Techmeme: Cisco says it will acquire BabbleLabs, which uses AI to remove unwanted noise and detect human speech, to integrate into Webex and other collaboration offerings (Larry Dignan/ZDNet)

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August 26, 2020, 9:20 AM

Top News

Ari Levy / CNBC:

In a letter included in Palantir's S-1, CEO Alex Karp says the “engineering elite” of SV do not know “how society should be organized or what justice requires” — KEY POINTS — In Palantir's filing to go public on Tuesday, CEO Alex Karp said Silicon Valley engineers …

More: TechCrunch, Business Insider, and Fox Business

Tweets: @hkanji, @shiraovide, @carnage4life, @quinnypig, @stevekovach, @cnbc, @sam_l_shead, @emmalbriant, @m__verbruggen, @contextify1, @swolfand, and @levynews

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Palantir files S-1 for its public market listing, confirming a net loss of $580M in 2019 on $742.6M in revenue; intends to debut with a direct listing — - The data analytics company co-founded by Peter Thiel is going public after 16 years. — Data analytics company Palantir Technologies …

More: SEC.gov, New York Times, Gizmodo, Associated Press, Bloomberg, VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, TechCrunch, CNN, Crunchbase News, Axios, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @zararah, @mattrosoff, @stevekovach, @lmatsakis, @ipotweet, @lesliepicker, @mikeisaac, @julialaroche, @mattrosoff, @teddyschleifer, @mylesudland, and @mattrosoff

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple plans to add AR content to Apple TV+ next year, as a form of bonus content akin to director commentaries, ahead of an AR headset in 2022 — - Company plans to add AR-based bonus content to original video — Apple seeks to make AR more mainstream ahead of headset launch

More: The Verge, iMore, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, iPhone Hacks, iPhone in Canada Blog, Digital Trends, iDownloadBlog.com, Engadget, and Cult of Mac

Frank Chaparro / The Block:

Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has acquired crypto price tracking app Blockfolio for $150M, in the form of equity, FTX's native token, and cash — Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has acquired popular crypto price tracking app Blockfolio for $150 million in one of the largest acquisition deals in the digital asset space this year.

More: CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, TechCrunch, Coinspeaker, Finextra, and Crypto Briefing

Tweets: @bneiluj, @ico_analytics, @alex_dreyfus, @hhorsley, and @doveywan. Thanks:@dantwany

New York Times:

Inside Microsoft's bid for TikTok: how talks about a small investment ballooned into a big, messy, closely watched political soap opera — Neither side wanted a big deal. But what began as talks about a small investment ballooned with interventions from President Trump.

More: The Verge and South China Morning Post

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:

Facebook says it will unify its AR/VR teams into a group called Facebook Reality Labs, renames Oculus Connect event to Facebook Connect, to be held on Sept. 16 — Facebook is moving further away from the Oculus brand. — The company says it is changing the name of their augmented reality …

More: Facebook Technology, Ars Technica, VentureBeat, The Verge, About Facebook, Android Headlines, MSPoweruser, International Business Times, Wccftech, Game Rant, Engadget, UploadVR, TechRadar, Escapist Magazine, Shacknews, PC Gamer, TweakTown News, SlashGear, Gamasutra, Neowin, VRScout, Android Central, GamesIndustry.biz, GameSpot, UploadVR, CNET, and The Verge

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and Boz

Tweets: @slasher, @slasher, @benz145, @flyosity, @ericflo, @impossiblescott, @kentbye, @kentbye, and @kentbye

TechCrunch:

An overview of 94 companies that launched at Y Combinator's Summer 2020 Demo Day 2; the Summer 2020 batch of companies was YC's first fully remote startup batch — And we're back! Today was part two of Y Combinator's absolutely massive Demo Day(s) event for its Summer 2020 class.

More: TechCrunch, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, The Economic Times, and Inc42 Media

Ian Sherr / CNET:

Microsoft adds an audio transcription feature to Word's web version for Office 365 that will work with prerecorded or live audio — Microsoft's Word writing tool will soon be able to record and transcribe audio, marking an evolution long requested by everyone from students to reporters to Microsoft executives.

More: Microsoft 365 Blog, AppleInsider, The Verge, TechCrunch, Firstpost Tech, cloudpro.co.uk, Silicon Republic, Softpedia News, SiliconANGLE, The Independent, Yahoo Finance, The Next Web, PYMNTS.com, GeekWire, Tom's Guide, ZDNet, Windows Central, Thurrott, OnMSFT.com, and Petri

Tweets: @chriscapossela, @stanfordnlp, @egeeking, @eliblumenthal, @tomwarren, and @mattnavarra. Thanks:@iansherr

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google rolls out Chrome 85 with 10% faster page load times, collapsible tab groups, a PDF editor, and more — Following version 84's release on Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS, the next release of Google's browser is rolling out today. Chrome 85 sees faster page loads …

More: The Keyword, Digiday, Chromium Blog, TechCrunch, Gizchina, TechRadar, Memeburn, TweakTown News, Trusted Reviews, Engadget, Neowin, Chrome Unboxed, Android Police, 9to5Google, and The Verge

Tweets: @chrismessina and @glenngabe

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

White House announces $1B+ investment to create 12 research institutes focused on AI and quantum computing — The White House today detailed the establishment of 12 new research institutes focused on AI and quantum information science. Agencies including the National Science Foundation …

More: CNET, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, FedScoop, The Hill, Protocol, TechCrunch, and Axios. Tweets: @stshank

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:

As content moderators started working from home, YouTube's reliance on automation resulted in double the video removals; Facebook saw removals steeply decline — When YouTube sent content moderators home in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it dramatically expanded its use of automated filters …

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Gartner: global smartphone sales in Q2 dropped 20.4% YoY, similar to Q1's 20% drop; Samsung and Huawei virtually tie for top spot, after Samsung drops 27% YoY — The last couple of years have been tough on the smartphone industry, as sales plateaued and eventually eroded.

More: Gartner, CNBC, Coinspeaker, Softpedia News, SlashGear, Huawei Central, SamMobile, Livemint, AppleInsider, Neowin, Engadget, CNET, Telecoms.com, Android Authority, and TechRepublic. Tweets: @gartner_inc

Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch:

Grid, a SaaS startup that lets users turn spreadsheets into visual “narratives”, raises $12M Series A led by New Enterprise Associates — Grid, a SaaS startup founded in Iceland that lets you turn spreadsheets into visual “narratives,” has closed $12 million in Series A funding.

More: SiliconANGLE and EU-Startups

Zach Baron / GQ:

Profile of VR pioneer Jaron Lanier, his early warnings about the dangers of social media, why Facebook is bad, and why BLM activism felt constructive — Tech oracle Jaron Lanier warned us all about the evils of social media. Too few of us listened. Now, in the most chaotic of moments …

Tweets: @andygreenwald, @teh_aimee, @zachbaron, and @geoffgagnon

Katie Abel / Footwear News:

Tony Hsieh is stepping down as Zappos CEO after 21 years at the helm; COO Kedar Deshpande will succeed him at the Amazon-owned company — Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years at the helm. — Kedar Deshpande, COO at the company, has assumed the role of CEO, according to an internal email obtained by FN.

More: Inc.com, Entrepreneur, Omaha World-Herald, Footwear News, and KDWN

Tweets: @ryanmcraver, @bgurley, @permanentcap, @myles_younger, @ryangillshares, and @dylanbathurst

Jim Salter / Ars Technica:

A Chromium feature is responsible for nearly half of the traffic load on root DNS servers by issuing DNS lookups that often propagate up to root nameservers — Google is doing to DNS what D-Link once did to NTP. — The Chromium browser—open source, upstream parent to both Google Chrome …

Tweets: @jreuben1, @swiftonsecurity, @dennis_kipker, @hackerfantastic, and @jgamblin

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Cisco says it will acquire BabbleLabs, which uses AI to remove unwanted noise and detect human speech, to integrate into Webex and other collaboration offerings — BabbleLabs takes out unwanted background noises in real-time. The technology will be integrated in Cisco's collaboration portfolio.

More: TechCrunch, PR Newswire, cloudpro.co.uk, BabbleLabs, Silicon Republic, Channel Futures, Silicon Valley Business …, and Cisco Blogs

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Salesforce reports Q2 revenue of $5.15B, up 29% YoY, vs. $4.90B est., gives Q3 revenue guidance of $5.24 to $5.25B, up 16% YoY; stock jumps 11%+ after hours — - A gain on investments benefited Salesforce's adjusted earnings in the quarter. — The company's full-year guidance beat expectations …

More: Salesforce, Silicon Republic, Reuters, Enterprise Times, Bloomberg, SiliconANGLE, ZDNet, International Business Times, and TheStreet

Tweets: @stevekovach, @jordannovet, and @danielnewmanuv

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:

A group of 2,000+ online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon in India, alleging the company engages in unfair business practices — NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon (AMZN.O) in India …

Tweets: @adityakalra

Geneva Abdul / New York Times:

Amazon opens a 1.8M sq. ft. office in Hyderabad, India, its largest in the world, amid push back from local businesses about alleged anticompetitive practices

Tweets: @aparanjape, @akbaruddinindia, and @nytimestech

Patrick O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:

Human rights advocates file a court petition against Israeli phone hacking firm Cellebrite to stop exports to Hong Kong, say tools are used against dissidents — Human rights advocates filed a new court petition against the Israeli phone hacking company Cellebrite, urging Israel's ministry …

More: PingWest and Reuters

Tweets: @howelloneill, @joshuawongcf, @howelloneill, @techreview, and @howelloneill

Olaf Storbeck / Financial Times:

Interviews and documents reveal Wirecard's desperate effort to cover up fraud, hoodwink its auditors, and a plan to take over Deutsche Bank in its final months — Executives at the German payments group hatched a plan to buy Deutsche Bank while desperately trying to cover their tracks

Tweets: @chassnews, @lionelbarber, @aallan, @sub8u, @speraltalisboa, @ms_zamandlovu, @marc_moore137, @economicmanblog, @johnreedwrites, and @tek_fin

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From Mediagazer

Beatrice Verhoeven / The Hollywood Reporter:

The 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that is at the center of the Trump lawsuit gets an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Edited Interview category

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Roku acquires Frndly TV, a provider of low-cost TV bundles delivered via streaming, for $185M, which includes $75M in performance-based holdbacks

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Ari Emanuel acquires Frieze, an art events and media company, from Endeavor, and will make Frieze a part of his unnamed global events and experiences company

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More News

Eugene Demaitre / The Robot Report:

XYZ Robotics, a robotic pick-and-place startup using AI and a tool-changing system to reduce overhead costs, raises $17M Series A+ from Source Code Capital

More: TechCrunch

Charlotte Tucker / EU-Startups:

Swedish esports startup Challengermode raises ~€10.1M led by eWTP Innovation Fund, the global investment arm of the Alibaba Group

More: Tech.eu, Forbes, TheGamingEconomy.com, Challengermode, and The Esports Observer. Tweets: @eu_startups

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Socure, a cloud-based identity verification and fraud prevention startup, raises $35M led by Sorenson Ventures, bringing its total raised to $96M

More: Business Wire, Biometric Update, FinSMEs, PYMNTS.com, and Finextra

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Microsoft makes Azure's Immersive Reader generally available, letting developers embed a reading accessibility view with features like Read Aloud into apps

More: azure.microsoft.com, Microsoft Docs, and IT PRO

Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:

HPE beats estimates with Q3 net revenue of $6.8B, down 6% YoY, and ARR of $528M, up 11% YoY, with GreenLake orders up 80% YoY; stock up 6% after-hours

More: SiliconANGLE, MarketWatch, AlphaStreet, Yahoo Finance, and Seeking Alpha

Nabila Ahmed / Bloomberg:

UK online money transfer company WorldRemit has agreed to buy Africa-focused app-based remittance firm Sendwave, a source says for $500M+

More: WorldRemit, Techpoint Africa, Finextra, PYMNTS.com, and Crowdfund Insider

Tweets: @ryan_browne_, @adetolaov, and @bkyeyune. Thanks:@davedonohue

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

Verta, founded by the creator of ModelDB that tracks versions of machine learning models, emerges from stealth with $10M Series A led by Intel Capital

More: SiliconANGLE, FinSMEs, and GlobeNewswire

Tweets: @curiouswavefn and @intelcapital

Ian Allison / CoinDesk:

ConsenSys acquires JP Morgan Chase's Quorum enterprise blockchain project, while the bank makes a strategic investment in ConsenSys

More: ConsenSys, FinSMEs, Crowdfund Insider, Silicon Republic, Modern Consensus, Inc42 Media, American Banker, Crypto Briefing, and The Block

Tweets: @lexsokolin, @gaborgurbacs, and @assetsdaily

Earlier Picks

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Facebook is testing a Shop section in its app in the US, while Instagram expands Live Shopping to more sellers in the US

More: About Facebook, Protocol, TechRadar, Engadget, AdExchanger, Ad Age, Barron's Online, Adweek, MediaPost, Social Media Today, Bloomberg, Android Central, Neowin, PYMNTS.com, 9to5Mac, ZDNet, and Facebook Technology

Tweets: @maghanmcd, @jigolden, @girardinl, @maghanmcd, @aimeepearcy_, @alexvoica, @alexvoica, @alexvoica, and @alexvoica

Foreign Affairs:

NSA director says the US disrupted “a concerted effort” to undermine 2018 midterms and describes Cyber Command's proactive strategy ahead of the 2020 election

More: Washington Post, NPR, Axios, CyberScoop, Voice of America, The Hill, C4ISRNET, Federal Computer Week, and Associated Press

Tweets: @cybercom_dirnsa, @foreignaffairs, @elisugarman, @arthurrobnelson, @nprkelly, @ericgeller, @katiebowill, @m_miho_jpn, and @780thc

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Amazon is rolling out a new AR shopping tool, Room Decorator, that lets users see multiple pieces of furniture and other home décor in their own space

More: CNET, Digital Trends, SlashGear, Ars Technica, Engadget, and PYMNTS.com. Tweets: @glenngabe

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Facebook says it aims to launch its News tab in multiple countries within the next 6-12 months and is considering the UK, Germany, France, India, and Brazil

More: About Facebook, TechRadar, Pocket-lint, Inc42 Media, Android Headlines, MediaNama, MediaPost, AdNews, Social Media Today, The Verge, The Next Web, Reuters, and Engadget

Tweets: @seemay, @venkatananth, @rasmus_kleis, @sarafischer, and @pranavdixit