Techmeme
March 17, 2022, 8:00 AM

Top News

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google schedules a virtual I/O 2022 for May 11 to May 12 with a limited live audience of Google employees and some partners; free registration opens this month  —  Registration opens this month  —  Google's big annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place May 11th and 12th, the company announced Wednesday.
The Information:
Tech execs may face criminal prosecution or jail time for not abiding by Ofcom's decisions two months after the UK's Online Safety Bill passes and takes effect  —  Executives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms, TikTok and other big tech companies would face the prospect of jail time under sweeping …
Annabelle Dickson / Politico:
A profile of Nadine Dorries, who in her first six months as the UK's DCMS Secretary resurrected long-stalled tech legislation such as the Online Safety Bill  —  LONDON — Britain's digital minister has Big Tech in her sights — but critics worry she's not sufficiently across the details for her reforms to stick.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix will test an “add an extra member” feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, letting primary account holders pay a fee for users not in their household  —  Netflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households …
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Bored Ape Yacht Club launches ApeCoin, or $APE, with 1B in total supply, and forms the ApeCoin DAO, whose council members include Alexis Ohanian and Amy Wu  —  Even among the fastest-growing crypto startups, Yuga Labs has had a particularly explosive year.  —  The startup is behind …
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Meta says it removed a deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asking Ukrainians to surrender, citing its misleading manipulated media policy  —  In the fake video, Zelenskyy surrenders to Russian invasion  —  On Wednesday, Facebook's parent company, Meta …
Eliza Gkritsi / CoinDesk:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs a law legalizing cryptocurrencies in the country, after parliament passed the virtual asset bill on February 17  —  Ukraine has received $100 million in crypto donations during its war with Russia.  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy legalized crypto …
Reuters:
Sources: Alibaba and Tencent are planning to cut tens of thousands of jobs combined this year as companies try to cope with China's regulatory crackdown  —  Alibaba Group (9988.HK) and Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) are preparing to cut tens of thousands of jobs combined this year …
Katyanna Quach / The Register:
Report: AI startup funding hit ~$93.5B in 2021, more than double 2020's figure, but the number of newly funded startups fell from 1,051 in 2019 to 746 in 2021  —  US-China research collaborations and startup investments on the up, too  —  AI systems are becoming increasingly larger and complex …
Kate Park / TechCrunch:
Tokyo-based mobile banking app Kyash raises a $41M Series D from Block, Greyhound, and others; report says it is Block's first investment in Asia  —  Kyash, a Tokyo-based mobile financial app, has raised $41.2 million (4.9 billion JPY) Series D funding.  —  The round comes from a number …
More: The Block
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, which uses AI for automatic reframing, image correction, lighting, and more, available for $799 on May 31  —  Microsoft's latest camera has a lot of smarts  —  Microsoft is launching its first AI-powered camera for the Surface Hub 2.
David Shepardson / Reuters:
The CEOs of Intel and Micron will testify on March 23 before the US Senate Commerce Committee to make the case for $52B in US subsidies for chip manufacturing  —  The chief executives of Intel and Micron (MU.O) will testify on March 23 before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee as the industry …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Meta adds basic parental controls for Quest VR, almost three years after launching the headset, starting with an unlock pattern for specific apps in April  —  Despite releasing its first virtual reality headsets in May 2019, Meta is only now adding parental supervision tools to its Meta Quest VR headset.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Hands-on with Universal Control: Apple's most impressive new feature in years that bridges the gap between macOS and iPadOS without requiring Apple peripherals  —  It's super cool, super niche, and Apple at its best  —  It's been a good month for Mac desktop setup aficionados.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:

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More News

Avi Asher-Schapiro / Thomson Reuters Foundation News:
Eva Mathews / Reuters:
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:

Earlier Picks

The Information:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg: