Techmeme River
Techmeme River
Monday, May 16, 2022
5:10 PM
Metatheory, co-founded by Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin to build games and virtual worlds using blockchain tech like NFTs, raises a $24M Series A led by a16z
VentureBeat
4:55 PM
Uber unveils a new option to book a bus or a passenger van, a trip itinerary feature for booking rides during an extended trip, event guest vouchers, and more
CNBC
4:25 PM
Twitch's takedown of the May 14 mass murder livestream seems to violate Texas' social media law, given that an amendment for terrorism content exceptions failed
Techdirt
4:05 PM
Elon Musk says a Twitter deal at a lower price wouldn't be “out of the question”, speaking to a Miami tech conference crowd; Twitter stock closes down 8%+
Bloomberg
3:10 PM
Microsoft tells employees it will nearly double its global budget for merit-based salary bumps and raise its range for annual stock-based compensation by 25%+
GeekWire
3:00 PM
AAA tests find active driving assist in a Hyundai Santa Fe, a Subaru Forester, and a Tesla Model 3 often fails to prevent hitting cyclists and oncoming cars
The Register
1:40 PM
Analysis: $7.6B of Tether has been withdrawn since Thursday, nearly twice its cash reserves at the end of 2021; Tether also holds $60B+ in “cash-like” assets
The Guardian
1:10 PM
Construction robotics startup Dusty raises a $45M Series B led by Scale at a $250M valuation and says it has deals with construction firms DPR, PARIC, and more
TechCrunch
12:55 PM
[Thread] Twitter CEO gives context on how Twitter counts spam, saying “multiple human reviews” of thousands of accounts seen as mDAUs have found <5% are spam
@paraga
12:50 PM
Analysis: 44,058 randomly selected public Twitter accounts that have tweeted in the past 90 days and could resemble mDAUs shows 19.42% are likely spam or fake
SparkToro
12:00 PM
MiamiCoin is down ~95% in value from its September peak, after the city promoted it to Miami residents and made millions of dollars through its CityCoins deal
Quartz
11:45 AM
Berlin-based grocery delivery startup Flink acquires Paris-based Cajoo; sources: Flink acquired Cajoo for €90M-€100M and raised €60M-€70M at a €4.8B valuation
TechCrunch
11:25 AM
Apple Podcasts gains storage clean-up tools and annual subscriptions support; this fall, creators will be able to upload podcasts from third-party providers
TechCrunch
9:40 AM
Sony sets the games lineup for PS Plus, launching in Asia on May 24, Japan on June 2, the Americas on June 13, and Europe, Australia, and New Zealand on June 23
Polygon
9:20 AM
Tel Aviv-based Optibus, which offers SaaS tools to optimize public transportation using AI, raises a $100M Series D from Insight and others at a $1.3B valuation
TechCrunch
9:15 AM
Spotify confirms it is testing a feature that lets select artists promote “third-party NFT offerings” on their profiles, visible to Android users in the US
Music Ally
9:10 AM
DWAC's SEC filing details Donald Trump's commitments to Truth Social, including posting there first and waiting six hours before posting to Twitter or elsewhere
CNBC
9:05 AM
The DOJ launches its first criminal prosecution against a US citizen for allegedly using crypto to evade economic sanctions, accused of moving $10M+ in bitcoin
Washington Post
8:55 AM
Akuity, which offers app delivery tools for Kubernetes, raises a $20M Series A led by Lead Edge Capital and Decibel Partners, bringing its total funding to $25M
TechCrunch
8:40 AM
Mark Zuckerberg has a history of defying expectations but the metaverse may not pay off for years, meaning he needs to find a better way to explain his dream
Financial Times
7:35 AM
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says bitcoin has no future as a payments network because of its inefficiency and high environmental costs
Financial Times
7:00 AM
Luna Foundation Guard says the company depleted its bitcoin reserves from ~80K to 313 and plans to use its remaining assets to compensate UST users
CoinDesk
6:25 AM
Elwood Technologies, a crypto-focused market access and trading service for institutional investors, raises a $70M Series A led by Goldman and Dawn Capital
The Block
4:30 AM
Uber Eats launches two autonomous delivery pilots in Los Angeles with robotic sidewalk delivery startup Serve Robotics and autonomous tech startup Motional
TechCrunch
2:25 AM
The TerraUSD and LUNA collapse will have knock-on effects across the crypto industry and threatens to chill VCs' enthusiasm for investing in crypto startups
Bloomberg
12:15 AM
Live broadcasts and shared videos of mass shootings again raise questions about social networks' role in curbing violent and hateful content from proliferating
New York Times
Sunday, May 15, 2022
8:00 PM
Tel Aviv-based Komodor, which helps companies troubleshoot Kubernetes issues, raises a $42M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to $67M
TechCrunch
5:10 PM
San Diego-based Turquoise Health, a free search engine that lets patients compare hospital prices for US medical procedures, raises a $20M Series A led by a16z
MedCity News
1:55 PM
A look at the Apple Together solidarity movement that emerged from #AppleToo to provide support for Apple employees organizing in retail, AppleCare, and more
Wired
11:45 AM
Opinion: Apple should acquire EV startup Canoo, which says it is running out of cash to operate and whose former CEO is a top executive on Apple's car project
Bloomberg
9:00 AM
Germany's Ministry of Finance confirms that selling crypto assets is tax-free if they are held for over a year, even if they are used for staking and lending
Bitcoin News
5:35 AM
San Mateo-based Evisort, which offers an AI-powered contract management software, raises a $100M Series C led by TCV, bringing its total funding to $155.6M
VentureBeat
2:10 AM
Several women who attended Miami's Bitcoin 2022 conference were harassed and say the conference doesn't go far enough to enforce its anti-harassment policies
Wired
1:50 AM
Redwood City-based Material Security, which helps enterprises protect sensitive info even in hacked email accounts, raises a $100M Series C at a $1.1B valuation
Forbes
1:20 AM
OpenSea tries “improving authenticity” by revamping account verification and debuting a system to detect, remove, and prevent copies of authentic NFT content
The Verge
1:00 AM
Montréal-based Vention, which develops software to help companies automate factory production floors, raises a CAD$123.7M Series C led by Georgian Partners
BetaKit
Saturday, May 14, 2022
10:45 PM
India-based GoKwik, which helps e-commerce merchants improve conversions and lower return rates, raises a $35M Series B led by Think Investments and RTP Global
Entrackr
8:40 PM
Twitch confirms the Buffalo gunman livestreamed Saturday's attack on its platform, saying it took his channel down within two minutes of the violence starting
New York Times
6:55 PM
Abortion rights activists and nonprofits are considering crypto for fundraising, but the complexity and traceability of blockchain transactions hamper efforts
New York Times
4:50 PM
Sources: Netflix is exploring live streaming for its unscripted shows and stand-up specials, alongside live voting for competition series and talent contests
Deadline
2:45 PM
An interview with Sam Bankman-Fried on crypto hype, blockchain's potential to build a fairer financial system, bitcoin as an asset, philanthropy, and more
Financial Times
12:40 PM
A Q&A with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, on her criticisms of the SEC's approach to crypto, chair Gary Gensler's leadership, being called “Crypto Mom”, more
Protocol
10:35 AM
Texas' content moderation law is clearly unconstitutional and forces social media services to allow a torrent of spam or face a deluge of frivolous litigation
Techdirt
8:30 AM
Experts say the personal data leaked by Anonymous from various Sri Lankan government and other websites has put regular citizens at severe risk of cybercrimes
Rest of World
6:25 AM
Tokyo- and Bangkok-based Opn, formerly known as Synqa, a digital payments processor and blockchain tech provider, raises a $120M Series C+ at a $1B+ valuation
Reuters
4:20 AM
Sources: Amazon, Flipkart, and Reliance Retail are in talks to join ONDC, India's open e-commerce network, which aims to break large e-commerce firms' dominance
The Economic Times
2:15 AM
Retail traders after Terra's crash: some say they lost their life savings, others shared suicidal ideation on forums, and some now realize it's a Ponzi scheme
VICE
1:35 AM
Irish e-commerce services company ESW plans to acquire Los Angeles-based Scalefast, which helps DTC brands quickly build online stores, sources say for $300M+
The Irish Times
12:20 AM
Sources and a court document: Indian tax officials froze $478M worth of Xiaomi's local deposits in February as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion
Reuters
Friday, May 13, 2022
11:45 PM
Sources: Samsung is talking to foundry clients about hiking chipmaking prices by up to 20% in 2022, joining TSMC and UMC, which are planning more price hikes
Bloomberg
10:05 PM
A look at My Friends My Data, a group of startup founders pushing for laws to force tech giants like Meta and Alphabet to let users move followers between apps
Washington Post
8:05 PM
Two groups representing Meta, Google, and others ask SCOTUS to block Texas' social media law prohibiting content moderation, arguing the law is unconstitutional
Washington Post
7:50 PM
Filing: Salesforce sold all its remaining Snowflake shares in Q1 2022; Salesforce bought 2.1M shares for $250M in Snowflake's IPO in 2020, and sold ~95% in 2021
CNBC
7:25 PM
A Q&A with Reggie Fils-Aimé, former Nintendo of America president and COO, on his time at the company, plans for a $200M SPAC, the future of gaming, and more
TechCrunch
6:15 PM
Over $1.2B of Luna Foundation Guard's bitcoin reserves remain unaccounted for; LFG had $2B+ in bitcoin reserves and loaned $750M to OTC firms and market makers
The Block
5:20 PM
Source: AliExpress Russia, Alibaba's joint venture in the country that had ~1,000 employees before March, has laid off ~40% of staff since Ukraine's invasion
Nikkei Asia
4:30 PM
The Linux Foundation and OpenSSF plan to spend $150M+ to boost open source and supply chain security; Amazon, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and others pledged $30M+
Cybersecurity Dive
3:20 PM
Postmates founder Bastian Lehmann's new crypto startup TipTop raises a $23M Series A from a16z, Sam Altman, Naval Ravikant, Jeff Clavier, Dan Romero, and others
TechCrunch
2:20 PM
Masayoshi Son was subdued on SoftBank's earnings call as he runs out of options to restore investor confidence; public companies in the Vision Fund are down 62%
Financial Times
1:30 PM
By tweeting that his Twitter deal is “on hold”, Musk yet again commits “lite securities fraud” while laying the groundwork to walk away or renegotiate the price
Bloomberg
12:55 PM
SEC filing: Inflection AI, a human-computer interface startup headed by LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman and DeepMind's Mustafa Suleyman, raises $225M
TechCrunch
12:30 PM
Sources: Apple is testing iPhones with a USB-C port, and adapters for Lightning accessories, for 2023 at the earliest, to help it conform with looming EU rules
Bloomberg
11:40 AM
EU countries and parliament agree on cybersecurity rules requiring industries such as banking, energy, telecom, and transport to better protect their networks
Politico
11:00 AM
If crypto continues to integrate into the real economy, cryptocurrency sell-offs could impact ordinary people, especially if there are runs on stablecoins
Bloomberg
9:05 AM
Some local officials forced US schools and libraries to shut down or limit e-reader apps like Epic and OverDrive after conservative parents objected to content
NBC News
7:40 AM
London-based Token.io, an open banking-based account-to-account payments service, raises a $40M Series C co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap
TechCrunch
7:00 AM
Arm reports record 2021 revenue, up 35% YoY to $2.7B, due to licensing up 61% YoY to $1.13B and royalties up 20% YoY to $1.54B; 29.2B ARM chips shipped in 2021
Reuters
6:45 AM
Swiggy plans to acquire Dineout, a Times Internet-owned service for restaurant table reservations and events, a source says for $200M in an all-equity deal
TechCrunch
6:24 AM
Terraform Labs halts Terra block production for the second time in 24 hours “to come up with a plan to reconstitute” the network, after UST and LUNA collapsed
Bloomberg
6:12 AM
Elon Musk says his Twitter deal is “temporarily on hold” till a review of “spam/fake accounts”, but is “still committed to acquisition”; stock closes down 9.67%
Reuters
5:20 AM
US states and local governments are backing off banning facial recognition, amid rising crime and increased lobbying from facial recognition developers
Reuters
1:40 AM
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the enforcement of US laws should be seen as an urgent argument for strengthening encryption, not weakening it
Stanford CIS Blog
Thursday, May 12, 2022
9:50 PM
Google dodges sanctions after a US judge rules against the DOJ, which alleged that Google trains its staff to avoid legal discovery by copying counsel on emails
Bloomberg
7:55 PM
The DEA is investigating reports that hackers gained access to its Law Enforcement Inquiry and Alerts system that taps into 16 federal law enforcement databases
Krebs on Security
7:25 PM
New York-based Solidus Labs, a crypto risk monitoring startup that also protects from DeFi threats, raises a $45M Series B led by Liberty City Ventures
The Block
6:55 PM
In an email, Jason Calacanis says he is “collecting interest to invest in Twitter” as part of Elon Musk's buyout; the minimum investment to participate is $250K
CNBC
6:15 PM
PitchBook: 16 new VC funds with 60%+ female decision makers have raised $4.5B from January to April 2022; women-led funds raised $3.7B in 2021 and $1.8B in 2020
The Information
5:30 PM
SEC filing: FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried bought a 7.6% stake, worth $648M, in Robinhood, calling it “an attractive investment”; Robinhood stock is up 19%+
CNBC
5:15 PM
Coinbase's market cap falls to $12.98B from a $75B+ peak in 2021 as its stock closes at $58.50, far below its first day closing price of $328.28 in April 2021
Bloomberg
5:00 PM
Masayoshi Son says SoftBank plans to cut its startup investments by 50%-75% through March 2023, after Vision Fund reported a $20B+ loss for its fiscal year
Protocol
4:15 PM
Hollywood insiders explain celebrities' decreased interest in Twitter, seen as a high-risk, low-reward platform, and why Musk's ownership might make it worse
Washington Post
3:20 PM
Ex-Facebook crypto chief David Marcus launches Lightspark, a payments startup building on Bitcoin's Lightning network, backed by a16z, Paradigm, and others
TechCrunch
2:50 PM
Leaked memo: Apple is sending anti-union talking points to US retail store leaders, including that workers could lose “flexibility” and merit-based promotions
VICE
2:15 PM
Twitter's stock closes at $45.08, dropping the company's market cap to $9B below Elon Musk's purchase price of $54.20, amid investors' concerns about the deal
CNBC
2:00 PM
Milan-based payments giant Nexi acquires Berlin-based Orderbird, which provides point of sale products to hospitality businesses, sources say for €130M to €140M
TechCrunch
1:00 PM
In a memo, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces a hiring freeze and other cost-cutting efforts; VP of product Jay Sullivan will take over as head of product
Bloomberg
12:55 PM
Sources: Elon Musk is in talks to raise enough equity and preferred financing for his Twitter buyout to avoid a $6.25B margin loan linked to his Tesla shares
Bloomberg
12:36 PM
[Thread] Twitter product chief Kayvon Beykpour says he is leaving at the request of CEO Parag Agrawal, who wants to “take the team in a different direction”
@kayvz
12:32 PM
Terraform Labs resumes Terra block production, with staking disabled, after halting the blockchain “to prevent governance attacks” following LUNA's collapse
The Block
12:25 PM
Terra's LUNA drops to $0.01, a 99%+ decline in 24 hours, down from $60 earlier this week and $120 in mid-April, after Terra's UST stablecoin lost its dollar peg
CoinDesk
12:20 PM
Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino declines to reveal details about the company's $40B US government bond holdings, for fear of revealing its “secret sauce”
Financial Times
12:15 PM
Google says there are 110M monthly active devices using Android TV OS, up from 80M in May 2021, and it will let Android users cast to Google TV later this year
TechCrunch
11:35 AM
Spotify promotes Bill Simmons to oversee global sports strategy and Parcast founder and managing director Max Cutler to head of creator content and partnerships
The Verge
11:00 AM
Google and Samsung announce Health Connect, an initiative to simplify connectivity between health and fitness apps and let users share their data across apps
TechCrunch
10:40 AM
Mark Zuckerberg demos mixed reality on Meta's Project Cambria headset; Meta will enable MR app development for Quest 2 and Cambria via its Presence Platform
CNET
9:35 AM
São Paulo-based Dock, a full-stack payments and digital banking service, raises $110M led by Lightrock and Silver Lake Waterman at a $1.5B+ valuation
TechCrunch
9:25 AM
A Q&A with crypto skeptic Molly White, who runs Web3 Is Going Just Great, on Web3's problems, cultural draw, privacy and potential harassment issues, and more
HBR.org
9:05 AM
Tifin, which offers wealth and asset management investments, raises a $109M Series D at an $842M valuation, bringing its total funding to ~$204M in 18 months
TechCrunch
8:50 AM
MicroStrategy's massive bitcoin bet has become a $330M paper loss as bitcoin trades around $28K; MicroStrategy holds 129,218 BTC, bought for $30,700 on average
The Block
8:15 AM
Creators who quit YouTube keep returning despite “YouTube brain”, where creators are creatively and financially subject to the whims of viewer attention spans
Vox
7:30 AM
Foxconn reports Q1 net profit rose 5% YoY to ~$985M but warns Q2 revenue could slip due to rising inflation, cooling demand, and escalating supply chain issues
Reuters
7:25 AM
Lagos-based payments company Interswitch raises $110M from LeapFrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital, after Visa paid $200M for a 20% stake in November 2019
TechCrunch
6:50 AM
Mercury Research: AMD hit a record 27.7% of the x86 market in Q1, up from 25.6% in Q4 2021; desktop PCs declined by 30%, the largest quarterly drop in history
Tom's Hardware
6:15 AM
Bitcoin's plunging value in 2022 mirrors losses in the Nasdaq, a benchmark weighted toward tech stocks, toppling 2021's belief it is a hedge against inflation
New York Times
6:00 AM
After mocking Apple for removing the iPhone's headphone jack in an August 2021 ad for the Pixel 5a, Google quietly drops the headphone jack with the Pixel 6a
The Verge
5:55 AM
Google plans to update 20+ of its apps with tablet optimizations in the coming weeks, as the company seeks to improve the Android experience on large screens
Wired
5:50 AM
Google I/O 2022 presented a modest vision of the future, offering subtle changes to existing products; executives said “help”, “helping”, or “helpful” 50+ times
New York Times
5:45 AM
A look at Google's “ambient computing” strategy, a bid to unify its disparate hardware lines, led by the Pixel team, while keeping its Android partners happy
The Verge
5:01 AM
Bitcoin fell below $26K for the first time since December 2020, down 20%+ in a week; ether fell to $1,704, its lowest level since July 2021, down 30%+ in a week
CNBC
4:25 AM
SoftBank reports a record $26.2B loss at its Vision Fund investment arm, leading the group to a $13.15B annual net loss, as stocks drop and interest rates rise
Reuters
4:20 AM
Tether, the largest stablecoin, briefly drops to a 24-hour low of $0.96; Binance USD and USDC are both trading at around $1
The Block
2:20 AM
London-based BVNK, which offers payment and banking services for crypto businesses, raises a $40M Series A led by Tiger Global at a $340M post-money valuation
TechCrunch
1:40 AM
A Q&A with James Park, Fitbit's co-founder and Google's wearables division head, on how the Pixel Watch factors into Fitbit and its future plans, and more
CNET
12:45 AM
San Francisco Police Department training document: video footage from autonomous vehicles that continuously record their surroundings can be used as evidence
VICE
12:20 AM
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says there's “no risk of bankruptcy” after a company filing said that users could lose all their crypto in “bankruptcy proceedings”
Financial Times
12:05 AM
Twitter launches Data Dash, a browser game intended to explain some of the site's privacy settings, as part of a bigger push around its rewritten privacy policy
The Verge
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
11:45 PM
Google releases Android 13 Beta 2 with finer privacy controls, an improved Material You theming system, the ability to change the language of each app, and more
Neowin
11:25 PM
Google launches Flutter 3, making the multiplatform UI development framework generally available for Linux and macOS, adding Apple Silicon support, and more
TechCrunch
11:10 PM
After UST's collapse, most rival algorithmic stablecoins are below their dollar peg; the biggest non-algorithmic stablecoins USDT and USDC are mostly holding
Bloomberg
11:00 PM
Google announces Workspace updates, such as AI-based tools to control how Meet users look and sound despite their hardware and automated meeting transcriptions
The Verge
10:30 PM
Google confirms that Messages for Android will get end-to-end encryption for RCS group chats, rolling out “later this year” in open beta
9to5Google
10:20 PM
Sources: Instacart confidentially filed documents for an IPO, which could happen as soon as 2022, though the timing could slip or the startup could stay private
Bloomberg
8:55 PM
Nexite, which develops a tagging system and data platform to track merchandise in physical stores, raises a $67M Series C, bringing its total funding to $100M
TechCrunch
8:20 PM
A US appeals court rules 2-1 to let Texas enforce a social media law stopping Twitter, Facebook, and other services with 50M+ users from moderating content
The Verge
7:50 PM
Sources: the SEC is probing Elon Musk's late filing about his Twitter shares on April 4, 10+ days after his stake passed the 5%+ trigger point for disclosure
Wall Street Journal
7:40 PM
Andrew Bosworth told Reality Labs staff that Meta plans to cut or delay some projects and details will come within a week; Meta says there won't be layoffs
Reuters
7:35 PM
Bumble's shares jump 10%+ to as high as $20.67 after hours, after beating estimates with a Q1 revenue of $211.2M, up 24% YoY, and paying users up 7% YoY to 3M
Bloomberg
7:15 PM
Source: Chelsea Football Club struck a £20M shirt-sleeve sponsorship deal with crypto trading app WhaleFin, owned by Singapore-based Amber Group, in January
Financial Times
7:10 PM
Disney's streaming subscribers hit 205.6M globally in Q2: Disney+ added 7.9M subscribers to reach 137.7M, Hulu added 300K to 45.6M, and ESPN+ added 1M to 22.3M
The Hollywood Reporter
6:15 PM
Appeals court rules Texas social media law can proceed
Protocol
5:50 PM
Google lowers the minimum price for Android apps to $0.05 in 20+ emerging markets and will let developers in those regions create prepaid app subscription plans
TechCrunch