Techmeme
February 28, 2019, 8:35 AM

Top News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
FTC settles with Musical.ly, now TikTok, for $5.7M, over the app's violation of US child privacy laws; TikTok's app updates with a new UX for users under 13  —  A significant FTC ruling issued today will see video app TikTok fined $5.7 million for violating U.S. children's privacy laws …
Roland Li / San Francisco Chronicle:
In a letter to the CA government, Apple confirms that 190 employees, including 124 engineers, will be laid off from its self-driving car division on April 16  —  Apple will lay off 190 employees in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale in its self-driving car division, the company said.
The Seattle Times:
Though Seattle repealed its “head tax”, Amazon says it won't use the 722K sq. ft. in Rainier Square tower it had leased, which would have housed up to 5K staff  —  The lease was one of the biggest in Seattle history — enough space to hold at least 3,500 employees and perhaps up to 5,000.
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Figure, which uses blockchain tech to provide home equity loans, raises $65M; founded over a year ago by ex-SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, Figure has raised $120M total  —  Figure, a 13-month-old, San Francisco-based company that says it uses blockchain technology to provide home equity loans online …
Thomas Brewster / Forbes:
Equipment from Cellebrite, popular with law enforcement for hacking into iOS/Android devices, is selling for $100-$1,000 on eBay; new units usually cost $6,000  —  When eBay merchant Mr. Balaj was looking through a pile of hi-fi junk at an auction in the U.K., he came across an odd-looking device.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Coinhive, an in-browser Monero miner known for cryptojacking, says it will shut down on March 8, citing the crypto crash and a recent Monero hard fork  —  Coinhive wanted to be an alternative to classic banner ads but it became malware after constant abuse.
Roger Cheng / CNET:
Source: Motorola plans to launch its foldable smartphone, likely a revival of the Razr brand, this summer  —  Motorola is jumping into foldable phones.  And it's likely doing it with one of the most iconic names in the business.  —  Motorola, a unit of Chinese consumer electronics giant Lenovo …
Fred Imbert / CNBC:
Report: both Uber and Lyft plan to give some of their most-active or longest-serving drivers a cash award with an option to put it toward stock in their IPOs  —  - Uber's plan would give some drivers either a cash bonus or the option to use that money to buy shares at the IPO price, the report says.
Larry Dignan / ZDNet:
RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud survey of enterprises and SMBs: Azure adoption grew from 45% to 52%, reaching 85% of AWS adoption, up from 70% last year  —  The RightScale 2019 State of the Cloud Report from Flexera highlights how enterprises are spending more on cloud computing …
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Square reports Q4 adjusted revenue of $464M, up 64% YoY, 15M Cash App MAUs in Dec. 2018, up from 7M YoY, issues weak Q1 guidance; stock down 6%+ after hours  —  - Payment company Square reported fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations for earnings and revenue on Wednesday.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Paris-based Mirakl, which provides an API-backed ecommerce marketplace for B2C and B2B verticals, raises $70M Series C led by Bain Capital  —  Mirakl, a Paris-based software company that develops ecommerce solutions for corporate and retail clients, isn't shy about throwing its weight around …
More: TechCrunch and FinSMEs
Alexis C. Madrigal / The Atlantic:
Crowdtangle data: a small number of Facebook Pages created 46% of the top 10,000 posts for or against vaccines, with 20% generated by seven anti-vax Pages  —  Squelching vaccine misinformation might be easier than the platform makes it seem.  —  Look up vaccinations on Facebook …

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:
Zoho's comprehensive e-signature solution now approved by the Israel Tax Authority  —  Zoho Sign is now officially approved for use by the Israel Tax AuthorityThe Israel Tax Authority maintains an official list …
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

Hard Fork:
Can We Build a Better Social Network?
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.
Invest Like the Best:
Tom Digan & Greg Stewart - Building the World's Best Fitness App
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI's Steve Jobs?, Big Tech AI Chaos Ladder, 2026 Crystal Ball
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.
Grit:
Why We're Only Using 1% of AI | Glean CEO Arvind Jain
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why most AI products fail: Lessons from 50+ AI deployments at OpenAI, Google & Amazon
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.
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 8:35 AM ET, February 28, 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

Maya Kosoff / OneZero:
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Makena Kelly / The Verge: