These are the articles, movies and extra that caught the eye of TechCentral’s editorial workforce up to now 24 hours.
Why Sundar Pichai by no means panicked: Sundar Pichai’s calm below fireplace boils all the way down to a protracted recreation and strategic foresight. Whereas critics panicked over ChatGPT’s rise, he centered on reorganising Google’s AI firepower into DeepMind and constructing Gemini, a multi-modal AI mannequin now catching up – and even leaping forward – in benchmarks. Pichai wager on strong infrastructure, persistence and knowledge, proving sluggish and regular nonetheless wins the race. Learn extra on Semafor. DM
Important WordPress plug-in vulnerability below energetic exploit threatens 1000’s: A vital vulnerability in WordPress plug-in Hunk Companion lets hackers execute malicious code on unpatched websites – and greater than 8 000 are nonetheless weak. Attackers exploit it to put in an previous, weak plug-in (WP Question Console) for additional chaos. Replace to model 1.9.0 instantly, or danger turning your website right into a hacker’s playground. Learn extra on Ars Technica. DM
How tech created a ‘recipe for loneliness’: Overreliance on screens has us binge-watching, texting and scrolling as an alternative of connecting authentically. Social media comparisons, countless texting void of nuance and binge-watching marathons all gas isolation. Consultants say: swap texts for calls, restrict doom-scrolling and pause auto-play. Actual connection isn’t in emojis or infinite reels – it’s in voices, faces, and a “hi there”. Learn extra in The New York Occasions (mushy paywall). DM
The crypto crown princes who may ‘win, win, win’ below Trump: Crypto titans wager huge on Donald Trump – and it’s paying off. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor and Gemini’s Winklevoss twins rallied behind Trump, backing pro-crypto PACs and seeing bitcoin soar previous US$100 000. Whereas Trump guarantees to “set crypto free”, ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin stays the odd man out, warning towards chasing “narcissistic energy”. Learn extra on FT.com (onerous paywall). DM
Sport of the 12 months: With the yr coming to an finish, we get to see all our favorite video games from this yr going face to face for the title of “Sport of the 12 months”. My alternative didn’t make it, but it surely received the “Participant’s Voice” award. Take a look at all of the winners on The Sport Awards. TS
Epic’s dream is beginning to come true — its retailer shall be preinstalled on ‘tens of millions’ of Android telephones: It’ll be the primary time the Epic Video games Retailer is preinstalled on shopper telephones, and it may very well be the subsequent huge step in realising Epic’s dream of difficult Google’s app retailer monopoly and growing its lower of income. Extra on The Verge. TS
Australia plans tech platform cost to shore up information media: In South Africa, the jury continues to be out on the Competitors Fee’s inquiry into huge tech platforms and their impression on native media. Australia, then again, concluded an identical inquiry a number of years in the past, after which Large Tech was ordered to enter into business preparations with native media to make sure their sustainability. The tech corporations should not taking part in good, and the Australian authorities is now choosing a extra heavy-handed method. Learn extra in The Wall Road Journal. NN
Prime tales on TechCentral up to now 24 hours:
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