Techmeme
December 2, 2021, 4:30 PM

Top News

The Verge:
Report: Google's Pixel hardware group is working on the company's first smartwatch, internally codenamed “Rohan”, which it plans to launch next year  —  A Pixel Watch is finally in the works  —  Google is finally making its own in-house smartwatch that's set to launch in 2022 …
Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:
The FTC sues to block Nvidia's $40B acquisition of Arm, arguing the chip deal is anticompetitive  —  The regulator alleges the semiconductor deal is anticompetitive  —  WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday challenged Nvidia Corp.'s proposed $40 billion takeover of Arm Holdings …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
In a filing in the Epic lawsuit, Apple says it “could charge a commission” if developers use a competing payments platform, following a similar Google policy  —  Although the appeal of the Apple-Epic lawsuit is ongoing, Apple is currently subject to the judge's decision …
The Markup:
Tom Simonite / Wired:
AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who left Google last year, launches Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research, an institute focused on the responsible use of AI  —  The researcher, who says Google fired her a year ago, wants to ask questions about responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple, which cut its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by up to 10M units, tells suppliers that it may not make up the shortfall in 2022  —  Apple Inc., suffering from a global supply crunch, is now confronting a different problem: slowing demand.
Tim Copeland / The Block:
DeFi protocol BadgerDAO is investigating after security researchers say $120.3M was stolen from users via its compromised front end  —  Quick Take  — DeFi protocol BadgerDAO was exploited earlier today for $120 million.  — It appears that its front end was compromised and users were tricked into making unwanted transactions.
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Interviews with 16 current and former Apple retail, support, and sales employees detail harsh working conditions, poor pay, and little interest from HR  —  The company's hourly workers say conditions are untenable.  Does Apple care?  —  Illustrations by Jesse Zhang
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple announces the best apps and games of 2021, across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, and the most downloaded apps of the year  —  Apple today released its anticipated annual list of the best apps and games of the year across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Ian Allison / CoinDesk:
Sources: Goldman Sachs is among a handful of tier-one US banks working on ways to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans to institutions  —  Goldman Sachs is among a handful of tier-one U.S. banks figuring out how to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans to institutions, according to three people familiar with the plans.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
DOJ charges an ex-employee of IoT manufacturer Ubiquiti with data theft and for attempting to extort his employer while posing as a whistleblower and a hacker  —  Nickolas Sharp, a former employee of networking device maker Ubiquiti, was arrested and charged today with data theft and attempting …
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Facebook makes 2FA mandatory for high-risk accounts, an expansion of Facebook Protect, which covers 1.5M accounts and will be in 50 countries by the end of 2021  —  Facebook, a recently added subsidiary of Meta, said it will make two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatory for high-risk accounts likely …
Hristina Yordanova / DappRadar:
The four leading virtual worlds recorded over $100M in NFT land sales in the past week, with The Sandbox alone seeing trading volumes of over $86M  —  The Sandbox alone attracted more than $86 million in land sales  —  Metaverse land is the new big hit in the crypto community …
CNBC:
Meta expands the number of eligible regulatory licenses for running crypto ads on Facebook and Instagram from three to 27  —  - Facebook on Wednesday announced its decision to reverse long-standing policy that prevented most cryptocurrency companies from running ads on its services.
Reuters:
Grab closes down 20.53% in its Nasdaq debut, after a SPAC merger valuing it at $40B and raising $4.5B, the largest US listing by a Southeast Asian company  —  Grab, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery firm, makes its market debut on Thursday after a record $40 billion merger …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
AWS announces Amplify Studio, a Figma-connected low-code service to help developers build cloud apps, as an extension of its AWS Amplify service  —  At its re:Invent conference, AWS today announced Amplify Studio, a new Figma-connected no-code/low-code service that is meant to help developers quickly build cloud-connected apps.
Olivia Solon / NBC News:
Meta partners with UK nonprofit Revenge Porn Helpline to let victims get their intimate images “hashed” and prevent them from appearing on online platforms  —  Facebook's parent company, Meta, has worked with the U.K.-based nonprofit Revenge Porn Helpline to build a tool …
Haje Jan Kamps / TechCrunch:
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform for Android gaming devices, partners with Razer on a handheld dev kit with a 6.65" 120Hz OLED display  —  Snapdragon's G3x is Qualcomm's fantastically exciting bid to embrace the gaming market — a brand new reach for the manufacturer …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta's NPE team recently set up an office in Lagos and plans another in Asia as it changes strategy to include making seed investments in small teams  —  Meta's (formerly, Facebook's) experimental app division, the NPE team, is shifting gears.  The group, which first launched in mid-2019 …
Tweets: @mattnavarra
Michelle Singletary / Washington Post:
The CFPB's rule that lets debt collectors send texts, emails, and private social media messages to debtors, and requires opt-out instructions, goes into effect  —  Federal regulators have given debt collectors the okay to pursue debtors via email, text messages and social media sites

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