Twitter may go open source
In response to a Twitter user’s challenge, CEO Elon Musk responded that Twitter was planning to make its algorithm open source, possibly next week. Even before Mr. Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the social media platform, its algorithm was a source of controversy as users and groups across the political spectrum accused it of bias and unjustified “shadow banning.” Mr. Musk warned that users might be “disappointed” at first when they saw the results, but said that it would improve rapidly. Twitter rival Mastodon is a free and open-source software that prides itself on decentralisation.
YouTube Music users turn radio jockeys
Both free and paying subscribers who use YouTube Music can now leverage the new “Radio Builder” feature in order to run their own radio stations and play songs by their favourite artists and groups. The feature that was being tested last year has launched in the past week, giving YouTube Music users the ability to tweak the algorithm. There is an upper limit of 30 artists. Users can choose to build their station with their artists’ songs alone, or opt for a mix of related musicians or specific filter-based moods. This is different from creating a playlist, as YouTube will play the artists’ songs instead of the user picking each video individually.
Microsoft’s Nvidia deal
In the face of mounting pressure from antitrust regulators and gaming competitors, Microsoft has landed on a deal that would see it bringing Activision’s games such as “Call of Duty” to Nvidia’s gaming platform for 10 years - if Microsoft is able to successfully acquire Activision. One voice strongly opposing the move is that of Sony, which has claimed that the Microsoft-Activision deal would hurt the gaming industry and its players. Microsoft has reportedly reached a similar deal with Nintendo as well. Even so, regulators are still likely to be wary of the $69 billion acquisition.
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