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August 12, 2021, 8:25 PM
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Top News

Felix Salmon / Axios:
Circle announces intention to become a bank, fully regulated by Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, which could make USDC a de facto central bank digital currency  —  Crypto giant Circle has announced its intention to become a bank, fully regulated by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC.
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Reddit raises $410M+ led by Fidelity Investments at a $10B+ valuation, up from $6B six months ago when it raised $250M; the new round could reach ~$700M  —  Reddit, the virtual town square of the consumer internet, has raised a fresh $410 million in funding, valuing it at more than $10 billion, the company said on Thursday.
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
In an internal memo, Amazon drops guidelines that claimed ownership rights to video games made by staff after work hours, following criticism from developers  —  - Memo from Game Studios chief suggests rules were too broad  — Company previously claimed rights to games made outside work
Reuters:
Sources: Apple employees have sent 800+ Slack messages on an internal channel debating the company's plans to scan US iPhones, iPads, and computers for CSAM  —  A backlash over Apple's move to scan U.S. customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images has grown to include employees speaking …
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Nvidia says part of its April keynote was led by a virtual replica of CEO Jensen Huang, created by scanning Huang and then training an AI to mimic his gestures  —  Nvidia pulled off a stunt to promote and showcase its latest technology by digitizing its CEO Jensen Huang in a conference keynote.
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
UK's CMA says it has provisionally found that Facebook's Giphy acquisition could negatively impact competition, such as by denying competitors access to GIFs  —  The merger of social media giant Facebook and Giphy, the largest provider of GIFs, has run into a roadblock from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok details upcoming protections for users aged 13 to 17, including turning in-app messaging off by default and changes to notifications  —  TikTok today becomes the latest tech company to roll out increased protections for minors on its platform in the wake of increased regulatory scrutiny.
Bloomberg:
Facebook delays its office reopenings in the US until January 2022; Facebook originally hoped for 50% office capacity by September and 100% by October  —  - Company originally planned to have employees back by October  — Facebook will also require vaccinations for U.S. staff members
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
A look at community NFT projects like Pudgy Penguins, which have become a new kind of financial and social status symbol on the internet  —  Is this what the metaverse looks like?  —  Earlier this week, I got attacked by penguins.  —  Not real ones, mind you.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Google says it banned location data company SafeGraph in early June, meaning apps using SafeGuard location SDK had to remove it  —  SafeGraph sells smartphone location data to essentially anyone.  Google banned the company in June.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Google has banned SafeGraph …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Airbnb reports Q2 revenue of $1.34B, up nearly 300% YoY, with Gross Booking Value of $13.4B, up 320% YoY, and net loss of $68M, down 88% YoY  —  - Airbnb beat Wall Street's expectations for revenue and bookings in the second quarter, but the company warned about expected volatility from the Covid delta variant.
Simon Evans / Reuters:
Lionel Messi's new contract with Paris St Germain includes a “large number” of crypto $PSG Fan Tokens from Socios.com, which let holders vote on minor decisions  —  Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi's transfer to French club Paris St Germain included a payment in cryptocurrency fan tokens …
Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:
Thousands of marginalized streamers implore Twitch to counter “hate raids”, where groups of malicious users fill a streamer's chat with targeted abuse  —  During an Aug. 6 broadcast, the Twitch streamer RekItRaven — who is Black and uses they/them pronouns …
Maia Szalavitz / Wired:
Researchers say algorithms like NarxCare, which are used to identify a patient's risk of misusing opioids, may be actually worsening the US opioid crisis  —  A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis.  It may only be making the crisis worse.
Li Yuan / New York Times:
After Alibaba fired an employee accused of rape, over 6,000 workers sign a letter urging it to ban sexual remarks and games in ice-breaking and business events
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Internal docs: Amazon plans to monitor keyboard strokes and mouse movements of customer service staff to stop rogue workers or hackers accessing customer data  —  An internal document also mentions cases where imposters have stolen Amazon customer data.  —  Joseph Cox
Bloomberg:
Sources: Atlanta-based Mailchimp is exploring strategic options, including a sale at a $10B+ valuation; source says Mailchimp's EBITDA reached $300M in 2020  —  - Marketing company attracts interest from PE firms, strategics  — Atlanta-based firm is currently 100% owned by founders
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper / CNET:
Twitter rolls out a web and app redesign, implementing its first proprietary font, called Chirp, high-contrast black and white follow and unfollow buttons, more  —  It's inevitable: Twitter changes Twitter, and Twitter users complain on Twitter.  But does Chirp make you feel like a woodpecker is pounding on your skull?
Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Palantir reports Q2 revenue of $376M, up 49% YoY, as sales to governments rose 66% YoY; Q3 revenue is forecasted to rise 33% YoY to $385M; stock rises 7%+  —  - Third-quarter revenue will be $385 million, company said  — Second-quarter revenue grew 49%; loss was 7 cents a share

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:25 PM ET, August 12, 2021.

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From Mediagazer

Daniel Kaplan / Awful Announcing:
The US DOJ and 17 state attorneys general file briefs for Fubo and against Venu Sports, which is trying to get an injunction lifted that blocked Venu's launch

Frank Connelly / Bloomberg:
Vivendi says one of its small investors seeks to delay Vivendi's spinoff of Canal+, Havas, and Louis Hachette Group; shareholders were due to vote December 9

Bloomberg Media:
Mishal Husain, who presented the BBC's Today programme for the past eleven years, plans to leave in 2025 to launch a Bloomberg Weekend Edition interview series

More News

Andrew Deck / Rest of World:
As Substack expands abroad, writers say it needs local payment options and customer service in other languages; some worry about legal support in hostile states
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Honor unveils Magic 3 series, its first post-Huawei smartphones, all with 6.76-inch displays, Google services, up to 512GB and 12GB RAM, starting at €899
Eric Krebs / Bloomberg:
Utah-based TaxBit, which provides cryptocurrency tax and accounting services, raises $130M Series B at a $1.3B+ valuation, after raising $100M in March
Li Jin / Li's Newsletter:
A look at how centralized social media platforms have made the creator economy corrosive for online workers and what can be done to remedy the issue

Earlier Picks

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:
Talkdesk, which provides cloud-based call center software, raises $230M Series D at a $10B valuation, following $143M Series C at a $3B valuation from last July
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Three US senators unveil the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, which would force app stores to allow sideloading and let developers use their own IAP systems
Wolfie Zhao / The Block:
The attacker who stole $611M from Poly Network has now returned over $342M in USDC, BTCB, SHIBA, and others, after saying they were “ready to surrender”
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