Techmeme
December 8, 2021, 7:15 PM

Top News

Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram plans to bring back “a version” of its chronological feed in Q1 2022, as it experiments with other options for users including a “favorites” feed  —  After more than five years, Instagram plans to bring back “a version” of its chronological feed next year, the company's top executive said on Wednesday.
C-SPAN.org:
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
A US appeals court grants a stay in the Epic v. Apple ruling, letting Apple keep its IAP system as the sole source of iOS in-app payments as the case proceeds  —  Apple can maintain its App Store payment monopoly while the case proceeds  —  An appeals court has paused one of the most consequential parts …
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Kickstarter plans to transition its crowdfunding site to a newly created blockchain-based protocol in 2022, and will offer tools for others to build on it  —  It's creating a new company to develop and distribute the technology.  —  For more than a decade, Kickstarter PBC has convinced …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg apologizes for how he handled firing ~900 employees, 9% of his workforce, over Zoom, as a report says Better.com is delaying its SPAC  —  Better.com CEO Vishal Garg apparently realizes he's done wrong.  —  (As if the barrage of negative publicity wasn't enough evidence of that.)
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Roku says it has agreed to a multi-year extension with Google for distributing YouTube and YouTube TV apps on its devices; Roku's stock is up 18%+  —  Roku and Google have agreed to a multi-year extension for both YouTube and YouTube TV apps to be distributed on Roku.
Neal E. Boudette / New York Times:
After Tesla added over 12 video games that can be played while driving, critics argue the company is compromising road users' safety, on top of Autopilot issues  —  The feature raises fresh questions about whether Tesla is compromising safety as it rushes to add new technologies.
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Kuo: AirPods Pro 2, the first update since 2019, will launch in Q4 2022 with a Beats Fit Pro-like design, an improved chip, fitness tracking, and more  —  The AirPods Pro 2, the first update to the AirPods Pro since its debut in 2019, will launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Apple analyst Ming Chi-Kuo.
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Facebook launches a Professional Mode, letting eligible creators monetize their profiles, and a Reels Play bonus program that offers up to $35K/month  —  Facebook has launched a new professional mode for profiles that will let eligible creators earn money without the need to create a separate Page.
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon has emerged as the de facto wage-and-benefits setter as US companies fight to attract workers in a tight labor market, causing ripples across the economy  —  In local markets throughout America, the e-commerce giant's facilities have an impact on inflation, job markets and labor standards
Bloomberg:
A look at the rise of “dark stores”, mini-warehouses in urban retail spaces used by fast grocery delivery companies, and how they erode community life  —  Mini-warehouses dubbed “dark stores” are quietly taking over urban retail space.  Left unregulated, the insatiable demand …
Andrew Tangel / Wall Street Journal:
The FAA outlines flight restrictions, including limiting bad weather automated landing systems to avoid interference with the C-band 5G spectrum from January 5  —  Agency's order could disrupt air travel with limits to cockpit systems needed in poor weather; new 5G services expected to go live Jan. 5
Wallace Witkowski / MarketWatch:
UiPath reports Q3 revenue of $220.8M, vs. estimates of $208.3M and up 50% YoY, ARR of $818.4M, up 58% YoY, and losses of $122.8M, up 73% YoY  —  UiPath Inc. shares fell in the extended session Wednesday even as the “software robots” provider's quarterly results topped Wall Street expectations.
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Meta, Nike, CVS, GM, IBM, Walmart, and others join the Data & Trust Alliance, which has developed an anti-bias scoring system to analyze AI usage during hiring  —  The organization has created a format for evaluating the technology, which is often used to screen job candidates.
Rebecca Torrence / FierceHealthcare:
Robin Healthcare, which offers an AI-powered Echo-like device to record patients' talks with providers and help with administrative tasks, raises $50M Series B  —  Robin Healthcare didn't set out to create an Amazon Alexa for healthcare.  The startup first tried using a webcam …
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Ubisoft will add NFT items into its games, starting with Ghost Recon Breakpoint on the Tezos blockchain, becoming the first major gaming company to do so  —  In brief  — Major game publisher Ubisoft will implement in-game NFT items into its games, starting with Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Reddit to launch a Spotify Wrapped-like recap featuring statistics for users like time spent and popular content; users created 366M posts in 2021, up 19% YoY  —  Reddit is launching a new personalized Spotify Wrapped-like recap feature for all users tomorrow.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
A look at Twitter's Project Guardian, which helps moderators respond more quickly to complaints from an updating list of thousands of its most visible users  —  ‘Project Guardian’ aims to protect prominent tweeters from abuse, harassment  —  Twitter Inc.'s highest-profile users …

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Richard Lawler / The Verge: