Techmeme
April 17, 2023, 10:45 AM

Top News

Nico Grant / New York Times:
Sources detail Google's project Magi to upgrade search with AI, as Samsung considers defaulting to Bing; source: 160+ employees are working full time on Magi  —  The tech giant is sprinting to protect its core business with a flurry of projects, including updates to its search engine and plans for an all-new one.
Jenni Reid / CNBC:
Sega acquires Rovio, best known for its Angry Birds franchise, for €706M  —  - The deal would be for the entirety of Rovio's outstanding shares and options, valuing them at 9.25 euro per share, a roughly 19% premium to their closing price before the announcement, Sega said.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
The SEC sues Bittrex and its ex-CEO for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange, claiming tokens like Algorand and Omise Go are securities  —  The SEC also alleged that tokens like Algorand and Omise Go are securities.  —  Featured SpeakerChristy Goldsmith Romero Featured SpeakerChristy Goldsmith Romero
Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
A US House Committee publishes a draft stablecoin bill proposing a moratorium on stablecoins backed by other cryptocurrencies, requesting a CBDC study, and more  —  The stablecoin bill is the first major piece of crypto legislation in 2023.  —  The U.S. House Financial Services Committee published …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Netflix's second ever livestream hit technical issues, leading to a 75+ minute delay and the company taping the Love is Blind reunion episode for later viewing  —  Netflix had some serious issues with the livestream of its “Love is Blind” reunion episode.  We always knew the livestream would be messy …
CTech:
Sources: Tel Aviv-based QuaDream is shutting down, after Microsoft and Citizen Lab said its mercenary spyware is being used to hack journalists and others  —  It was reported last week that the Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries
William Gallagher / AppleInsider:
Apple launches its Apple Card Savings account, letting users deposit Daily Cash rewards into a 4.15% high-yield account, after announcing it in October 2022  —  Months after its first announcement, Apple Savings is now available to Apple Card users, with users able to route Daily Cash rewards …
Sylvia Varnham O'Regan / The Information:
Sources: after its first-ever ad sales drop, Meta ditched its brash tone with advertisers and is offering sweeteners, including a 25% discount for Reels ads  —  After suffering its first-ever drop in ad sales, Meta Platforms has abandoned its once-brash tone with advertisers in favor of a more flexible approach to winning business.
Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:
Source: Apple's revenue in India hit a record ~$6B in the year ended March, up ~50% YoY from $4.1B; Tim Cook is set to open India's first Apple stores this week  —  Apple Inc.'s sales in India hit a new high of almost $6 billion in the year through March, highlighting the market's increasing importance …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
An early look at the Jack Dorsey-backed federated social network Bluesky, which emulates Twitter's looks and feels like a simpler, positive time on the internet  —  Bluesky is really, really fun. … But after spending a few hours in Bluesky since getting my beta invite this week, it's so far the service where I feel the most joy.
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Contract docs reveal the Georgia National Guard plans to use location-based phone surveillance to target ads using geofences around 67 local public high schools  —  The Georgia Army National Guard plans to combine two deeply controversial practices — military recruiting at schools …

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Coco Feng / South China Morning Post:
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