Techmeme
July 28, 2020, 7:05 PM

Top News

Sam Shead / CNBC:
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter work to pull versions of a video touting hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure, after it was shared by Trump and his allies  —  - A Breitbart video containing dangerous coronavirus misinformation went viral on Facebook before it was removed.
Andrew Griffin / The Independent:
Twitter temporarily locks Donald Trump Jr's account for posting a “misleading and potentially harmful” video touting hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure  —  President posts same tweet, and is hit by slightly different sanctions … Donald Trump Jr has been suspended by Twitter for posting …
New York Times:
Sources: after Airbnb and ClassPass began selling virtual classes, Apple wanted to collect its 30% commission on the sales, up from no fee previously  —  After Airbnb and ClassPass began selling virtual classes because of the pandemic, Apple tried to collect its commission on the sales.
New York Times:
CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are preparing to argue that their companies do not stifle competition at a congressional hearing on Wednesday  —  The tech C.E.O.s will appear together at a congressional hearing on Wednesday to argue that their companies do not stifle competition.
Kyle Daly / Axios:
The Markup:
Study of 15K+ recent popular queries finds Google devoted 41% of the first page of search results on mobile devices to its own properties and “direct answers”  —  The search engine dedicated almost half of the first page of results in our test to its own products, which dominated the coveted top of the page
Jeffrey Dastin / Reuters:
Over about 8 years, Rite Aid quietly added facial recognition systems in 200 US stores, largely in low income areas, claiming it was meant to deter theft  —  In the hearts of New York and metro Los Angeles, Rite Aid installed facial recognition technology in largely lower-income, non-white neighborhoods, Reuters found.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Revel suspends its electric moped service in NYC after two people were killed in recent weeks; at least one was not wearing a helmet during the crash  —  Two people were killed and one was critically injured while riding the shared electric mopeds  —  Revel is suspending its service …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify debuts Group Session feature in beta, letting up to five premium users simultaneously listen to same content  —  Simultaneously stream music or podcasts  —  Spotify is now allowing its paying users to listen to music and podcasts with friends and family at the same time, even if they aren't in the same location.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
In a reversal, CES says its event planned for January 2021 will be going all-digital, using a virtual meeting format for vendors, attendees, and the press  —  CES 2021 will take place in January as an all-digital event since the organizers feel it's the only way they can protect attendees during the pandemic.
Bloomberg:
US DOJ asks federal judge for permission to drop charges against two ex-Twitter employees and a Saudi national who allegedly helped Riyadh spy on dissidents  —  The U.S. sought to dismiss charges it brought late last year against two former Twitter Inc. employees and a Saudi national …
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
AMC and Universal agree to shorten the theatrical window for films to 17 days, or 3 weekends, before Universal can release them onto premium on-demand platforms  —  Films only have to be in theaters for three weekends now before going to digital platforms  —  AMC Theaters and Universal …
Euirim Choi / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Instagram has made lucrative offers, some in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to entice some of TikTok's most popular creators to use Reels  —  Instagram makes lucrative offers to popular TikTok users to join its new competing service, raising stakes in social-media rivalry
BBC:
Google announces plans to build a new undersea network cable connecting the US, UK, and Spain, expected to be completed by 2022  —  Google has announced plans to build a new undersea network cable connecting the US, UK and Spain.  —  The tech giant says it is incorporating new technology into the cable …
The Amazon Blog:
Bezos statement to US House underscores Amazon's job creation, investments in social causes, and its role in supporting small and medium-sized businesses  —  Testimony before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law  —  Statement by Jeffrey P. Bezos Founder & Chief …
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
AMD reports Q2 revenue of $1.93B, up 26% YoY, Computing and Graphics segment revenue of $1.37B, up 45% YoY; stock up ~9% after-hours  —  AMD's results land as its primary rival Intel has been struggling with its 7nm roadmap delays.  —  AMD reported better-than-expected second quarter results …
Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:
In a white paper about its plans for AI, WeChat-owner Tencent lists the societal benefits of deepfake technology and urges regulators to be lenient  —  It wants to commercialize the technology in entertainment and e-commerce and asks regulators to be lenient.
Bloomberg:
After suing the EU on July 15, Facebook won a temporary halt to a demand for documents by EU antitrust investigators  —  - EU tribunal suspends EU Commission's information requests  — Facebook is suing EU over ‘irrelevant’ data demands in probes  —  Facebook Inc. won a temporary halt …

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Ed Caesar / New Yorker:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: