• Airman First Class Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was taken into custody by the FBI over his alleged role in the leak of highly classified documents containing national security secrets. Teixeira is accused of posting the documents, which included details about the United States’ ability to conduct surveillance on Russia, on Discord in an online gaming chat known as Thug Shaker Central. (The New York Times)
• The Justice Department argued in federal court that ChatGPT and other technology innovations could have been released years ago if Google hadn’t monopolized the online search market, and the agency also claimed the company has paid billions of dollars to maintain its position as the leader in search to the detriment of competition. The argument was made during a hearing in which Google asked a federal judge to throw out two antitrust cases brought by the Justice Department and state attorneys general, with a decision expected to be made by this summer. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon Web Services announced it will offer artificial intelligence tools as well as custom-made chips that the company claims can run AI software more efficiently and affordably than competitors like Google and Microsoft Corp. Rather than offer first-party tools, AWS plans to serve as a neutral platform for businesses and offer access to multiple large language models. (The Wall Street Journal)
• The Supreme Court of South Korea told Google it should disclose whether or not it has shared local user information with third parties including U.S. intelligence agencies. The decision stemmed from a 2014 lawsuit in which four plaintiffs accused Google of sharing private user information through the U.S. National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance program. (Reuters)

Happening today: 

• Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan will speak at the 23rd Annual Loyola Antitrust Colloquium at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. The event, hosted by the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies, will also feature conversations with Sarah Allen of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Public Knowledge’s Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman.

Can Intel become the chip champion the US needs?

Financial Times

Arrest made in SF killing of Bob Lee — tech exec’s alleged killer also worked in tech

Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local

Mission Local is informed that the San Francisco Police Department early this morning made an arrest in the April 4 killing of tech executive Bob Lee, following an operation undertaken outside the city’s borders. The alleged killer also works in tech and is a man Lee purportedly knew.

San Francisco DA blasts Elon Musk over reaction to stabbing death

David Ingram, NBC News

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Musk was reckless when he suggested within hours of the killing that “repeat violent offenders” were involved.

World’s first smart gun featuring fingerprint unlocking hits the market

Esteban L. Hernandez, Axios

It’s something you might find inside James Bond’s Aston Martin: A gun that only lets a specific person use it. It’s what Biofire Technologies, a company based in Broomfield, Colorado, on Thursday said it created, launching the world’s first biometric handgun, The Biofire Smart Gun, according to a company statement.

Google must face trial over Sonos patents, California judge says

Blake Brittain, Reuters

Alphabet’s Google received a mixed ruling on Thursday from a San Francisco federal judge in a patent lawsuit brought by Sonos Inc over wireless audio technology, failing to invalidate all of the patents before a trial but narrowing Sonos’ claims.

US says Photoshop maker Adobe to pay $3 million to settle kickback allegations

Kanishka Singh, Reuters

Photoshop maker Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) has agreed to pay $3 million to settle U.S. kickback allegations involving federal software sales, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday.

Germany pushes Intel to spend more on €17bn chip plant

Guy Chazen and Richard Waters, Financial Times

Officials will consider increasing subsidies for landmark project if US chipmaker commits to greater investment.

Irish regulator has month to make order on EU-US Facebook data transfers

Conor Humphries, Reuters

Ireland’s data regulator has one month to make an order on blocking Facebook’s transatlantic data flows, European Union regulators said on Thursday. EU regulators led by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) Helen Dixon have been finalising a ban on the legal tool used by Facebook to transfer European user data because of concerns U.S. intelligence agencies could access the information.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says ‘really good’ A.I. models take ‘billions of dollars’ to train

Jordan Novet, CNBC

Amazon is introducing a cloud service called Bedrock that developers can use to enhance their software with artificial intelligence systems that can generate text, similar to the engine behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot powered by Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI.

Meta has open-sourced an AI project that turns your doodles into animations

Kris Holt, Engadget

Meta has open-sourced an artificial intelligence project that lets anyone bring their doodles to life. The company hopes that by offering Animated Drawings as an open-source project other developers will be able to create new, richer experiences.

OpenAI’s red team: the experts hired to ‘break’ ChatGPT

Madhumita Murgia, Financial Times

Microsoft-backed company asked an eclectic mix of people to ‘adversarially test’ GPT-4, its powerful new language model.

European privacy watchdog creates ChatGPT task force

Toby Sterling, Reuters

The body that unites Europe’s national privacy watchdogs said on Thursday it had set up a task force on ChatGPT, a potentially important first step toward a common policy on setting privacy rules on artificial intelligence.

Company Plans to Ditch Human Workers in Favor of ChatGPT-Style AI

Daniela Wei, Bloomberg

Bluefocus Intelligent Communications Group Co. plans to replace its external copywriters and graphic designers with ChatGPT-like generative AI models, according to an internal staff memo seen by Bloomberg News. 

Bloomberg plans to integrate GPT-style A.I. into its terminal

Kif Leswing, CNBC

Bloomberg LP has developed an AI model using the same underlying technology as OpenAI’s GPT, and plans to integrate it into features delivered through its terminal software, a company official said in an interview with CNBC.

Detection tool developed to fight flood of fake academic papers

Clive Cookson, Financial Times

Journals seek to tackle increased use of unauthorised ‘paper mills’ to produce research studies.

As many as 50 cable cos could become MVNOs on AT&T’s network

Diana Goovaerts, Fierce Wireless

Junior cable finally has an easy way to get into the wireless game. After months of negotiations with multiple wireless carriers, the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) signed a deal with AT&T to provide its members with a white-label MVNO service.

Apple to use only recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025

Nivedita Balu, Reuters

Apple Inc said on Thursday it would use only recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025 as a part of its efforts to make all its products carbon neutral by the end of the decade.

WhatsApp makes it harder for scammers to steal your account

Igor Bonifacic, Engadget

WhatsApp has begun rolling out a handful of new security features. The most notable sees the company doing more to protect users against SIM jacking and other social engineering attacks that could compromise your account.

New hacker advocacy group seeks to protect work of security researchers

Tonya Riley, CyberScoop

“There are advocacy groups for reptile owners but not hackers, so that seems like a miss,” said Ilona Cohen of HackerOne.

Hackers claim vast access to Western Digital systems

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, TechCrunch

One of the hackers claimed to have stolen customer data and said they are asking for a ‘minim 8 figures’ as a ransom.

Twitter Launches Way for Users to Charge for Access to Their Content

Aisha Counts, Bloomberg

Twitter is allowing users to charge for access to their content, “from longform text to hours-long video,” owner Elon Musk said in a post on the site Thursday.

Parler Set to Be Shut Down Temporarily by New Owner

Sarah E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal

Parler, a social network that was popularized by supporters of former President Donald Trump, has been sold to a buyer that plans to temporarily shut it down.

Is Substack Notes a ‘Twitter clone’? We asked CEO Chris Best

Nilay Patel, The Verge

Can Substack handle the wrath of Elon Musk and the pain of content moderation?

Twitter partners with eToro to let users trade stocks, crypto as Musk pushes app into finance

Ryan Browne, CNBC

Twitter will let its users access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets through a partnership with eToro, a social trading company.

Meta Urged to Halt Plans Allowing Minors Into the Metaverse

Emily Birnbaum, Bloomberg

Dozens of advocacy organizations and children’s safety experts are calling on Meta Platforms Inc. to terminate its plans to allow minors into its new virtual reality world. 

Twitter Blue’s new 10,000 character limit turns tweets into essays

Jess Weatherbed, The Verge

Text formatting for bold and italics are also included as Twitter attempts to build itself into a Substack rival.

Young design influencers are the new kids on the TikTok block

Eliza Parr, Financial Times

The platform’s short, entertaining style has helped create a Gen Z cohort with a passion for interiors.

On the TikTok Beat, Trends Dance With National Security

Josh Ocampo, The New York Times

Amid talk of a nationwide ban, a reporter discussed the future for TikTok and its Chinese owner, ByteDance, in the United States.

Oracle’s NetSuite Orders Return to Office as Tech Wavers on Remote Work

Brody Ford, Bloomberg

Oracle Inc.’s NetSuite unit is mandating most employees return to the office beginning in June, making it the latest tech firm to impose stricter rules about remote work.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s total pay dropped from over $200 million in 2021 to $1.3 million in 2022 as he received no stock awards

Huileng Tan, Insider

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s total compensation plunged last year.  Jassy was paid $1.3 million in 2022, including a $317,500 base salary plus another $981,000 in 401(k) plan contributions and security costs, according to the company’s annual proxy statement filed on Thursday.

Twitch’s New CEO Defends Job Cuts, Plans to Meet With Creators

Cecilia D’Anastasio, Bloomberg

Dan Clancy, Twitch’s new chief executive officer, has led projects at NASA and Google, and once wanted to look for life on Mars. His new mission is to nurture talent and reduce the losses at Amazon.com Inc.’s livestreaming service.