Techmeme
January 23, 2021, 5:35 PM

Top News

Sam Byford / The Verge:
Microsoft backtracks on price hike for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions announced Friday and says free-to-play games will also no longer require a Gold subscription  —  Free-to-play games will also no longer require a Gold subscription  —  Microsoft has reversed its controversial Xbox Live price increase.
Crispian Balmer / Reuters:
Italy tells TikTok to block all unverified user accounts after a 10-year-old girl dies while allegedly participating in the “blackout challenge” on the app  —  ROME (Reuters) - The Italian data privacy watchdog ordered video app TikTok on Friday to block the accounts of any users …
Will Oremus / OneZero :
Despite the influx of tech veterans into Biden's administration, the latest appointments and developments show Biden will be tougher on tech than predecessors  —  Two schools of thought on the new administration  —  For all of Donald Trump's railing against Amazon's “monopoly,” social media …
USA Today:
Facebook said a “configuration change” caused some users to be logged out of their apps in Saturday morning; issue is now fixed  —  “Why am I logged out of Facebook?”  The question ricocheted around the internet as an untold number of people across the nation found themselves logged out of their apps Friday night.
The Information:
Sources: VCs have approached Clubhouse about investing in its next round at ~$1B valuation, a 10X increase from the previous round; a16z is expected to lead  —  The race to invest in social audio app Clubhouse is on again.  Venture capital firms have approached the startup's founders …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Microsoft president Brad Smith defended the company's political contributions in a meeting with employees after some questioned donations from its PAC  —  - Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said the company needs the Microsoft Political Action Committee.  — The company is looking …
William Boston / Wall Street Journal:
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Ex-ADT technician pled guilty to computer fraud and invasive visual recording for viewing home security camera feeds he installed in ~200 homes over 9,000 times  —  Employee for ADT accessed ~200 customer cams on more than 9,600 occasions.  —  A home security technician has admitted …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model  —  Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy.  Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
UiPath:
Introducing the UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation  —  UiPath's new platform empowers enterprises to experience the full power of AI to transform industries
Zoho:
2025: World Password Day is now also World Passkey Day  —  Since 2013, the first Thursday of May has been recognized as World Password Day to spread awareness about good password practices and protecting our online accounts.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Great Chat:
What's the deal with Deel?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Lenny's Podcast:
The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'The Ratchet of Flippancy', With Craig Mod
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Techmeme Ride Home:
ChatGPT Just Wants To Please
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Azeem Azhar's Exponential View:
The difference between early and late AI adopters
Azeem Azhar explores how AI and exponential technologies are shaping our future.
Subscribe to Azeem Azhar's Exponential View.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:35 PM ET, January 23, 2021.

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.

More News

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Brendan Sinclair / GamesIndustry.biz:

Earlier Picks

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Dara Kerr / CNET:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: