Techmeme
February 18, 2020, 6:30 PM

Top News

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:
Interviews with current and former employees reveal how OpenAI has become more secretive as it tries to juggle its ideals with the need to finance its research  —  The AI moonshot was founded in the spirit of transparency.  This is the inside story of how competitive pressure eroded that idealism.
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg:
Sources: iPhone SE 2 is on track to launch in March despite coronavirus crisis, and updated iPad Pro models with a new camera system are expected in H1 2020  —  - Coronavirus has hurt both supply and demand for iPhone maker  — Low-cost iPhone plans said to remain on track for March launch
Apple:
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Ring makes two-factor authentication mandatory and pauses use of most third-party analytics services as it devises ways to limit data sharing with third parties  —  Ring is continuing its bid to improve privacy and security after facing criticism.  As of today, the Amazon brand will start requiring …
Alfred Ng / CNET:
ElectionGuard, the open-source voting machine software Microsoft announced in May 2019, gets its first real-world test today in a local vote in Fulton, WI  —  ElectionGuard isn't designed to make voting machines safe from hackers.  It's meant to make hacking them pointless.
Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon X60 5G modem built on a 5nm process, offering up to 7.5 Gbps download and 3 Gbps upload speeds  —  To date Qualcomm has promoted two key standalone 5G modems for widespread adoption: the Snapdragon X50 and the Snapdragon X55.  Today the company is disclosing details …
Robert Hof / SiliconANGLE:
Dell announces it is selling its RSA cybersecurity firm to a consortium led by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $2.075B  —  Updated:  —  Dell Technologies Inc. announced Tuesday it's selling its venerable RSA Security LLC business to a consortium led by Palo Alto …
Steve Streza:
iOS users not subscribed to Apple's services are constantly forced to look at ads for those services, either in first-party apps or through push notifications  —  Over the years, Apple has built up a portfolio of services and add-ons that you pay for.  Starting with AppleCare extended warranties …
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Kickstarter employees vote 46-37 to unionize with the Office and Professional Employees International Union, the first workers at a major tech company to do so  —  Kickstarter employees voted to form a union with the Office and Professional Employees International Union, which represents more than 100,000 white collar workers.
Nicholas Quah / Hot Pod News:
Patreon has launched Patreon Capital, which provides creators with cash advances they pay back with slight interest using income earned on the platform  —  I was tempted to kick this story off with a platitude along the lines of: “Starting something is the hardest part.”
Nilesh Christopher / VICE:
A candidate in an Indian election used deepfakes of his own video to reach voters of different linguistic voter bases; the deepfakes reached ~15M WhatsApp users  —  On February 7, a day ahead of the Legislative Assembly elections in Delhi, two videos of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) …

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Earlier Picks

Amelia Lucas / CNBC:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reuters: