Techmeme
June 3, 2021, 12:25 PM

Top News

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.
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!
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.
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.
BBC:
Google says it removed diversity strategy lead Kamau Bobb over a 2007 post in which he said Jews have an “insatiable appetite for war”  —  Google has removed its head of diversity over a 2007 blog post that said Jewish people had “an insatiable appetite for war and killing”.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Review of Google's new $99 Pixel Buds A-Series: good sound quality, improved comfort, and water resistant, but audio can cut out and ear hooks are non-removable  —  The $99 Pixel Buds are a better buy than their pricier predecessors  —  With the new, awkwardly named Pixel Buds A-Series …
Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
Politico:
SCOTUS narrows the scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, ruling it can't be used to charge people who misused databases they are otherwise entitled to access  —  The justices agreed with a broad range of critics that prosecutors had been misusing the 35-year-old law.  —  The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown.
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.
New York Times:
Facebook employees say discontent at the company has surged over its handling of government demands to take down content in India and Israel  —  The social network wrongly bowed to government demands to take down content in the countries, employees said, in more signs of internal dissent.
Gené Teare / Crunchbase News:
Tiger Global has invested in 118 companies so far in 2021, up 10x YoY, led or co-led deals worth $10.5B, and participated in rounds totaling a further $11.5B  —  Tiger Global Management, already one of the most voracious startup investors in recent years, is roaring into 2021 more aggressively than ever.
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 …
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 …
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.
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.
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.
Jim Dalrymple II / Inman:
Spruce, which uses AI-based title, closing, and escrow services for real estate transactions, raises $60M Series C, bringing its total raised to $110M  —  The company provides title insurance and escrow services, among other things.  Since its founding in 2016, Spruce has raised $110 million

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Zoho:
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