|
December 16, 2021, 6:15 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| The Citizen Lab: |
Two Egyptians living in exile had their iPhones compromised in June 2021 using Predator spyware built by North Macedonian developer Cytrox — Key Findings — Two Egyptians—exiled politician Ayman Nour and the host of a popular news program (who wishes to remain anonymous) …
More:
Meta, Washington Post, Axios, The Record, The Guardian, VICE, NPR, CyberScoop, Bloomberg, Wired, and The Daily Beast
Tweets: @citizenlab, @jsrailton, @razhael, @lindseyod123, @tonyajoriley, @caseynewton, @skirchy, @amnestytech, @runasand, and @cpjtechnology
| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Meta bans seven surveillance-for-hire groups, including Cytrox, removing over 1,500 Facebook and Instagram accounts and alerting 50K users who were targeted — Cytrox is one of seven surveillance companies now banned from Meta's platforms — While NSO Group was taking flak for hacking …
More:
NBC News, Protocol, BBC, The Verge, Engadget, BleepingComputer, MIT Technology Review, Reuters, The Hill, Forbes, CNET, Forbes, and Rolling Stone
Tweets: @evacide, @arawnsley, @jsrailton, @bing_chris, @carolafrediani, @howelloneill, @dashdecosta, @joyce_karam, @marietjeschaake, @davidakaye, @howelloneill, @w7voa, @tomgara, @evacide, @davidakaye, @davidagranovich, @anthony, @rj_gallagher, @jckichen, @iblametom, @zackwhittaker, @iblametom, @anthony, @washingtonpost, and @zackwhittaker
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Job listings show Apple is hiring engineers for a new office in Irvine, California to develop wireless chips that could replace Broadcom and Skyworks components — - Company seeks engineers for location in Irvine, California — Apple is poised to attract employees from Broadcom, Skyworks
More:
Gizmodo, Macworld, AppleInsider, MacRumors, iMore, The Verge, MacDailyNews, Patently Apple, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, and Cult of Mac
Tweets: @newsynick, @markgurman, and @benbajarin
| Kris Holt / Engadget: |
Sidewalk Labs plans to shut down, fold its products into Google, and spin out Canopy Buildings; CEO Dan Doctoroff says he is stepping down for health reasons — Alphabet's smart city project is winding down and Google will take over its products. Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff announced …
More:
Sidewalk Talk, Associated Press, Reuters, The Verge, 9to5Google, and Protocol
Tweets: @jeffnolan, @levynews, @roybahat, @arielmai, @njbowden, @andyjayhawk, @kantrowitz, @daiwaka, @sidewalklabs, @mhbergen, and @richard_florida
| Zachary Basu / Axios: |
The US bans investing in eight Chinese companies, including DJI and Megvii, for their alleged involvement in surveilling Uyghurs and other minority groups — The Treasury Department has added eight Chinese companies — including DJI, the world's largest commercial drone manufacturer …
More:
The Verge, South China Morning Post, U.S. Department …, and fmprc.gov.cn
Tweets: @ustreasury and @zacharybasu
| Henry Mance / Financial Times: |
Interview with Meta's VP of Global Affairs Nick Clegg on leaving politics, the impact of Haugen's leaks, and his leading role in the decision to ban Trump — Nick Clegg may be available in Berlin. He has a slot in Paris. He'll make time for lunch in Brussels.
More:
Australian Financial Review, Financial Times, and YouTube
Tweets: @henrymance, @parkermolloy, @jamestitcomb, @timmaughan, @jack_sommers, @cwarzel, @hblodget, @kimberlynfoster, @lorenzofb, @henrymance, @robinwigg, @katie_martin_fx, @timcast, @arirabinhavt, @jackcevans, @stephenkb, @apzonerunner, @parismarx, @owillis, @cecianasta, @milo_edwards, @dkthomp, @jolyonmaugham, @mathewolson, @michaelsavage, @byyourlogic, @hamburger, @brendelbored, @gossithedog, @larakiara, @shefaly, @johnthornhillft, @davidpilling, @ariehkovler, @davemolloy, @psythor, @peterguest, @stokel, and @martinsfp
| Reddit: |
Reddit confidentially files its S-1 with the SEC for an IPO; the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined — Reddit, Inc. today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission …
More:
Reuters, Variety, The Economic Times, Bloomberg, The Verge, BBC, TechCrunch, CNBC, Tubefilter, Gizmodo, Coinspeaker, Newser, 9to5Mac, WRAL TechWire, iPhone in Canada Blog, thegamer.com, Adweek, The Register, HotHardware.com News, Wall Street Journal, Insider, iMore, PYMNTS.com, CNN, Barron's Online, Engadget, CoinDesk, Protocol, and Axios
Tweets: @reddit, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @valuations_, @killedbygoogle, @loudmouthjulia, @lamonicabuzz, @ourielohayon, @leeodden, @mathowie, @hoctopi, and @carnage4life
| Orla McCaffrey / Wall Street Journal: |
Tax preparation company H&R Block sues Block, formerly Square, for trademark infringement, claiming Block's name and logo are “nearly identical” to its own — Square changed name to Block earlier this month, a nod to CEO Jack Dorsey's blockchain ambitions
More:
TheStreet, Decrypt, Engadget, Bloomberg, GlobeNewswire News Room, CNBC, Protocol, and CoinDesk
Tweets: @theryanford, @rstephens, @readdanwrite, @lanceulanoff, @ryan, and @orla_mccaffrey
| Tanya Basu / MIT Technology Review: |
Meta says a woman was groped in Horizon Worlds on November 26; an internal review found she should have used the VR platform's Safe Zone tool — Last week, Meta (the umbrella company formerly known as Facebook) opened up access to its virtual-reality social media platform, Horizon Worlds.
More:
Bloomberg, Futurism, and Pandaily
Tweets: @tanyabasu, @parmy, @teachguz, @mikebutcher, @calbucci, @damienmcferran, @oliviasolon, @mattnavarra, @vickiturk, @markgongloff, @autumncapital, @niallfirth, @eileenguo, @jjaron, @lazerwalker, @parmy, @parmy, @parmy, and @quicktake
| Liza Lin / Wall Street Journal: |
TikTok says it will adjust its recommendation algorithm to avoid negative reinforcement and let users pick words and hashtags to remove videos from their feed — The app says it is working to diversify the content it pushes to individual users in order to protect their mental well-being
More:
TikTok, TechCrunch, Social Media Today, Protocol, Axios, TechCrunch, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Tubefilter, and The Verge. Tweets: @tiktokcomms
| Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: |
Apple releases Swift Playgrounds 4, which lets users develop iPhone and iPad apps on their iPads, preview apps in real time, and upload them to the App Store — Apple announced that it has officially released Swift Playgrounds 4. The tech giant first announced the upcoming launch of the new software at WWDC earlier this year.
More:
MacRumors, Apple Developer, SiliconANGLE, Thurrott, Michael Tsai, O'Grady's PowerPage, Cult of Mac, Redmond Pie, Wccftech, PhoneArena, Pocketnow, and appadvice.com
Tweets: @twostraws, @frankefoster, @zollotech, @chris_lawley, @tommyprezioso, and @timroesner
| Chainalysis: |
Analysis: cryptocurrency scams cost victims $7.7B in 2021, up 81% from 2020, driven by DeFi-based “rug pulls” wherein developers unexpectedly abandon projects — This blog is a preview of our 2022 Crypto Crime Report. Sign up here to reserve your copy and we'll email you the full report when it comes out in February!
More:
The Register, Insider, Protocol, Decrypt, and CryptoSlate
Tweets: @ann_arcana, @chainalysis, @arvidkahl, @ryan, and @mdudas
| Sara Fischer / Axios: |
Spotify acquires Australian company Whooshkaa, which helps radio broadcasters turn existing content into podcasts and sell ads around them — Spotify on Thursday said it acquired Whooshkaa, a podcast technology platform that specializes in technology for radio broadcasters to turn existing content into podcasts.
More:
Spotify, Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, RAIN News, and Whooshkaa
Tweets: @evoterra, @spotifyads, @sarthakgh, @sarafischer, @ashleyrcarman, and @spotifynews
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Indian edtech company Byju's is in advanced talks to go public via a SPAC on the NYSE, raising around $4B and seeking a $48B valuation — - Education startup is discussing deal with Churchill Capital — SPAC merger could value Byju's at more than $40 billion
More:
TechCrunch, Reuters, Inc42 Media, Financial Times, SPACInsider, The Economic Times, DealStreetAsia, and Tech in Asia
Tweets: @chandrarsrikant and @saritharai
| Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge: |
Amazon Echo Show 15 review: a bright screen with HD streaming doesn't make up for laggy performance, inconsistent personalized content, and too few widgets — The $249.99 Echo Show 15 is billed as a shared hub for families to see things like upcoming calendar appointments, to-dos, digital sticky note reminders, and shopping lists.| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
France's privacy watchdog says Clearview AI has breached GDPR, orders it to delete user data within two months; Clearview says it has no EU customers — Controversial facial recognition company, Clearview AI, which has amassed a database of some 10 billion images by scraping selfies off …
More:
The Verge, infosecurity-magazine.com, and Reuters
| Dan Primack / Axios: |
Source: delivery startup Gopuff, which recently launched in London and NYC, raised $1.5B in convertible notes at a valuation of up to $40B — Gopuff, an instant delivery platform for everyday items, has raised $1.5 billion in new funding at around a $40 billion valuation, Axios has learned.| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
Spotify rolls out a podcast ratings system that will let users rate a show from one to five stars only after listening to it — Spotify is borrowing a page from rival Apple with the addition of a five-star user ratings system for podcasts — a new tool for sorting through …
More:
Spotify, Gizmodo, Word of Mouth, The Verge, TechCrunch, XDA Developers, Hollywood Reporter, Tubefilter, MSPoweruser, and Engadget
Tweets: @spotifynews and @evoterra
| Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat: |
Adidas Originals launches an NFT collection with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Gmoney, and Punks Comic that offers access to wearables in The Sandbox virtual world — Adidas Originals will launch its first nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as it dives into Web 3 and the metaverse.
More:
The Verge, PYMNTS.com, Crypto Briefing, Coinspeaker, designboom, and Tech in Asia
| Washington Post: |
As investigators examine the collapsed Amazon warehouse in Illinois where six people were killed during a tornado, Amazon says the building was built to code — A woman told 911 that one of the people sheltering with her had been ‘bent in half’ by rubble. A driver detailed his frantic flight to safety.
More:
VICE, The Verge, New York Post, and Ars Technica
Tweets: @gerritd, @washingtonpost, @markseibel, @markseibel, @markseibel, and @markseibel
| Kyle Orland / Ars Technica: |
Legacy, an NFT-powered game by Peter Molyneux's 22cans studio and Gala Games planned for next year, raised $54M in virtual land NFT sales in less than a week — But are these games a brave new world or a FOMO-driven gold rush bubble? — On Saturday, Peter Molyneux's 22cans studio … | Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg: |
Uber plans to pilot driverless food-delivery in Santa Monica next year with partner Motional, a Hyundai and Aptiv joint venture that also has a Lyft deal — Uber Technologies Inc. plans to launch a driverless food-delivery pilot program in the U.S. next year, the company announced on Thursday.| Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch: |
Denver-based Gtmhub, which offers OKR software with data integrations, raises a $120M Series C led by Index Ventures, bringing its total funding to ~$160M — Denver-based software startup Gtmhub announced this morning that it has closed a $120 million Series C. Index Ventures led the round …
More:
SiliconANGLE and VentureBeat
| Ryan Weeks / The Block: |
Nansen, a crypto analytics service known for its ability to track high-value investors, raises a $75M Series B led by Accel, sources say at a $750M valuation — Quick Take — Venture capital firm Accel led the fundraise, with participation from a16z and Tiger Global.
More:
Decrypt, Reuters, Crypto Briefing, CoinDesk, and The Economic Times
| Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg: |
Latin America-based Nowports, which lets importers and exporters ship goods directly through its service, raises a $60M Series B led by Tiger Global — - Nowports raised $60 million in its Series B funding round — Startup growing fast amid problems with global supply chain| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Elementary, which uses AI to automate product inspections in factories, raises a $30M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to $47.5M+ — While it might not be the first example that comes to mind when thinking of AI applications, AI systems are increasingly being used in the manufacturing sector.
More:
FinSMEs and TechCrunch
| Ron Miller / TechCrunch: |
Cockroach Labs, which makes the SQL database CockroachDB, raises a $278M Series F at a $5B valuation led by Greenoaks, up from $2B valuation in January — Cockroach Labs, makers of CockroachDB, has been raking in money this year. It started the year with a $160 million Series E …
More:
CRN, VentureBeat, Reuters, CNBC, PR Newswire, SiliconANGLE, Cockroach Labs …, and The Register. Tweets: @itsaydrian
| Lucy Harley-Mckeown / The Block: |
Dutch startup Silverflow, which claims to be the first cloud-native card payments service, raises a $17M Series A led by Coatue Management — Quick Take — Dutch payment tech company Silverflow has closed a $17 million Series A round, led by Coatue Management.
More:
TechCrunch, FinSMEs, Finextra, Silicon Canals, and Insider
Sponsor Posts
Tribe AI:
Build AI products that matter — Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact. We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Build AI products that matter — Tribe AI helps organizations rapidly deploy AI solutions that have real business impact. We bring together world class AI talent and tooling to drive differentiated results.
Zoho:
CIO challenge 6: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs? — Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series! After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
CIO challenge 6: Can we find an effective solution that also minimizes operational costs? — Welcome to the next and final installment of our CIO series! After what feels like a thousand cups of coffee …
Hamming:
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy — Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Make AI Voice Agents trustworthy — Hamming AI automatically tests AI voice agents and continuously monitors them in production.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more — We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics. Download reports immediately for just $100.
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more — We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics. Download reports immediately for just $100.Who's Hiring In Tech?
Techmeme Ride Home:
(BNS) How To Know When To Kill Your Startup
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via
Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, or
RSS.
About This Page
This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:15 PM ET, December 16, 2021.
The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.
From Mediagazer
Anna Betts / The Guardian:Michael Gold / New York Times:
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Upcoming Tech Events
Earlier Picks
| Willem Marx / Bloomberg: |
More:
Wagers.com Earnings+More. Tweets: @bw, @mcaruanagalizia, @bloomberguk, @mattcampbell, @fairandopen, and @bradleyhope
| Mike Butcher / TechCrunch: |
| Nilay Patel / The Verge: |
Tweets: @morewithmobile, @julienroyal, @alpaykasal, @unhedgedchatter, @fix_pokemon, @reckless, @adrianhon, @videogamenews, and @backlon