The Daily Index — Tuesday, December 19, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

ADOBE GIVES UP ON $20 BILLION ACQUISITION OF FIGMA

Adobe has abandoned its acquisition of product design software company Figma as there was no clear path for regulatory approval for the deal. Both UK and EU competition regulators have probed the deal due to the impact it would have on the product design, image editing, and illustration markets. Adobe will pay Figma $1 billion as a termination fee as per the terms of the merger agreement.

arstechnica.com · 2 min

TLDR AI

INTEL UNVEILS NEW AI CHIP

Intel has launched its 5th Gen Xeon processors, focusing on AI capabilities for cloud, network, and edge use cases. These chips are part of Intel's strategy to compete in the AI accelerator market dominated by Nvidia.

finance.yahoo.com · 3 min

TLDR Web Dev

REACT TRICKS: FAST, FIT AND FUN

This article discusses React tricks learned from maintaining the open-source React library “Wouter”. Some tricks mentioned include using React.cloneElement for component composition, optimizing component rendering with React.memo, using useState for resource initialization, and stable callbacks with useEvent. The article also touches on managing external state changes with useSyncExternalStore and addressing tearing issues with hashchange events in React.

molefrog.com · 14 min

TLDR Crypto

WITH ALL EYES ON BITCOIN ETF DECISION, SEC KICKS ETHER CAN DOWN THE ROAD

The SEC has deferred its decisions on several proposed ether-focused ETFs, including those by Hashdex, Ark Invest, Grayscale, and VanEck. The agency stated it needs more time for a ruling and welcomes public comments on the proposals. The SEC previously delayed a decision on the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, but it anticipates a ruling, or an additional delay, by February 6. Decisions on proposed spot bitcoin ETFs by Ark Invest and 21Shares are expected by January 10.

blockworks.co · 2 min

TLDR Product

THE THOUGHTFUL HIPPO

Good decisions are most needed when things are slowly deteriorating, but that’s when people tend to get stuck in analysis paralysis. For leaders in these situations, the most important thing to do is to help the team reduce cognitive load through top-down decision-making to establish clear priorities and constraints.

cutlefish.substack.com · 5 min

TLDR

APPLE WATCHES BEING PULLED FROM STORES THIS WEEK DUE TO POTENTIAL IMPORT BAN

Apple is pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 starting on December 21. The products are facing a potential import ban until August 2028 as a ruling found that they infringe on patents from Masimo. The case is now under a Presidential Review Period after which the devices will be subject to an import ban if the ruling isn't vetoed. Apple is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that the Apple Watch remains available.

arstechnica.com · 2 min

TLDR

HOW CRISPR GENE EDITING COULD HELP TREAT ALZHEIMER’S

CRISPR therapies could potentially provide a one-and-done solution for forms of Alzheimer's disease caused by genetic mutations. There are several proposed strategies for using the technology to fight Alzheimer's, but CRISPR-based gene therapies still have a long way to go. Scientists are now laying the groundwork to start bringing CRISPR technologies to clinical trials. Transformative treatments are likely only a few years away, although they will be expensive.

nature.com · 4 min

TLDR

SCIENTISTS CONTACT WHALES IN WORLD-FIRST COMMUNICATION EXPERIMENT

Scientists from UC Davis, the Alaska Whale Foundation, and SETI teamed up to have a 20-minute conversation with a humpback whale in her own language. The scientists played a contact call to the whale, who responded each time closely matching the intervals, indicating that the whale was engaged in an intentional exchange. The interaction had elements analogous to how we may one day be contacted by extraterrestrial beings. The scientists hope to replicate the work with other intelligent animals.

sciencealert.com · 3 min

TLDR

OPENAI BUFFS SAFETY TEAM AND GIVES BOARD VETO POWER ON RISKY AI

OpenAI has announced a new safety advisory group that will sit above the technical teams and make recommendations to leadership as part of an expansion of its internal safety processes to fend off the threat of harmful AI. The company has updated its Preparedness Framework to show a clear path for identifying, analyzing, and deciding what to do about catastrophic risks inherent to models they are developing. Leadership will be able to make decisions on whether to ship products, but the board has the power to reverse those decisions.

techcrunch.com · 4 min