Techmeme
October 18, 2018, 9:25 PM

Top News

Sam Levin / The Guardian:
As Facebook promotes its “war room” and efforts to fight interference, a study of disinformation on WhatsApp during Brazil's election shows more could be done  —  Corporation shows off room of engineers, data scientists and other experts but offers reporters few new specifics
Wall Street Journal:
New York Times:
A look at how SoftBank, whose Vision Fund received $45B from Saudi Arabia, is handling the growing crisis over Khashoggi's disappearance  —  Since the disappearance and apparent killing of a dissident journalist in a Saudi Arabian consulate, some of the most powerful figures in business are distancing themselves from the kingdom.
Financial Times:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple sends out invites for an event on October 30 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City, where updated iPads and MacBooks are expected  —  Apple today sent out media invites for a second major 2018 event set to be held in New York City on Tuesday, October 30 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House.
Financial Times:
Sources: Uber is developing a short-term staffing business, called Uber Works, that would utilize its database of workers for events and corporate functions  —  Uber is developing a new short-term staffing business, dubbed Uber Works, that would help to diversify its business ahead of next year's planned initial public offering.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon says Whisper Mode for Alexa is rolling out to all users in the US and works in US English  —  At Amazon's Alexa event last month in Seattle, the company teased a new feature soon coming to its voice assistant: the ability to whisper.  The company demonstrated how whispering a request …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
The SEC launches FinHub, a new division to help fintech startups, including those launching ICOs, navigate the legal implications of their products  —  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching a new division with the goal of making it simpler for fintech startups …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Samsung debuts $1,000+ Galaxy Book 2, a Windows 2-in-1 to compete with Surface, with 12-inch OLED display, LTE, 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 850, on sale from November 2  —  A couple weeks after Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 6, Samsung is today unveiling the $1,000 Galaxy Book 2 …
Rob Copeland / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: data mining giant Palantir is weighing an IPO as soon as H2 2019; some bankers have told the firm it could IPO with a valuation of as much as $41B  —  Bankers have told the firm it could go public with a valuation as high as $41 billion  —  Data-mining giant Palantir Technologies Inc. …
Lily Katz / Bloomberg:
BitGo, which makes multi-signature cryptocurrency wallets, raises $58.5M Series B from Goldman, Mike Novogratz, and others, bringing total raised to $70M  —  - Startup guards digital currencies for institutional investors  — Bank calls custody a ‘logical precursor’ to market making
Anton Shilov / AnandTech:
Samsung says it has started mass production of 7nm chips using an EUVL process that it claims enables 50% power and 20% performance improvements over 10nm chips  —  Samsung Foundry on Wednesday said that it had started production of chips using its 7LPP manufacturing technology …
Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Google makes Compose actions, a feature for Gmail Add-ons, generally available to all users with integrations from Box, Dropbox, Atlassian, and Egnyte  —  Lately, Google has been all about shaving time off your everyday activities when sending emails.  First they came out with smart responses …
Dami Lee / The Verge:
Square launches Terminal, an all-in-one device for card and mobile payments from Apple Pay and others, available for $399  —  Square is launching a new point-of-sale hardware device called Terminal, which can accept credit card and mobile payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and NFC.
NBC News:
Source: Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts for violating spam rules; the accounts had posted pro-Saudi Arabia tweets about the disappearance of Khashoggi  —  Twitter became aware of some of the bots on Thursday when NBC News presented the company with evidence of coordinated activity.
Bloomberg:
China-based online retailer JD.com to launch a flagship online store on Google's shopping platforms by year's end to sell directly to US consumers  —  - Web retailer diving deeper even as tensions with China mount  — JD's been exploring ways to expand beyond its home market
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
A close look at the suit against Facebook on video metrics and a look back at many statements from publishers pivoting to video as Facebook touted the medium  —  “It will probably be all video.”  —  In June 2016, Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa …

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For The Record:
Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic:
Dave Zohrob / Chartable:
Bloomberg: