Techmeme
February 25, 2020, 9:55 PM

Top News

Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Amazon opens Amazon Go Grocery in Seattle, its first full sized grocery store without cashiers or checkout lines  —  Amazon Go is going full grocery.  —  Two years after launching a chain of convenience stores without cashiers or checkout lines, Amazon is opening its first “Amazon Go Grocery” …
Salesforce:
Salesforce says Keith Block has stepped down as co-CEO but will still advise Marc Benioff; Gavin Patterson named President and CEO of Salesforce International  —  Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) today announced that Keith Block has stepped down as co-CEO of Salesforce and Marc Benioff is Chair and CEO of the company.
The Walt Disney Company:
Bob Chapek has been named CEO of The Walt Disney Company, effective immediately; Bob Iger will serve as executive chairman through 2021  —  Robert A. Iger Assumes Role of Executive Chairman through 2021 Mr. Iger Will Direct the Company's Creative Endeavors Mr. Chapek Brings 27 Years …
Reuters:
Ex-Apple employees and supply chain experts say preparation for new iPhone production, which usually starts early in the year, may be delayed due to COVID-19  —  SAN FRANCISCO/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Travel restrictions to China because of the coronavirus have come just as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) …
Tom Krisher / NBC Bay Area:
NTSB says the driver in a 2018 Tesla accident was distracted by a game on his phone and that the NHTSA's hands-off approach to self-driving tech is “misguided”  —  Just before the crash, the Tesla steered to the left into a paved area between the freeway travel lanes and an exit ramp
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Firefox begins rollout of encrypted DNS over HTTPS (DoH) by default for US-based users to thwart snooping ISPs  —  US-based Firefox users get encrypted DNS lookups today or within a few weeks.  —  Firefox will start switching browser users to Cloudflare's encrypted-DNS service today and roll …
Rebekah Valentine / GamesIndustry.biz:
Facebook has acquired Sanzaru Games, developer of Asgard's Wrath, for an undisclosed amount; the game studio will remain independent under Oculus Studios  —  Studio behind Asgard's Wrath to join Oculus Studios and continue VR development  —  Facebook has acquired Asgard's Wrath developer Sanzaru Games for an undisclosed amount.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Review of Apple's Chinese Store websites shows around 30 of 42 have reopened, most with shortened hours, as the company seeks to rebound from COVID-19's impact  —  - Company's store website shows 29 of 42 locations are opening  — Apple recently pulled March quarter guidance on virus impact
Biz Carson / Protocol:
Bird says it's testing Bird Pay, a feature that lets users buy products from local businesses by scanning a QR code in the Bird app, as it looks to stem losses  —  Investors want to see profits.  Is adding payments to products the solution?  —  Bird, the scooter company, is pivoting into payments — kind of.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Firefox for Mac and Linux will begin using a newly-developed security sandbox system called RLBox to minimize impact of errors in its largely C/C++ codebase  —  Firefox's new RLBox sandbox system to ship to Linux users in Firefox 74 and Mac users in Firefox 75.
Sarah Emerson / OneZero :
Survey of 11,500+ H-1B visa holders at US tech companies finds discomfort with Trump's policies, with many feeling their place in the US is highly conditional  —  OneZero conducted a 10,000-person poll to shed light on the plight of H-1B workers  —  This article is part of Into the Valley …
Will Oremus / OneZero :
In-depth look at the iOS App Store and the potentially anti-competitive ways it restricts consumers and third-parties, an increasing area of regulatory scrutiny  —  Its App Store has a choke hold on your devices.  That may not last much longer.  —  ou've just dropped $500 on a new iPad Air.
Cyrus Farivar / NBC News:
A county judge in San Diego has ruled that Instacart's classification of its California workers is not compliant with AB5; Instacart says it will appeal  —  The judge says Instacart is not complying with the new “gig economy” law that requires workers to be considered employees, not independent contractors.
Reuters:
Sources: autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai has raised around $500M in its latest funding round led by Toyota at a valuation of around $3B  —  HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - Autonomous driving firm Pony.ai has raised around $500 million in its latest funding round, led by an investment …

Sponsor Posts

Meta:
Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few  —  Meta's open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter  —  Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact.  We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 5: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs?  —  Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series!  After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy  —  Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 11/21 - What The DOJ Wants Google To Do
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:55 PM ET, February 25, 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

Earlier Picks

Gabe Bullard / Nieman Reports:
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Nick Turner / Bloomberg:
Michael McWhertor / Polygon: