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Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

💥 OpenAI is building a social network

❌ Mark Zuckerberg once considered deleting all your Facebook friends

👀 Zuckerberg suggested spinning off Instagram

📉 Nvidia expects $5.5B hit as US targets chips sent to China

🗣️ Anthropic is reportedly launching a voice AI you can speak to

🔮 Grok can now generate documents, code, and browser games

🎁 + 13 other news you might like

🔮 + 5 handpicked research papers and tools

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💥 OpenAI is building a social network LINK
  • Sources confirm OpenAI is exploring its own social media application, with an internal test version focusing on sharing images created by its ChatGPT image generator.
  • This potential platform could give OpenAI unique, current data for refining its AI systems and increase direct competition with established networks like X and Meta.
  • Chief Executive Sam Altman has reportedly been gathering feedback on the project from individuals outside the company, though its final launch is not yet guaranteed.
❌ Mark Zuckerberg once considered deleting all your Facebook friends LINK
  • Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg proposed wiping all user friend connections in 2022, worried that Facebook's cultural significance was rapidly diminishing among its user base.
  • His suggestion included potentially resetting everyone's social graph yearly, initiating this drastic measure first in a limited region to gauge user reaction and retention impact.
  • Ultimately, the concept of removing friend lists was abandoned, and the company instead pursued other strategies like introducing an algorithm-free friends feed for revitalization.
👀 Zuckerberg suggested spinning off Instagram LINK
  • Mark Zuckerberg suggested internally in a 2018 email that separating Instagram into its own company could be a potential path, even before the FTC probe started.
  • He predicted increasing political calls to break up large tech firms and foresaw a real chance regulators might force Meta to divest Instagram within several years.
  • This memo became evidence in the current Federal Trade Commission trial, where the agency is trying to undo Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp over monopoly concerns.
📉 Nvidia expects $5.5B hit as US targets chips sent to China LINK
  • Nvidia anticipates a significant $5.5 billion quarterly charge linked to restrictions on exporting its H20 graphics processing units to China and other specified regions.
  • The US government recently mandated that Nvidia must obtain special permission before shipping these advanced semiconductor components to China and several other nations.
  • These export controls target the H20 artificial intelligence processors, which were initially created to meet earlier American trade rules for the Chinese market.
🗣️ Anthropic is reportedly launching a voice AI you can speak to LINK
  • Anthropic is preparing to introduce a novel voice interaction function for its Claude AI assistant, with a potential release planned around the end of April 2025.
  • The forthcoming capability, possibly named "voice mode," could provide users with diverse audio options including Airy, Mellow, and a British-accented voice called Buttery.
  • Launching this audio feature would position Anthropic alongside competitors like OpenAI and Google, both offering established conversational tools for their own chatbots.
🔮 Grok can now generate documents, code, and browser games LINK
  • xAI launched Grok Studio, a new tool allowing both free and paid users to create and revise documents, programming scripts, and even basic browser entertainment applications.
  • This interactive feature functions within a distinct window for real-time collaboration with Grok and includes a preview section to quickly run and view generated code snippets.
  • Furthermore, the tool integrates with Google Drive so individuals can attach files like reports or spreadsheets directly from their cloud storage for Grok to analyze and process.

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Other news & articles you might like

  • Google used AI to suspend over 39M ad accounts suspected of fraud LINK
  • Google’s Veo 2 generative video creator is coming to Gemini LINK
  • Netflix plans to bring streaming into the $1 trillion club by 2030 LINK
  • Anthropic's Claude can now read your emails LINK
  • OpenAI wants to fix its image problem with a new nonprofit advisory board LINK
  • Infamous message board 4chan taken down following major hack LINK
  • iPhone Fold rumored to cost over $2000 LINK
  • Microsoft lets Copilot Studio use a computer on its own LINK
  • TikTok takes on Google Maps by surfacing reviews in the comments tab LINK
  • Google’s geothermal energy ambitions are growing LINK
  • Apple says all Mac minis with Intel are now ‘vintage’ or ‘obsolete’ LINK
  • Google Search switching to google․com around the world LINK
  • For security, Android phones will now auto-reboot after three days LINK

Latest research and tools

Chromium on a Unikernel: provides sandboxed Chrome browser environments for developing and testing AI agents that need internet access, controllable via automation tools like Playwright or Puppeteer. LINK
Reasoning Models Can Be Effective Without Thinking: some AI models can solve reasoning tasks well without necessarily using complex, step-by-step thinking. LINK
Demand Estimation with Text and Image Data: using text and image data helps estimate product demand more accurately. LINK
Qubit Flipping Attacks in Multi-Tenant Superconducting Quantum Computers: this paper describes how users sharing a superconducting quantum computer could potentially interfere with each other's calculations by intentionally causing errors in nearby qubits. LINK
Decentralized Online Social Networks Technical and Societal Challenges: the work outlines key technical and societal obstacles facing decentralized online social networks. LINK

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