Techmeme
July 20, 2022, 6:45 PM

Top News

Minecraft:
Mojang Studios will not support or allow NFTs, as they “create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict with our Guidelines and the spirit of Minecraft”  —  Hello everyone!  Recently, we've received some feedback from members of the community asking for clarification …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon announces changes to Alexa, including Routines created and recommended by developers, shopping via skills, coexisting with other assistants, and more  —  A helper that increasingly doesn't need your help  —  Amazon is making a bunch of changes to the Alexa user experience …
Stacy Elliott / Decrypt:
Tesla says a “bitcoin impairment” negatively impacted its Q2 profitability and that it sold 75% of its bitcoin, worth approximately $936M, in the quarter  —  “Bitcoin impairment” prompted the sale, the company said.  —  Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin, worth approximately $936 million, according to its Q2 earnings report.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI makes DALL-E 2 widely available in beta through a credit-based fee structure; users will get free credits every month and can buy more in $15 increments  —  Today, DALL-E 2, OpenAI's AI system that can generate images given a prompt or edit and refine existing images, is becoming more widely available.
Erin Woo / The Information:
Google says it will pause hiring for two weeks, except for offers that have already been made, after saying last week it would slow hiring for the rest of 2022  —  Google said it will pause hiring for two weeks, after saying last week it would slow its pace of hiring for the rest of the year.
The Verge:
Microsoft tests Discord voice chat integration with select Xbox Insiders, as PlayStation users wait for the deep Discord integration that Sony promised in 2021  —  Your cross-play dreams have come true  —  Discord and Microsoft are bringing Discord voice calls to the Xbox.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Coinbase says it has no exposure to failed crypto firms Celsius, 3AC, and Voyager but made “non-material investments” in Terraform Labs; stock closes up 14.34%  —  - Coinbase said in a blog post that it had “no financing exposure” to collapsed crypto firms Celsius, Three Arrows Capital and Voyager Digital.
The Block:
Kevin McLaughlin / The Information:
Memo: Dan Wright, CEO of enterprise AI startup DataRobot, resigned after less than 1.5 years, following employee uproar over stock sales by senior executives  —  Dan Wright, CEO of artificial-intelligence software pioneer DataRobot, has resigned less than a year and a half after ascending to the position …
Monica Raymunt / Bloomberg:
Volkswagen's software unit Cariad partners with STMicroelectronics to co-develop semiconductors for its cross-brand single software platform  —  Volkswagen AG's software unit will start designing chips for the first time, partnering with STMicroelectronics NV to co-develop semiconductors for its cross-brand single software platform.
More: Reuters and EEJournal
Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
House E&C advances the American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a 53-2 vote; the act would set a national standard for how tech firms handle Americans' data  —  A House panel advanced a comprehensive data privacy bill in a 53-2 bipartisan vote Wednesday, pushing forward legislation …
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q2 revenue up 8.6% YoY to $7.97B, vs $8.04B est., and a 970K subscriber loss vs an estimated 2M subscriber loss; the stock closes up 7.35%  —  - Netflix only lost around 970,000 subscribers during the second quarter, a smaller loss than the 2 million it had projected last quarter.
Todd Spangler / Variety:

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More News

Natalie Andrews / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Corin Faife / The Verge:
Scott Stein / CNET:
Katyanna Quach / The Register:
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Todd Spangler / Variety: