Techmeme
August 4, 2021, 8:30 AM

Top News

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Activision Blizzard says that Blizzard's head of global human resources, Jesse Meschuk, has also left the company  —  Jesse Meschuk, SVP of global HR, has left  —  Blizzard president J. Allen Brack isn't the only executive leaving the company today after presiding over a culture now accused of fostering “constant sexual harassment.”
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Activision Blizzard says President J. Allen Brack is leaving the company, replaced by Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra, as the fallout from CA lawsuit continues  —  Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will take over as co-leaders  —  In the last week or so, we've learned about the state of California filing …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
WhatsApp is rolling out a View Once feature for photos and videos that disappear from the chat after the recipient opens it  —  There and gone  —  WhatsApp is rolling out its “View Once” feature today, which deletes photos or videos from your chat after they've been opened by the recipient.
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
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple and Affirm's PayBright will launch a “buy now, pay later” program for iPhone, Mac, and iPad purchases in Canada on Aug. 11, according to a staff message  —  - Monthly installments to be offered in Canada on Apple devices  — Company working on future service for all Apple Pay purchases
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Sources: NLRB probe found Amazon illegally interfered with workers organizing in Staten Island, NY; NLRB officer recommends election rerun for Alabama warehouse  —  The National Labor Relations Board found that Amazon illegally interfered with worker organizing at its Staten Island, New York warehouse in May.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan on monetizing Shorts, content moderation with Content ID, YouTube TV, competing with TikTok, and more  —  YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan joined Decoder this week to discuss YouTube's new $100 million fund to begin paying creators …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
On-demand movie and TV service FandangoNOW has merged with video streaming service Vudu, which will become Roku's official movie and TV store  —  Last year, movie ticketing and discovery business Fandango, a division of NBCUniversal, bought the on-demand video streaming service Vudu from Walmart …
Josh Ye / South China Morning Post:
After criticism from China, Tencent says it will limit playing time on flagship Honor of Kings for under 18s to one hour per day and not between 10PM and 8AM  —  Gamers under the age of 18 will have their playing time limited to one hour on regular days and two hours on public holidays Honour …
Liana Baker / Bloomberg:
PE firm Apax Partners says it is merging three companies that make software for non-profits, EveryAction, Social Solutions, and CyberGrants, in a deal worth $2B  —  - EveryAction, Social Solutions and CyberGrants to combine  — Apax partner Jason Wright says investment fits ESG trend
Aria Alamalhodaei / TechCrunch:
Elroy Air, which is building autonomous drones to transport cargo over long distances, raises $40M Series A from Lockheed Martin and others  —  Elroy Air has raised a $40 million Series A, including financing from Lockheed Martin's venture capital arm, to ramp up the build …
Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch:
Dubai-based buy now, pay later service Tabby raises $50M Series B at a $300M valuation led by Global Founders Capital and STV  —  These past few years have seen the emergence of buy now, pay later services worldwide, with leading players raising buttloads of cash to serve …

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More News

Joseph Marks / Washington Post:
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Earlier Picks

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Antoine Gara / Forbes:
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Martin Matishak / The Record: