Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology
By Rhiannon Williams • 1.17.24
Hello! Today: we look at which platforms former Twitter devotees are fleeing to. Plus: what you need to know about China's plans to govern AI this year.
For the better part of 17 years, the roiling, rolling, fractious, sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying, never-ever-ending global conversation had a central home: Twitter. If you wanted to know what was happening and what people were talking about right now, it was the only game in town.
But then Elon Musk purchased Twitter, renamed it X, fired most of its employees, and more or less eliminated its moderation and verification systems. Many people have begun casting about for a replacement service—ideally one that is beyond any individual's control.
The dream of a decentralized Twitter-like service has been around for years. History is littered with failed attempts, but a real competitor never broke out because not enough people had a strong reason to leave Twitter, or a place to go if they did. Now they have both. Read the full story.
Four things to know about China's new AI rules in 2024
Last year was a banner year for artificial intelligence. Thanks to products like ChatGPT, many millions of people are now directly interacting with AI, talking about it, and grappling with its impact every day.
The Chinese government is already good at reacting to new technologies swiftly. China was probably the first country in the world to introduce legislation on generative AI mere months after ChatGPT's big break. But a new comprehensive law could give China even more control over how AI disrupts (or doesn't disrupt) the way things work today.
Zeyi Yang, our China reporter, has looked into what Chinese regulators are planning for AI in 2024. Read the full story.
This story is from China Report, our weekly newsletter covering tech in China. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Tuesday.
Success will define the market leading enterprises of tomorrow.
In recent years, stakeholder expectations have raised the visibility of enterprise level sustainability initiatives. Now, emerging laws and regulations around the world are establishing these initiatives as a C-suite priority. Forward looking organizations are leveraging technologies such as AI, cloud, and automation to gain competitive advantage as sustainability principles are increasingly integrated into all corners of the enterprise.
While U.S. regulators finalize national emission disclosure requirements, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is in effect, requiring regular reporting on sustainability. In addition, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has launched global disclosure standards. Establishing a more comprehensive, data informed approach to measuring enterprise value is a priority for many of today's executive teams. In turn, leaders at the forefront are poised to recognize competitive advantages and growth opportunities.
I've combed the internet to find you today's most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 Sharing deepfake nudes of real people could become a federal crime A proposed law could also allow victims to sue offenders in civil court. (WSJ $) + Celebrities are likely to champion and benefit from the bills. (Motherboard) + A high school's deepfake porn scandal is pushing US lawmakers into action. (MIT Technology Review)
2 A rhesus monkey has been successfully cloned for the first time 🐒 A new cloning technique appears to have helped researchers overcome previous challenges. (Economist $)
3 Semiconductors are a crucial part of the US economy Chips—and the jobs they create—are a key element of the Biden administration's economic policy. (WP $) + The US-China chip war is still escalating. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Early impressions of Apple's Vision Pro are a mixed bag The eye tracking seems great, but typing is a nightmare. (Engadget) + Reviewers are uncertain how useful the headset will actually be. (The Verge) + These minuscule pixels are poised to take augmented reality by storm. (MIT Technology Review)
5 Stakes in tech startups are going cheap Funding may be down, but second-hand shares are booming. (FT $)
6 A new kind of climate change denial is surfacing on YouTube This sort of denial, questioning clean energy, slips through the platform's moderation net. (The Verge)
7 Millions of devices could be at risk of data theft Due to vulnerable graphics processing unit chips. (Wired $) + Light sensors can be hijacked into becoming spy devices. (IEEE Spectrum)
8 AI's next big thing? Smaller models Investors are backing systems capable of operating with less data. (Bloomberg $) + AI phones too, are on the way. (The Verge)
9 How we can make autonomous vehicles safer They don't have to be perfect, they just have to be good enough. (Quanta Magazine) + The big new idea for making self-driving cars that can go anywhere. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Food delivery has gone downhill 🍕 Old-school pizza delivery drivers had a proximity to the food that today's gig workers simply don't. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
"It'd be like if somebody you love went bankrupt and then you're bidding on the remains."
—Matt Grave, former communications director at Twitter, describes his mixed feelings at bidding on relics that previously adorned the company's offices to the Wall Street Journal.
The big story
The future of urban housing is energy-efficient refrigerators
June 2022
The aging apartments under the purview of the New York City Housing Authority don't scream innovation. The largest landlord in the city, housing nearly 1 in 16 New Yorkers, NYCHA has seen its buildings literally crumble after decades of neglect. It would require at least $40 billion to return the buildings to a state of good repair.
Despite the scale of the challenge, NYCHA is hoping to fix them. It has launched a Clean Heat for All Challenge which asks manufacturers to develop low-cost, easy-to-install heat-pump technologies for building retrofits. The stakes for the agency, the winning company, and for society itself could be huge—and good for the planet. Read the full story.
—Patrick Sisson
We can still have nice things
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