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December 16, 2021, 11:10 PM
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| 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) …
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Meta, Washington Post, The Guardian, NPR, The Register, VICE, GitHub, ZDNet, Bloomberg, Wired, iPhone in Canada Blog, Reuters, Associated Press, CyberScoop, and The Daily Beast
| 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 …
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NBC News, Protocol, Livemint, Wall Street Journal, iTnews, Gizmodo, BBC, Forbes, The Hill, Rolling Stone, CNET, MIT Technology Review, The Verge, Engadget, and BleepingComputer
Tweets: @ngleicher, @evacide, @jsrailton, @agreendcbike, @jsrailton, @jsrailton, @marietjeschaake, @dashdecosta, @rj_gallagher, @migueldeicaza, @davidakaye, @howelloneill, @iblametom, @jckichen, @zackwhittaker, @arawnsley, @bing_chris, @evacide, @w7voa, @ngleicher, @tomgara, @iblametom, @anthony, @jsrailton, @washingtonpost, @carolafrediani, @skirchy, @howelloneill, @davidakaye, @davidagranovich, @zackwhittaker, @joyce_karam, and @anthony
| 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:
U.S. Department …, Financial Times, Reuters, The Verge, The Register, ZDNet, Reuters, Reuters, CNN, South China Morning Post, TechRadar, Android Central, and Wall Street Journal
Tweets: @ustreasury and @zacharybasu
| 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 …
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Sidewalk Talk, CNBC, Crain's New York Business, Silicon Valley Business …, New York Times, Globe and Mail, Associated Press, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Real Deal New York, Bloomberg, 9to5Google, The Verge, and Protocol
Tweets: @jeffnolan, @andyjayhawk, @levynews, @kantrowitz, @daiwaka, @roybahat, @sidewalklabs, @arielmai, @mhbergen, @njbowden, and @richard_florida
| 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
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9to5Mac, PhoneArena, Gizmodo, iClarified, MacDailyNews, iMore, Macworld, iPhone in Canada Blog, Ubergizmo, AppleInsider, iPhone Hacks, The Verge, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, and MacRumors
Tweets: @markgurman, @dylan522p, @philiped, @ravi_711, @ravi_711, @dylan522p, @benbajarin, @ravi_711, and @newsynick
| 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
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TheStreet, Finextra, Decrypt, Bloomberg, GlobeNewswire News Room, SiliconANGLE, CNBC, CNN, Reuters, PYMNTS.com, Engadget, TechSpot, Protocol, and CoinDesk
Tweets: @theryanford, @rstephens, @chrismessina, @readdanwrite, @lanceulanoff, @ryan, @orla_mccaffrey, and @epro
| Paul R. La Monica / CNN: |
The CFPB probes buy now, pay later practices of Affirm, Afterpay, PayPal, Klarna, and Zip, citing concerns over customers' debt accumulation and data harvesting — New York (CNN Business)Regulators in Washington may crack down on the industry behind “buy now, pay later,” … | Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
France's privacy watchdog says Clearview AI breached GDPR and orders it to delete user data within two months; Clearview counters that 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:
CNIL, BuzzFeed News, euronews, The Verge, and infosecurity-magazine.com. Tweets: @slpng_giants
| Kyle Orland / Ars Technica: |
Legacy, an NFT-powered game by Peter Molyneux's 22cans studio and Gala Games planned for next year, raises $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 …
More:
NME, HotHardware.com News, thegamer.com, Game Rant, ExtremeTech, Eurogamer.net, and TechSpot
Tweets: @nash076 and @carnage4life
| 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
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TikTok, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, Social Media Today, Engadget, Digital Trends, 9to5Mac, Protocol, Tubefilter, Axios, and The Verge. Tweets: @tiktokcomms
| 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, Bloomberg, Shattering Hegemony, ScreenRant, and Futurism
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Oracle is in talks to acquire electronic medical records company Cerner, in a deal that could be worth ~$30B, which would make it Oracle's biggest yet — An agreement, which could potentially be worth $30 billion, would rank as biggest ever for software giant
More:
Financial Times, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Dow Jones Newswires
Tweets: @jaycuthrell, @quinnypig, @grahamstarr, @grahamstarr, @dimartinobooth, @realtimetradez, and @eric_criscuolo
| 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, and TechCrunch
Tweets: @evoterra, @spotifyads, @sarthakgh, @podnews, @sarafischer, @ashleyrcarman, and @spotifynews
| 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.| Gearoid Reidy / Bloomberg: |
Research: Japanese startups raised a record $3B+ in H1 2021, up from $2.37B in H1 2020, as China's crackdown leads SoftBank and others to invest in the country — Japan's startups are attracting increasing interest from overseas investors as the country starts to shake off a reputation as a unicorn-free venture backwater.
Tweets: @gearoidreidy
| Josh Sisco / The Information: |
Sources: the FTC opened an in-depth probe into Meta's acquisition of Within, the company behind VR fitness game Supernatural — Meta Platforms' Oculus virtual reality headsets are a vital step toward creating what its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, calls the metaverse, an immersive internet in which people can interact in digital spaces.| 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, MacStories, Thurrott, SiliconANGLE, Six Colors, Pocketnow, Wccftech, PhoneArena, Redmond Pie, and Cult of Mac
Tweets: @twostraws, @zollotech, @chris_lawley, @tommyprezioso, @frankefoster, and @timroesner
| Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: |
GM's Cruise says CEO Dan Ammann is leaving the company to “pursue other opportunities”; Cruise co-founder and CTO Kyle Vogt will take over as interim CEO — He will be replaced by Cruise founder Kyle Vogt — Dan Ammann, the CEO of Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company …
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General Motors Company, Associated Press, New York Times, Bloomberg, Detroit News, Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Reuters, TechCrunch, Automotive News, CNBC, and Engadget. Tweets: @quinnypig
| 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:
Financial Times and Insider
Tweets: @henrymance, @parkermolloy, @jamestitcomb, @jack_sommers, @cwarzel, @hblodget, @kimberlynfoster, @lorenzofb, @henrymance, @robinwigg, @timcast, @arirabinhavt, @jackcevans, @stephenkb, @apzonerunner, @parismarx, @owillis, @cecianasta, @milo_edwards, @dkthomp, @timmaughan, @jolyonmaugham, @mathewolson, @michaelsavage, @byyourlogic, @hamburger, @brendelbored, @jathansadowski, @gossithedog, @larakiara, @ariehkovler, @davemolloy, @psythor, @stokel, @martinsfp, @peterguest, @katie_martin_fx, @shefaly, @johnthornhillft, and @davidpilling
| Katie Jennings / Forbes: |
Cerebral, an app-based mental health service provider that raised $300M at a $4.8B valuation last week, makes some staff health insurance contingent on quotas — The company, which raised $300 million at a $4.8 billion valuation this month, changed the status of more than 200 employees …
Tweets: @toymango
| 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 — Scams were once again the largest form of cryptocurrency-based crime by transaction volume, with over $7.7 billion worth …
More:
Insider, Decrypt, and Protocol
Tweets: @chainalysis, @arvidkahl, @ryan, @ann_arcana, and @mdudas
| Tim O'Reilly / O'Reilly Media: |
A look at the cycles of decentralization and recentralization, and why we won't understand what Web3 consists of until after the next bubble pops — There's been a lot of talk about Web3 lately, and as the person who defined “Web 2.0” 17 years ago, I'm often asked to comment.
Tweets: @dcolthrust, @sanjiva, @acroll, @ricmac, @robertdouglass, @oreillymedia, @josemurilo, @timoreilly, @tgoetz, @jherskowitz, @kwerb, @johnbattelle, and @mmasnick
| 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, Word of Mouth, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, and hotpodnews.com
Tweets: @spotifynews, @variety, and @evoterra
| 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.| 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:
Filter Coffee ☕, Financial Times, SPACInsider, TechCrunch, Reuters, and The Economic Times
Tweets: @chandrarsrikant and @saritharai
| 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. Tweets: @gerritd, @markseibel, @markseibel, @markseibel, @markseibel, and @washingtonpost
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