Techmeme
April 30, 2022, 7:50 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: PayPal Mafia members, Jack Dorsey, and others who disliked Twitter's direction pushed Musk to launch a bid; Musk is dismayed that Trump is still banned  —  Behind the scenes, fellow billionaires and internet provocateurs bent Tesla CEO's ear; Jack Dorsey's role  —  Elon Musk unveils the Tesla Model Y in 2019.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
At an all-hands, CEO Parag Agrawal acknowledged Twitter was vulnerable to a takeover since it had historically underachieved and asked staff to “embrace change”  —  CEO Parag Agrawal on five years of regrets  —  Late Thursday night, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced the company …
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Right-wing users are celebrating Elon Musk buying Twitter not for his “free speech” promises but because he could make the platform serve their populist agenda  —  Conservatives on Twitter have greeted Elon Musk as a liberator.  The mega-billionaire is in the process of purchasing …
CNBC:
Filings: Elon Musk sold ~$8.4B worth of Tesla stock in the days after his bid to take Twitter private; on Thursday, Musk tweeted “No further TSLA sales planned”  —  - Elon Musk sold roughly $8.4 billion worth of Tesla shares in the days following his bid to take Twitter private …
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Inside Twitter, frustrations have mounted about Elon Musk's moderation plans, ahead of elections in Brazil and the midterm election in the US  —  Content moderators warn that Elon Musk doesn't appear to understand the issues that he and the company will face if he drops its guardrails around speech.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple says apps that haven't been updated in past three years and have low downloads will be removed from App Store, extends time to update from 30 to 90 days  —  Late last week, controversy erupted after Apple began notifying some developers that their apps that had not been updated …
New York Times:
Instacart plans a strategy shift to sell software to grocers and more ads in its app, trying to avoid becoming another pandemic boom company that has fizzled  —  The grocery delivery start-up changed its leadership, slashed its valuation and shifted its strategy after sales slowed.
Ax Sharma / Wired:
Hollywood's fight against VPN providers like ExpressVPN now goes beyond piracy, as a recent lawsuit alleges VPNs enable crimes like hacking, murder, and more  —  Beyond accusations of encouraging copyright infringement, film companies have begun accusing VPNs of enabling a slew of illegal activity.
Meaghan Tobin / Rest of World:
Despite SpaceX's global ambitions for Starlink, data shows 98% of users live in the West; many delays come down to regulatory challenges in markets like India  —  Despite global ambitions, Elon Musk's Starlink struggles to reach users outside North America and Europe.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Exafunction, which aims to reduce AI development costs by abstracting away hardware, raises a $25M Series A led by Greenoaks, with Founders Fund participating  —  The most sophisticated AI systems today are capable of impressive feats, from directing cars through city streets to writing human-like prose.
Business Wire:
Amazon reports Q1 revenue up 7% YoY to $116.4B, $3.8B net loss vs. $8.1B net income in Q1 2021, and AWS revenue up 37% YoY; stock down 10%+ on weak Q2 guidance  —  SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2022.
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal:

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