December 23, 2024

Forging the digital future

Dan Huttenlocher, SM ’84, PhD ’88, leads the way up to the eighth floor of Building 45, the recently completed headquarters of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. “There’s an amazing view of the Great Dome here,” he says, pointing out a panoramic view of campus and the Boston skyline beyond. The floor features a…

Signal’s Meredith Whittaker scorns anti-encryption efforts as ‘parochial, magical thinking’

March 4, 2024

AI is “not open in any sense,” the battle over encryption is far from won, and Signal’s principled (and uncompromising) approach may complicate interoperability efforts, warned the company’s president, Meredith Whittaker. But it’s not all bad news. (Actually, it is all bad news, because I wrote up the good news separately.) Speaking on stage with […]

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Ex-Brex exec Sam Blond is already leaving Founders Fund just 18 months after he joined

March 4, 2024

Sam Blond is leaving Founders Fund, as well as the profession of venture capitalist, just 18 months after he joined the storied Silicon Valley firm. In a tweet on Monday, Blond expressed his gratitude at the chance to work at Peter Thiel’s VC firm and explained, “Full time investing / being a VC isn’t the […]

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Why Signal ‘turned our architecture inside out’ for its latest privacy feature

March 4, 2024

Adding usernames to a messaging app may seem like a standard feature, but for Signal, such identifiers were anathema to its mission of total privacy and security — until now. The upcoming 7.0 version adds usernames, but the company’s president, Meredith Whittaker, explained that this was nowhere near as simple a decision as it may […]

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Google’s latest Pixel Drop will let users post high-quality photos, videos on Instagram

March 4, 2024

Google today announced its latest set of Pixel-related features for phones, tablets, and watches, such as 10-bit video support for Instagram, expansion of the Circile to search feature, automatic workout detection on the original pixel watch, and selective app screening for multiple pixel devices. Pixel phone updates The company is now allowing users to capture […]

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Roundtables: The AI Economy

March 4, 2024
Recorded on August 10, 2023 The AI Economy Speakers: Mat Honan, Editor in chief and David Rotman, Editor at large There’s no doubt that generative AI will impact the economy—but how, exactly, remains an open question. Despite fears that these AI tools will upend workers and exacerbate wealth inequality, early evidence suggests the technology could…

Roundtables: How should we regulate AI?

March 4, 2024
Recorded on September 12, 2023 How should we regulate AI? Speakers: Melissa Heikkilä, Senior reporter for AI and Charlotte Jee, News editor There’s little doubt that artificial intelligence will be subject to more regulation in the years ahead. Major tech companies have requested it, and multiple countries and regions are now moving forward with plans…