from 2020 over the company's privacy policies and communications, as its popularity surged during the pandemic  —  Zoom Communications Inc. has offered $18 million to settle a four-year-old US Securities and Exchange Commission probe related to its privacy policies and communications.

Jon Henley / The Guardian: Romania's regulator calls for TikTok's suspension after an ultranationalist's shock first-round win fueled by viral TikTok videos, amid vote interference fears  —  Far-right, pro-Moscow candidate Călin Georgescu came from 5% in polls to win presidential election's first round

Abner Li / 9to5Google: Google Chat is rolling out huddles to let users instantly start an audio-first meeting, with a floating window displaying controls to add video or share screens  —  As previewed in August of 2023, Google Chat is adding an audio-first meeting feature called “Huddles” that are described as being “instant-on.”