TikTok attributes recent glitches to a power outage at a US data center
The timing of these outages lines up with the long-awaited creation of a separate U.S. TikTok entity last week.
TikTokers are heading to UpScrolled following US takeover
TikTok’s takeover in the US has prompted users to join an alternative social platform called UpScrolled. The app, which is available on Android and iOS, currently holds the 12th spot in Apple’s App Store, and it’s struggling to keep up with an influx of new traffic. “You showed up so fast our servers tapped out,” […]
VC firm 2150 raises €210M fund to solve cities’ climate challenges
Europe-based venture fund 2150 raised the money to invest in climate tech startups that help solve cities’ carbon footprint.
Saudi satirist hacked with Pegasus spyware wins damages in court battle
The London High Court awarded the London-based satirist and human rights activist Ghanem Al-Masarir more than £3 million, after finding the Saudi government hacked his phone and was likely behind a physical attack targeting him in London.
Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement
Recently released documents show the big business opportunity that social media companies saw in recruiting teens to their platforms and how they discussed risks that heavy digital engagement could pose. The documents were released last week as part of a major set of trials brought by school districts, state attorneys general, and others against Meta, […]
OpenAI is working out how much to charge for ChatGPT ads
OpenAI is reportedly asking a high price to advertise on ChatGPT, around $60 per 1,000 views, or triple what ads on Meta’s platform usually cost, according to The Information. Despite the higher price, OpenAI won’t be offering advertisers the same level of detailed information that Google and Meta do, such as whether users took any […]
Payment processors were against CSAM until Grok started making it
For many years, credit card companies and other payment methods were aggressive about policing child sexual abuse material. Then, Elon Musk’s Grok started undressing children on X. The Center for Countering Digital Hate found 101 sexualized images of children as part of its sample of 20,000 images made by Grok from December 29th to January […]
Tech workers’ call for CEOs to speak up against ICE after the killing of Alex Pretti
More than 450 tech workers from companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, and Salesforce have signed a letter urging their CEOs to call the White House and demand ICE leave our cities.
TikTok blames its US problems on a power outage
TikTok says a power outage is causing ongoing issues and outages that started in the US early Sunday morning. In an email to The Verge, TikTok USDS spokesperson Jamie Favazza pointed to a statement posted to the joint venture’s newly-created X account, which says the company has been “working to restore our services following a […]
A powerful AMD gaming desktop is hundreds off at Costco
Given that RAM has become so expensive to buy recently, you might have considered buying a prebuilt desktop computer. If so, and you’re leaning toward a high-end gaming model, Costco has a model that’s an impressive value at $1,999.99 ($300 off) for members through February 8th. It’s an all-AMD, liquid-cooled machine built into Asus’ ROG […]