Techmeme River
Techmeme River
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
5:05 PM
Dell to spin off its stake in VMware and use the proceeds of $9.3B-$9.7B to pay down Dell's debt, expecting to close the deal in Q4; Dell stock up 8%+
ZDNet
4:10 PM
Ford unveils BlueCruise, its “hands-free” advanced driver assist system, limited for use on 100,000 miles of highways, coming to 2021 F-150 and Mach-E in 2021
The Verge
3:55 PM
Profile of 23-year-old Nick Lim, who founded Vancouver-based VanwaTech, a hosting provider for white supremacist websites like Daily Stormer and 8kun
Bloomberg
3:05 PM
Twitter says it will study any “unintentional harms” caused by its algorithms and will make the findings public as part of its Responsible ML Initiative
Engadget
2:45 PM
TrillerNet, parent of TikTok competitor Triller, acquires customer engagement platform Amplify.AI and combat sports streaming and events service FITE TV
TechCrunch
2:25 PM
How Walmart's Marketplace, which grew from six third-party sellers in 2014 to ~70K in 2020, is competing with Amazon, as some worry Walmart's system is stressed
Reuters
1:55 PM
Sources: Indian startup Zeta, which helps banks launch fintech products, is in talks to raise ~$250M Series D led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2
TechCrunch
1:50 PM
Federal regulators say hospitals and health insurers can't use code that hides healthcare pricing data from web searches
Wall Street Journal
1:34 PM
Coinbase shares close at $328.28, valuing the company at $85.78B, down from its open of $381; Nasdaq listed shares at $250 before Wednesday's open
CNBC
1:20 PM
Internal memo: three high-ranking Shopify executives, the chief technology officer, chief talent officer, and chief legal officer, are leaving in June
Ottawa Business Journal
1:15 PM
US Senate confirms Gary Gensler as chairman of the SEC; Gensler oversaw the CFTC under Obama and taught classes at MIT on digital assets and blockchain
The Block
12:45 PM
Customers describe unhappiness with Apple contractor Phobio's handling of trade-ins, with quotes for devices slashed for alleged “defects” after being sent in
The Verge
12:25 PM
Google announces Assistant updates, including helping find misplaced iPhones, even those in silent mode, and improvements to online food ordering checkout
9to5Google
12:05 PM
Parallels releases Desktop 16.5 with native Apple Silicon support, letting users run Windows 10 ARM Insider Preview on M1 Macs, and touts improved performance
9to5Mac
11:55 AM
Scale AI, which helps companies manage data for AI applications, raises $325M at a $7.3B valuation, up from a $3.5B valuation in December 2020
Fortune
11:50 AM
Over 500,000 small Indian businesses are planning to protest Amazon and other foreign retailers, coinciding with Amazon's annual four-day sales event
Bloomberg
11:40 AM
Sunday, which helps restaurants improve their checkout flow, raises $24M seed at a $140M post-money valuation led by Coatue
TechCrunch
11:30 AM
Sources detail how Amazon uses its power across markets to compel vendors in one market to accept its terms in others, including threatening punitive action
Wall Street Journal
11:20 AM
Draft White House plan to shore up the security of the power grid, especially against cyberattacks, includes incentives for electric companies and more
Bloomberg
11:15 AM
Instagram says it is running a global test to let users turn off Like counts on their own or others' posts; Facebook says it will also run a similar test
TechCrunch
10:55 AM
Twitter's Trending Topics, designed to surface significant news, invariably leads to context collapse, where disparate audiences are lecturing past each other
Galaxy Brain
10:35 AM
Sources: Indonesia's Gojek and Tokopedia are finalizing an $18B merger, creating a combined company called Goto, in a deal expected to close as early as April
The Information
10:30 AM
China's antitrust watchdog publishes strikingly similar statements from 12 companies, including ByteDance and JD.com, pledging compliance with antimonopoly laws
Wall Street Journal
10:27 AM
Ireland's Data Protection Commission says it is investigating Facebook's data leak that recently resulted in personal info of 533M accounts being posted online
TechCrunch
10:20 AM
Abu Dhabi's Group 42, which offers AI and cloud computing products aimed at digitizing enterprises, raises ~$800M from Silver Lake for a minority stake
Wall Street Journal
10:15 AM
Groq, which makes chips for data centers and autonomous vehicles, raises $300M Series C, led by Tiger Global and D1 Capital, at a $1B+ valuation
Forbes
10:10 AM
Hundreds of executives and companies, including Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, sign a statement opposing “any discriminatory legislation” around voting
New York Times
10:05 AM
University of Washington researchers partner with Apple to study how Apple Watch may be used to predict respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 or flu
AppleInsider
9:55 AM
Wire, an enterprise-focused end-to-end encrypted messaging app raises $21M Series B led by UVC Partners
TechCrunch
9:50 AM
Oculus says v28 software update to Quest 2 will add an Air Link mode to play PC VR games wirelessly, a 120Hz refresh rate, and improvements to Infinite Office
UploadVR
9:45 AM
Upstack, which helps businesses choose better cloud and other digital services, raises $50M, bringing its total raised to ~$85M
TechCrunch
9:35 AM
Leaked Android 12 build gives a look at upcoming features, including quick settings, volume panel UI, location permissions, and clipboard access notification
XDA Developers
9:30 AM
Plex raises $50M+ Series C from existing investor Intercap, bringing its total raised to $60M, and says it has more than 25M registered users globally
Variety
9:25 AM
Amazon unveils second-gen Echo Buds with a 20% smaller design and enhanced noise cancellation for $120 or $140 with a wireless charging case
The Verge
9:00 AM
Google's decision to fire two of its top AI ethics researchers has triggered waves of protest from academics, as some say its research can't be trusted any more
The Verge
8:35 AM
Sources: Australian company Azimuth unlocked San Bernardino shooter's iPhone for FBI, using a flaw in Mozilla's open source code used for lightning accessories
Washington Post
8:15 AM
Atrium, which uses AI to surface opportunities for sales managers and closely track actual levels of customer engagement, raises $13.5M in seed funding
VentureBeat
7:45 AM
Kuo: 2023 iPhones will feature an under-display Face ID system alongside a new periscope telephoto lens
MacRumors
7:20 AM
A look at Nick Clegg's role in leading Facebook's PR effort to persuade us that liberal democracy is safe with Facebook
The New York Review of Books
6:55 AM
Spotify has now removed 42 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, offering no explanations for the removals
Digital Music News
6:40 AM
Sony unveils 6.5" Xperia 1 III and 6.1" Xperia 5 III flagships with variable telephoto lenses, Snapdragon 888, three 12MP rear cameras, and 4,500mAH battery
The Verge
6:10 AM
Sale doc: Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak raises $234M round led by Microsoft, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and local media conglomerate Emtek
Reuters
5:25 AM
Kuo: 2022 iPhone lineup will feature two 6.1" and two 6.7" devices, no mini-sized 5.4"; high end models will have 48MP camera and 8K video capability
MacRumors
4:40 AM
The debate over retiring engineering terms like “slave” and “blacklist” has led to nearly a year of back and forth discussion at Internet Engineering Task Force
New York Times
2:50 AM
A marketing manager at Tencent details the company's localization strategy for making Chinese games popular in Japan, where customer acquisition costs are high
GamesIndustry.biz
1:10 AM
A glossary to help decode the language used by Google and Facebook to reassure the public about AI responsibility without inviting deeper scrutiny
MIT Technology Review
12:10 AM
A look at IBM's Project Debater, an AI system that struggled to persuade a human audience in its first public debate despite excelling in analysis of evidence
New Yorker
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
11:35 PM
Report: in pitch decks submitted to US advertisers about new ad formats, TikTok says it has 732M MAUs globally, 100M+ in the US, 59% of its users are under 24
Social Media Today
10:55 PM
Since October, the NYPD has deployed a quadruped robot called Spot to a handful of crime scenes and hostage situations, raising fears of unwanted surveillance
Gothamist
9:30 PM
Stitch Fix says founder Katrina Lake will step down as CEO and become executive chairwoman starting August 1, names President Elizabeth Spaulding as next CEO
Wall Street Journal
8:55 PM
Degreed, a software company that helps businesses upskill their employees, raises $153M Series D at a $1.4B valuation, up from $710M last year
Bloomberg
8:07 PM
The DOJ says the FBI performed a court-approved operation to “copy and remove malicious web shells” on hundreds of hacked Exchange servers across the US
VICE
7:20 PM
Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on April 28, as rumors point to Galaxy Book laptops, teasing “the most powerful Galaxy is coming”
CNET
7:05 PM
1Password acquires secrets management service SecretHub and launches Secrets Automation, a tool for companies to safeguard enterprise credentials
VentureBeat
6:05 PM
Comments from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile suggest they have killed their joint Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative, which aimed to establish RCS interoperability
Light Reading
5:10 PM
Nasdaq sets Coinbase's reference price at $250 per share for its direct listing, which would value the cryptocurrency exchange at $65.3B
CNBC
4:24 PM
Alphabet shareholder Trillium Asset Management pushes Google for better whistleblower protections, referencing the firing of Timnit Gebru and a 2020 NLRB report
Wall Street Journal
4:10 PM
Over 650 tech workers at the NYT announce they have formed a union to be represented by the NewsGuild of New York and are seeking union recognition from the NYT
New York Times
2:45 PM
In its April batch of patches, Microsoft fixes 108 flaws, including 19 “critical” flaws, five 0-days, and four NSA-discovered critical Exchange flaws
BleepingComputer
1:59 PM
Researcher told Valve about a bug in its graphics engine in 2019 that could let hackers take over players' PCs via Steam invite; bug remains in some Valve games
VICE
1:15 PM
Filings by Chinese customs authorities show the country imported 155.6B semiconductor units in Q1, worth $93.6B, up 33.6% YoY
South China Morning Post
1:00 PM
Ex-Pinterest employee Ifeoma Ozoma describes why she helped draft the Silenced No More Act, a CA bill aiming to let discriminated-against employees bypass NDAs
New York Times
12:50 PM
Tiger Global is playing a different venture game by paying far more than competitors, speeding up diligence, and adopting a lightweight post-investment approach
The Valley of Dunning-Kruger
12:35 PM
Disney, Viacom, and 10 ad tech companies agree to remove or disable software from children's apps that could target children with ads, resolving three lawsuits
New York Times
12:29 PM
Sources: Stripe's revenue rose nearly 70% last year to about $7.4B as the pandemic boosted e-commerce
Wall Street Journal
12:20 PM
Facebook VP of Integrity Guy Rosen called the return of the Honduran president's disinformation campaign a “bummer” in 2019, but it continued for 11 months
The Guardian
12:07 PM
Apple announces an online event on April 20 at 10am PT, entitled “Spring Loaded”, where new iPad Pro devices and more are expected
MacRumors
12:00 PM
HomeX, which pairs service workers with homeowners and uses AI to diagnose home-related issues, raises $90M, says number of contractors on HomeX rose 5x in 2020
TechCrunch
11:30 AM
Clearcover, which uses AI to find affordable auto insurance, raises $200M Series D, source says at a $1B+ valuation, aims to expand to ~25 states by end of year
Reuters
11:05 AM
From BitClout to income share agreements at Lambda School, the future of work feels like a pyramid scheme where you can package and sell others' potential
Dror Poleg
10:42 AM
Tempo, which sells smart fitness workout devices starting at $2,495, raises $220M Series C led by SoftBank, says users have worked out 5M times on Tempo devices
TechCrunch
10:20 AM
Contextual adtech company GumGum raises $75M, sources say at a ~$700M valuation, almost tripling from last funding round, as Google and Apple limit targeted ads
Wall Street Journal
10:05 AM
Spotify announces Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car, launching today for free for select US users
The Verge
10:00 AM
SambaNova Systems, which is developing chips for AI training and inference workloads, raises $676M Series D led by SoftBank, at a $5B+ post-money valuation
VentureBeat
9:55 AM
Roku starts rolling out Roku OS 10, adding AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support for HD devices and introducing Instant Resume for faster reload times
Engadget
9:50 AM
Epic Games raises $1B at a $28.7B equity valuation, including an additional $200M from Sony
Variety
9:45 AM
Facebook is testing a free video speed dating app called Sparked, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account
The Verge
9:40 AM
ConsenSys raises $65M from JP Morgan, Mastercard, UBS AG, and others to build the infrastructure for DeFi apps
TechCrunch
9:25 AM
Microsoft debuts a $70 webcam and $100 USB-C speaker, available in June, new USB and wireless headsets, and Surface Headphones 2 Plus
The Verge
9:19 AM
Roku announces a trio of new devices: $40 Express 4K Plus streaming device, a $30 rechargeable Voice Remote Pro, and $180 Streambar Pro
Ars Technica
9:17 AM
Microsoft unveils Surface Laptop 4 with 13.5" and 15" displays, starting at $999 for AMD model and $1,299 for Intel, shipping April 15 in US, Canada, and Japan
The Verge
8:50 AM
Facebook Oversight Board will now accept appeals to remove content from Facebook and Instagram; previously, users were only able to appeal to restore content
Oversight Board
8:40 AM
China orders 34 internet companies to rectify their anti-competitive practices in the next month, signaling that its internet crackdown didn't end with Alibaba
Bloomberg
8:20 AM
OnePlus Watch review: long battery life, nice finish, and low price, but no voice assistant, no always-on display, few notification options, only one big size
The Verge
8:00 AM
Bitcoin rises to an all-time high of $63,246, exceeding the previous peak in March
Bloomberg
7:40 AM
Researchers find new vulnerabilities called NAME:WRECK in the TCP/IP stack that impact hundreds of millions of servers, smart devices, and industrial equipment
The Record
7:20 AM
Grab is going public on Nasdaq via SPAC, raising $4B+ at a ~$39.6B valuation; deal would make it the first Southeast Asian tech unicorn to go public via SPAC
Bloomberg
6:50 AM
Through her version of Fearless, Taylor Swift is showing artists how to use the power of the internet to ascribe value to work they own and devalue the rest
Stratechery
5:50 AM
Researchers: 538K Huawei Android devices have Joker malware, via ten apps in Huawei's AppGallery, after Play Store's similar issues with Joker-infected apps
BleepingComputer
4:35 AM
Siri Reveals Apple Event Planned for Tuesday, April 20
MacRumors
2:50 AM
Berlin-based Grover, which runs a subscription business where people rent out consumer electronics, raises €45M Series B in equity and €15M debt
TechCrunch
12:50 AM
Sources: travel booking site Trip.com, formerly called Ctrip, plans to raise ~$1.09B in its Hong Kong secondary listing; its US shares have risen ~4% this year
Bloomberg
Monday, April 12, 2021
11:25 PM
Court filings show that Epic committed $444M to “minimum guarantees” for game developers that release on Epic Games Store but stay off of Steam for a year
PC Gamer
10:55 PM
Google expands Lens beyond mobile by rolling it out inside Google Photos for the web, allowing desktop users to copy text from images using OCR
Android Police
10:20 PM
Cloudflare says Cloudflare Pages, a tool it announced in December 2020 for easily developing and deploying websites, is now available for everyone
The Cloudflare Blog
9:15 PM
Senator Josh Hawley unveils a proposal aimed at Big Tech that would bolster antitrust laws and ban acquisitions by companies with a market cap of over $100B
Axios
8:55 PM
Data of 21M ParkMobile customers, including emails and license plate numbers, is up for sale; ParkMobile had disclosed a cybersecurity incident on March 26
Krebs on Security
8:15 PM
Google to shut down Play Movies and TV app for Roku, Samsung, LG, and Vizio on June 15, will push users to use YouTube instead
9to5Google
8:05 PM
Brave is disabling Google's FLoC tracking method from all of its releases, saying it materially harms user privacy under the guise of being privacy-friendly
Brave Browser
7:55 PM
Court orders Charter to pay $19.2M to Windstream for lying to customers that Windstream was going out of business in order to trick them into switching ISPs
Ars Technica
7:30 PM
Sources: Anduril Industries is raising a new round that could value the military drone and surveillance startup between $4B-$5B, over double its value in July
The Information
7:15 PM
Researchers have discovered a flaw where any user can deactivate another user's WhatsApp via multiple 2FA requests and emailing support to deactivate account
Forbes
6:40 PM
Facebook to host Oculus Gaming Showcase, a virtual event focused exclusively on VR games, on April 21, with streams on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch
UploadVR
6:15 PM
HSBC bans its InvestDirect clients from buying shares of MicroStrategy over cryptocurrency exposure concerns, after other anti-crypto moves by Europe's top bank
Cointelegraph
4:55 PM
Sources: DealShare, an Indian social commerce startup initially focused on WhatsApp, raises $100M Series D led by Tiger Global, after its $21M Series C in Dec.
TechCrunch
4:35 PM
Despite the backlash, Free Software Foundation doubles down on restoring Richard M. Stallman to its board after he issued a defensive non-apology apology
ZDNet
4:20 PM
Binance launches Stock Tokens, a zero-commission tokenized stock trading service that lets users buy fractions of companies' shares, starting with Tesla
CoinDesk
3:55 PM
Nvidia unveils eight new RTX GPUs for laptops, desktops, and datacenter workstations, with over 2x performance improvements touted for many workflows
VentureBeat
3:35 PM
Following WH roundtable, Intel says it wants to help manufacture chips for car makers in the next 6-9 months to alleviate the US auto industry's chip shortage
Reuters
3:15 PM
Nuance is Microsoft's fourth $5B+ acquisition since 2016; other than Microsoft, only Amazon among the Big Five has spent $5B+ on an acquisition in that span
CNBC
2:30 PM
The FCC releases a speed test app on Android and iOS to help measure internet speeds in the US, and will use the data to inform its broadband deployment efforts
The Verge
2:20 PM
Nvidia will let customers rent its DGX A100 SuperPod mini supercomputers instead of buying them and introduces a subscription offering
VentureBeat
2:00 PM
Salesforce to reopen its San Francisco tower in May, initially for people who are fully vaccinated, but employees can work from home through 2021
CNBC
1:54 PM
Nvidia debuts Drive Atlan SoC for autonomous vehicles that is 4x to 33x as powerful as its other autonomous driving-focused chips, Drive Xavier and Drive Orin
VentureBeat
1:30 PM
Twitter says it plans to hire its first product and engineering teams in Africa, based in Ghana, calling the country a “champion of democracy”
Bloomberg
1:26 PM
Nvidia debuts TAO, an enterprise workflow for AI development incorporating Nvidia TensorRT and Nvidia's Transfer Learning Toolkit, now available in early access
VentureBeat
1:17 PM
Nvidia announces Omniverse Enterprise suite for real-time remote, collaborative, photorealistic graphics design in a shared virtual space
SiliconANGLE
1:05 PM
Nvidia launches Jarvis conversational AI framework in general availability, after garnering 45K+ downloads since launching in preview in May of last year
VentureBeat
1:02 PM
Intel's Mobileye says it will launch a fully driverless delivery service in 2023 and is working with Udelv to make 35,000 autonomous delivery vehicles by 2028
The Verge
12:45 PM
Nvidia announces Morpheus, an AI-powered cloud-native app framework to help cybersecurity providers detect and prevent breaches in real-time, now in preview
VentureBeat
12:35 PM
Nvidia unveils Grace, a high-performance Arm-based server CPU for large-scale neural network workloads, expected to become available in Nvidia products in 2023
AnandTech
12:25 PM
MLB announces that venerable trading card company Topps will begin selling new NFT baseball cards via the WAX blockchain starting on April 20
The Verge
11:35 AM
Apple Support docs show that unusual mid-production hardware changes were made to its A12, A13, and S5 chips last fall, to update the Secure Storage Component
MacRumors
10:30 AM
Estonia-based identity verification startup Veriff raises $69M Series B led by IVP and Accel, bringing its total raised to $92.8M
Forbes
9:35 AM
Filing: Uber says its mobility unit passed $30B in annualized gross bookings in March and its delivery unit passed a $52B annualized run rate, up 150% YoY
CNBC
8:50 AM
Sources: White House chip shortage meeting with Alphabet, Intel, TSMC, GM, and others is to air grievances and isn't expected to produce substantive outcomes
Bloomberg
8:45 AM
Austin-based insurance comparison service The Zebra raises $150M Series D at a $1B+ valuation, bringing its total raised to $251.5M
Crunchbase News
8:36 AM
Microsoft says it has acquired speech tech company Nuance for $19.7B in cash, a 23% premium on its Friday closing price, as it boosts its healthcare offerings
Microsoft
8:30 AM
Huawei says it will invest $1B in researching self-driving and EV tech this year, following Xiaomi's similar $10B investment over a decade
Bloomberg
8:25 AM
A look at eLocust3m, an app that uses AI and GPS to combat locust swarms in East Africa, replacing an antiquated tablet-based program
New York Times
8:15 AM
After a $2.8B fine, Alibaba says it is unaware of other investigations under China's anti-monopoly law, besides inquiries into M&A that span the entire industry
Bloomberg
8:05 AM
Google urges Biden admin to join a US-EU technology council to prevent further barriers to trade and data flows, citing an “explosion in national policies”
ZDNet
7:35 AM
Under intense pressure from China, Ant Group will become a financial holding company that is regulated more like a bank, among other changes
Bloomberg
7:30 AM
India has had 10 new unicorns this year vs. 11 in all of 2020; Tiger Global has invested in over 20 Indian unicorns
TechCrunch
7:25 AM
Google is rolling out “Heads Up”, a Digital Wellbeing feature that tells users to raise their head when walking while on Pixel devices
XDA Developers
7:20 AM
British cybersecurity company Darktrace announces plans for a London IPO; one source says it could value the company at around $3B to $4B
Bloomberg
7:15 AM
Apple and Google block an update to NHS COVID-19 app that uploads logs of venue check-ins, citing API terms on collecting location data
BBC
6:40 AM
Sources: Apple is in early stages of developing a product that combines an Apple TV with a HomePod speaker and has a FaceTime camera and smart home functions
Bloomberg
6:25 AM
Sources detail how Facebook allowed state-backed political manipulation in small countries, prioritizing abuses considered PR risks in countries like the US
The Guardian
5:10 AM
How startups like Blockchain.com, banks, exchanges, and states like Wyoming are expanding crypto trading infrastructure to traditional capital markets
Wall Street Journal
4:05 AM
Russian e-commerce company Ozon says it will apply for a banking license to expand its fintech services, and plans to offer loans to merchants
Financial Times
1:10 AM
Sources: Apple faces supply constraints due to issues with MiniLED display production, but still plans to debut two iPad Pros later this month
Bloomberg
Sunday, April 11, 2021
10:30 PM
Biden administration announces the nominations of ex-NSA deputy director Chris Inglis as first national cyber director and Jen Easterly as CISA head
Washington Post
10:15 PM
A look at Tencent's TJ Sports, which surpassed $152M in total revenue since 2019 and runs the League of Legends Pro League, the largest esports league by size
Bloomberg
8:15 PM
Employees at Tencent Music, Meituan, and other Chinese tech giants are expecting increased antitrust scrutiny and penalties after Alibaba's record $2.8B fine
Financial Times
7:45 PM
Apple should stop saying the App Store adds meaningful security, which seeds cynicism among devs, and focus more on macOS-style system-level protections for iOS
David Heinemeier Hansson
7:29 PM
Substack strikes deals with trans writers, amid claims it supports allegedly anti-trans writers and is a kind of lucrative off ramp for “cancel culture” victims
New York Times
6:45 PM
Israel-based Talon Cyber Security, which is developing software to protect distributed work forces as enterprises shift to hybrid work models, raises $26M seed
Globes Online
4:45 PM
Responding to Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, Apple says it will make Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer available at an upcoming hearing on app stores
Bloomberg
3:55 PM
Reporting on tech from India “feels like having a front-row seat to the country's rapid slide into authoritarianism”, as Big Tech companies remain silent
BuzzFeed News
2:55 PM
Google confirms it is ending support for Google Shopping apps on Android and iOS, as it expands shopping functionality in Search and apps like YouTube
9to5Google
12:25 PM
Sources: Microsoft in advanced talks to buy speech technology company Nuance Communications for ~$16B, or $56 a share, a 23% premium to Nuance's Friday close
Bloomberg
12:10 PM
Game streaming services like Xbox Game Pass allow disabled gamers to try new games without wasting money on potentially inaccessible games
Wired
6:55 AM
Adding crypto to IndiaStack, a set of national APIs for payments and identity, could allow India to build an OSS stack for domestic and foreign transactions
Balaji S. Srinivasan
1:50 AM
Austin has been a top location for tech workers leaving CA amid the pandemic, and residents are worried about how the new wave is affecting Austin's culture
Bloomberg
Saturday, April 10, 2021
9:35 PM
Erroneously unredacted court docs in Texas antitrust case expand on Facebook and Google's Jedi Blue deal, detail Google's secret “Project Bernanke” program
Wall Street Journal
7:20 PM
Database containing 1.3M Clubhouse profiles was posted to a hacker forum; Clubhouse says it hasn't been breached, and the data is public info from its app
CyberNews
4:30 PM
Some SMB owners who advertise heavily online say Facebook is speaking the truth about how iOS privacy changes might disproportionately affect such businesses
Wall Street Journal
2:30 PM
Sources: ISPs in the US are seeing delays as long as 60 weeks, more than double previous waits, when ordering internet routers, due to the global chip shortage
Bloomberg
1:35 PM
Research: non-bank lenders have issued asset-backed bonds to help finance about $2B of loans to fast-growing but unprofitable software companies since November
Wall Street Journal
12:05 PM
Sources: Byju's is raising about $1B from B Capital and others at a valuation of about $15B, with plans to raise a further $200M to $300M in the coming weeks
Bloomberg
12:00 PM
Ernst & Young: venture funding in the US hit $64B in Q1, the highest amount ever for a single quarter and equal to 43% of all the venture money raised in 2020
CNBC
11:45 AM
Current and ex-employees say inattention to data protection at Verkada is emblematic of a “bro culture” that tolerated sexual harassment, misleading customers
Bloomberg
10:10 AM
Sources: Sony's PlayStation organization has shifted its development focus to prioritize AAA games at the expense of projects from its niche teams and studios
Bloomberg
8:20 AM
Profile of Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami, who tweets relentlessly about Miami's merits as a hub for the tech industry, but has a relatively powerless job
Bloomberg
6:15 AM
A look at Tattle Life, a gossip forum where users dox celebrities and influencers, dissect their personal lives, and target them with vicious comments
New Statesman
4:10 AM
Platforms like Douyin in China have become live online labs where grassroots nationalists and state media collaborate to harass critics at home and abroad
Protocol
2:05 AM
Researchers say Facebook has known for years about exploits similar to the one that used its “contact importer”, enabling the scraping of 533M users' data
Wired
1:50 AM
Logitech to stop making its Harmony line of universal remotes effective immediately, says software and app support will be available for the foreseeable future
TechHive
12:55 AM
Analysis finds that an OpenCV-based facial recognition model used by exam monitoring software Proctorio fails to recognize Black faces more than 50% of the time
VICE
12:15 AM
1,200+ Alphabet employees have signed a letter asking the company to stop protecting harassers, following a NYT op-ed by an ex-employee who alleged harassment
The Verge
Friday, April 9, 2021
11:12 PM
The White House has asked Congress to approve $150M to fund two new manufacturing plans, including one targeting domestic semiconductor manufacturing
Windows Central
10:20 PM
China says it is imposing a record $2.8B fine on Alibaba for monopolistic business practices; Alibaba says it will accept the penalty “sincerely”
New York Times
9:55 PM
The FBI arrested a far-right extremist who allegedly plotted to destroy AWS data centers in Virginia with C-4; FBI was tipped off by posts following Jan. 6 riot
Wired
8:35 PM
At Pwn2Own, researchers unveil a flaw in Zoom that could let hackers perform an RCE exploit on a victim who is on a call; Zoom says it is working on a fix
Malwarebytes Labs
8:05 PM
Sources: Didi Chuxing has filed confidentially with the SEC for an IPO that could value it at $70B-$100B, and is raising $1.5B in debt financing from banks
Bloomberg
6:45 PM
White House will host a virtual semiconductor summit on Monday with execs from Intel, Samsung, HP, Alphabet, and more, as it begins a review of US supply chains
CNBC