• Microsoft Corp. is planning to launch an app store for games set to be available on iPhone and Android smartphones as soon as next year if its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. is approved by regulators, according to Phil Spencer, chief executive of Microsoft Gaming. The plan to launch the app store, which Microsoft argues will boost competition on mobile platforms, could be made possible by the Digital Markets Act, a regulation that could allow the European Union to designate Apple Inc. and Google as “gatekeepers” in the mobile space and require them to open their platforms to other app distributors. (Financial Times)
• TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to announce during a congressional hearing that the video-sharing app has reached 150 million monthly active users in the United States, according to a senior Democratic strategist advising TikTok. That figure marks a 50% increase since the last time the company revealed internal data about usage and is intended to show how ingrained the platform has become in the lives of Americans in order to discourage lawmakers from pursuing a ban of the Chinese-owned app. (NBC News)
• In an interview with ABC News, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he believes artificial intelligence can be “the greatest technology humanity has yet developed” and noted that his company has been in “regular contact” with government officials to discuss the potential negative consequences the technology could have. “I think people should be happy that we are a little bit scared of this,” Altman said, while arguing that releasing ChatGPT to the public will help society adjust to the technology while providing feedback on how people will interact with it. (ABC News)

Happening today: 

• Nvidia GTC, a global conference for developers focused on breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and accelerated computing, kicks off today and runs through Thursday. Speakers include Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO of DeepMind Technologies Ltd.; Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI; and Tanya Simms, director for cyber policy and programs at the Office of the National Cyber Director.
• The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host an event titled “U.S. Spectrum Allocation Needs Reform: Lessons From the C-Band Controversy.”Speakers include Scott Blake Harris, the senior spectrum adviser in the Office of the Assistant Secretary at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; Jennifer Holder, director of aviation safety and regulatory affairs at Boeing Co.; and Lawrence Strickling, former NTIA administrator at the Department of Commerce.
• CloudFest, the annual event built around internet infrastructure and cloud computing, kicks off at Europa-Park in Germany. 

Tech Workers Take Another Look at Defense in Light of Layoffs

Morning Consult

Elizabeth Holmes owes over $25 million to Theranos, lawsuit says

Yasmin Khorram, CNBC

Elizabeth Holmes hasn’t paid back over $25 million to creditors of her former Theranos company as she tries to delay her 11-year prison sentence, according to a lawsuit.

Online-Books Lawsuit Tests Limits of Libraries in Digital Age

Erin Mulvaney and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal

A federal judge on Monday will weigh pleas by four major book publishers to stop an online lending library from freely offering digital copies of books, in a case that raises novel questions about digital-library rights and the reach of copyright law that protects the work of writers and publishers.

How Silicon Valley learnt to love the government

George Hammond and Elaine Moore, Financial Times

After Washington came to the rescue of the tech sector’s favourite bank, some fear it will lead to tougher regulation.

Taiwan Chip Exports to China Sputter on Tensions, Falling Demand

Yoshihiro Sato, Bloomberg

Taiwan’s exports of integrated circuit chips to China and Hong Kong fell for a fourth month in February as Washington-Beijing tensions simmer and demand for electronics continues to drop off.

Why It Matters Whether a Robot Is Given a Gender

Chris Kornelis, The Wall Street Journal

Humans feel a greater sense of attachment to robots they consider to be male or female, a study found. But giving tech a gender also can increase stereotyping.

How Elon Musk knocked Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ off course

Faiz Siddiqui, The Washington Post

Tesla’s campaign to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle has suffered amid mounting safety concerns — and the boss’s Twitter distraction.

Glaze protects art from prying AIs

Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch

It’s just launched a free (non-commercial) app for artists to combat the theft of their ‘artistic IP’ — scraped into data-sets to train AI tools designed to mimic visual style — via the application of a high tech “cloaking” technique.

GPT-4 from OpenAI shows advances — and moneymaking potential

Madhumita Murgia, Financial Times

Microsoft-backed group shifts towards showing less openness amid race to commercialise AI systems.

AI love: What happens when your chatbot stops loving you back

Anna Tong, Reuters

On some apps, sex is helping drive early adoption, much as it did for earlier technologies including the VCR, the internet, and broadband cellphone service. But even as generative AI heats up among Silicon Valley investors, who have pumped more than $5.1 billion into the sector since 2022, according to the data company Pitchbook, some companies that found an audience seeking romantic and sexual relationships with chatbots are now pulling back.

Microsoft’s new Copilot will change Office documents forever

Tom Warren, The Verge

Copilot is more than just a chatbot. Microsoft is gradually building an AI assistant that it has dreamed about for years.

The FCC is trying to boost awareness about its affordable broadband program

Andrew Wyrich, The Daily Dot

In addition, the FCC said it will make the online application process easier. 

Amazon to D.C.: Can you please clean up all the space junk?

John Hendel, Politico

The pending launch of Amazon’s new satellite broadband service is forcing the company to come to terms with the challenges of working in orbit.

The Problem With Your Dying AirPods and Other Bluetooth Earbuds

Nicole Nguyen, The Wall Street Journal

When earbuds’ tiny lithium-ion batteries die, they can’t be replaced.

China-backed espionage is getting harder to spot, researchers say

Sam Sabin, Axios

Suspected China-linked hacking groups are continuing to build on a new tactic targeting internet-facing security tools as a way of stealthily breaking into some of the most data-rich organizations, researchers at Google-owned Mandiant warn.

Kremlin tells officials to stop using iPhones

Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters

The Kremlin told officials involved in preparations for Russia’s 2024 presidential election to stop using Apple iPhones because of concerns that the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Your Data Is Diminishing Your Freedom

David Marchese, The New York Times Magazine

‘I don’t want to claim we are only data and nothing but data,’’ says Colin Koopman, chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Oregon and the author of ‘‘How We Became Our Data.’’ ‘‘My claim is you are your data, too.’’

Feds arrest alleged BreachForums owner linked to FBI hacks

Emma Roth, The Verge

The FBI has arrested Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known as ‘Pompompurin,’ who took credit for hacking the agency’s emails in 2021.

Google Pixel exploit reverses edited parts of screenshots

Emma Roth, The Verge

Google has since patched the Markup vulnerability, but that doesn’t have an effect on the edited screenshots shared online before the update.

YouTube lifts restrictions on Trump’s account

Lauren Feiner, CNBC

Google-owned YouTube will allow former President Donald Trump’s account to post new videos as of Friday, lifting restrictions put in place following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.

School districts sue tech giants over youth mental health crisis

Ivana Saric, Axios

A slew of school districts across the country are suing social media companies, alleging that the tech giants are contributing to a youth mental health crisis.

TikTok’s Moderators Still Review Child Abuse Despite Vow to Exit

Benoit Berthelot and Henry Ren, Bloomberg

Staff at Teleperformance are still reviewing TikTok’s most disturbing content, including child sexual abuse, despite the company’s pledge to exit the business following shareholder backlash last year.

TikTok’s Chinese Parent Has Another Wildly Popular App in the U.S.

Raffaele Huang, The Wall Street Journal

One of the hottest apps in the U.S. right now is TikTok’s lesser-known sibling that is also owned by Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd.

TikTok’s plan to stave off government intervention: Flood D.C. with influencers

Hailey Fuchs, Politico

The influential social media app TikTok is flooding the nation’s capital with influencers next week as part of an 11th hour lobbying blitz to stave off the forced sale of the company.

Social media content moderators lead charge for better rights

Cristina Criddle, Financial Times

More staff policing illegal and violent footage join trade unions to demand higher pay and greater support.

Facebook, Instagram Users in U.S. Can Pay for a Verified Blue Check Mark

Joseph Pisani, The Wall Street Journal

Adults in the U.S. can soon have a blue check mark on Facebook and Instagram—as long as they pay and show identification. 

How a TikTok ban in the U.S. might work

Lauren Feiner, CNBC

TikTok is at risk of being banned in the U.S. if Chinese parent ByteDance won’t sell its stake. Millions of Americans who use the popular video app are left wondering what that means for them.

Twitter’s Talks Over Licensing Music Are Said to Stall Under Musk

Ryan Mac et al., The New York Times

Twitter explored the licensing of music rights from three major labels before negotiations stalled after Elon Musk’s takeover of the company, said eight people with knowledge of the discussions, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

TikTok Creators Contemplate Life After Possible Ban: ‘It All Can Be Taken Away’

Jennifer Calfas and Joseph Pisani, The Wall Street Journal

The platform created business opportunities for some users. Now, they’re planning for what might come next.

Have the Ads in Your Twitter Feed Changed? There’s a Reason for That

Patrick Coffee and Katie Deighton, The Wall Street Journal

Lesser-known advertisers seeking clicks and other direct responses are becoming more prominent on Twitter Inc. as the social-media company shifts its sales strategy and some household-name brands continue to stay away.

Pain In the Tech Industry Is Beginning to Hit the Rest of Us

Christopher Mims, The Wall Street Journal

The effects of the Silicon Valley Bank failure filter through the economy beyond tech, as up to one in five U.S. jobs is connected to the sector; ‘You never let an opportunity for a good, thoughtful resizing be lost.’

Google Employees Petition Pichai for Better Handling of Job Cuts

Olivia Solon, Bloomberg

Almost 1,400 employees at Google parent Alphabet Inc. have signed a petition calling for better treatment of staff during the layoff process, after the company announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs.