Techmeme
March 24, 2023, 3:00 PM

Top News

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Twitter plans to wind down its legacy verified program, first introduced in June 2009, and remove legacy verified checkmarks starting on April 1, 2023  —  The social network, which the mega-billionaire bought last year in a debt-heavy $44 billion deal, announced on Thursday that starting April 1 …
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Researcher finds Verification settings in Twitter's app showing it might be working on letting Blue subscribers hide the blue checkmark  —  Twitter may be working on a feature that lets you hide the blue checkmark you got by paying for its Blue subscription.
The Verge:
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
The UK CMA narrows its probe of Microsoft's $69B Activision Blizzard bid, saying new evidence “provisionally alleviates” concerns about UK game console supply  —  The UK's antitrust watchdog has narrowed its probe of Microsoft's $68.7 billion bid for video game giant, Activision Blizzard, it said today.
Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
Sources: in 2018, Elon Musk said OpenAI lagged Google and cut ties after his offer to run it was rejected; Altman took no equity in OpenAI's for-profit entity  —  After three years, Elon Musk was ready to give up on the artificial intelligence research firm he helped found, OpenAI.
Laura Kayali / Politico:
France plans to use large-scale AI-based video cameras for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, potentially becoming the first EU country to legalize AI surveillance  —  PARIS — France's AI-powered array of surveillance cameras for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics cleared a final legislative hurdle on Thursday.
Anna Irrera / Bloomberg:
Nasdaq expects its custody services for digital assets to launch in Q2 2023, starting with bitcoin and ether, after announcing the project in September 2022  —  Nasdaq Inc. expects its custody services for digital assets to launch by the end of the second quarter as it joins a growing pool …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Tether estimates it will make $700M profit in Q1 and will have ~$1.6B in excess reserves to back its USDT stablecoin, the first time it crosses the $1B mark  —  - Cryptocurrency firm Tether estimates it will make $700 million profit in the March quarter, taking its total excess reserves to over $1 billion …
Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:
Current and former Twitch staff describe how the service lost its way: out-of-touch leaders, losing big creators, cost cutting, many irrelevant ads, and more  —  The platform's recent moves have confused and upset creators, fans and staff alike  —  For Twitch, the live-streaming platform watched …
Reuters:
Xiaomi reports Q4 revenue down 22.8% YoY to ~$9.6B and net income down 67.3% to ~$651M; 2022 revenue fell 14.7% to ~$40.7B and net income fell 61.4% to ~$1.2B  —  Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) on Friday posted a 22.8% drop in fourth-quarter revenue to 66.05 billion yuan ($9.6 billion).
More: Reuters
Bryan Schott / Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Governor Spencer Cox signs two bills regulating social media, requiring all users verify their age and parents give permission before minors open accounts  —  Gov. Spencer Cox, who signed the bills on Thursday, said the state is prepared for a legal fight over the tech company regulations.
Bloomberg:
Shou Chew's answers to hostile questioning did little to calm the bipartisan fury aimed at TikTok, instead giving critics more fuel to insist the US ban the app  —  TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew's appearance in Congress on Thursday did little to calm the bipartisan fury directed at the viral video-sharing service.
Washington Post:
Ava Benny-Morrison / Bloomberg:
US prosecutors in New York charge Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon with eight counts, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy  —  Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon, who presided over a more than $40 billion cryptocurrency implosion last year, was charged with fraud by US prosecutors in New York.
Bloomberg:

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More News

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Rohan Goswami / CNBC:
Reuters: