Techmeme
July 29, 2021, 10:10 AM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook reports Q2 revenue of $29.08B, up 56% YoY, MAUs of 2.9B, up 7% YoY, headcount of 63,404, up 21% YoY; stock down ~3% on warning of revenue slowdown  —  “We had a strong quarter as we continue to help businesses grow and people stay connected,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Facebook says Q2 ad revenue was $28.58B, up 56% YoY, with average price per ad up 47% YoY and a 6% YoY increase in ads delivered  —  The rising price for ads delivered strong top and bottom-line results for Facebook, even as the social media giant continued to warn of “increased ad targeting headwinds.”
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Wall Street Journal:
Google says anyone coming to work at its campuses must be vaccinated, starting in the US, and will delay the return to offices from September until mid-October  —  Google delays planned return to offices until mid-October as U.S. companies take new precautions against Delta variant's spread
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Twitter closes its NY and SF offices, two weeks after reopening, and pauses further office reopenings, after “consideration of the CDC's updated guidelines”  —  Just two weeks after reopening its New York and San Francisco offices, social media giant Twitter said Wednesday …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
In a memo, Apple says it plans to restore a mask requirement for staff and customers at most of its US retail stores on Thursday, due to rising COVID cases  —  - Company to make change Thursday in areas with rising cases  — Company asks, but doesn't require, retail staff to get vaccine
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Patrick Klepek / VICE:
Activision Blizzard staffers stage a walkout, demanding fairer treatment for underrepresented staff and an end to arbitration clauses in staff contracts  —  “This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees.”  —  Patrick Klepek
Ryne Hager / Android Police:
Google updates Play Store policies to ban apps offering “compensated sexual relationships”, likely impacting sugar daddy dating apps, beginning September 1  —  Today, Google published a handful of changes to its Play policies, and nestled among precise legalese refinements …
Jing Yang / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Didi is considering going private in order to placate Chinese authorities and compensate investors for losses using money made during its IPO  —  Ride-hailing giant has been contemplating delisting plan as crackdown widens and has obtained support from cybersecurity watchdog
Reuters:
Robinhood raises $2.1B in its IPO after selling 55M shares at the low end of its $38 to $42 range, giving it a valuation of $31.8B  —  Robinhood Markets Inc, the owner of the trading app which emerged as the go-to destination for retail investors speculating on this year's “meme' stock trading frenzy …
Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:
Profile of Sophie Zhang, a former Facebook data scientist who wrote an exit memo detailing Facebook's inadequate steps to address global election misinformation  —  Sophie Zhang, a former data scientist at Facebook, revealed that it enables global political manipulation and has done little to stop it.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
New bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress aims to raise ~$30B by imposing new taxes on exchanges trading digital assets including crypto  —  The draft language could mean a number of individuals interacting with crypto may have to start reporting their transactions.
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Tiernan Ray / ZDNet:
OpenAI introduces Triton 1.0, an open-source programming language for writing GPU code for neural networks, and claims it is easier to write than Nvidia's CUDA  —  SEO: Python-like language promises to be easier to write than native CUDA and specialized GPU code but has performance comparable …
Source: OpenAI and GitHub
Patrick Howell O'Neill / MIT Technology Review:
NSO Group confirms that Israeli government officials opened an investigation and visited NSO's Tel Aviv office on Wednesday to assess Pegasus abuse allegations  —  ‘We want them to check everything,’ says CEO of cybersecurity company implicated in campaigns against politicians, activists and other notable figures.
Steven Musil / CNET:
Samsung Q2: profit of $10.8B, up 54% YoY, on $55.2B revenue; its chips business accounted for nearly half the profit; mobile division revenue declined QoQ  —  Samsung's operating profit showed strong growth in the second quarter, thanks to higher-than-expected chip prices and continued consumer demand …
Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:
Profile of Bessemer Venture Partners, an early investor in Twilio and Shopify, as its competition with Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, and SoftBank ramps up  —  Bessemer Venture Partners is a thoughtful firm in a world of loose money.  —  4 hr ago  —  In 2009, Ethan Kurzweil …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Qualcomm Q3: revenue of $8B, up 63% YoY, net income of $2.2B, up 124% YoY, chip segment revenue of $6.47B, up 70% YoY, and a strong Q4 revenue forecast  —  - Qualcomm revenue was up 63% from the same period last year, and earnings per share more than doubled annually in the quarter that ended on June 27.
Bloomberg:
As China expands oversight, Tencent's value dropped 23% in July, erasing ~$170B; nine of the top 10 losers in shareholder value in July were Chinese companies  —  - Tech giant is set to see its worst month ever after selloff  — Nine of top 10 market value losers in July are Chinese firms
Alexandra Marvar / The Verge:
A look at the rise of high-earning teens on Depop, who are using the Etsy-owned clothing marketplace to make thousands per week, often battling the algorithm  —  Seventeen-year-old Chelsea Aves of Fremont, California, has had a Depop account since her sophomore year of high school.

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