Techmeme
June 30, 2021, 7:40 PM

Top News

David McLaughlin / Bloomberg:
Amazon says it is seeking the recusal of FTC chair Lina Khan from matters related to the company, citing her history of criticism and antitrust arguments  —  - Online retail giant files petition saying Khan shows bias  — FTC is reviewing Amazon's purchase of MGM movie studio
Federico Viticci / MacStories:
As iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 public betas arrive, an in-depth look at Focus, Safari's revamped UI, iPad multitasking, SharePlay, and other new features  —  For the past three weeks, I've been running the developer beta of iOS and iPadOS 15 on my iPhone 12 Pro Max and M1 iPad Pro, respectively.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
AT&T joins T-Mobile in making Google's Android Messages the default app for SMS and RCS services on Android phones; Verizon so far has not made the switch  —  Verizon is the last big carrier not to switch  —  AT&T and Google have announced that all Android phones on the network …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram confirms it is working on tools to let creators share “exclusive” content to Stories for paying fans  —  Instagram is building its own version of Twitter's Super Follow with a feature that would allow online creators to publish “exclusive” content to their Instagram Stories that's …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Varun Mishra / Counterpoint Research:
iPhone 12 series sales crossed 100M globally in April 2021, seven months after launch, two months faster than iPhone 11; iPhone 12 Pro Max had a 29% sales share  —  Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Seoul - June 30, 2021  —  Exactly 14 years ago, Apple disrupted …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Slack releases Slack Huddles, an audio chat tool, and details new features, including video messages and an enhanced company directory  —  Slack started talking about a new set of communications tools to enhance the text-based channels at the end of last year.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Hands-on with Windows 11 preview: a new and refreshing approach, with welcome and simplified UI updates; Snap Layouts and Snap Groups improve multitasking  —  Microsoft's first Windows 11 preview looks promising  —  Microsoft's first version of Windows appeared more than 35 years ago …
Riley de León / CNBC:
SentinelOne closed up 21% at $42.50 per share in its debut, valuing the company at $10B+; SentinelOne had the highest valued cybersecurity IPO in history  —  - Cybersecurity company SentinelOne made its market debut Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange and is now trading under the ticker symbol “S.”
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google says Android App Bundle, introduced at I/O 2018, will replace APK as the default format for new apps published to the Play Store in August  —  Google introduced the Android App Bundle format in May of 2018 at I/O as part of its modern development push.
The Block:
Twitter releases a set of seven NFTs, each available in 20 designs, and is auctioning them on marketplace Rarible  —  Quick Take  — Twitter has released a set of seven NFTs, with 20 available in each design.  — It's auctioning them on NFT marketplace Rarible.
Dave Michaels / Wall Street Journal:
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fines Robinhood $70M for misleading customers and system outages, the biggest fine it has ever imposed  —  Online brokerage faulted for missteps related to options trading and technology outages; company neither admits nor denies allegations
Gilad Edelman / Wired:
While a judge dismissing FTC's suit against Facebook was a setback, experts say the 30-day window to refile and prove Facebook has a monopoly should be enough  —  A judge dealt the Federal Trade Commission a setback this week in its quest to break the company up—but also provided a roadmap for how to proceed.
Bloomberg:
Twitter and Facebook are fighting new Indian rules they say curtail privacy and free speech; the regulations include potential jail terms for executives  —  - Government wants the power to decide acceptable speech online  — Twitter's under scrutiny in one of its fastest-growing markets
BBC:
Tim Berners-Lee sells an NFT for $5.4M that represents time-stamped files of the source code for the world wide web and other items, via a Sotheby's auction  —  The original source code for the world wide web has been sold as a non-fungible token, making $5.4m (£3.9m).
Bloomberg:
Sources: amid their escalating rivalry, Google and Microsoft recently ended a years-long truce preventing the use of lobbying firepower against each other  —  A non-aggression pact forged by their CEOs expired in April, threatening to add fuel to industry's antitrust battles
Dan Primack / Axios:
TikTok says it removed 11M+ accounts during Q1 2021, including 7M+ for belonging to those under 13; around 62M videos were removed, or 1% of all uploaded  —  TikTok on Wednesday said it removed more than 7 million accounts “from the full TikTok experience” during the first quarter of 2021 …
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Microsoft and AT&T say the carrier will run core parts of its 5G network on Azure; AT&T's newer networks rely more heavily on virtualization than hardware  —  Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and AT&T Inc (T.N) on Wednesday said that the carrier will run core parts of its 5G wireless network on Microsoft's cloud computing platform.
BuzzFeed News:
Clearview AI data shows GAO's recent report on government use of facial recognition overlooked usage by five agencies, including IRS, TSA, and US Capitol Police  —  In a government accountability report about facial recognition, five federal agencies said they didn't use Clearview AI.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Moveworks, which automates enterprise IT tasks using chatbots, raises $200M Series C led by Tiger Global and Alkeon Capital at a $2.1B post-money valuation  —  Where does your enterprise stand on the AI adoption curve?  Take our AI survey to find out.  —  Moveworks, a platform designed …
Evan Ratliff / Bloomberg:
Inside the life and arrest of Ray Hushpuppi, a Nigerian Instagram influencer who has been accused by the US government of cyber scams that netted him millions  —  For Ramon Abbas, the Instagram influencer popularly known as Ray Hushpuppi, @hushpuppi, Hush, or the Billionaire Gucci Master, birthdays were always a time for reflection.

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