Techmeme
January 1, 2019, 7:15 PM

Top News

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.
Jennifer Ouellette / Ars Technica:
Researchers used a series of auctions to find that, on average, it would take more than $1,000 to entice a Facebook user to deactivate their account for a year  —  Some users required more than $1,000 to deactivate their account for one year. … A series of auctions revealed …
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Experts say Facebook's opaque approach toward flagging possible suicide threats to police around the world may not be accurate, effective, or safe  —  A police officer on the late shift in an Ohio town recently received an unusual call from Facebook.  —  Earlier that day …
Selim Chtayti / 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
Zen Soo / South China Morning Post:
A look at a comprehensive Chinese e-commerce law, which was passed in August to address the sale of counterfeit and copycat merchandise, that is now in effect  —  - E-commerce platform operators are jointly liable with merchants for selling counterfeit and copycat merchandise on their websites
Brad Sams / Petri:
In 2018, Microsoft said it would start giving app developers an 85%-95% cut for non-game apps, up from 70%, but the new pricing hasn't been implemented yet  —  Back in the spring of 2018, Microsoft published a blog post saying that the company would soon be more generous with its revenue share in the Microsoft store.
Wall Street Journal:
Tech trends for 2019: foldable phones, 5G, cashierless retail, privacy legislation, autonomous delivery wagons, IoT edge computing, and more  —  From delivery wagons and foldable phones to privacy crackdowns and corporate health tracking, the coming year will make good on some of the tech industry's biggest promises
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
Didi faces new challenges in 2019 as stricter regulations take effect in China that require drivers have a local residency permit and a commercial car license  —  Over the last few years, millions of Chinese workers managed to earn extra money by being ride-hailing drivers.
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 …

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:
Get your favorite apps talking to Zoho Sign with Zapier  —  Your business didn't come together overnight.  It's something you've built, refined, and fine-tuned over time.  Every tool you use has a purpose …
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

Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
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 Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
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.
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.
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 7:15 PM ET, January 1, 2019.

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

Simon Romero / New York Times:

Earlier Picks

Eric Bellman / Wall Street Journal:
New York Times:
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: