Techmeme: London-based Cleo, an AI-powered assistant that aims to help Gen Z users improve their financial health and wellbeing, raised an $80M Series C led by Sofina (Megha Paul/Tech.eu)

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June 29, 2022, 3:50 PM

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Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Source: a British Virgin Islands court ordered the liquidation of Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital on June 27; Teneo will handle the insolvency process — A court in the British Virgin Islands has ordered the liquidation of Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital, underlining the crisis gripping …

Steven Ehrlich / Forbes:

After providing $750M in credit lines, Sam Bankman-Fried says some crypto companies are “basically too far gone”, “bearish views on Tether are wrong”, and more — After throwing lifelines to troubled digital currency platforms BlockFi and Voyager Digital …

Josh Smith / Reuters:

Experts say the crypto crash has wiped out millions of dollars stolen by North Korean hackers, threatening a key source of funding and its weapons programs — The nosedive in cryptocurrency markets has wiped out millions of dollars in funds stolen by North Korean hackers, four digital investigators say …

More: PR Newswire, Coincub, Crypto Adventure, Ethereum World News, CoinQuora, Finbold, CryptoSlate, Cointelegraph, Cryptopolitan, Decrypt, CryptoPotato, Benzinga, CoinGape, and iTnews

Tweets: @briankrebs, @joshjonsmith, @caseyjohnellis, @joshjonsmith, @joshjonsmith, @kimzetter, and @joshjonsmith

Alex Heath / The Verge:

Snap launches Snapchat+, offering exclusive, experimental, and pre-release Snapchat features for $3.99 per month, starting in nine countries — No, it doesn't let you turn off ads — Starting this week, Snap will begin offering an optional subscription called Snapchat Plus that unlocks exclusive and early access features.

More: Snap Newsroom, Daily Mail, The Hill, NBC News, Reuters, Adweek, MobileSyrup, PhoneArena, Wccftech, Digital Trends, iThinkDifferent, iDownloadBlog.com, Pocket-lint, Bloomberg, Neowin, PCMag, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Engadget, TechSpot, Variety, 9to5Google, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @carnage4life and @alexeheath

Evelyn Cheng / CNBC:

The FCC's Brendan Carr writes to Apple and Google asking they remove TikTok from app stores over China-related security concerns or provide statements by July 8 — - Brendan Carr, one of the FCC's commissioners, shared Tuesday via Twitter a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai …

Bloomberg:

Sources: Tesla laid off ~200 Autopilot workers, most of them hourly and focused on data labeling, and closes its San Mateo office, as part of broader reductions — Tesla Inc. laid off hundreds of workers on its Autopilot team as the electric-vehicle maker shuttered a California facility, according to people familiar with the matter.

More: TechCrunch, Forbes, Gizmodo, CNBC, Crunchbase News, RTÉ, Wall Street Journal, Insider, MobileSyrup, Coinspeaker, The Verge, The Economic Times, Barron's Online, Benzinga, and New York Times

Tweets: @ibd_ecarson, @carnage4life, @tslafanmtl, @chrisabraham, @armano, @danahull, @thestalwart, and @scobleizer

Raymond Wong / Input:

Carl Pei says Nothing phone (1) will use the mid-range Snapdragon 778G+, not the high-end 8 Gen 1, citing a balance of cost, performance, and power consumption — By the time Nothing's July 12 launch event for the Phone (1) comes around, there won't be much (if anything) left to announce for the transparent Android smartphone.

More: XDA Developers, CNET, The Verge, Tom's Guide, Thurrott, PetaPixel, Pocket-lint, Android Central, PhoneArena, Android Authority, 9to5Google, Droid Life, Android Headlines, Mashable, and Notebookcheck.net

Tweets: @getpeid, @raywongy, @raywongy, @bengeskin, @ishanagarwal24, and @r3dash

Stephen Alpher / CoinDesk:

MicroStrategy purchased 480 bitcoins at a $20,817 average price from May 3 to June 28, bringing its holdings to 129,699, acquired for ~$3.98B or $30,664 each — The company disclosed the acquisition of another 480 bitcoins, bringing total holdings to 129,699 coins.

Source: @saylor. More: Bloomberg, Decrypt, Ethereum World News, Coinspeaker, Bitcoin Magazine, CoinQuora, Crypto Briefing, ZyCrypto, The Block, CryptoSlate, and Cointelegraph

Tweets: @cryptontez, @cz_binance, @bigcheds, @bitcoinbirch, @digitalassetbuy, @cz_binance, @juthica, @stephanlivera, @fomocapdao, @udiwertheimer, @ftx_access, @followtheh, and @hasufl

Annie Armstrong / Artnet News:

As crypto enters another winter, Jimmy Fallon, Serena Williams, Reese Witherspoon, Meek Mill, and other celebrities quietly remove their NFT profile pictures — Jimmy Fallon, Shonda Rhimes, Travis Barker, and Meek Mill are among the celebrities who have abandoned their NFT avatars.

Tweets: @danielgothits, @crypto_bobby, @ben_mckenzie, @thestalwart, @anthony, and @sandofsky

Michael Bellusci / CoinDesk:

CoinFlex CEO Mark Lamb says crypto investor Roger Ver owes the exchange $47M in USDC, after Ver denied “some rumors” he defaulted on a debt to a counterparty — The crypto exchange is launching a recovery token because of debt owed by a high-net-worth customer.

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:

Firefox now offers a way to strip URLs of certain tracking parameters, like from HubSpot, Marketo, and Meta, following similar functionality in Brave Browser — Mozilla Firefox 102 was released today with a new privacy feature that strips parameters from URLs that are used to track you around the web.

More: Mozilla, 9to5Mac, TechRadar, Digital Trends, Engadget, Neowin, and SecurityWeek

Tweets: @gaberivera, @pbannist, and @firefoxsupport

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Research details sophisticated malware targeting a wide range of routers then taking over Windows, Linux, and Mac devices, in N. America and Europe for ~2 years — Router-stalking ZuoRAT is likely the work of a sophisticated nation-state, researchers say. — An unusually advanced hacking group …

More: BleepingComputer, Lumen, Security Affairs, Dark Reading, TechSpot, The Hacker News, Insider, and ZDNet

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

A federal judge rules former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan must face wire fraud charges for allegedly helping cover up a 2016 hack that exposed the data of 57 million — (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday said a former Uber Technologies Inc security chief must face wire fraud charges …

More: The Register, U.S. Department of Justice, Silicon Republic, and iTnews

Tweets: @lorakolodny and @gossithedog

Wall Street Journal:

Internal documents from 2021 show Celsius issued large loans backed by little collateral while pitching itself as less risky than a bank with better returns — The lender had little cushion in the event of a downturn or mass withdrawals, investor documents show

More: Bloomberg, The Block, Crypto Briefing, Slashdot, and Finbold

Tweets: @jeffjohnroberts, @millercwl, @wublockchain, @deitaone, @andrewscurria, and @goingparabolic

David Yaffe-Bellany / New York Times:

Forbes estimates the 16 richest crypto billionaires lost $59B+ between March and June, led by Binance's Changpeng Zhao, as retail investors suffer heavy losses — No cryptocurrency investor has been spared the pain of plunging prices. But the fallout from more than $700 billion in losses is far from even.

Tweets: @tedrameymedia, @kellen_browning, @jonscollins, @jnd3001, @mgsiegler, @yaffebellany, @andreasharsono, @emmabgo, @matthewstoller, and @davidfrum

Brendan Murray / Bloomberg:

Experts express concerns over hackers commandeering ship controls, including automated steering and propulsion systems, despite efforts to address the issues — In February 2019, a large container ship sailing for New York identified a cyber intrusion on board that startled the US Coast Guard.

Tweets: @zschneeweiss, @jimpethokoukis, and @joshuasteinman

Adlan Jackson / New York Times:

A look at YouTube “media critics”, who use humor to dissect the output of more popular YouTubers, discuss the absurdities of influencers, and more — One of the most popular genres of videos online is to comment on other videos online. Are they comedians or media critics?

Tweets: @jeffjarvis and @munecatmusic

Megha Paul / Tech.eu:

London-based Cleo, an AI-powered assistant that aims to help Gen Z users improve their financial health and wellbeing, raised an $80M Series C led by Sofina — The British company, which has a US-first growth strategy, will utilise the funding to continue its growth in the U.S., including a significant increase in employee headcount

More: PYMNTS.com, FinSMEs, UKTN | UK Tech News, Finextra, and Silicon Canals

Patrick McGee / Financial Times:

Some VR developers express frustrations with Meta's Quest Store fees, a 30% cut for purchases and 15% to 30% for subscriptions, given Meta's criticism of Apple — Facebook parent faces backlash from developers and accusations of ‘hypocrisy’ over virtual reality store terms

More: 9to5Mac and TechRadar

Tweets: @jordannovet, @matpiscatella, and @mattnavarra

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:

New York-based Nautical Commerce, which offers multivendor marketplace tools, raised a $30M Series A led by Drive Capital, bringing its total funding to ~$33.2M — E-commerce marketplaces are big businesses. It was estimated that some $3.2 trillion was spent globally on the top marketplaces in 2021 …

More: Business Wire, SiliconANGLE, and FinSMEs

Bloomberg:

A profile of ADT, which helps Google sell and install Nest smart home products, ahead of unveiling its ADT+ smart home security software and hardware in 2023 — Kneeling beneath a framed print of Thomas Kinkade's painting A Peaceful Retreat, Roli Chiu, alarm system installer …

Tweets: @austincarr

Iain Martin / Forbes:

A look at NGL, an app that lets Instagram users send anonymous DMs, and its content moderation challenges; Data.ai: NGL has 1.75M downloads since November 2021 — A new app that allows Instagram users to send anonymous messages is soaring in popularity - and renewing concerns about cyberbullying …

More: TechCrunch, Mashable, and HITC

Tweets: @_iainmartin, @_iainmartin, @_iainmartin, @_iainmartin, and @_iainmartin. Thanks:@iblametom

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From Mediagazer

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

The Freedom of the Press Foundation, a shareholder in Paramount, is threatening legal action against the company if it settles with President Trump

Daniel Engber / The Atlantic:

PBS cut 90 seconds from a documentary on Art Spiegelman in which he criticized Trump; the edit was made a few days after the “Anti-American Airwaves” hearing

David Bauder / Associated Press:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders additional press restrictions at the Pentagon, including banning reporters from certain areas without government escorts

More News

Allyson Versprille / Bloomberg:

Sources: the Treasury Department and the IRS are likely to postpone a January 2023 starting date for crypto companies to track clients' capital gains and losses

More: CoinDesk. Tweets: @allyversprille and @kylebrussell

Coralie Mercier / World Wide Web Consortium:

W3C plans to become a public-interest non-profit organization in January 2023, saying the change is “imperative to preserve the core mission of the Consortium”

More: World Wide Web Consortium and Silicon Republic

Tweets: @w3c, @techgirl1908, and @benwerd

Ivan Levingston / Bloomberg:

Deliveroo plans to introduce new ad space on its app and website in July, including selling ads on its order-tracker page, in its push to become profitable

Tweets: @ivanlevingston

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

London-based Entrepreneur First, which invests in nascent startups, connects co-founders, and offers support, has raised a $158M Series C at a ~$560M valuation

More: Entrepreneur First, Silicon Republic, FinSMEs, and Tech in Asia

Tweets: @matthewclifford, @hzoete, @mattwichrowski, @seikatsu, and @martinvars

Oshry Alkeslasi / Geektime:

Tel Aviv-based Konnecto, which helps brands improve their marketing by analyzing consumers' online purchase data, raised a $21M Series A led by PeakSpan Capital

More: PR Newswire, CTech, and LinkedIn

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

Source: Byju's offers to acquire 2U Inc. for ~$15 per share in cash, a 61% premium on its $9.30 Tuesday closing price, valuing the US edtech company at ~$2B

More: Inc42 Media, Moneycontrol, and Barron's Online

Tweets: @saritharai and @chandrarsrikant

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

London-based Birdie, which offers digital tools to in-home care providers to optimize their workflow, raised a $30M Series B, bringing its total funding to $52M

Conor Hale / Fierce Biotech:

PicnicHealth, which lets patients manage their health records online and aims to share anonymized data with researchers, raised a $60M Series C led by B Capital

More: PicnicHealth, Telehealth and Telecare Aware, Weights & Biases, and Health Exec

Tweets: @picnichealth, @nogaleviner, @bcapitalgroup, @builtinsf, @l2k, @stevesteinhubl, and @ycombinator

Earlier Picks

Katie Jennings / Forbes:

New York-based Nomad Health, an online marketplace for temporary health care jobs, raised $105M, bringing its total funding to $200M+, to expand beyond nurses

More: Business Wire, VatorNews, Axios, Digital Health Business …, and Fierce Healthcare

Tweets: @katiedjennings and @rre

Corinna Makris / VentureBeat:

Normalyze, which enables security teams to continuously analyze, prioritize, and respond to cloud data threats, emerges from stealth with a $22.2M Series A

More: Lightspeed Venture Partners and PressRelease.cc

Tweets: @arifj and @arifj

Allison Levitsky / Protocol:

Pave, which analyzes HR data to help companies close pay and equity gaps, raised a $100M Series C at a $1.6B valuation and acquires rival Option Impact

More: FinSMEs, PR Newswire, and Index Ventures

Tweets: @matthewschulman, @brosenblatt4, and @mark_goldberg_

Andrew Tarantola / Engadget:

NOAA triples its weather modeling capabilities and doubles its storage by adding two General Dynamics supercomputers for $505M, each operating at 12.1 petaflops

More: Nextgov and The Next Platform

Tweets: @ryanmaue, @pourmecoffee, and @nwscharlestonsc

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Samsung Display acquires the IP and tech of Germany-based startup Cynora, which specializes in OLED displays for foldable devices, for about $300M

More: PCMag and iPhone in Canada Blog

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google announces Google Public Sector, a new division aiming to bring Google Cloud tech to US educational institutions and federal, state, and local governments

More: Cloud Blog, Petri IT Knowledgebase, and PCMag

Tweets: @jamiebishop123, @frankcatalano, @googlecloud, @rebeccatmoore, and @aravind_raves

Shannon Liao / Washington Post:

Sony launches InZone, a brand of PC gaming devices and accessories with PS5 integration, starting with 4K and 1080p 27" monitors and three headphones

More: Silicon Republic, The Verge, Thurrott, CNBC, VideoCardz.com, and Forbes

Tweets: @rukizzel, @thetacticalbrit, @nanopolymath, @starfire2258, @shannon_liao, and @videotech_

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Meta tests Discord-like changes to Facebook Groups, adding a channels list in a left-aligned sidebar that can include audio rooms, text chats, and feed channels

More: Meta, SlashGear, KnowTechie, TechRadar, MacRumors, PCMag, Android Central, Wccftech, Silicon Republic, Android Headlines, Never Fully Read, Neowin, PhoneArena, Fossbytes, BGR India, and TechRadar

Tweets: @metanewsroom, @karolcummins, @bromid, @alexeheath, @pierce, @alexvoica, @alexeheath, and @lucasmtny