Techmeme
June 15, 2021, 7:20 PM

Top News

The Verge:
Senate votes 69-28 to confirm Lina Khan, an antitrust expert who wrote the “Amazon Antitrust Paradox”, to the FTC, with reports saying Khan will be FTC chair  —  Congress is preparing to take drastic action against tech monopolies  —  The Senate confirmed Lina Khan as commissioner …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Ahead of Microsoft's event to unveil the next gen of Windows, a Windows 11 build leaks, showing a revamped UI, like a new taskbar with centered app icons, more  —  Screenshots have leaked online  —  Screenshots of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11 operating system have appeared online today.
New York Times:
Interviews with ~200 people show how Amazon's warehouse employment system, under strain before the pandemic, burned through workers and created huge confusion  —  Each year, hundreds of thousands of workers churn through a vast mechanism that hires and monitors, disciplines and fires.
Jason Del Rey / Vox:
Olivia Carville / Bloomberg:
Interviews with 53 people shed light on Airbnb's secretive safety team, made up of ~100 agents, some with military backgrounds, who handle emergency situations  —  The first-floor apartment on West 37th Street, a few blocks south of Times Square, was popular with tourists …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
UK's CMA says it will launch an investigation into Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems over whether their market power is harming users  —  Today, the UK's competition watchdog (the Competition and Markets Authority) announced an official investigation into the mobile device ecosystem, citing Apple and Google's effective duopoly.
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Google unveils features for Android including end-to-end encryption for RCS-based one-to-one chats in Messages, starred messages, emoji mashup suggestions, more  —  Earthquake Alerts in more places and better accessibility  —  Google has announced seven new features for Android …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Twitter is asking for feedback on a new feature letting users “unmention” themselves as an anti-abuse tool and to help users control unwanted attentions  —  Twitter is looking at adding new features that could help users who are facing abusive situations on its platform as a result …
Fight for the Future:
Investigation explores Apple's censorship or removal of LGBTQ+ apps globally; Apple's App Stores for Saudi Arabia and China are missing the most apps  —  As LGBTQ+ people around the world celebrate Pride Month, new report from Fight for the Future and GreatFire shows how Apple's App Store …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
IRL, which is building a messaging-based social network, raises $170M Series C led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, at a $1.17B valuation  —  Social calendar app IRL has been busy building a messaging-based social network, or what founder and CEO Abraham Shafi calls a “WeChat of the West.”
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Andreessen Horowitz launches Future, a media property that will focus on informational and editorial content created by full-time staff and outside contributors  —  Today, venture firm Andreessen Horowitz is officially launching its media property, called Future.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Oracle reports Q4 revenue of $11.23B, up 8% YoY, vs $11.04B est., with revenue from its Fusion ERP up 46% and NetSuite ERP up 26%  —  - Oracle called for less earnings guidance than analysts had expected as the company plans investments in cloud computing.  — For the quarter, though, Oracle beat on the top and bottom lines.
More: PR Newswire and ZDNet
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Uberall, a location-based marketing startup that provides services to brick and mortar retailers, raises $115M, acquires MomentFeed, sources say for $50M+  —  Location-based services may have had their day as a salient category for hot apps or innovative tech leveraging the arrival of smartphones …
More: FinSMEs
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:
EU's top court says Facebook can't avoid potential EU-wide privacy orders from data protection authorities beyond its legal watchdog in Ireland  —  - EU top court rules on scope of so-called one-stop-shop system  — Dispute stems from Belgian data order over Facebook cookies

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Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: