Techmeme
February 23, 2020, 1:40 AM

Top News

Mon(IoT)r Research Group:
Study: smart speakers accidentally activate to random words between 1.5 and 19 times per day on average, with HomePod and Cortana devices activating the most  —  WHEN SPEAKERS ARE ALL EARS  —  Understanding when smart speakers mistakenly record conversations
Los Angeles Times:
Twitter is suspending 70 accounts linked to Michael Bloomberg's campaign for violating its policies, citing platform manipulation and duplicative content  —  Michael R. Bloomberg's presidential campaign has been experimenting with novel tactics to cultivate an online following, or at least the appearance of one.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Intuit is nearing a deal to buy personal finance portal Credit Karma for about $7B in cash and stock; the deal could be announced as soon as Monday  —  Acquisition would be Intuit's largest ever and the first sizable transaction under CEO Sasan Goodarzi
Johannes Hellstrom / Reuters:
Swedish game developer Embracer to buy US-based Saber Interactive, maker of the game World War Z, for up to $525M in cash and stock, most of which is deferred  —  STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish video game group Embracer is buying U.S. game developer Saber Interactive for up to $525 million, the Swedish company said on Wednesday.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
CB Insights: fintech startups across the world raised $33.9B across 1,912 deals in 2019, which is down from $40.8B raised across 2,049 deals in 2018  —  Financial services startups raised less money in 2019 than they did in 2018 as VC firms looked to back late stage firms and focused on developing markets, a new report has revealed.
FinSMEs:
Reggora, a residential appraisal software platform, raises $10M Series A, led by Spark Capital with Boston Seed Capital participating  —  Reggora, a Boston, MA-based residential appraisal software platform provider, raised $10m in Series A funding.  —  The round was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Boston Seed Capital.
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Researchers detail “SweynTooth” bugs, which could allow hackers in radio range to crash Bluetooth Low Energy-based devices like pacemakers and fitness trackers  —  Hundreds of smart devices—including pacemakers—are exposed thanks to a series of vulnerabilities in the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol.
FinSMEs:
iMerit raises $20M Series B for its platform that helps enrich and annotate large datasets that power advanced algorithms in fields such as machine learning  —  iMerit, a Los Gatos, CA-based data annotation and enrichment company, raised $20m in Series B funding.

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:
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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.

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More News

Leila McNeill / BBC Future:
Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Jon Porter / The Verge: