Techmeme
December 31, 2018, 8:15 PM

Top News

Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Intercontinental Exchange subsidiary Bakkt raises $182.5M to build its cryptocurrency exchange; sources: regulatory hurdles delay its plans for bitcoin futures  —  Bakkt, the cryptocurrency venture by Intercontinental Exchange, has scored $182.5 million to build out its platform aimed …
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
How deepfakes, AI-generated videos that graft a person's face onto another's body, have been weaponized to harass and humiliate their subjects, mostly women  —  “Deepfake” creators are making disturbingly realistic, computer-generated videos with photos taken from the Web, and ordinary women are suffering the damage.
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
Privacy International: popular Android apps like TripAdvisor, Kayak, Indeed, MyFitnessPal share data with Facebook without user consent, possibly violating GDPR  —  Some of the most popular apps for Android smartphones, including Skyscanner, TripAdvisor and MyFitnessPal …
Agence France-Presse:
Parents are often shocked by inappropriate videos on TikTok, a major hit with teens that Sensor Tower says was the most downloaded app on iOS in H1 2018  —  TikTok's video-sharing app was the most downloaded on Apple's App Store in the first half of 2018, beating out Facebook, Instgram and Snapchat
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon is planning to build and expand Whole Foods stores across the US to put more customers within range of its Prime Now two-hour delivery service  —  Expansion would widen tech giant's delivery reach  —  Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 1.12% is planning to build and expand Whole Foods stores across …
Los Angeles Times:
Malware attack on Tribune Publishing's network disrupts the printing and distribution of Saturday editions of LA Times, WSJ, NYT, and other papers  —  A cyberattack that appears to have originated from outside the United States caused major printing and delivery disruptions at several newspapers across …
Echo Huang / Quartz:
China-owned spacecraft maker CASIC launches first of 156 satellites intended to provide internet service by 2022 to rural China and then to developing countries  —  Over the weekend, China launched a satellite into low-earth orbit, the first step of a plan to provide global satellite internet …
Simon Romero / New York Times:
Since Waymo started testing driverless vans in Chandler, AZ in 2017, nearly two dozen attacks have been made on them including slashed tires and thrown rocks  —  CHANDLER, Ariz. — The assailant slipped out of a park around noon one day in October, zeroing in on his target …
Eric Bellman / Wall Street Journal:
How Amazon is opening tiny stores, adding local language descriptions, and accepting cash payments to target the 800M people living outside India's big cities  —  The retailer is targeting hundreds of millions of new online shoppers in India's countryside by adding Hindi and videos …

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Susan Fowler / New York Times: