Techmeme
June 3, 2021, 10:10 AM

Top News

Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
In an email, Tim Cook says Apple employees will be asked to return to offices on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, starting in early September  —  Employees can work remotely for up to two weeks a year  —  Apple employees are being asked to return to the office three days a week starting in early September.
WABetaInfo:
Zuckerberg says WhatsApp is working on a Disappearing Mode for messages in all threads, View Once for photos and videos, and multi device support  —  Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry  —  WhatsApp has unexpectedly reached out to me to confirm that some important features are coming on WhatsApp!
Paul R. La Monica / CNN:
NortonLifeLock says it's adding an Ethereum mining function to Norton 360, its paid antivirus software, initially to a small group of customers  —  New York (CNN Business)Mining for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is typically done by companies that own massive server farms operating outside of the United States.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
FireEye says it is selling its products business to PE firm Symphony Technology Group for $1.2B in cash; deal splits FireEye from digital forensics arm Mandiant  —  Cybersecurity giant FireEye has agreed to sell its products business to a consortium led by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $1.2 billion.
Ben Dummett / Wall Street Journal:
Stack Overflow, which has 100M+ monthly visitors, says it will be acquired by Prosus, a European tech giant and Tencent's largest shareholder, for $1.8B  —  Deal is Prosus' biggest investment in online learning and comes weeks after it sold a chunk from its massive Tencent holding
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft will detail its “next generation of Windows” at an event on June 24, with significant changes, including visual enhancements, expected  —  A special Windows event is coming later this month  —  Microsoft is planning to detail its “next generation of Windows” at an event later this month.
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Twitter launches its subscription service Twitter Blue in Canada and Australia for CAD $3.49 and AU $4.49/month, with features like Undo Tweet, Bookmark Folders  —  - Twitter Blue is designed for power users who are willing to pay a monthly fee for exclusive features.
Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post:
In an email to Jewish employees, Google diversity strategy lead Kamau Bobb apologizes for a 2007 post in which he said Jews have “insatiable appetite for war”  —  Google's head of diversity strategy is under fire over a 2007 blog post in which he wrote that Jews have …
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Google says it will allow ads for cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets in the US that meet certain requirements and are certified by Google starting August 3  —  Google is expanding the scope of its crypto-related advertisement policy, the latest development in a years-long back and forth from the tech giant.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Facebook says it will open the Messenger API for Instagram to all businesses, after announcing a closed beta in October 2020  —  F8 Refresh, Facebook's annual developer conference with a new twist — it's more pared down than in years past, and virtual — is going to be kicking off later today …
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Twitter starts rolling out Birdwatch fact checking notes on iOS, Android, and desktop, visible only to participants in its pilot program  —  Twitter is looking to crowdsource its way out of misinformation woes with its new product Birdwatch which taps a network of engaged tweeters to add notes to misleading tweets.
Coco Feng / South China Morning Post:
Chinese researchers unveil WuDao 2.0, an AI model they say was trained using 1.75T parameters, 10x more than GPT-3, to simulate conversational speech and more  —  The WuDao 2. natural language processing model had 1.75 trillion parameters, topping the 1.6 trillion that Google unveiled …
Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
Adam Janofsky / The Record:
The FBI says ransomware group REvil is behind the ongoing attack targeting meatpacking company JBS  —  The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday confirmed reports that the well-known cybercriminal group REvil (also known as Sodinokibi) is behind the ongoing ransomware attack targeting JBS …
Shirin Ghaffary / Vox:
Some current members of Google's ethical AI team say they have been in limbo for months and have serious doubts about whether Google can rebuild credibility  —  Six months after Timnit Gebru left, Google's ethical artificial intelligence team is still in a state of upheaval.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Realtime Robotics, which develops tech to let industrial robots autonomously move in dynamic, fast-moving environments, raises $31.4M Series A  —  Realtime Robotics, a company developing technology that enables robots to alter their motions in dynamic, fast-moving environments, has raised $31.4 million in a series A round of funding.
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Alation, which offers data intelligence services including search, discovery, governance, and analytics, raises $110M at a $1.2B valuation  —  - Co. raised $110 million in new round led by Riverwood Capital  — Alation organizes data for clients including Cisco, DocuSign
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
An Apple-commissioned study says the App Store ecosystem facilitated ~$643B in billings and sales globally in 2020, up 24% YoY  —  The App Store ecosystem facilitated an estimated $643 billion in billings and sales in 2020, an increase of 24 percent year-over-year, according …

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