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May 31, 2023, 8:00 PM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Bloomberg: |
Amazon's Ring agrees to pay $5.8M to settle FTC allegations that until 2017, Ring gave employees and third-party contractors full access to every customer video — Amazon.com Inc. agreed to pay $30.8 million to resolve two cases brought by the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday related to privacy lapses by its smart devices.
More:
Federal Trade Commission, Reuters, TechCrunch, The Ring Blog, GeekWire, The Record, Federal Trade Commission, Insider, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, VICE, The Verge, PYMNTS.com, CyberScoop, Engadget, DeviceSecurity.io, AppleInsider, and WebProNews
Tweets:
@ftc, @amlwhere, @ftc, @ashleygjovik, and @ericgarland
| Natasha Singer / New York Times: |
Amazon agrees to pay $25M to settle FTC and DOJ charges over the company keeping Alexa voice recordings and geolocation data collected from children for years — Regulators said the tech giant kept children's Alexa voice recordings “forever,” violating a children's privacy law.
More:
Federal Trade Commission, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, CNN, About Amazon, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, TechHive, BleepingComputer, The Hill, BBC, Washington Post, Gizmodo, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Associated Press, Reading Eagle, and Reuters
Tweets:
@ftc, @bedoyaftc, @linakhanftc, @linakhanftc, @leah_nylen, @swiftstories, @linakhanftc, @rachelmetz, and @digiphile
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Apple touts an Analysis Group study saying its App Store ecosystem generated $1.1T in 2022, up 29% YoY; $910B came from the sale of physical goods and services — Ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference next week, the company is offering an update on its app ecosystem with the release … | Andy Greenberg / Wired: |
Eclypsium: a firmware flaw in 271 Gigabyte motherboards could let hackers install malware when the PC restarts; Gigabyte plans a fix, but problems could persist — Hidden code in hundreds of models of Gigabyte motherboards invisibly and insecurely downloads programs—a feature ripe for abuse, researchers say.
More:
Eclypsium, CSO, XDA Developers, The Hacker News, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechSpot, SecurityWeek, Dexerto, and PCWorld
Tweets:
@foves_fps, @eclypsium, @malwarejake, @n0x08, @nikolajschlej, and @a_greenberg
| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
Reddit client Apollo's developer says Reddit plans to charge $12K for 50M API requests and that he would need to pay $20M per year to keep operating the app — Popular Reddit app Apollo might not be able to operate as is in the future due to planned API pricing that Reddit is implementing.
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reddit, Ars Technica, MacStories, Daring Fireball, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Engadget, TechCrunch, Android Authority, Neowin, BGR, Six Colors, and AppleInsider
Tweets:
@christianselig, @timsweeneyepic, @snazzylabs, @sindresorhus, @panzer, @cabel, @sdw, @ow, @pt, @phillryu, @javi, @headfallsoff, @saketme, and @useclear
| Cynthia Littleton / Variety: |
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says he was humbled and outraged by toxic workplace culture claims and blames “outside forces” for most of Activision's image issues — Bobby Kotick has a secret: He was ready to buy Time Warner a few years ago.The CEO of Activision Blizzard drops …
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Game Developer, MobileSyrup, GamesIndustry.biz, PC Gamer, Kotaku, TweakTown, Metro, TheGamer, Eurogamer.net, and Video Games Chronicle
Tweets:
@deeketweak, @variety, @stephentotilo, @chronofloss, @variety, @hazzadorgamin, @yoda, @jasonschreier, @chafkin, and @toadsanime
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Apple is testing two new high-end Macs, one with M2 Max, and the other with the unannounced M2 Ultra chip with 60 graphics cores and up to 192GB of RAM — Apple Inc. is testing a pair of new high-end Macs and their accompanying processors ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference next week … | Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak: |
Torrent site RARBG, founded in 2008, shuts down and stops all its content releases, citing COVID-related health problems, Russia's war in Ukraine, and inflation — RARBG, one of the world's largest torrent sites, has said “farewell” to millions of users. The site, which was a prominent … | Mia Sato / The Verge: |
After a fake image of an “explosion” near the Pentagon went viral, Twitter adds Community Notes to images, set to appear on “recent and future matching images” — Twitter is expanding its crowdsourced fact-checking program to include images, shortly …
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PCMag, WeRSM, Android Headlines, Mashable, Neowin, Social Media Today, TechCrunch, Techlusive, Livemint, SiliconANGLE, and Engadget
Tweets:
@communitynotes, @communitynotes, @bradsferguson, @farzyness, @battleangelviv, @kcoleman, and @communitynotes
| Eleanor Hawkins / Axios: |
Google's head of communications and public affairs, Corey duBrowa, will leave the company in June 2023 to serve as the CEO of global PR firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe — Corey duBrowa will depart Google and parent company Alphabet in June to serve as CEO of global public relations firm Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), Axios has learned.| Jane Lee / Reuters: |
Boston-based Lightmatter, which uses light for AI computing, raised a $154M Series C from Fidelity, GV, and others, and claims to have tripled its valuation — Lightmatter, a Boston-based startup using light for AI computing, said on Wednesday it raised $154 million and tripled its valuation …
More:
TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, PitchBook, Lightmatter, FinSMEs, TNW, and Crunchbase News
| Jeff John Roberts / Fortune: |
Magic, which offers SDKs to help companies create and maintain bespoke on-chain crypto wallets, raised $52M led by PayPal Ventures at a sub-$500M valuation — The biggest crypto wallet you've never heard of is flourishing. San Francisco-based Magic announced on Wednesday that it's raised $52 million …
More:
Magic, CoinDesk, Metaverse Post, The Daily Hodl, FinSMEs, crypto.news, Cointelegraph, NFTgators, SiliconANGLE, PYMNTS.com, and The Block
| Forbes: |
A profile of AMD CEO Lisa Su, who orchestrated one of the great tech turnarounds after her 2014 takeover, as the company attempts to take Nvidia's AI chip crown — AMD's CEO orchestrated one of the great turnarounds in Silicon Valley history, driving the dying semiconductor maker's stock price up nearly 30-fold in less than a decade.
Tweets:
@_iainmartin, @hkanji, @richardjnieva, and @alexrkonrad
| Jordan Novet / CNBC: |
Salesforce reports Q1 revenue up 11% YoY to $8.25B, vs. $8.18B est., capital expenditures up 36% YoY to $243M, vs. $205M est., and raises Q2 guidance above est. — - Salesforce surpassed estimates across the board and raised its full-year earnings guidance.| Bloomberg: |
Filing: Fidelity marks down the value of its Twitter stake, estimating the company is worth ~33% of the $44B that Elon Musk paid, down from 44% in November 2022 — Twitter is now worth just one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social-media platform, according to Fidelity …
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Reuters, Ars Technica, The Information, Axios, Quartz, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Week, CNN, The Register, 9to5Mac, Newser, The Guardian, Associated Press, Insider, Social Media Today, PYMNTS.com, Mashable, International Business Times, Barron's Online, and Deadline
LinkedIn:
Albert Fong. Bluesky:
@joshuatopolsky.com. Tweets:
@kurtwagner8, @karaswisher, @patrickw, @zaleskiluke, @davetroy, @tomgara, @vanvidum, @themaxburns, @farhip, @liston, @jason_kint, and @edzitron
| Mike Freeman / San Diego Union-Tribune: |
San Diego-based Measurabl, which makes carbon footprint management tools for properties, raised a $93M Series D led by Energy Impact Partners and Sway Ventures — Measurabl managed to raise money despite the venture capital market being largely frozen for technology entrepreneurs.
More:
Commercial Observer, FinSMEs, Measurabl, Axios, and socaltech.com
| Priya Anand / Bloomberg: |
An investigation into Papa, a TaskRabbit-like service for seniors that has raised ~$240M, finds dozens of allegations of harassment, assault, theft, and more — If you've been to an annual open enrollment fair in the past few years, you may have noticed a new eldercare benefit with the unusual name of Papa.
Tweets:
@priyasideas, @rr_edmonds, @vandermey, @coryweinberg, @pearlf, @bigblackjacobin, @josheidelson, and @bradstone
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: the Biden administration is split on how to regulate generative AI; some support the EU's model while others want to avoid a competitive disadvantage — Biden administration officials are divided over how aggressively new artificial intelligence tools should be regulated … | Michael McSweeney / The Block: |
Crypto bridging protocol Multichain says it suspended service for multiple chains after being unable to contact its CEO to get server access amid tech problems — - Multichain, the cross-chain protocol, confirmed Wednesday that the team is unable to contact its chief executive amid ongoing technology problems.
More:
CoinDesk, NFTgators, Cryptopolitan, Cointelegraph, CryptoSlate, and CoinGape. Tweets:
@multichainorg
| Leah Nylen / Bloomberg: |
Meta asks a US federal court to block the FTC's attempt on May 3 to change the 2020's $5B privacy settlement, which the FTC alleges the company has violated — Meta Platforms Inc. is asking a federal court to bar the Federal Trade Commission from moving forward with an agency proceeding to revise its 2020 privacy settlement.
More:
Gizmodo, MarketWatch, and Wall Street Journal
Tweets:
@faststocknewss, @megangra, @chesterj1, and @swiftstories
| Rohan Goswami / CNBC: |
CrowdStrike reports Q1 revenue up 42% YoY to $692.6M, vs. $676.4M est., and ARR up 42% YoY to $2.73B, slower than the 61% growth in Q1 2023; CRWD drops 10%+ — - CrowdStrike reported first quarter results for its fiscal 2024 year on Wednesday, at a time when China-related cybersecurity concerns have mounted.
More:
Investor's Business Daily, Dow Jones Newswires, and CrowdStrike
| Oliver Whang / New York Times: |
A look at the BabyLM Challenge, which asks teams to create language models using datasets less than one-ten-thousandth the size of those used by advanced LLMs — Teaching fewer words to large language models might help them sound more human. — When it comes to artificial intelligence chatbots, bigger is typically better.
More:
BabyLM Challenge. Tweets:
@kevinokeefe, @biophysicsfl, @oliverwhang21, @evaportelance, and @tallinzen
| Jenny Surane / Bloomberg: |
A profile of Plaid, valued at $13.4B, and co-founder Zach Perret, after a $58M data scraping settlement in 2022, as the startup expands and fights a PNC lawsuit — Zap $50 to a friend via Venmo. Trade Bitcoin on Robinhood. Get a student loan with SoFi.| Michael del Castillo / Forbes: |
An interview with reclusive Bitcoin programmer @Fiatjaf on building the Nostr protocol to offer an alternative to Twitter and other centralized social media — Disenchanted with social media options like Twitter, the reclusive Bitcoin programmer tells Forbes how he designed his chat … | Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg: |
Filing: the Ontario Securities Commission opened an investigation on May 10 into Binance attempting to skirt regulations; Binance withdrew from Canada on May 12 — Crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd. said it has received an order from one of Canada's securities regulators to investigate whether …
More:
Inside Bitcoins, Bitcoin News, Ethereum World News, and Fortune
Tweets:
@frances_coppola and @emilyjnicolle
Sponsor Posts
Google:
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UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future — Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
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Zoho:
Sandbox testing: Create Mail Agents in sandbox mode — Email is considered the backbone for any organization's communication. That's even more true for transactional emails, which are operation-critical for any business.
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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.
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Hard Fork:
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