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April 4, 2019, 3:15 PM
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Top News

Washington Post:
Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, announce a divorce settlement that will leave him with 75% of their Amazon stock and all voting power  —  In a tweet Thursday, MacKenzie Bezos said that her divorce from Jeff Bezos was finalized and that she would give her ex-husband voting control of her Amazon shares.
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
Amazon confirms Project Kuiper, its new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to provide broadband around the world  —  Amazon is joining the race to provide broadband internet access around the globe via thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, newly uncovered filings show.
Dave Gershgorn / Quartz:
Microsoft investigating sexual harassment and discrimination claims that some workers say HR overlooked after women shared stories in a long email chain  —  In a far-reaching email chain within Microsoft, women have shared stories of sexual harassment and discrimination …
Mike Fortin / Windows Blog:
Starting with the May 2019 Update, Windows 10 will no longer auto install feature updates and will let users pause updates for up to 35 days  —  While regular updates are critical to keeping modern devices secure and running smoothly in a diverse and dynamic ecosystem, we have heard clear feedback …
Paul Karp / The Guardian:
Australia passes law penalizing social media platforms for failing to expeditiously remove abhorrent violent content, despite strong opposition from tech firms  —  Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies' concerns
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple cuts the price of HomePod worldwide, dropping it from $349 to $299 in the US Apple Store  —  Apple has officially lowered the price of the HomePod worldwide.  In the price has fallen from $349 to $299, breaking the $300 level.  HomePod has seen promotional discounts at many third party retailers …
Michelle Toh / CNN:
MIT suspends ties with Huawei and ZTE over US investigations and says any projects working with China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia will merit additional review  —  Hong Kong (CNN Business)The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is hitting pause on its relationships with Chinese tech firms Huawei and ZTE.
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
Amazon launches six HIPAA-compliant Alexa skills from health care companies like Cigna and Boston Children's Hospital for uses like scheduling appointments  —  Amazon today announced the introduction of a limited number of voice apps for the Alexa Skills Kit by health care companies like Cigna …
Kelsey Piper / Vox:
Nearly half of Google's external AI board has resigned or is under fire, and the design of the board suggests Google is treating AI ethics like a PR problem  —  One member resigned and two more are under fire.  It's only a week old.  —  Just a week after it was announced, Google's new AI ethics board is already in trouble.
James Vincent / The Verge:
Critics say big tech companies are formulating AI ethics boards and principles as a strategy for avoiding the possibility of government regulation
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
As more seniors go online, they are largely being left out of digital literacy efforts, making them targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric  —  Older people play an outsized role in civic life.  They also are more likely to be online targets for misinformation and hyperpartisan rhetoric.
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
Tonal, maker of a $2,995 in-home workout system that uses machine learning to personalize workouts, raises $45M Series C, bringing the total raised to $90M  —  Fitness startup Tonal today announced it has raised $45 million as it prepares to scale its smart in-home workout system and fend off …
More: TechCrunch and FinSMEs
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Researchers find that Facebook appears to deliver certain ads, despite neutral targeting parameters, in a way that aligns with race and gender stereotypes  —  How exactly Facebook decides who sees what is one of the great pieces of forbidden knowledge in the information age …
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
SEC: Amazon has to let shareholders vote on proposals to curb sales of its controversial facial recognition product Rekognition to government agencies  —  Activist shareholders are pressing the proposals  —  Amazon will have to let shareholders vote on proposals to curb sales …
More: Open MIC
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Tesla starts rolling out an update to Navigate on Autopilot in the US that will give drivers an option to use the system without having to confirm lane changes  —  Tesla has long asked you to flick the turn stalk to confirm Autopilot's lane changes, but you won't have to do that for much longer.
Mark Sullivan / Fast Company:
Source: Intel has missed deadlines for the development of a 5G modem for the 2020 iPhones; Apple has 1,000-1,200 engineers working on modems for future iPhones  —  [Updated with Intel comment Wednesday 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time]  —  As of now Apple plans to release a 5G iPhone in 2020.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:15 PM ET, April 4, 2019.

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

New York Times:
Court docs detail a smear campaign against actor Blake Lively via media articles and social media posts after she accused director Justin Baldoni of misconduct

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: WaPo's Matt Murray lays out plans for WP Ventures, the “third newsroom”; Krissah Thompson will be editor and Samantha Henig will be general manager

Jack Dunn / Variety:
Trump appoints Mark Burnett, the British TV executive who created and produced the reality show The Apprentice, as a special envoy to the UK

More News

The Guardian:
Leaked UK government plans propose that social media companies be policed by an independent regulator, with annual “transparency reports” on harmful content
Xinmei Shen / Abacus:
Some Chinese companies, including Tencent and Xiaomi, are restricting access via their own browsers to a GitHub page where developers protest “996” work culture

Earlier Picks

UpGuard:
Third-party Facebook app by Cultura Colectiva left 540M+ records of users' info exposed on AWS; Amazon was notified in Jan., but data was online until recently
Jeremy Horwitz / VentureBeat:
Verizon launches its mobile 5G network in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis, with a 5G-enabled Moto Z3
Brady Dale / CoinDesk:
SEC issues a “no-action” letter to TurnKey Jet, saying that tokens used by the business-travel startup are not securities, a first that clears token sales in US
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
Google rolling out Duplex AI restaurant booking assistant to non-Pixel Android devices and iOS in the US
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