The PhilaVerse

The PhilaVerse Substack focuses on delivering concise tech news, insights, and analysis across a variety of technology and business fields. It covers developments in AI, corporate tech decisions, the financial performance of tech companies, legislative impacts on tech businesses, cybersecurity innovations, and changes in consumer technology.

Technology and Business News Artificial Intelligence Corporate Strategies and Financial Analysis Legislation and Policy Cybersecurity Consumer Technology and Devices Social Media and Digital Platforms

The hottest Substack posts of The PhilaVerse

And their main takeaways

RIP Skype

123 implied HN points • 28 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Communication Software Platforms User Experience Data Management
  1. Microsoft is shutting down Skype on May 5, 2025, after more than two decades of service. They are focusing on Teams now for communication.
  2. Users have 10 weeks to move their data from Skype to Teams or export their information. After that, user data will be kept until the end of 2025 before it is deleted.
  3. Skype had a big drop in users, going from 300 million at its peak to only 36 million daily users by 2023, which is why Microsoft made this decision.

Thomson Reuters wins early AI copyright case

123 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Copyright Legal Innovation Intellectual Property
  1. Thomson Reuters won a significant court case against Ross Intelligence for copyright infringement. They claimed Ross used their legal content without permission for AI training.
  2. The judge ruled against Ross, stating that their use of the content competed with Thomson Reuters and damaged their market value. This decision sets a strong precedent for future AI copyright cases.
  3. Legal experts warn that this ruling could make it harder for AI companies to argue fair use when using copyrighted material. It highlights ongoing concerns about how AI interacts with existing copyright laws.

Op-Ed: New China tariffs and USPS disruptions threaten Temu and Shein’s US growth

123 implied HN points • 05 Feb 25
💼 Business Ecommerce Tariffs Shipping Trade Regulations
  1. New tariffs from China and USPS delivery issues may hurt Temu and Shein's low pricing options in the US.
  2. If shipping costs go up, these companies might have to raise prices or take a hit on their profits.
  3. Both companies are already facing scrutiny over their practices, so new regulations could make it even harder for them in the competitive market.

Op-Ed: Is TikTok too big to fail in the US?

123 implied HN points • 20 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy Economy Technology Culture Influence
  1. TikTok has a huge impact on the creator economy and many people rely on it for income. If it were banned, creators and small businesses would struggle to find new ways to make money.
  2. Banning TikTok would also hurt advertising for brands that target younger users. They would have to spend more on other platforms, which could increase costs for businesses.
  3. TikTok influences trends in music, fashion, and more. If it disappeared, there might be a gap in how trends are shared, and it would take time for other platforms to fill that role.

The 'discounted' Yandex offload

247 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
💼 Business Technology Geopolitics Finance
  1. Yandex is selling its remaining Russian businesses for $5.2 billion due to a mandatory discount imposed by the Russian government.
  2. The transaction involves cash in Chinese Yuan and is led by a consortium of senior managers and investors.
  3. Yandex aims to recover value for divested businesses, unlock growth for international businesses, and allow divested businesses to operate under new ownership.
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6 things to know about Meta's Threads

123 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
  1. Meta's Threads, a new Twitter competitor, is rapidly growing.
  2. Politicians and advertisers are already actively using Threads.
  3. Integration with Instagram and concerns about brand safety make Threads unique.

Meta will limit news access in Canada

123 implied HN points • 23 Jun 23
🌍 World Politics Tech Giants Government Relations
  1. Meta will restrict news access in Canada due to the passage of the Canada's Online News Act.
  2. The Canada's Online News Act aims to ensure fairness in the digital news market by requiring platforms like Meta to negotiate commercial agreements and compensate news organizations.
  3. Meta and Google are opposed to the legislation and are planning to limit news access before the law takes effect.

US: 5 things to know about new cybersecurity rules for medical devices

123 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🏥 Health Politics Cybersecurity Medical Devices FDA Approval
  1. New FDA rules require medical device makers to meet specific cybersecurity criteria for approval.
  2. Manufacturers must offer updates and patches for cybersecurity and develop a plan for addressing postmarket vulnerabilities.
  3. Rules focus on devices connected to the internet, like insulin pumps and pacemakers, not legacy technology.

5 things to know about Nuance DAX Express

123 implied HN points • 21 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Healthcare Software
  1. Nuance DAX Express uses GPT-4 and other AI technologies for generating clinical notes.
  2. The goal of Nuance DAX Express is to reduce administrative tasks for professionals and allow more time for patient interaction.
  3. Nuance DAX Express is HIPAA-compliant and will be available to over 550,000 product subscribers.

Meta introduces HOT3D: A dataset for advancing hand-object interaction research

0 implied HN points • 03 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Computer Vision Robotics Augmented reality Virtual reality
  1. Meta has created a new dataset called HOT3D to help with research on how humans interact with objects using their hands. It's designed to improve technology in areas like robotics and virtual reality.
  2. The HOT3D dataset is large, with over 833 minutes of video from different angles, showing various tasks with hands and objects. This helps researchers understand interactions better.
  3. The dataset provides detailed information, like 3D poses and eye tracking, which makes it very useful for developing new computer vision and machine learning applications.

Blue Origin's New Glenn launch marks milestone in commercial spaceflight

0 implied HN points • 18 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Space Exploration Rocket Technology Innovation Aerospace Industry
  1. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket recently launched successfully, marking a big step forward for the company and the commercial space industry.
  2. The New Glenn rocket is bigger and more powerful than its earlier rocket, New Shepard, which had been flying since 2015. This opens new possibilities for space travel.
  3. With this launch, Blue Origin is now more competitive with SpaceX, which can push both companies to innovate and reduce costs in space travel.

Amazon doubles down on Anthropic

0 implied HN points • 28 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Cloud Computing Investment Partnerships Generative models
  1. Amazon is investing an extra $4 billion in Anthropic, making their total investment $8 billion. This shows how serious Amazon is about developing AI technology.
  2. Anthropic will now use Amazon's cloud services as their main platform for training AI models. This partnership aims to make AI models more powerful and secure.
  3. Anthropic's AI models, like Claude 3.5, are popular in various industries for different tasks, including customer service and drug discovery. Many companies are already using these advanced tools.