The White House said it supports legislation that would give the U.S. Commerce Department the authority to regulate and ban foreign-based technologies, including TikTok. A bipartisan group of senators introduced the bill, known as the RESTRICT Act, on Tuesday. It's the first time that the Biden administration has formally backed a TikTok bill in Congress. More: - Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and John Thune (R-SD) led the group of 10 other bipartisan senators, who co-sponsored the bill.
- The bill would authorize the Commerce Department to review and mitigate "information communications and technology transactions," such as data transfers or software updates, that threaten national security.
- The restrictions, which could include a ban, cover foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.
- While the bill doesn't specifically name TikTok, the senators repeatedly mentioned the Chinese-owned video app in press releases.
- Thune called the RESTRICT Act a "holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms – like TikTok – from foreign adversaries."
- Similarly, U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said it “presents a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.”
CNBC 
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 Apple's iPhone 13 was the top-selling smartphone of 2022, according to Counterpoint Research's Global Monthly Handset Model Sales Tracker. Apple phones dominated the lineup with eight of the top 10 spots on the best-selling list. More: - The iPhone 13, released in October 2021, made up 28% of all iPhone sales and 5% of global smartphone sales in 2022, according to Counterpoint Research.
- In second and third place were the iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max, with 2.6% and 1.7% of last year's total sales, respectively.
- Besides Apple, the only other brand on the list was Samsung. Its Samsung Galaxy A13 was fourth with 1.6% of last year's sales, while its Galaxy A03 came in 10th with 1.1%.
- Notably, it was the first time that an Apple “Pro Max” phone — in this case, the iPhone 14 Pro Max — garnered more annual sales than the base and "Pro" models of the same series, which was announced in September.
- The iPhone 14 Pro Max, the most expensive of the 2022 lineup, was also the top-selling smartphone in September, October, and November.
TECHSPOT
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Meta Platforms announced that it will start testing the return of Messenger within the Facebook app. Facebook first began encouraging Android and iOS app users to install the separate Messenger app in 2014. More: - Two years later, Facebook removed the built-in messaging from its mobile web app, forcing those users to also download the separate Messenger app.
- On Tuesday, Facebook head Tom Alison revealed that it's reversing the change.
- Meta is building "more ways to integrate messaging features in Facebook" over the next year, Alison wrote.
- The company has been testing Messenger re-integration within Facebook and plans to expand that to other users "soon," he said.
Zoom Out: - The announcement was buried in a longer post about Facebook's present and future. Alison emphasized that Facebook is "off to a great start" in 2023.
- "Contrary to reports otherwise, Facebook is not dead nor dying, but in fact alive and thriving with 2 billion daily active users," he wrote.
- The post focused on Meta's investments in AI, including AI-driven creator and content recommendations on Reels, its short-form video format that competes with TikTok.
CNN
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 Google announced that its I/O 2023 software and hardware event will take place starting on May 10. The annual developer conference will kick off with the main keynote from CEO Sundar Pichai before a "limited live audience" at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. More: - Pichai's live-streamed address is expected to include the typical announcements for new Google hardware and new product features.
- After that is a developer keynote and more than 100 "on-demand technical sessions," which can be accessed for free by registering on Google's I/O site.
- The public beta of Android 14, Google's next version of its mobile operating system, is expected on or around May 10.
- As far as hardware at the event, Google may announce the budget Pixel 7a phone and Pixel Tablet.
- Previews for the Pixel 8 series and the Pixel Fold are also possible.
TECHCRUNCH
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Tesla is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) following two complaints of the steering wheel detaching from its Model Y SUV. The agency's probe will cover an estimated 120,089 vehicles from the model year 2023. More: - The NHTSA said its investigation will cover the frequency, scope, and manufacturing processes that led to the incidents.
- In both cases, the vehicles were delivered to customers without the retaining bolt that holds the steering wheel to the steering column, according to the NHTSA.
- Friction kept the steering wheels in place until the vehicles were in motion and the applied force "overcame the resistance of the friction fit," the agency said.
- At the time of the incidents, both vehicles had low mileage. Neither episode caused injuries or an accident.
- Tesla has not commented on the probe, which comes several days after Tesla issued a physical recall for 3,470 Model Y SUVs over potentially loose bolts in the second-row seats.
ELECTREK
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Salesforce is bringing ChatGPT to Slack, its workplace messaging and productivity platform. The AI chatbot app will be able to summarize conversation threads and respond to questions. Slack users can use the bot to draft replies to co-workers "in seconds." More: - The chatbot can also display Salesforce data. Workplaces can sign up for the beta ChatGPT app for Slack waitlist here.
- On Tuesday, Salesforce also announced Einstein GPT, which covers generative AI tools for marketers, customer service agents, and salespeople.
- The technology, which integrates with Salesforce's customer relationship management (CRM), uses AI to automatically generate personalized emails, marketing copy, responses to customer questions, and computer code for developers.
- Customers will be able to "use natural-language prompts directly within their Salesforce CRM to generate content that continuously adapts to changing customer information and needs in real-time," according to the company.
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- Sirius XM, the car radio subscription service, is cutting 8% of its workforce, affecting about 475 positions across engineering, sales, and podcasting.
- Microsoft-owned gaming studio Bethesda has delayed the release of its sci-fi RPG "Starfield" to September 6.
- Adobe announced the opening of its 3,000-workstation office tower in San Jose, California. The company's chief people officer, Gloria Chen, said she is "committed to not having companywide layoffs" this year.
- Amazon's Ring debuted the Battery Doorbell Plus, its first battery-powered video doorbell with a "head-to-toe" view.
- Two U.S. lawmakers are preparing to reintroduce the crypto tax reform bill, also known as the Keep Innovation in America Act. The proposed legislation aims to change how crypto is handled for tax purposes.
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 |  | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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