Techmeme
December 17, 2018, 8:40 AM

Top News

TMZ.com:
Colin Kroll, the CEO, co-founder of HQ Trivia and co-founder of Vine, has died at 34; police source says a drug overdose is suspected  —  Colin Kroll, the CEO and co-founder of HQ Trivia, has died of an apparent drug overdose ... TMZ has learned.  —  Law enforcement sources tell TMZ …
Washington Post:
Leaked report prepared for Senate analyzes Russian disinformation that supported Trump across millions of posts on YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, more  —  The report, a draft of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the first to study the millions of posts provided …
Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:
In a major real-estate expansion in New York City, Google says it will invest $1B+ in a new 1.7M square foot campus in Google Hudson Square in Manhattan  —  Search giant joins Amazon, Apple in growing outside the West Coast; addition of 7,000 jobs a ‘conservative estimate’
Wall Street Journal:
To increase profits in its retail business, Amazon is asking brands with cheap but heavy or bulky items to change packaging and ship from their own warehouses  —  Online giant pushes for changes in product packaging, quantities to improve earnings  —  Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -4.01% …
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
AI Index Report for 2018 shows global growth of the field, a sharp rise in papers published from China, and an increase in VC funding of AI startups  —  The AI Index 2018 report is out, and if you're interested in AI enough to read this newsletter, you really should read the report through for yourself.
Devjyot Ghoshal / Quartz:
Inside Grab's efforts to map roads in 100 cities across Southeast Asia by next year; Grab's mapping team has grown to 250, of which 100 are based in India  —  In 2017, many months before its merger with Uber made it Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing app, Grab realized it had a “rendezvous” problem.
Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
Test shows that Android phones like LG G7 ThinQ, OnePlus 6, and Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 8 can be unlocked via facial recognition using 3D-printed head models  —  Facial recognition is cropping up everywhere.  From shopping malls to the workplace, it's likely something is scanning your face every day.
Bloomberg:
With EU governments increasingly concerned about Huawei, telecoms including UK's BT, France's Orange, and Deutsche Telekom are reconsidering the use of its gear  —  - BT and Deutsche Telekom among companies distancing themselves  — Europe is the equipment maker's biggest market outside China
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Researchers detail a phishing campaign by Iran-linked hackers targeting US government officials that bypassed SMS-based 2FA protections in Gmail and Yahoo Mail  —  Group breaches SMS-protected accounts.  It's still testing attacks against 2fa apps.  —  A recent phishing campaign targeting …

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
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:
ERP software from the builders of world-class products  —  Every business starts with a vision.  Sustaining it is a more rigorous and complex pursuit.It lives in reconciled books, accurate inventory, and predictable cash flow.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
The Safest Dollar on the Internet | Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
5 questions to ask when your product stops growing | Jason Cohen (2x unicorn founder)
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:
OpenAI's $50 Billion Fundraise, AI Advertising Game Theory, Apple's AI Wearable Pin
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:
Will ChatGPT Ads Change OpenAI? + Amanda Askell Explains Claude's New Constitution
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.
Access:
Home robots are coming faster than you think, with Sunday's Tony Zhao
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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 8:40 AM ET, December 17, 2018.

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

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Earlier Picks

Julie Verhage / Bloomberg: