Techmeme
February 14, 2020, 4:45 PM

Top News

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Facebook to allow influencers to produce sponsored content for US politicians and political campaigns, if the posts are clearly identified as paid partnerships  —  Bloomberg's bad memes might just be the beginning  —  Facebook will allow influencers to produce sponsored content …
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony PlayStation 5's manufacturing costs may be around $450 per unit due to scarce components  —  - May wait for Microsoft's Xbox group to make first pricing move  — New PlayStation VR headset also planned after PS5 launch  —  Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs …
Bloomberg:
Gerard Williams III, the former Apple exec sued by the company for allegedly poaching employees for his startup Nuvia, claims Apple is poaching his employees  —  A former Apple Inc. chip executive sued by the iPhone maker for allegedly forming a startup while at Apple and illegally poaching employees accuses …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Behind Signal's push to go mainstream by adding features like iPad support, ephemeral images and video, downloadable customizable stickers, and emoji reactions  —  The encryption app is putting a $50 million infusion from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton to good use, building out features to help it go mainstream.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
DOJ has charged the owner of Helix, a dark web Bitcoin mixer service operating from 2014-2017, for allegedly laundering bitcoins worth $300M+ at the time  —  This is the first case the DOJ has brought against a Bitcoin mixer.  —  US authorities have arrested and charged an Ohio man for running a …
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Source: Apple is not happy with the QTM 525 mm-wave antenna module Qualcomm is offering for this year's 5G iPhones and is trying to design its own antenna  —  In a year where the 5G radio will be the new iPhone's spotlight feature, Apple has decided to design the phone's antenna itself.
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Google is in talks with publishers, mostly outside the US, about paying a licensing fee for content that would be in a premium news product  —  The search giant is in talks with some publishers about paying a fee for content that would be part of a premium news product
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google has removed 500+ malicious Chrome extensions from its Web Store, likely affecting millions of users, that were part of a long-running ad fraud network  —  A network of malicious Chrome extensions was injecting malicious ads in millions of Chrome installs.
Liana Baker / Bloomberg:
Toast, a cloud-based restaurant management platform, raises $400M at a $4.9B valuation, says its revenue grew 109% in 2019  —  - Restaurant payment technology firm raises $400 million  — Toast's new valuation is up from $2.7 billion last year  —  Toast Inc., which makes point …
Bloomberg Law:
California Supreme Court rules that Apple violated CA law by not paying employees at its stores for time spent on mandatory bag and iPhone searches  —  Listen  —  Apple Inc. violated California law when it failed to pay employees for time they spend waiting for mandatory bag and iPhone searches …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
2025: World Password Day is now also World Passkey Day  —  Since 2013, the first Thursday of May has been recognized as World Password Day to spread awareness about good password practices and protecting our online accounts.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Great Chat:
What's the deal with Deel?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Lenny's Podcast:
The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'The Ratchet of Flippancy', With Craig Mod
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Techmeme Ride Home:
ChatGPT Just Wants To Please
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
The difference between early and late AI adopters
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:45 PM ET, February 14, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Social Science One:
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
Kim Zetter / VICE: