Techmeme
August 4, 2021, 8:10 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Facebook says it has disabled the accounts, apps, Pages, and access to its APIs for researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory Project, citing TOS violations  —  - Company says researchers of political ads were scraping data  — NYU's Ad Observatory got cease-and-desist letter last October
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sony beats estimates with Q1 operating profit of $2.6B and says the PS5 is no longer selling at a loss; PS Plus subscribers declined to 46.3M from 47.6M QoQ  —  - Sony expecting more from music streaming and digital cameras  — PlayStation software sales and subscriber additions slowed
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft pauses free trials of its new Windows 365 service, which lets users stream Windows 10 or 11 via web browser, after “significant demand”  —  Windows 365 lets you stream a cloud PC to a web browser  —  Microsoft launched its new cloud PC Windows 365 service earlier this week …
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Robinhood shares surged as much as 80% on Wednesday, reaching $85, with trading halted several times, and closed the day at $70.39 up 50.41%  —  Cramer: Hedge funds think Robinhood is a house of cards  —  Robinhood shares soared again Wednesday, extending a wild rally in the newly public stock trading app's stock.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok says it is testing its Stories-like feature, called TikTok Stories, and a source says it's available in a handful of markets outside the US  —  Twitter may have shut down its Stories features known as Fleets, but the Stories format will continue to invade other social platforms.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Internal document: Google fired dozens of engineers between 2018 and 2020 for abusing their access to data and tools  —  Some allegations potentially center around accessing Google user or employee data.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Google has fired dozens of employees between 2018 and 2020 …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Uber beats estimates with record gross bookings of $21.9B, up 114% YoY, adjusted EBITDA loss of $509M, an improvement from $837M YoY; stock down 6%+ after hours  —  - Uber beat on both the top and bottom lines in its second quarter earnings report Wednesday.  — The company reported a net income of $1.1 billion for the quarter.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Email service Superhuman, which charges $30/month and hasn't formally launched, raises $75M Series C led by IVP, source says at a $825M valuation  —  Covering venture capital, software and startups  —  When Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra agreed to meet with former Dropbox CFO Ajay Vashee's …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Instacart hires longtime Facebook ads chief Carolyn Everson, who left in June, as president, starting Sept. 7, following other high-profile hires from Facebook  —  - Weeks after poaching Facebook's Fidji Simo as CEO, Instacart hires Carolyn Everson as president.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Tinder parent company Match Group says it will add audio and video chat, including group live video, to several of its brands over the next 12 to 24 months  —  Dating app maker and Tinder parent, Match Group, said during its Q2 earnings it will bring audio and video chat, including group live video …
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Sam Shead / CNBC:
After a report showed Amazon destroying millions of unsold items in the UK, Amazon introduces two programs to reduce waste, including reselling used items  —  - The so-called Fulfilment by Amazon programs, announced in a blog post on Wednesday, will help to build a circular economy, the company said.
Bloomberg:
A look at Amazon's dilemma around mandating worker vaccinations, which could alienate the many virus skeptics in its warehouse ranks, amid a tight labor market  —  While much of Corporate America scrambled to adjust Covid-19 policies this summer in response to a surge of cases …
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE:
Amnesty International: of the world's 53 largest VC firms, only one meets UN human rights due diligence standards  —  Out of the 53 companies and accelerators surveyed, only one “potentially” set up a policy to investigate and stop contributions to human rights abuse.  —  EO
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Activision beats expectations in Q2 with revenue of $2.29B, up 19% YoY, and net bookings of $1.92B, down only 7% YoY, notes risks of the sexual harassment suit  —  Activision Blizzard reported earnings today that beat Wall Street's and its own expectations with 19% revenue growth to $2.29 billion for the second quarter ended June 30.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:

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