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Techmeme
April 5, 2019, 11:00 AM

Top News

Kelsey Piper / Vox:
Google says it is dissolving its week-old AI ethics board, following controversy over several of the board members  —  The controversial panel lasted just a little over a week.  —  This week, Vox and other outlets reported that Google's newly created AI ethics board was falling apart amid controversy …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Amazon is readying AirPods-like wireless earbuds with built-in Alexa for as early as the second half of this year  —  - Company plans wireless earbuds for second half of this year  — Move is attempt to take Alexa mobile after flopped Fire phone
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Ian Goodfellow, known as the father of an AI approach known as generative adversarial networks, has joined Apple in a director role, coming from Google  —  - Ian Goodfellow joined Apple's Special Projects Group as a director of machine learning last month.  — Prior to Google …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
Google pilots a row of ads on the Android TV home screen of Sony smart TVs, NVIDIA Shield TV, others; users say they cannot disable the ads  —  Users are reportedly not enjoying Google's “pilot program.”  —  Google is trying out a new “Pilot Program” that puts a row of advertisements on the Android TV home screen.
EU Press Room:
EU charges Valve and five game publishers with geo-blocking games, says they prevented cross-border sales in violation of EU antitrust rules  —  The European Commission has informed Valve, owner of the “Steam” video game distribution platform, and five videogame publishers …
Sam Kim / Bloomberg:
Samsung says it expects Q1 operating income of $5.5B, down 60% YoY, its worst drop in more than four years, as chip prices fall and smartphone sales slow  —  - Chip buyers working through inventories, pushing prices down  — Sluggish smartphone demand also hurts bottom line at Samsung
Washington Post:
Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announce a divorce settlement that will leave him with 75% of their Amazon stock and all voting power  —  In a tweet Thursday, MacKenzie Bezos said that her divorce from Jeff Bezos was finalized and that she would give her ex-husband voting control of her Amazon shares.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Snapchat debuts Snap Games platform that lets users play real-time multiplayer games with six-second unskippable ads and rewards  —  Snap is unlocking a new revenue stream while giving you something to do in between chats and Stories.  Today Snapchat debuts its Snap Games platform that lets …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Testing Verizon's 5G network in Chicago with the Moto Z3 shows download speeds between 400-600 Mbps, ~10X faster than iPhone XS Max, but with limited coverage  —  Finding 5G coverage in Chicago, one of two launch cities, is extremely difficult  —  I've spent the past 18 hours in Chicago …
Quynh Nguyen / DealStreetAsia:
Kurly, the South Korean company behind the premium grocery service Market Kurly, raises $88M Series D  —  Kurly Inc., the provider of online premium grocery service, Market Kurly, has raised 100 billion won ($88 million) in a Series D funding round led by existing investors including Sequoia Capital China, according to an announcement.

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UiPath:
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More News

Yunan Zhang / The Information:

Earlier Picks

Mike Fortin / Windows Experience Blog:
Dave Gershgorn / Quartz:
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
Michelle Toh / CNN:
Sam Biddle / The Intercept: