Techmeme
June 17, 2020, 11:05 AM

Top News

David Pierce / Protocol:
Shortly after Basecamp debuted its email service, HEY, it says its next iOS app update was rejected because Apple wasn't getting its cut of subscription revenue  —  Right around the time the team at Basecamp was launching their Hey email service to the public on Monday, Zach Waugh …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
The distinction of business vs. consumer as a justification for Apple's rejection of HEY from the App Store for not using in-app purchases is flimsy  —  This statement is paraphrased by Pierce, not a direct quote, but on its surface this business/consumer distinction seems untenable.
Mark Zuckerberg / USA Today:
Facebook launches Voting Information Center for accurate election information and tools for voter registration, aiming to help register 4M people via its apps  —  The 2020 election is going to be unlike any other.  It was already going to be a heated campaign, and that was before the pandemic …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Facebook and Instagram will allow some US users to turn off political ads starting Wednesday; the feature will roll out to all US users over the next few weeks  —  - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday announced the social network will allow its users to turn off seeing political ads.
Aaron Holmes / Business Insider:
Google cracks down on The Federalist and ZeroHedge for violating policies on race-related content and may permanently suspend their access to Google Ads revenue  —  - Google is cracking down on two right-wing outlets, ZeroHedge and The Federalist, for violating its policies on race-related content.
Wall Street Journal:
Trump administration official says DOJ will propose limiting Section 230 legal protections for online platforms like Facebook and Twitter  —  The action follows President Trump's executive order seeking to weaken broad immunity enjoyed by Facebook, Twitter and other platforms
Bloomberg:
Apple says its head of diversity and inclusion Christie Smith, who joined in 2017, is leaving  —  - Apple VP of Diversity and Inclusion Smith had joined in 2017  — Company planning $100 million initiative to promote equality  —  Apple Inc.'s head of diversity and inclusion Christie Smith is leaving the iPhone company.
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Boston Dynamics says Spot, its quadruped robot, is now available to businesses in the US as part of a developer kit for $74,500  —  Boston Dynamics today opened commercial sales of Spot, its quadruped robot that can climb stairs and traverse rough terrain.  Businesses can purchase …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Unbounce, which builds optimized landing pages for SMBs using automation, raises ~$38.4M led by Crest Rock Partners  —  Landing page optimization company Unbounce is announcing that it has raised $52 million Canadian (approximately $38.4 million in US dollars).
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft details efforts to increase Azure durability amid pandemic by expanding submarine cable bandwidth, server scaling changes, and capacity forecasting  —  Microsoft has been making lots of under-the-covers changes to how it runs its cloud services, including Azure-based Teams, to meet demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert McMillan / Wall Street Journal:
Graphika report details a Russia-based influence campaign, known as Secondary Infektion, that ran over 6 years and 300 sites, but failed to win a large audience  —  Group known as Secondary Infektion used multiple languages, burner accounts to circumvent attempts to detect it
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Upgrade, a digital bank focusing on personal loans and credit cards, raises $40M Series D led by Santander InnoVentures at a $1B valuation  —  This morning Upgrade, a credit-focused fintech startup, announced that it has raised a $40 million Series D round that the company says gives it a $1 billion valuation.
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Uptycs, a SQL-based security analytics startup, raises $30M Series B led by Sapphire Ventures, bringing its total raised to $43M  —  Structured Query Language-based security analytics firm Uptycs Inc. said today it has raised a new round of $30 million.  —  The Series B round of funding brings …
More: TechCrunch and FinSMEs
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Headless CMS company Contentful raises $80M Series E led by Sapphire Ventures, bringing its total raised to $158.3M  —  Headless CMS company Contentful today announced that it has raised an $80 million Series E funding round led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst …
More: FinSMEs and Tech.eu
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Bose is shutting down its AR program, saying its technology couldn't be commercialized as planned, with current AR apps ceasing to function within 30 days  —  Bose has become the latest company to throw in the towel on immersive computing, shutting down its ambitious Bose AR program.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
San Francisco's district attorney sues DoorDash for allegedly misclassifying workers as contractors instead of employees despite California's AB5 law  —  The largest food delivery service in the US is accused of misclassifying workers  —  DoorDash, the high-flying food delivery startup …
Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE:
Pagaya, which uses AI and big-data analytics to manage institutional money, raises $102M Series D, bringing its total raised to $221.9M  —  Artificial intelligence financial technology startup Pagaya Technologies Ltd. revealed today that it has raised $102 million in new funding partly to move into new asset classes.
More: FinSMEs and VentureBeat

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