Techmeme
December 22, 2020, 11:45 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Draft lawsuit filed by ten US states last week says Facebook and Google agreed to “cooperate and assist one another” against possible antitrust action  —  Draft lawsuit quotes Facebook's Sandberg saying Google pact was a ‘big deal strategically’
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Ripple CEO says the SEC will file a suit over the alleged sale of unlicensed securities and calls it a parting shot by the Trump administration  —  Ripple, one of the most important companies in the cryptocurrency industry, said Monday evening that the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Reuters:
Sources: Apple is planning to manufacture a car by 2024 which may include self-driving tech, internally developed lidar sensors, and “breakthrough” battery tech  —  (Reuters) - Apple Inc is moving forward with self-driving car technology and is targeting 2024 to produce …
Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo:
Analysis: of the 60 biggest brands that paused Facebook ads in 2020, only ~10 continue to do so, and some of those have kept spending using other Facebook tools  —  This past summer, dozens of major brands pulled their ad dollars from Facebook in a protest of the company's handling of the hate speech and disinformation.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook's small advertisers say that the company's inflexible account blocking tools and lack of customer assistance is hurting their businesses  —  - Marketers find ads still running after losing account access  — Social network's automated tools ‘not perfect,’ company says
Alex Gallagher / NME:
The COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes the Felony Streaming Bill, which makes illegal streaming for profit a felony, with up to 10 years jail time  —  Targeting illegal for-profit streaming providers, not individual users  —  The US Congress has passed a COVID-19 stimulus bill …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The US government's proposal for crypto exchanges to collect identity data from users with self-hosted crypto wallets will expand the US' financial surveillance  —  One of the most important aspects of cryptocurrencies from a civil liberties perspective is that they can provide privacy protections for their users.
Raphael Satter / Reuters:
Microsoft, Alphabet, Cisco, LinkedIn, GitHub, VMware, and the Internet Association file an amicus brief in support of WhatsApp in the WhatsApp v. NSO Group case  —  (Reuters) - Tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet , Cisco, and VMware on Monday joined Facebook's legal battle against hacking company NSO …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Group of 19 security firms and tech companies including Microsoft and McAfee form Ransomware Task Force to develop a standard framework to deal with ransomware  —  The newly-founded Ransomware Task Force will work to put together a standard framework for dealing with ransomware attacks.
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
IAC says it plans to spin off its full stake in Vimeo, making it an independent, publicly trade company in Q2 2021; IAC stock rises 8.5%+  —  - IAC announced it is spinning off its full stake in Vimeo.  — Vimeo will become an independent publicly traded company after the deal closes, expected in the second quarter of 2021.
Vikas SN / The Economic Times:
India-based VerSe Innovation, the company behind news app Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, raises $100M+ at $1B+ valuation from Google, Microsoft, and others  —  Dailyhunt parent VerSe Innovation has raised more than $100 million funding from tech giants Google and Microsoft …
New York Times:
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Simon Parkin / New Yorker:
Q&A with Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto on what excites him about his work, his strengths and weaknesses as a boss, not abusing power, ambitions, and more  —  The legendary designer on rejecting violence in games, trying to be a good boss, and building Nintendo's Disneyland.
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
Chinese startup Horizon Robotics, which makes AI chips for robots and autonomous vehicles, raises $150M, part of a planned $700M Series C  —  In their rush to offer alternatives to advanced western chipsets, Chinese semiconductor companies are racking up large fundings from investors.

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Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Earlier Picks

BBC:
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
Nandita Bose / Reuters:
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Wired: