Techmeme: Product management software startup Productboard raises a $125M Series D led by Dragoneer and Tiger Global at a $1.7B valuation, up from $772M in April 2021 (Katie Roof/Bloomberg)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Site News

February 2, 2022, 11:40 AM

Top News

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Alphabet says its board has approved a 20-for-1 stock split, slated for July 15 with shareholder approval on July 1; Google last split its stock in April 2014 — - Before the Alphabet rebrand in 2015, Google effectively split its stock with the introduction of a third class of shares.

More: Financial Times, Quartz, AppleInsider, ExchangeWire.com, Insider, Bloomberg, Livy's Newsletter, and Wall Street Journal

Alphabet - Investor Relations:

Alphabet reports Q4 revenue rose 32% YoY to $75.3B and net income grew from $15.2B to $20.6B YoY; Cloud revenue rose from $3.8B to $5.5B YoY; stock rises 5%+ — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - February 1, 2022 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Jennifer Elias / CNBC:

Google's Q4 ad revenue came in at $61.24B, up 33% YoY; YouTube's ad revenue rose to $8.63B, up 25.4% YoY

More: AdExchanger, The Economic Times, Tubefilter, Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, PYMNTS.com, Silicon Republic, Winvesta Crisps, Protocol, Variety, Axios, and Deadline

Tweets: @robzepeda, @jason_kint, @chrispavlovski, @jason_kint, @levynews, and @jason_kint

See also Mediagazer

Sharon Pruitt-Young / NPR:

The FBI warns athletes attending the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in China to take burner phones and says the official MY2022 app poses a security risk — Athletes on their way to the 2022 Winter Olympics have a new item to add to their packing list: a burner phone.

Source: CISA. More: ZDNet, Threatpost, The Hill, Dark Reading, Axios, Social Media IO Roundup, TechCircle, cybernews.com, TechRadar, SecurityWeek, Android Authority, Gizchina, IT Management, and TechRepublic. Tweets: @uscert_gov

Yogita Khatri / The Block:

Dune Analytics, which makes crypto data charts and dashboards, raises a $69.420M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Coatue, bringing its total funding to $80M — Quick Take — Dune Analytics has hit a valuation of $1 billion with its Series B round. — Dune has big plans in place …

More: dune.xyz, Blockworks, CoinDesk, and ArcticStartup

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:

Cruise raises $1.35B more from SoftBank Vision Fund and launches a waitlist for a driverless robotaxi service in San Francisco that will run from 11pm to 5am — Cruise is opening up its driverless robotaxi service to the public in San Francisco as the GM subsidiary creeps toward commercialization …

Anna Edgerton / Bloomberg:

Sources: Meta is quietly explaining its metaverse vision to conservative think tanks and nonprofits, seeking to blunt expected criticism from lawmakers in DC — Mark Zuckerberg has a problem money can't fix: convincing Capitol Hill that the metaverse — whatever that is — isn't evil.

More: Computerworld. Tweets: @mattnavarra

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

Startups have begun selling and renting out AR spaces tied to real-world addresses, raising questions about who should have the rights to a property's AR layer — It's the stuff of nightmares: The other day, I found my property occupied by a stranger, who was renting it out, Airbnb style.

Tweets: @ldrogen, @pierce, @amywebb, @jank0, @dlberes, @timgrieve, and @mollyxbrady

Katie Roof / Bloomberg:

Product management software startup Productboard raises a $125M Series D led by Dragoneer and Tiger Global at a $1.7B valuation, up from $772M in April 2021 — Productboard Inc., a product-management software business, has raised $125 million in financing giving it a $1.7 billion valuation.

More: Productboard

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:

Sources: Indian officials have held tense and heated discussions with Meta, Google, Twitter, ShareChat, and Koo over proactively removing “fake news” — Indian officials have held heated discussions with Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing what they described …

More: Android Central and The Information Ecologist

Tweets: @apar1984, @apar1984, @nihamasih, @adityakalra, @seemay, @apar1984, and @yashjournals

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:

Google brings its One VPN service, which has been available to Android users since October 2020, to iOS for users on the 2TB $9.99/month plan or higher — The VPN service that's included with a Google One Premium subscription is finally available on iPhones after Google's promise in October 2020 that it would come to iOS.

More: The Keyword, TechRadar, and SlashGear

Tweets: @ruslantrad and @stshank

Kif Leswing / CNBC:

AMD Q4: revenue of $4.83B, up 49% YoY, Computing and Graphics revenue of $2.6B, up 32% YoY, Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom revenue of $2.2B, up 75% YoY — - AMD reported fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday. — AMD said it expected $21.5 billion in sales in 2022, higher than analyst expectations.

Cate Cadell / Washington Post:

Investigation shows Chinese drone maker DJI, a leading US law enforcement supplier, obscured investment from four Chinese state-backed groups in recent years — The Chinese firm received funding from several state-backed investors, despite repeated claims that it hasn't taken money from Beijing

More: DroneDJ. Tweets: @klonkitchen, @brendancarrfcc, and @droneanalyst

Bloomberg:

Despite a brutal 12 months, less than 10% of investors in Cathie Wood's ARK funds have withdrawn their capital, suggesting many will stick with her long-term — By the time the mania surrounding ARK Investment Management peaked last year, investors had pumped a staggering $42 billion into its exchange-traded funds.

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

Chatbot developer Gupshup acquires cloud telephony startup Knowlarity, source says for around $100M; Gupshup works with Amazon, Meta, HSBC, and others — Chatbot developer Gupshup Inc. said it is acquiring cloud communications startup Knowlarity Communications Pvt. to bolster its voice messaging and video solutions capabilities.

More: Entrackr

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Montreal-based Wrk, which automates common enterprise workflows using bots, APIs, and robotic process automation, raises ~$43M across seed, Series A, and debt — An enduring feature of the pandemic will be the increased deployment of automation in the enterprise.

More: SiliconANGLE and PR Newswire

Tom Krisher / Associated Press:

NHTSA: Tesla will issue an OTA update for 53,822 cars and SUVs to remove an FSD feature that let vehicles roll through stop signs without coming to a halt — DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt.

More: Boston.com, Mercury News, Reuters, The Verge, New York Times, TechRadar, Gizmodo, BGR India, Electrek, SlashGear, Input, Engadget, The Register, and Newser

Tweets: @taylorogan, @elonmusk, @rmac18, @jraindc, @kashhill, @gtconway3d, @samjmintz, @ballaban, @awalkerinla, @aweiss, @mikeelgan, @oknox, @tomgara, @lizadixon, @davidzipper, @tweetermeyer, @errolbarnett, and @carnage4life

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.

Zoho:

Zoho Sign is a “high growth performer” in the Frost & Sullivan's Frost Radar™ for electronic signature software, 2024 — We are happy to announce that Zoho Sign has clinched a position as a high growth performer …

Hamming:

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Who's Hiring In Tech?

Google: Bring questions. Build answers.

Mytra: Software-defined robotics solution.

Grafana Labs: A leader in OSS observability.

Automattic: 43% down, 57% to go. WordPress.

Corelight: Disrupt cyberattacks with evidence.

Glean: The Work AI platform.

Abnormal: AI for Human Behavior Security.

Cribl: The Data Engine for IT and Security.

Adobe: Let’s create experiences that matter.

Codeium: Create code for AI that creates code.

World Labs: A spatial intelligence company.

Redpanda: Streaming data platform for devs.

Vanta: The leading trust management platform.

PayPal: Opening opportunities for all.

Stripe: Help us build universal payments.

Add your company here

Techmeme Ride Home:

Fri. 11/08 - Share To TikTok

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.

Sponsor this podcast

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:40 AM ET, February 2, 2022.

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

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Memo: WaPo CEO Will Lewis tells staff they'll be expected to work from the office five days a week, instead of three, by June 2, and by February 3 for managers

Sean Burch / The Wrap:

News Corp reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to $2.58B, net income up 148% YoY to $144M, Dow Jones revenue up 3% YoY to $552M, and WSJ subscriptions up 7% YoY to 4.3M

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

The UK government launches a forum that includes the BBC, Sky, and Ofcom to examine ways of preserving linear TV for older and underprivileged audiences

More News

Wall Street Journal:

The US Commerce Department is finalizing rules for apps deemed to be national security risks, like TikTok, including mandatory third-party audits and monitoring

Tweets: @niubi, @saraheneedleman, and @jeffjarvis

James Vincent / The Verge:

DeepMind details AlphaCode, a new AI coding engine that it says “writes computer programs at a competitive level”

More: BBC, VentureBeat, Deepmind, and Financial Times

Tweets: @jjvincent, @westcoastbill, @nachosoto, and @jjvincent

Kyle Alspach / VentureBeat:

PlexTrac, which aims to automate mundane cybersecurity tasks, raises a $70M Series B led by Insight Partners, bringing its total funding to $82M

More: GeekWire and FinSMEs

Dan Taylor / Tech.eu:

Paris-based Padoa, which offers tools for occupational health professionals, raises €80M led by Five Arrows Growth Capital, bringing its total funding to ~€105M

More: EU-Startups

Jamal Michel / Washington Post:

Black game developers say the video game industry continues to struggle with diversity, as a report shows 4% of devs were Black in 2021, up from 2% in 2005

More: Protocol. Tweets: @launcherwp, @launcherwp, and @imad

Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:

Superpedestrian, which makes e-scooters that detect and correct unsafe riding behavior in real-time, raises a $125M Series C after a $60M round in December 2020

More: GlobeNewswire News Room, The Boston Globe, and Silicon Republic

Tweets: @garrygolden, @superpedestrian, and @augustinfriedel

Michael Schroeder / MedCity News:

League, which makes a health care platform on which payers, providers, and others build their apps, raises a $95M Series C, bringing its total funding to $205M

More: Business Wire and FinSMEs

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:

Jellyfish, which provides software to help manage engineering teams, raises a $71M Series C led by Accel, Insight Partners, and Tiger Global

More: SD Times, PR Newswire, and Jellyfish

Tweets: @drewvolpe and @accel

Earlier Picks

Michael Tobin / Bloomberg:

Match Group reports Q4 revenue of $806.1M, up 24% YoY, vs. est. $818.6M, with 16.2M paying users, up 15% YoY, forecasts weaker Q1 growth due to Omicron effects

More: Match Group, Dow Jones Newswires, Barron's Online, and Reuters

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:

YouTube rolls out a new interface for its full-screen player on Android and iOS, making it easier to like or dislike a video, view comments, and share

More: MacRumors, 9to5Google, PCMag, iDownloadBlog.com, Digit, iPhone Hacks, iThinkDifferent, BGR India, Phandroid, XDA Developers, Android Police, Pocketnow, Engadget, PhoneArena, Android Central, iMore, Cult of Mac, and GSMArena.com

Tweets: @ishanagarwal24, @icecooltech, and @reneritchie

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

EA reports Q3 revenue of $1.79B, up from $1.67B YoY, net income of $66M, down from $211M YoY, and net bookings of $2.6B, down from $2.4B YoY

More: Electronic Arts, Business Wire, GameSpot, Electronic Arts Inc., GamesIndustry.biz, The Verge, MarketWatch, GameSpot, GamesIndustry.biz, Windows Central, Reuters, and Bloomberg. Tweets: @yangcliu

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

PayPal reports Q4 revenue of $6.92B, up 13% YoY, net income of $801M, down from $1.57B YoY; stock down 15%+ on weak Q1 guidance

More: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, ZDNet, Bloomberg, CNBC, PayPal, Coinspeaker, Reuters, Investor's Business Daily, Barron's Online, Benzinga, MarketWatch, and CoinDesk

Tweets: @thestalwart and @tommyr345

Wall Street Journal:

Amid tech stocks' poor performance, especially IPOs, some venture firms are cutting back investments and startup valuations, as they renegotiate funding deals

More: PYMNTS.com, Silicon Valley Business …, and Investing 101 2.0

Tweets: @eliotwb, @eliotwb, @annmlipton, @djtgallagher, and @heathersomervil

Matt Burgess / Wired:

Internal messages from the Trickbot ransomware gang during 2020 detail its structure, target choices, plans to open St. Petersburg offices, and more

More: The Overspill. Tweets: @jeffstone500, @moltke, @milenarodban, @swiftonsecurity, @johnhultquist, @egeblc, @wired, @cranehassold, @nicoleperlroth, @hatr, @wired, @howelloneill, @campuscodi, and @mattburgess1

John Hendel / Politico:

Nonprofit suicide chat service Crisis Text Line ends its data sharing relationship with for-profit spinoff Loris.ai and asks the company to delete existing data

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures”