Techmeme
March 8, 2023, 8:40 PM

Top News

Christiana Loureiro / The Block:
Silvergate Capital plans to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate Silvergate Bank, including “full repayment of all deposits”  —  - Silvergate Capital Corporation said it will wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate Silvergate Bank in accordance with applicable regulatory processes.
David Pierce / The Verge:
Spotify redesigns its app's core homescreen with album and playlist covers above and a TikTok-like vertical scroll of playlists, video podcasts, and more  —  Spotify is redesigning the core homescreen of its app, trying to make it easier for users to find new stuff to listen to — and watch.
Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
Elon Musk apologizes after mocking laid-off, disabled Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson, who joined in January 2021 after Twitter acquired his startup Ueno  —  If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired?  At Twitter, probably.  And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it.
More: BBC, BBC, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Variety, Ethan Zuckerman, Daring Fireball, New York Times, TIME, Axios, WRAL TechWire, Mashable, New York Post, San Francisco Business Journal, Gizmodo, TechSpot, NBC Bay Area, Forbes, Insider, RTÉ, and Forbes
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google adds its VPN service to all Google One plans in 22 countries, starting at $1.99 per month, and dark web monitoring for stolen personal info to Google One  —  After adding Magic Eraser last month, Google One is significantly expanding the availability of its VPN and introducing dark web monitoring for stolen information.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple re-shuffles management of its international businesses to focus more on India, which will become its own sales region at Apple for the first time  —  Apple Inc. is reshuffling management of its international businesses to put a bigger focus on India, according to people …
Bloomberg:
A look at Google scrambling to add generative AI to its products, reminding some alumni of the mandate to infuse Google+ into every key service starting in 2011  —  Artificial intelligence was supposed to be Google's thing.  The company has cultivated a reputation for making long-term bets …
Ian Allison / CoinDesk:
Source: JPMorgan is ending its relationship with Gemini; Gemini and Coinbase, JPMorgan's customers since 2020, say their relationship with the bank is intact  —  Coinbase said its banking relationship with JPMorgan remains intact.  —  Join the most important conversation in crypto and Web3 taking place in Austin, Texas, April 26-28.
Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:
DuckDuckGo launches DuckAssist in beta, an OpenAI- and Anthropic-powered tool that generates answers using Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, and other sources  —  The new DuckAssist tool will source answers from Wikipedia for quick, conversational responses to some questions.
Aaron Tilley / Wall Street Journal:
Humane, founded by two former Apple executives, raised a $100M Series C and partners with OpenAI and Microsoft; patents suggest plans to build a wearable device  —  Humane to launch its first product this spring, with patents suggesting it may be a wearable device
Politico:
TikTok announces Project Clover, its plan to charm European regulators, including keeping more users' data on servers in Europe and allowing a security audit  —  BRUSSELS — TikTok has launched its European counteroffensive to assuage politicians' fears over Chinese surveillance.
Dell Cameron / Wired:
The FBI acknowledges for the first time it bought US location data, director Christopher Wray says for a national security pilot project that's no longer active  —  Rather than obtaining a warrant, the bureau purchased sensitive data—a controversial practice that privacy advocates say is deeply problematic.
James Hunt / The Block:
Coinbase unveils a “Wallet-as-a-Service” product, offering APIs to help companies create customizable onchain wallets with simple user onboarding in their apps  —  - Coinbase has announced a product called Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS), designed to let companies build web3 experiences that have simple wallet onboarding.
New York Times:
Tech giants' cuts heavily impacted staff working on big bets and moonshots, like Alphabet's X and Amazon's Alexa and drones; Meta's Reality Labs is an exception  —  Big tech companies have long been willing to fund efforts with no obvious payoff.  But those groups have been hit hard in recent layoffs.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
An interview with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom on his social news app Artifact, curating sources, editorial judgment, avoiding “filter bubbles”, and more  —  Late last month, Artifact, a personalized news reader built by Instagram's co-founders, opened to the public.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
The FBI is probing a data breach of DC Health Link servers impacting thousands, including US House members and staff; some data is already up for sale online  —  The FBI is investigating a data breach affecting U.S. House of Representatives members and staff after their account …
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
YouTube plans to ease its restrictions on swearing in videos after finding that its November 2022 rules “resulted in a stricter approach than we intended”  —  YouTube will ease its restrictions on swearing in videos after an update it rolled out in November sparked backlash from several creators …

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