Techmeme
April 20, 2022, 7:25 PM

Top News

Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Coinbase launches its NFT marketplace in beta with Ethereum-based NFTs and ETH payments; 1.5M+ joined the waitlist after the service's unveiling in October 2021  —  Quick Take Coinbase NFT has gone live in beta form.  It currently supports Ethereum-based NFTs and payments in ETH.
New York Times:
70% of employees at an Atlanta Apple Store agree to hold a union election, making the Apple Store the first to file for a union election with the CWA  —  The petition for a union vote continues a trend of organizing at service-sector employers like Starbucks and Amazon.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Instagram plans to tweak its ranking algorithm to highlight original content more, recommending accounts that aggregate and reshare other users' content less  —  Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced today that the company is going to tweak its ranking algorithm to highlight original content more on its platform.
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Apple to debut an opt-in child safety feature for iPhones in the UK that scans messages for nudity, but drops some controversial aspects, like notifying parents  —  Feature that searches messages will go ahead after delays over privacy and safety concerns  —  A safety feature that uses AI technology …
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
The European Parliament's consumer protection committee votes 43 to 2 for a USB-C consumer electronics charging standard, ahead of a full parliament vote in May  —  European Union lawmakers have taken a step closer to agreeing rules to standardize how a range of mobile gadgetry is charged.
New York Times:
A decade-long timeline of investors warning of a tech startup bubble that never burst; instead of collapsing, more money poured in, and things got bubblier  —  The venture capitalists are sounding the alarm.  At posh conferences, they buzz about falling valuations for start-ups.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Cybersecurity authorities of Five Eyes countries warn of Russia-backed hacking groups targeting critical infrastructure organizations in and outside Ukraine  —  Today, Five Eyes cybersecurity authorities warned critical infrastructure network defenders of an increased risk that Russia-backed hacking groups …
Bloomberg:
Google and Meta restrict the accounts of Hong Kong's sole chief executive candidate, John Lee, citing US sanctions from 2020 for quashing pro-democracy protests  —  Google and Meta Platforms Inc. moved on Wednesday to curtail the social media presence of Hong Kong's sole chief executive candidate …
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix's Q1 earnings show that Disney, Paramount, and other companies that reorganized around streaming video must deal with consistent subscriber volatility  —  The entire entertainment industry is watching to see what happens as the streaming giant throws everything it has at the wall.
Ivan Levingston / Bloomberg:
Just Eat Takeaway says it is exploring a partial or full sale of Grubhub, after completing its $7.3B acquisition of the company in June 2021  —  Just Eat Takeaway.com NV said it's considering a partial or full sale of its Grubhub unit less than a year after buying it for $7.3 billion …
Canalys:
Global smartphone shipments fell 11% in Q1 2022; Samsung grew its market share from 22% to 24%, Apple gained from 15% to 18%, and Xiaomi dipped from 14% to 13%  —  Worldwide smartphone shipments fell 11% amid unfavorable economic conditions and sluggish seasonal demand in the first quarter of 2022.
Catarina Moura / The Block:
Spruce, a startup offering a toolkit for decentralized identity authentication and more, raises a $34M Series A led by a16z  —  Spruce, a startup that developed a toolkit for decentralized identity, has raised $34 million in a Series A round led by a16z.  —  Other participants …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground will not be signing a new deal with Spotify, and is in talks with others like Audible  —  Barack and Michelle Obama's time with Spotify Technology SA is coming to an end.  —  The former first family's production company …
More: VarietyTweets: @alexthomp
Emily McCormick / Yahoo Finance:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
Sources: Elon Musk is evaluating various debt packages to secure financing for his Twitter bid, including preferred debt and a loan against his Tesla shares  —  The world's richest man is trying to shore up debt financing, including potentially taking out a loan against his shares of Tesla, so he can buy Twitter for $43 billion.
Financial Times:

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