Note: Techmeme is hiring part-time editors. Go here to apply, or tell a friend!
Techmeme
April 7, 2022, 10:20 PM

Top News

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Activision Blizzard will convert all its 1,100 temporary and contingent QA workers to full-time employees on July 1 and raise the minimum hourly rate to $20  —  Nearly 1,100 temp game testers are getting full-time jobs with benefits  —  Activision Blizzard has just announced that all temporary …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases a report it commissioned from Analysis Group, showing that the company's iOS apps “are rarely the most popular app of a particular type”  —  Apple today shared a new App Store study that it commissioned from economists at Analysis Group, with the report highlighting …
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Twitter tests Unmentioning with some users on the web, a feature that lets users select “leave this conversation” on a tweet to avoid notifications  —  Twitter might not have an edit button just yet, but it's still delivering at least one useful feature this week.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google releases “multisearch” for Lens, letting users ask questions about photos and screenshots, in beta for US users in English on Android and iOS  —  One of the most interesting announcements at Google's Search-focused keynote in September was a big upgrade to Lens that lets you take a photo and ask questions about it.
CoinDesk:
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gives her first speech on digital assets, saying a CBDC “would require years of development, not months”, and more  —  The U.S. official addressed CBDCs, stablecoins and regulations.  —  A digital dollar could become a “trusted money comparable …
Paul Vigna / Wall Street Journal:
One-click checkout service Bolt acquires crypto payments startup Wyre, sources say for around $1.5B, which would make it the largest non-SPAC crypto merger yet  —  Deal extends crypto's hot M&A market following record deal activity in 2021  —  Bolt Financial Inc., a payments-focused financial …
TechCrunch:
Alyse Stanley / Washington Post:
Epic Games and Lego partner to “shape the future of the metaverse” by building a digital experience where children can play safely online, but offer few details  —  Epic Games has already outlined ambitious plans for the metaverse and Thursday the “Fortnite” maker announced it intends to build part of it with Legos.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Coinbase adds support for the popular UPI payment method in India, making the cryptocurrency exchange functional in the world's second-largest internet market  —  Coinbase is adding support for the popular UPI payment instrument in India, making its eponymous cryptocurrency exchange functional …
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Twitter CEO tells staff in an email that Elon Musk will hold an internal AMA, to address employee concerns that Musk will sabotage culture  —  Twitter plans to host Elon Musk for a question-and-answer session with employees after a week of internal outcries over his appointment …
Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post:
Gwyneth Paltrow, Mila Kunis, and other celebrities are pushing women to invest in NFTs, which critics say is a self-serving feminism centered on white women  —  Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis joined a Zoom in January to encourage 5,000 women in the audience to break into the male-dominated world of crypto.
Naomi Nix / Washington Post:
Meta disrupts covert influence operations by Belarus- and Russia-linked actors targeting Ukrainians, like hacking Ukrainian military staff's Facebook accounts  —  Facebook said Thursday it disrupted several covert influence operations targeting Ukrainians, as the company has intensified …
Jacquelyn Melinek / TechCrunch:
Blockchain audit service CertiK raises an $88M Series B3 led by Insight, Tiger Global, and Advent at a $2B valuation, bringing its total funding to $230M  —  CertiK, a Web3 and blockchain security company, has raised $88 million in its latest round, bringing its valuation to $2 billion.
Xinmei Shen / South China Morning Post:
Sensor Tower: Tencent's Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile are the world's most lucrative mobile games, respectively earning $735.4M and $643M in revenue in Q1 2022  —  Honour of Kings, PUBG Mobile and Genshin Impact remained the most lucrative mobile games in the world in the first quarter …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Lilt, which offers business translation using both human translators and AI, raises a $55M Series C led by Four Rivers, bringing its total funding to $92.5M  —  Lilt, a provider of AI-powered business translation software, today announced that it raised $55 million in a Series C round led by Four Rivers …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Generate videos with Veo 3 in Google Gemini  —  Create high-quality, 8-second videos with Veo 3, our state-of-the-art AI video generator.  Try it with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
WhatsApp-CRM: Drive business growth with efficient customer communication  —  This is a guest post by WAPlus.For many businesses, WhatsApp has become an indispensable channel for customer communication.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Runway CEO Cris Valenzuela wants Hollywood to embrace AI video
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
Anthropic's CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Diggnation:
Flow by Google, Alex Voices a Predator, and 41 Days Sober
Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht give you their unique, sometimes awkward, and always hilarious take on the edges of the internet.
Subscribe to Diggnation.
Techmeme Ride Home:
State Of The AI Coding Landgrab
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
Tyler Cowen on how AI will reorder economies, schools, and spirituality
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Bluesky Wasn't Supposed to be a Twitter Rival. Now It Is.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:20 PM ET, April 7, 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.

More News

Joseph Menn / Washington Post:

Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Audrey An / The Keyword:
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters: