Techmeme
August 31, 2022, 3:05 PM

Top News

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Memo: on top of cutting ~20% of its staff, Snap cancels its original shows, in-app games, and Zenly and Voisey apps; the layoffs could save $500M annually  —  Snapchat's original shows, in-app games, and camera drone are no more  —  Snap is laying off around 20 percent of its more than 6,400 employees …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Sources: Snap plans to start laying off ~20% of its 6,400+ employees on August 31, 2022, including cuts to its hardware group; Snap stock is down ~80% in 2022  —  Snap's stock price has declined nearly 80 percent this year  —  Snap is planning to lay off approximately 20 percent …
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Nelson Wang / CoinDesk:
Washington, DC sues Michael Saylor for tax fraud and his company MicroStrategy “for conspiring to help him evade taxes” “on hundreds of millions of dollars”  —  The attorney general's office is also suing the business software company for allegedly helping him evade taxes on his earnings in the district.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
After an outcry over having transphobic forum Kiwi Farms as a client, Cloudflare says denying security services due to “despicable” content is the wrong policy  —  The company has faced mounting pressure to stop providing security services to Kiwi Farms, whose users regularly dox and stalk trans people.
Mat Di Salvo / Decrypt:
Crypto.com sues an Australian woman after erroneously sending her AU$10.5M in May 2021 instead of a AU$100 refund; the woman reportedly bought a AU$1.35M house  —  A woman asked for a $100 refund from the crypto platform but instead received $10.5 million—and then went on a spending spree, according to reports.
Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:
a16z releases free “Can't Be Evil” licenses for NFTs, inspired by Creative Commons, on GitHub; NFT licensing has been attempted before, including by Dapper Labs  —  Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm is releasing a free licensing system, aiming to help the NFT sector fulfil its “economic potential.”
ProPublica:
An investigation details an Instagram verification scheme using fake profiles on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and more; Meta removes badges from 300+ accounts  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.
Bloomberg:
Apple VP of Corporate Development Adrian Perica resigned from Didi's board, which he joined in 2016 after Apple's $1B investment in the ride-hailing company  —  An Apple Inc. executive has left the board of Didi Global Inc., as the Chinese ride-hailing company struggles to regain ground …
Kyle Bradshaw / 9to5Google:
Q&A with Chris McKillop, the former director of engineering for Google's Fuchsia project, on the past, present, and future of the OS, Nexus Q failures, and more  —  The former director of engineering for Google's Fuchsia project, Chris McKillop, has shared with us some insights …
Tweets: @technacity
Monica Chin / The Verge:
Asus Zenbook 17 Fold review: foldable OLED display with a comfortable keyboard and professional look, but $3,500 is expensive and the software has glitches  —  It's a 17-inch foldable that actually works  —  Ever since Samsung Display showed off a 17-inch foldable OLED screen last May …
Naomi Nix / Washington Post:
Researchers: self-harm posts are surging on Twitter, including graphic photos with bloody practices; one hashtag grew to close to 30,000 tweets by July 2022  —  Self-harm related hashtags have increased roughly 500 percent since October, a new report says  —  A Twitter user in apparent distress turned …
Josephine Wolff / Wired:
Cyber insurers are failing to reduce companies' cyber risk exposure and to cover breached firms' costs after state-sponsored cyberattacks that fall short of war  —  Cyberinsurance doesn't cover acts of war.  But even as cyberattacks mount, the definition of “warlike” actions remains blurry.
Simon Sharwood / The Register:
Japan's digital minister Taro Kono pledges to update the many regulations that require floppy disks and CD-ROMs to be used when sending data to the government  —  Digital minister will drive change because, in theory, uploading info to government isn't allowed

Sponsor Posts

Termina:
AI Powered Diligence at Scale  —  VCs and founders deploy Termina AI Scans on >12% of all known series A+ deals to uncover hidden risks and opportunities.  Explore how you too can invest and build better companies with AI.
Intel:
Intel Delivers powerful CPUs for AI and Networking  —  With the onset of AI, businesses demand powerful and efficient CPUs.  Explore new Intel Xeon 6 processors, for the broadest set of workloads with leadership performance and lower TCO.
Zoho:
Gamification: A simple way to enjoy getting more work done  —  Work doesn't have to be boring.  Gamification transforms everyday tasks into exciting challenges, making employees feel more engaged and motivated.
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

Lenny's Podcast:
A field guide for introverts: How to thrive at work without changing who you are | Susan Cain (author of "Quiet")
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.
Techmeme Ride Home:
E2EE For All!
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Why Trump can't be trusted with Congress' new anti-deepfake bill
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Breaks Down the Global Impact of Trump's New Tariffs
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Generative Now:
Dan Shipper: The First MultiModal Media Company
A podcast from Lightspeed dedicated to highlighting the stories, strategies and insights behind today's most exciting AI companies.
Subscribe to Generative Now.
Spotlight On:
Nebius's Arkady Volozh on What it Takes to Build Infrastructure Needed for the AI Era
A podcast from Accel about how companies are built, from the people doing the building.
Subscribe to Spotlight On.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:05 PM ET, August 31, 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

Earlier Picks

Andy Baio / Waxy.org:
Jack Stebbins / CNBC:
MK Manoylov / The Block:
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Jordan Middler / Video Games Chronicle: