Tech Roundup: Amazon Book Depository Shutdown, TikTok Privacy Fines & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• The U.S. Military's Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is reportedly looking to deploy deepfake-laden disinformation campaigns as part of its psy-op efforts, reveals The Intercept.
• Google debuts Nearby Share for Windows in beta, enabling users to share files between Android devices and Windows PCs.
• Spotify shuts down its Clubhouse-style audio app Spotify Live, previously called Locker Room, acquired as part of its €57 million Betty Labs acquisition in March 2021. (The development comes as Meta, Reddit and Amazon scaled back on their audio offerings, which were launched to cash in on the buzz surrounding the social audio app Clubhouse in 2020.)
• The Tor Project partners with VPN maker Mullvad to launch the Mullvad browser for Windows, macOS, and Linux to reduce a user's "fingerprint" used for tracking.
• Microsoft adds a new green screen feature to Teams so as to provide an "enhanced virtual background effect."
• Twitter alternative Post officially launches to the public, as it aims to develop a platform where publishers can generate revenue from micropayments to access paywalled or ad-free content.
• Google adds new search features to its hotel and flights booking service, including a price guarantee badge that pays users back should the price of a flight go down after booking it; to discontinue its Google Now launcher (which was replaced by the Pixel Launcher in 2016) for Android later this month and removes five million file creation limit for Drive which it said was enforced to "preserve stability and optimise performance."
• The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fines TikTok £12.7 million, down from £27 million, for failing to protect children's data, saying the app "should have done better."
• Meta's Facebook integrates multiplayer games into the video call feature within Messenger, making it easy to "play games with friends and family while in a video call."
• Substack unveils Notes, letting users share posts, quotes, images, links, and more, shown in a short form feed that "may look like familiar social media feeds."
• The Indian government says it does not plan to regulate AI growth, calling the sector "significant and strategic" for the country; comes as OpenAI says "powerful AI systems should be subject to rigorous safety evaluations." (That said, it remains unclear who is responsible when artificial intelligence generates or spreads inaccurate information.)
• Amazon continues its shutdown spree; to close Book Depository, a U.K.-based online book seller that it acquired in July 2011, on April 26, weeks after announcing plans to discontinue photography site DPReview on April 10.
• Microsoft begins rolling out a limited public preview of its Workspaces feature in Edge, which lets users save and share sets of browser tabs using a single link.
• Google adds a new Podcasts tab to YouTube channels on desktop and mobile, as the company continues to integrate the feature into its video streaming platform.
• Meta releases its Segment Anything model that can identify individual objects within images, even in scenarios where aren't part of the training set.
• Google plans to add artificial-intelligence features to its flagship search engine, amid stiff competition from OpenAI and Microsoft.