Techmeme: Riyadh-based food delivery service Jahez plans to acquire local rival The Chefz for ~$173M in cash and stock after Saudi Arabia blocked Delivery Hero's takeover (Shaji Mathew/Bloomberg)

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December 5, 2022, 8:30 AM

Top News

Joshua Oliver / Financial Times:

In an interview, SBF admits involvement in Alameda's largest uses of funds: spending $3B to buy out Binance's stake in FTX and pouring $4B into venture capital — Exchange's former CEO says he was close to key decisions at nominally separate trading firm — Speaking from his bed in Nassau …

More: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Decrypt, CryptoPotato, Mailchimp, crypto.news, Inside Bitcoins, Axios, Micky, Bloomberg, Coinspeaker, Cointelegraph, The Block, Forkast, and CryptoGlobe

Tweets: @sbf_ftx, @repmaxinewaters, @autismcapital, @brian_armstrong, @billackman, @brian_armstrong, @autismcapital, @warrendavidson, @bryvkin, @adamsamson, @jbarro, @aosipovich, @wclementeiii, @billackman, @jimiuorio, @tree_of_alpha, @interfluidity, @doombergt, @smdiehl, @bitfinexed, @chrismasterjohn, @birdyword, @doubleeph, @lilmoonlambo, @khalafroula, @kadhim, @twobitidiot, @wallstcynic, @alistairmilne, @theblock__, @smtuffy, @jbarro, @adamscochran, @ldrogen, @zerohedge, @tobi, @punk6529, @johnedeaton1, @adamscochran, @tomfitton, @iamdcinvestor, @mayazi, @twobitidiot, @byronyork, @danprimack, @basedkarbon, @coryklippsten, @intocryptoverse, @kadhim, @nntaleb, @brianstelter, @altcoindailyio, @doubleeph, @thedragonfeeder, @cgasparino, @sdatika1, @zerohedge, @caspiancey, @keubiko, @smtuffy, @mechmarkets, @antoniogm, @trungtphan, @ericbalchunas, and @nkulw

Ankush Khardori / New York Magazine:

Unlike Bernie Madoff, SBF has not confessed to any criminal conduct, arguing FTX's collapse was purely sloppiness, meaning a US prosecution could take some time — On December 11, 2008, Bernie Madoff was arrested and criminally charged with one of the biggest financial frauds in history …

More: Wired, Finbold, CNBC, The Hill, The Overspill, ace high, and The Economic Times

Tweets: @ramahluwalia, @jespow, @cgasparino, @mleejr, @mrjasonchoi, @zmanian, @tomselliott, @mccannsportslaw, @johnedeaton1, @carnage4life, @basche42, @nextdoorsv, @cgasparino, @danprimack, @jamesfallows, @gerberkawasaki, @lizsimmie, @mrjasonchoi, and @neiljacobs

Stephanie Murray / The Block:

SBF says John Ray III is not working with him or responding to messages, claims Ray made false statements, and dodges questions on Alameda and loaning funds — - Sam Bankman-Fried is taking aim at John Ray, the new CEO of FTX, claiming he's been iced out after the firm filed for bankruptcy protection.

More: The Block, Bloomberg, TheStreet, CoinGape, crypto.news, and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @fintechintern, @fintechfrank, @mylesudland, @mylesudland, @teanataylor, @altcoingordon, @crypto_crib_, @smtuffy, @smtuffy, @mdudas, @degenspartan, @timccopeland, and @smtuffy

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:

Kuo: mass shipments of Apple's AR/VR headset may be delayed until H2 2023, from previously estimated Q2 2023, due to “software-related issues” — Mass shipments of Apple's long-rumored AR/VR headset may be delayed until the second half of 2023 due to unspecified “software-related issues …

Reuters:

Source: Foxconn expects its Zhengzhou plant to resume full production in late December or early January, but plans may change; November revenue drops 11.4% YoY — Apple supplier Foxconn (2317.TW) expects its COVID-hit Zhengzhou plant in China to resume full production around late December to early January …

More: 9to5Mac, Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, CNN, South China Morning Post, Bloomberg, MacRumors, BGR, CNBC, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, WRAL TechWire, Foxconn, Wccftech, Financial Times, The Information, TechNode, and Livemint

Tweets: @peterhoskinstv and @sino_market

Simon Sharwood / The Register:

Rackspace confirms a “security incident” impacted its hosted Microsoft Exchange services, leading to an “extended outage”; customers complain of poor support — Warns recovery could take several days and pledges better support after customer complaints

James Vincent / The Verge:

Stack Overflow temporarily bans users from sharing responses generated by ChatGPT, pending a ruling in the future; most answers are wrong on closer inspection — Stack Overflow, the go-to question-and-answer site for coders and programmers, has temporarily banned users from sharing responses generated by AI chatbot ChatGPT.

More: Meta Stack Overflow and Tao of Mac

Tweets: @halvarflake, @m_nebra, @castillo__io, @harrisosserman, @tim_stevens, @hhariri, @jjvincent, @jjvincent, @v21, @0xabad1dea, @dcuthbert, @v21, @sina_lana, @anildash, @halvarflake, and @vxunderground

Parikshit Mishra / CoinDesk:

USDC stablecoin developer Circle ends its planned SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp., announced in July 2021, by mutual agreement — The firm had announced plans to go public in July of 2021. — Circle, the company behind stablecoin USDC, has terminated its agreement …

More: Circle Internet Financial …, The Block, Fortune, and CoinGape

Lauren Goode / Wired:

An interview with Max Levchin on Affirm, the US CFPB's inquiry into BNPL services, problems with credit cards, the current economic environment, and more — The PayPal cofounder on why his “buy now, pay later” company Affirm is a healthier way to borrow, what caused the techlash, and Elon Musk's Twitter.

Tweets: @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @wired, @usmanbk77, @tsimonite, @waltmossberg, and @mlevchin

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Elon Musk says Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter, after claiming on November 28 that Apple had “mostly stopped” Twitter ads — Elon Musk said Apple Inc. has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter Inc., further de-escalating a brewing war between two of the world's most influential tech companies.

Dan Milmo / The Guardian:

Survey of 8,000 young people in nine European countries finds 34% have pirated content, 27% reported trolling someone, 22% reported inciting violence, and more — EU-funded survey of people aged 16-19 finds one in four have trolled someone - while UK least ‘cyberdeviant’ of nine countries

Tweets: @dannyjpalmer, @sarahchampionmp, @rmcunliffe, @uel_news, @mattnavarra, @katebevan, and @_markmccormack

Christopher Byrd / New Yorker:

A wide-ranging interview with Cory Doctorow on lessons from science fiction, Big Tech's comeuppance, surveillance capitalism, smart contracts, dApps, and more — A conversation about the “mediocre monopolists” of Big Tech, the weirdness of crypto, and the real lessons of science fiction.

Tweets: @doctorow, @lproven, @stevesilberman, @thepublicdomain, and @greatdismal

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About This Page

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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

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a shareholder in Paramount, is threatening legal action against the company if it settles with President Trump

Daniel Engber / The Atlantic:

PBS cut 90 seconds from a documentary on Art Spiegelman in which he criticized Trump; the edit was made a few days after the “Anti-American Airwaves” hearing

Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:

How one winner and three finalists in 2025's Pulitzer Prizes used AI in their reporting, from a custom image-recognition algorithm to satellite imagery analysis

More News

David C. Brock / CHM:

A look at PostScript, Adobe's programming language for desktop publishing that debuted in 1984, as its source code is publicly released for the first time

Tweets: @jeffnolan, @mistertechblog, @christopherslye, and @twenty3

Joanna Glasner / Crunchbase News:

Autonomous trucking software company Embark lost ~98% of its market value, or ~$5B, since going public a year ago via a SPAC merger, amid a sector-wide downturn

More: Crunchbase News. Tweets: @salemsayed and @kscottz

Matt Von Hippel / Quanta Magazine:

A look at FORM software, released in the 1980s for particle physics calculations, which is maintained almost entirely by a retiree and risks obsolescence

More: Slashdot. Tweets: @boredgenius, @quantamagazine, @quantamagazine, @quantamagazine, and @7homaslin

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Boston- and London-based Zoe, a nutrition and health tracking app, raised £25M led by Accomplice at a £209M valuation, after closing a £48M Series B in May 2021

More: UKTN, Wall Street Journal, Balderton Capital, Tech.eu, Trak.in, and Becker's Hospital Review. Tweets: @nathanbenaich

Shaji Mathew / Bloomberg:

Riyadh-based food delivery service Jahez plans to acquire local rival The Chefz for ~$173M in cash and stock after Saudi Arabia blocked Delivery Hero's takeover

More: YourStory.com, Zawya, The Capital Quest, and Saudi Gazette. Tweets: @technology

Bloomberg:

An interview with the co-founder of Vietnamese unicorn VNG, which offers games and services like Zalo, a messaging app that had 74M+ MAUs in Vietnam in February

More: Tech in Asia and DealStreetAsia

Tweets: @bloombergasia and @yoolimleenews

Earlier Picks

Wall Street Journal:

A look at Roblox's Robux, which some kids prefer to get for chores or as an allowance since they can control purchasing decisions, and other virtual currencies

More: Los Angeles Business Journal, Anechoic Room, and Politico

Tweets: @os7borne, @wsj, @saraheneedleman, @pernillet, @claudia_gman, @richardattiasas, and @anthony

Patrick McGee / Financial Times:

Tim Cook was able to placate Elon Musk within two days, but the chaos at Foxconn's “iPhone City” could be the greatest test of Cook's diplomatic skills yet

More: Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, Appuals.com, and 9to5Mac. Tweets: @danielmkishi

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Elon Musk thinks the “Twitter Files” detail Twitter staff nefariously helping Joe Biden, but all they show is a team debating a difficult moderation decision

More: Washington Post, Wired, Gizmodo, The Bulwark, Appuals.com, Insider, SlashGear, USA Today, CoinGape, New York Post, The Runover, Proof of Work, @matthew_d_green@ioc.exchange, @JoeUchill@mastodon.social, Newser, Common Sense Health …, Slashdot, TheStreet, International Business Times, The Economic Times, Cut the Rope, TechCrunch, BadCompany, Corona Times News, Politico, Deadline, Fortune, Lewis Write Up, NBC News, EMC2 Newsletter, #hottakeoftheday, techAU, Shacknews, Livemint, Red Street Journal, Washington Examiner, and Trends Journal