Bookmark | Why Sundar Pichai never panicked about ChatGPT

These are them Articles, videos, and more that caught the attention of the TechCentral editorial team in the last 24 hours.

• Why Sundar Pichai never panicked: Sundar Pichai’s calm under fire can be attributed to a long game and strategic foresight. While critics panicked about ChatGPT’s rise, he focused on restructuring Google’s AI firepower into DeepMind and developing Gemini, a multimodal AI model that is now catching up on benchmarks – and even ahead. Relying on solid infrastructure, patience and data, Pichai wins the race by proving slow and steady. Read more at Semafor. DM
• Critical WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Under Active Exploit Threatens Thousands: A critical vulnerability in the Hunk Companion WordPress plugin allows hackers to execute malicious code on unpatched websites – and more than 8,000 of them are still vulnerable. Attackers exploit it to install an old, vulnerable plugin (WP Query Console) and cause further chaos. Update to version 1.9.0 immediately or you risk turning your website into a playground for hackers. Read more at Ars Technica. DM
• How technology has created a “recipe for loneliness”: Overreliance on screens causes us to binge-watch, text, and scroll instead of authentically connecting. Social media comparisons, endless text messages lacking any nuance, and binge-watching marathons fuel isolation. Experts say: Swap texts for calls, limit doom scrolling, and pause autoplay. Real connection isn’t in emojis or endless reels, but in voices, faces and a “hello.” Read more in The New York Times (Soft paywall). DM
• The crypto crown princes who were able to “win, win, win” under Trump: Crypto titans are betting big on Donald Trump – and it’s paying off. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor and the Winklevoss twins of Gemini rallied behind Trump, supported pro-crypto PACs and saw Bitcoin rise above $100,000. While Trump promises to “unlock crypto,” Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin remains the outsider, warning against the pursuit of “narcissistic power.” Read more at FT.com (hard paywall). DM
• Game of the Year: The year is coming to an end and we can see all of our favorite games of this year fighting for the title of Game of the Year. My Choice didn’t make the cut, but it won the Player’s Voice award. Check out all the winners The Game Awards. T.S
• Epic’s dream is starting to come true – its store will be pre-installed on “millions” of Android phones: It will be the first time the Epic Games Store has come pre-installed on consumer phones, and it could be the next big step toward realizing Epic’s dream of challenging Google’s App Store monopoly and increasing its revenue cut. More on this The edge. T.S
• Australia plans fee on tech platforms to prop up news media: In South Africa, the Competition Commission’s investigation into major technology platforms and their impact on local media is still ongoing. Australia, on the other hand, completed a similar investigation a few years ago, after which Big Tech was ordered to enter into commercial agreements with local media to ensure their sustainability. The tech companies are not playing well, and the Australian government is now opting for a tougher approach. Read more in The Wall Street Journal. NN

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