Techmeme
March 21, 2018, 2:25 AM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Brian Acton, who cofounded WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook for $16B, tweeted “It is time. #deletefacebook”  —  Facebook bought his app for $16 billion  —  In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion, making its co-founders — Jan Koum and Brian Acton — very wealthy men.
Wired:
With the storm over user data misuse intensifying into a hurricane, Facebook now faces several vexing questions about its opaque privacy practices  —  Two weeks ago, Facebook learned that The New York Times, Guardian, and Observer were working on blockbuster stories based on interviews with a man named Christopher Wylie.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
As US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for Mark Zuckerberg to testify, he and Sheryl Sandberg remain publicly silent on the Cambridge Analytica scandal  —  The bad thing about making your face synonymous with the company you run: When you go M.I.A., everyone tends to notice.
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Source: Mark Zuckerberg expected to address Facebook employees about Cambridge Analytica scandal at 1pm ET on Friday during the company's regular Q&A session  —  And Sheryl Sandberg is too  —  After nearly four days of silence from top executives on the unfolding controversy around …
Bloomberg:
Cambridge Analytica's board suspends CEO Alexander Nix, saying it's with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation  —  Board of Cambridge Analytica suspended CEO Alexander Nix with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation, according to a statement from the company.
Washington Post:
Chris Wylie says Breitbart's Steve Bannon approved Cambridge Analytica's 2014 work to collect Facebook data; firm used focus groups to test views on Putin, more  —  LONDON — Conservative strategist Stephen K. Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica's early efforts to collect troves of Facebook data …
Rani Molla / Recode:
Facebook has lost nearly $50B in market cap since Friday; 129M+ shares of Facebook stock changed hands on Tuesday, its biggest trading day since 2014  —  That's the stock's biggest-ever two-day drop.  —  Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data debacle could be more damaging to the company than any of its other recent missteps.
Channel 4 News:
Cambridge Analytica execs boasted of running “all the digital campaign” for Trump, described its comms tactics to avoid paper trail: Proton Mail, deleting email  —  An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News has revealed how Cambridge Analytica claims it ran key parts of the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Bloomberg:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google says it will spend $300M over the next three years to support journalism and fight disinformation through the newly announced Google News Initiative  —  ‘We need to do more’  —  Google is announcing new efforts today to support the media industry by fighting misinformation and bolstering journalism …
Jim Albrecht / The Keyword:
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Travis Kalanick becoming CEO of City Storage Systems, which focuses on repurposing real estate, and says his new fund is acquiring a $150M controlling interest  —  The company was formerly called CloudKitchens and was led by Diego Berdakin, an early Uber investor.  —  Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has found his new job.
Blair Hanley Frank / VentureBeat:
Microsoft announces Windows Server 2019, the first big update since 2016, with Linux and Kubernetes support  —  Microsoft announced today that it will launch the next major release of Windows Server later this year with better support for hybrid workloads, Linux workloads, and hyper-converged infrastructure.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Salesforce will acquire MuleSoft, a SaaS integration company, for $6.5B, making it Salesforce's largest-ever acquisition  —  Salesforce today announced that it will acquire SaaS integration company MuleSoft for approximately $6.5 billion in cash and stock.  The sale price represents …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CryptoKitties, a game built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, raises $12M Series A led by a16z and USV, and will be spun out of Axiom Zen game studio  —  CryptoKitties became a sensation after it debuted in November as a collectible game built on top of a blockchain and the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian:
Researchers say ~1.6K files are stored in bitcoin's blockchain; at least one thought to be an image of child abuse; two others contain 274 links to child abuse  —  Researchers discover illegal content within the distributed ledger, making possession of it potentially unlawful in many countries
TechCrunch:
A look at 60+ startups that launched at Y Combinator's Winter 2018 Demo Day 2, which showcased risky frontier tech and some predictable enterprise companies  —  Microbiome therapeutics, Photoshop for augmented reality, and cancer treatments were some of the ideas presented at Day 2 …

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