Techmeme
March 12, 2016, 12:40 AM

Top News

Fortune:
Source: General Motors will pay more than $1B for Cruise Automation, which raised just over $18M from investors including Spark and YC  —  GM Buying Self-Driving Tech Startup for More Than $1 Billion  —  General Motors GM this morning announced that it will acquire Cruise Automation …
Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:
GM buys self-driving car kit startup Cruise, plans to use tech to make driverless cars  —  General Motors (GM)announced today it plans to snap up Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based startup making sensors that turn regular vehicles into ones that can drive themselves, for an undisclosed sum.
Mark Bergen / Re/code:
How Kyle Vogt Sold Cruise Automation to GM, Twitch to Amazon  —  Ten years ago, Justin Kan and Emmett Shear had just sold their app company, Kiko, and were itching for another venture.  They had a concept — livestream video — but no idea how to build it.  So they sent an email …
More: Fortune
Justin Sink / Bloomberg Business:
At SXSW, President Obama advises tech industry to compromise on encryption now instead of waiting for Congress to act  —  Government Can't Let Smartphones Be ‘Black Boxes,’ Obama Says  —  Obama advises tech industry to compromise before Congress acts  —  President appears at South by Southwest as FBI sues Apple Inc.
Alex Hern / Guardian:
DOJ says it could make Apple turn over iOS source code and signature if it doesn't cooperate with court order, citing Lavabit case as precedent  —  FBI ‘could force Apple to hand over private key’  —  A legal filing implies that Department of Justice has a plan B, which involves demanding the company's electronic signature
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Microsoft launches tool to help Evernote users on Windows move their notes to OneNote  —  Microsoft launches OneNote importer tool for Evernote users  —  Microsoft today launched a OneNote importer tool that lets Evernote users bring their content to Microsoft's note-taking tool.
Greg Bensinger / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Instacart cuts commissions for couriers by 50%, reduces fees per drop-off to $1.50 from $4 in SF, LA, and some other metro areas  —  Grocery-Delivery Startup Instacart Cuts Pay for Couriers  —  Instacart is the latest on-demand startup to try to contain costs in a tighter funding environment
Mihăiă Bamburic / BetaNews:
Dell releases new XPS 13 Developer Edition, launches Linux-based Precision laptops worldwide  —  On the laptop side, Dell may be best known for its Windows devices, but, as some of you may already know, it also offers some killer Linux-based alternatives for prosumers.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon eyes up education, plans a free platform for learning materials  —  Back in 2013, Amazon acquired (and continued to operate) online math instruction company TenMarks to gain a foothold in the online education space.  Now it looks like Amazon is taking those learnings to the next level.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Zoho CRM Plus in 2025: A year of thoughtful CX improvements  —  2025 marked 11 years of building a customer experience platform designed to support organizations as customer expectations, channels …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
10 contrarian leadership truths every leader needs to hear | Matt MacInnis (Rippling)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Alex And Ranjan's 2026 Outlook: ChatGPT 1 Billion, AI Shopping, Apple's Big Year, AI Love Boom
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Where Is All the A.I.-Driven Scientific Progress?
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:40 AM ET, March 12, 2016.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Syed Zain Al-Mahmood / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Mellisa Tolentino / SiliconANGLE:
Ryan Smith / AnandTech:
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Steve Kovach / Tech Insider: