Techmeme
March 23, 2016, 9:55 PM

Top News

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google debuts Cloud Machine Learning Platform to assist in developing pre-trained machine learning models and building new models from scratch  —  Google launches new machine learning platform  —  Google today announced a new machine learning platform for developers at its NEXT Google Cloud Platform user conference in San Francisco.
Steve Kovach / Tech Insider:
Pebble lays off 40 employees, about 25% of staff, blames tough fundraising climate, has raised $26M over last 8 months on top of $20M Kickstarter campaign  —  Smartwatch company Pebble is laying off 25% of its staff  —  Pebble, the buzzy startup credited for being one of the first companies …
Jason Del Rey / Re/code:
Sources: Apple Pay coming to mobile websites, will be available to Safari users on iPad and iPhone with Touch ID this year  —  Apple Pay Coming to Mobile Websites Before Holiday Shopping Season  —  Apple Pay is finally ready to move beyond apps.  —  Apple has been telling potential partners …
Kwame Opam / The Verge:
Pornhub launches new channel devoted to VR porn, offers free 180-degree, 360-degree content  —  Pornhub launches a new channel devoted to VR porn  —  Pornhub, one of the largest porn sites online, has just launched a new section devoted to VR porn.  The company is partnering …
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
Microsoft introduces Tay, an AI chatbot that's learned how to behave from young adults' online conversations and is debuting on Kik, GroupMe, and Twitter  —  Microsoft's New AI-Powered Chatbot Mimics A 19-Year-Old American Girl  —  Microsoft's new AI-powered chatbot, Tay …
Itika Sharma Punit / Quartz:
Uber sues India competitor Ola, alleges it booked over 400K fake rides from 90K spam accounts, seeks $7.4M in damages  —  Uber sues Ola for allegedly using the same dirty tricks Uber was accused of using on Lyft and Gett  —  The race in the Indian taxi app business may have entered a second—and more intense—lap.
Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
US Government Charges Three Suspected Members of Infamous Syrian Electronic Army  —  On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DoJ) unsealed myriad computer hacking charges against three men for their alleged links to the hacking group Syrian Electronic Army (SEA).
Yoree Koh / Wall Street Journal:
Source: Pinterest, which projected $3B in 2018 revenues, made about $100M in US ad revenue in 2015, expects non-US users to become majority of audience in 2016  —  Pinterest Works to Pin Down Path to Wider International Audience  —  In an effort to grow, the company is trying to make the image-discovery site less U.S.-centric
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
Blendle launches pay-per-story app in the US with articles from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, and Financial Times, starting at $.09 each  —  Paid journalism startup Blendle launches in the U.S.  —  Blendle, the Dutch journalism start-up developing an iTunes-style payment method …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google Photos will automatically suggest new albums, curate what it thinks are the best shots, tag location, and add maps in new update  —  Albums in Google Photos get smarter, now let you add maps, locations, and captions  —  Google Photos launched last year with numerous smart features …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Nielsen to Break Out Metrics for Apple TV, Roku, Other Connected-TV Devices  —  Nielsen promises to give clients a look next month at usage metrics for connected-TV devices — including Roku and Apple TV set-tops — segmented by individual brand and device type.

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