Techmeme
September 6, 2017, 5:20 PM

Top News

Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Amazon and Apple are competing with Warner Bros. and others for rights to the James Bond franchise and are willing to pay as much as the studio  —  The franchise, and its future, are up for grabs as Agent 007 is being viewed as one of the last untapped brands that could be a game changer.
Washington Post:
Facebook says it sold ~$100K of ads on politically divisive topics to Russia-linked accounts from 6/15-5/17; sources say FB told Congress ads targeted voters  —  Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election …
STAT:
Investigation finds IBM's Watson for Oncology program, pitched as an AI-based system for cancer care, falls far short of the expectations IBM created for it  —  It was an audacious undertaking, even for one of the most storied American companies: With a single machine, IBM would tackle humanity's …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft to hold Surface keynote during its annual Future Decoded event next month; sources say it's expected to unveil at least one new Surface device  —  Microsoft's Surface chief will hold a keynote speech in London at the end of October.  The software giant is holding its annual Future Decoded event …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Symantec: “Dragonfly” hacker group has penetrated operational networks of multiple US and European energy companies that control key parts of the power grid  —  Intrusion into power companies' operational networks is a dramatic escalation.  —  Nation-sponsored hackers have penetrated …
David Meyer / Fortune:
Facebook says ad reach estimates from Adverts Manager are based on how many could see the ad, not an area's population, explaining discrepancy with census data  —  Facebook's advertising metrics have again been called into question, after Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser pointed …
Shannon Liao / The Verge:
Twitter begins rolling out its Night Mode feature on Twitter.com, following iOS and Android apps  —  Twitter.com launched its Night Mode feature on desktop today, although the feature has yet to roll out to all accounts.  The feature has already been available on iOS and Android since last year.
Tony Romm / Recode:
House passes bipartisan SELF-DRIVE Act, which is now heading to Senate and would let companies test as many as 100,000 new self-driving cars on US roads  —  It's still an early win for companies like Ford, Google and Uber.  —  The U.S. House approved a bill on Wednesday that could soon pave …
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
Apple's refusal to approve Indian government's anti-spam Do Not Disturb app, which lets users report spam calls or texts, is frustrating telecom regulators  —  Apple Inc.'s refusal so far to approve the Indian government's anti-spam iPhone app is infuriating regulators …
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Survey of wealthy technologists reveals support for left-leaning social policies, like wealth redistribution, but a rejection of regulation and labor unions  —  Silicon Valley has long preferred to remain aloof from national politics, but the Trump era has altered that stance.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
T-Mobile's unlimited data family plans with two or more lines now include free Netflix, following AT&T bundling free HBO with its Unlimited Plus plan  —  If you've got an unlimited data family plan at T-Mobile, you'll soon be getting free Netflix to go along with it.
Liana B. Baker / Reuters:
Sports e-commerce firm Fanatics confirms it has raised $1B led by SoftBank's Vision Fund, valuing it at $4.5B, and will use the funds to expand internationally  —  New York (Reuters) - Sports e-commerce firm Fanatics has closed a $1 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp's Vision fund …
More: Fortune
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:
EU Court of Justice rules in favor of Intel in €1.06B anti-trust case, tells lower court to reexamine its 2014 decision that upheld the EU fine  —  EU top court in ruling says Intel claims need re-examination  —  Lower court criticized for rejecting Intel appeal in 2014
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Federal judge dismisses libel suit against Techdirt from Shiva Ayyadurai, who claims he invented email, due to difficulty in defining email  —  Judge: Techdirt articles were opinionated and hyperbolic, but not libel.  —  A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a libel lawsuit filed earlier …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Souq acquires same- and next-day delivery platform Wing.ae, which serves Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, for an undisclosed sum  —  Earlier this year, Amazon jump-started its business in the Middle East by paying $580 million to acquire Souq.com, an Amazon-style marketplace based out of Dubai.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
From content collaboration to content intelligence: Zoho WorkDrive's 2025 journey  —  As 2025 draws to a close, we're reflecting on a year marked by meaningful progress, purposeful innovation, and continuous learning at Zoho WorkDrive.
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

Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Sam Altman: How OpenAI Wins, AI Buildout Logic, IPO in 2026?
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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 5:20 PM ET, September 6, 2017.

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

Tom Simonite / Wired:

Earlier Picks

Chris Velazco / Engadget: