Techmeme
February 12, 2021, 8:30 PM

Top News

Sam Shead / CNBC:
Sources: Qualcomm has told regulators around the world, including the FTC and UK's CMA, that it is against Nvidia's $40B acquisition of Arm  —  - Qualcomm has told regulators around the world that it is against Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of British chip designer Arm, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm are among companies asking US to intervene in Nvidia's Arm acquisition, and at least one company wants the deal killed  —  Some of the world's largest technology companies are complaining to U.S. antitrust regulators about Nvidia Corp.'s acquisition …
The Information:
Sources: Facebook is building an Android-based smartwatch with health and fitness capabilities, which it aims to launch in 2022  —  Facebook is building a smartwatch it hopes to start selling next year, according to people with direct knowledge of the device.
Kate Klonick / New Yorker:
A look at the making of Facebook's Oversight Board, its members, Zuckerberg's rationale for its existence, and criticisms of the endeavor  —  The company has created a board that can overrule even Mark Zuckerberg.  Soon, it will decide whether to allow Trump back on Facebook.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch:
Jack Dorsey and Jay Z create ₿trust endowment with 500 bitcoin, worth $23M+, to fund teams working on Bitcoin development, initially in Africa and India  —  Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey and rapper Jay Z have created an endowment to fund bitcoin development initially in Africa and India, Dorsey said Friday.
Bloomberg:
Sources: US investigators say hardware and firmware of Supermicro servers were tampered with as late as 2018, via chips with backdoors sending data to China  —  In 2010, the U.S. Department of Defense found thousands of its computer servers sending military network data to China …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Spotify says it is adapting a Work From Anywhere model and will provide co-working space memberships for employees who choose to work remotely  —  - Spotify is adapting a “Work from Anywhere” model, which will allow employees to choose whether they want to be in the office full time, be at home full time or a combination of the two.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
AT&T installs fiber for a 90-year-old after his WSJ print ad complaining of slow AT&T Internet service speeds goes viral  —  From 3Mbps DSL to 300Mbps fiber: Aaron Epstein's newspaper ad gets amazing result.  —  When 90-year-old Aaron Epstein bought a Wall Street Journal print ad …
David McCabe / New York Times:
Maryland approves the Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax, the first tax in US on digital ads revenue, creating a 10% tax on firms with $15B+ global revenues  —  Analysts estimate that the tax will generate up to $250 million for schools in the state in the first year.
Matt Day / Bloomberg:
Amazon sues NY state AG, seeking to prevent her from penalizing Amazon for alleged retaliation against staff and failures in its safety response to the pandemic  —  - Covid-19 worker safety claims are federal matters, Amazon says  — Company has been at odds with AG since firing worker activists
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon drivers say Mentor, the company's app to track drivers and score their driving, is invasive and its bugs can lead to unfair disciplinary action  —  - Amazon confirmed last week it has started putting AI-equipped cameras in some delivery vans.  — It already requires contracted delivery workers …
Will Oremus / OneZero :
Clubhouse employs an unusually aggressive user onboarding process, pressuring users to upload contacts before ranking those contacts based on total connections  —  The app pressures you to upload your phone's contacts — and makes them visible in surprising ways
William Turton / Bloomberg:

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
The brand supporting the biggest brands in tech  —  Deliver memorable experiences throughout the customer journey with customer experience support from TELUS Digital.  Scale quickly, automate efficiently and win decisively.
Intel:
Intel Delivers powerful CPUs for AI and Networking  —  With the onset of AI, businesses demand powerful and efficient CPUs.  Explore new Intel Xeon 6 processors, for the broadest set of workloads with leadership performance and lower TCO.
Zoho:
From app chaos to business clarity: How to solve software overload  —  The software overload dilemma: A maze or a highway?  Imagine driving through a city where every street follows different rules, forcing constant stops, detours, and delays.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Spotlight On:
Speak CEO Connor Zwick on Building the Next Great Language Learning App
A podcast from Accel about how companies are built, from the people doing the building.
Subscribe to Spotlight On.
Techmeme Ride Home:
The Big M&A Test I Was Waiting For
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Invest Like the Best:
Alex Wiltschko - Giving Computers A Sense Of Smell
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
How Trump's tariff chaos is already changing global trade
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Grit:
From Bootstrapped to $12B: Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut on Life After the Exit
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden power of introverts: How to thrive without changing who you are | Susan Cain (author of "Quiet")
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:30 PM ET, February 12, 2021.

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

Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Neil Cybart / Above Avalon:
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:

Earlier Picks

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Sara Fischer / Axios: