• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to try again to auction off the failed Silicon Valley Bank, according to people familiar with the matter, after officials told lawmakers that the initial attempt to find a buyer yielded only one offer that was ultimately rejected. The bank’s failure was declared a threat to the financial system, which has provided regulators with additional flexibility to cover all depositors and offer potential buyers sweeteners like loss-sharing agreements, according to former regulators. (The Wall Street Journal)
• During its recent round of layoffs that saw more than 10,000 people lose their jobs, Microsoft Corp. laid off its entire artificial intelligence ethics and society team, which was responsible for ensuring the company’s products adhered to responsible AI principles, according to current and former employees. Prior to being let go, the team was working to identify risks associated with introducing OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology throughout the Microsoft suite of products. (Platformer)
• Meta Platforms Inc. and ByteDance Ltd. were aware that their respective platforms presented the risk of harm to children and teenagers but either ignored or actively undermined the findings, according to claims disclosed in a court filing in federal court in Oakland, Calif., as part of a lawsuit over social media addiction. The filing revealed internal documents from TikTok’s parent company that showed the company knew young people are susceptible to following dangerous trends viewed on the video-sharing app, while another portion of the filing showed Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was personally warned about the risks young people face from online bullying and harassment. (Bloomberg)
• A California appeals court upheld Proposition 22’s independent contractor model that allows gig economy companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. to treat their workers as independent contractors in the state, but it removed a requirement that mandated a seven-eighths majority of the California legislature to grant gig workers the right to collectively bargain. The ruling is expected to be appealed by labor union officials. (The Wall Street Journal)

Happening today: 

• The Wall Street Journal will hold a CIO Network Summit, with a focus on improving efficiency across enterprise networks while cutting costs. Speakers include Oracle Corp. Chief Information Officer Jae Evans; Andreessen Horowitz general partner Martin Casado; and Cloudflare Inc. CEO Matthew Prince.
• The Google for Games Developer Summit will take place today, focusing on solutions for game developers building on Google’s platforms. 
• The Washington Post will host an installment of its “Tech at Work” series titled “How hybrid work changed employee communication and collaboration,” with featured speaker Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
• The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, nonprofit ALLvanza and the OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates will host an event titled “Understanding AI and Its Impact on Our Communities” that will focus on how artificial intelligence will affect marginalized communities. Speakers include Caterina Luppi, CIO for the District of Columbia Bar; and Seth Billiau, machine learning engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Tim Cook bets on Apple’s mixed-reality headset to secure his legacy

Financial Times

Silicon Valley Firms Gird for Change After U.S. Backing of SVB

Berber Jin et al., The Wall Street Journal

Startup founders and investors breathed a collective sigh of relief after the federal government agreed to backstop deposits at Silicon Valley Bank, but they said the lender’s collapse would drive changes in the industry’s financial practices.

Some SVB Clients Are Finally Regaining Account Access

Saksha Menezes et al., Bloomberg

Some startup founders and venture capitalists finally started to regain access to their accounts at Silicon Valley Bank on Monday but the process wasn’t without its hiccups.

Recriminations fly as venture capitalists contemplate Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse

George Hammond, Financial Times

VCs accused of betrayal after triggering a run on the bank that has left a gaping hole in the tech scene.

$201 cardboard box among Silicon Valley Bank-branded items for sale on eBay

Jeremy Tanner, The Hill

From coffee mugs to a cardboard box, swag from the now-failed financial institution Silicon Valley Bank is attracting bids on eBay.

How the U.S. Agreed to Provide Nuclear Sub Technology to Australia

Michael R. Gordon, The Wall Street Journal

In April 2021, Australia’s top intelligence official went to Washington with an extraordinary proposal: the government in Canberra was looking to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. 

GitLab’s Shares Tumble as Tepid Guidance Signals Slowing Growth

Gabriel Sanchez, Bloomberg

GitLab Inc. sank after the software company reported revenue forecasts for the first-quarter and full year that fell short of expectations.

Dish hit with $469 million verdict over commercial-skipping technology

Blake Brittain, Reuters

Dish Network LLC must pay $469 million for infringing two patents held by parental-control technology maker ClearPlay Inc related to filtering material from streaming video, a jury in U.S. federal court in Utah has decided.

Court revives Apple, Google challenge to U.S. patent-review policy

Blake Brittain, Reuters

Apple Inc, Google LLC, Cisco Systems Inc and others can sue the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to challenge a rule that reduced the number of patent-validity proceedings at a USPTO tribunal, a U.S. appeals court said Monday.

Amazon, Rivian in Talks to End Exclusivity Part of Delivery-Van Pact

Sean McLain et al., The Wall Street Journal

Amazon.com Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. are in talks to scrap the exclusivity part of their electric-van deal, after the technology giant’s order for 2023 came in at the low end of a previously provided range, according to people familiar with the matter.

The rise of the platform economy

Lucy Colbeck, Financial Times

Every company should have a strategy to help it grow outside its home market, both geographically and across product lines.

Microsoft Strung Together Tens of Thousands of Chips in a Pricey Supercomputer for OpenAI

Dina Bass, Bloomberg

When Microsoft Corp. invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, it agreed to build a massive, cutting-edge supercomputer for the artificial intelligence research startup. The only problem: Microsoft didn’t have anything like what OpenAI needed and wasn’t totally sure it could build something that big in its Azure cloud service without it breaking.

ChatGPT and Generative AI are booming, but at a very expensive price

Jonathan Vanian and Kif Leswing, CNBC

Before OpenAI’s ChatGPT emerged and captured the world’s attention for its ability to create compelling sentences, a small startup called Latitude was wowing consumers with its AI Dungeon game that let them use artificial intelligence to create fantastical tales based on their prompts.

Custom AI chatbots are quietly becoming the next big thing in fandom

Allegra Rosenberg, The Verge

AI chat systems put a new, sometimes solipsistic twist on the fannish roleplaying tradition.

An A.I. Start-Up Boomed, but Now It Faces a Slowing Economy and New Rules

Steve Lohr, The New York Times

Using A.I. tools in hiring is one of the most promising and contentious uses of the technology. The experience of a company called Eightfold AI shows the challenges.

China Self-Driving Startup WeRide Files for $500 Million US IPO, Sources Say

Dong Cao and Manuel Baigorri, Bloomberg

Chinese driverless technology startup Guangzhou WeRide Technology Co. has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in the US and is looking to raise as much as $500 million, according to people familiar with the situation.

China exerts control over internet cable projects in South China Sea

Anna Gross et al., Financial Times

Beijing imposes strict permit requirements for access to underwater data infrastructure over spying fears.

SpaceX says it will test Starlink’s satellite-to-cell service with T-Mobile this year

Michael Sheetz, CNBC

SpaceX plans to begin testing its Starlink satellite-to-cell service with T-Mobile this year, an executive of Elon Musk’s company said on Monday.

Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon

James Vincent and Jon Porter, The Verge

A viral Reddit post has revealed just how much processing the company’s cameras apply to photos of the Moon, further blurring the line between real and fake imagery in the age of AI.

A Face Recognition Site Crawled the Web for Dead People’s Photos

Lydia Morrish, Wired

PimEyes appears to have scraped a major ancestry website for pics, without permission. Experts fear the images could be used to identify living relatives.

Discord Revises Its Privacy Policy After Backlash Over AI

Thomas Germain, Gizmodo

People noticed when Discord quietly removed privacy promises as it announced AI integrations. Then Discord added them back.

DeFi Lender Euler Finance Hit By $197 Million Hack, Experts Say

Emily Nicolle and Sidhartha Shukla, Bloomberg

Decentralized lending protocol Euler Finance was hit by an attack that drained $197 million in cryptocurrencies from its platform on Monday, making it the largest hack in its corner of the digital-assets market this year.

CIA Goes to South by Southwest to Look for Technology That Can ‘Supercharge’ Spies

Tiffany Kary, Bloomberg

The Central Intelligence Agency called for more partnerships with the private sector, saying at a music and tech festival that the US needs to “supercharge” its ability to keep up with foreign adversaries against threats like social-media manipulation and ubiquitous surveillance.

Biden’s TikTok Dilemma: A Ban Could Hurt Democrats More Than Republicans

John D. McKinnon, The Wall Street Journal

Many Republicans and some Democrats are clamoring for action to address a perceived security risk from Chinese-owned TikTok, but one political leader has been largely silent: President Biden.

Meta gives up on NFTs for Facebook and Instagram

Jay Peters, The Verge

Meta is moving on from more crypto projects, even though NFTs / digital collectibles were once pitched as part of its ‘metaverse’ future.

TikTok accused of mishandling sexual harassment allegations

Cristina Criddle, Financial Times

Woman’s employment contract terminated after internal probe into complaint about advances made by senior manager.

UK Probing TikTok’s Ownership, Security Minister Tugendhat Says

Alex Wickham, Bloomberg

The UK is carrying out an “important” investigation into Chinese social media app TikTok, Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said, but he refused to be drawn on whether it would be banned from UK government mobile devices.

Y Combinator cuts nearly 20% of staff, scales back growth stage investments

Natasha Mascarenhas, TechCrunch

Y Combinator will be writing fewer checks for late-stage companies, a scale back that also cost 17 team members — or roughly 20% of the accelerator’s employees — their jobs, according to a statement released on Monday.