Techmeme
April 11, 2019, 10:50 AM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Sources describe Amazon Alexa's AI-training process, where workers transcribing voice clips see customer account numbers and hear private conversations  —  Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia.
Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
DOJ charges Julian Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for assisting Chelsea Manning in her attempt to crack a password stored on DOD computers  —  For years, it has been publicly reported that Julian Assange offered to help Chelsea Manning break into a classified computer system.
Shannon Liao / The Verge:
Google says any Android device running 7.0 or later can now be used as a security key for two-factor authentication  —  An advanced form of two-factor authentication  —  Google announced today that any phone running Android 7 or higher can now be used as a physical security key …
Tom Krazit / GeekWire:
Tom Krazit / GeekWire:
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
In his annual shareholder letter, Jeff Bezos challenges retail rivals to match or raise their minimum wage above Amazon's $15 per hour  —  Target plans to move to $15 per hour by end of 2020 while Walmart lags behind at $11 an hour  —  In his annual letter to shareholders …
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
Interviews with Wisconsin residents about Foxconn's slow progress with its investments in the state seem to indicate Foxconn has no idea what it's doing  —  Last summer, Foxconn announced a barrage of new projects in Wisconsin — so we went looking for them
Apple:
Apple says it now has 44 suppliers, including Foxconn and TSMC, that have committed to run their Apple production on 100% clean energy  —  Company Spends $2.5 Billion in Environmental Initiatives  —  Cupertino, California — Apple today announced it has nearly doubled the number of suppliers …
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Coinbase launches Coinbase Card, a Visa debit card for UK customers to spend cryptocurrencies in-store and online, will expand to other EU countries in months  —  When you buy cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, many users simply don't know what to do with them.  Customers in the U.K …
CNN:
MIT grad student Katie Bouman helped develop the imaging algorithm for the Event Horizon Telescope that captured the first picture of a black hole  —  (CNN)Imagine trying to take a photo of an orange that's on the moon with your smartphone.  It seems impossible.
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Democratic senators propose the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would require large companies to audit machine learning-powered systems for bias  —  US lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require large companies to audit machine learning-powered systems — like facial recognition or ad targeting algorithms — for bias.
More: Reuters, The Register, NBC News, and CNET
Tweets: @ashk4n and @mims
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Gartner and IDC estimate PC shipments of 58.5M in Q1 2019, with Gartner reporting shipments down 4.6% YoY, and IDC reporting them down 3% YoY  —  The PC market is still in decline, according to research firms Gartner and IDC.  That's nothing new for the duo to agree on, but coincidentally they also …
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
Lemonade, which uses an AI-powered bot to digitize the insurance buying experience for renters and homeowners, raises $300M Series D led by the SoftBank Group  —  Lemonade, the insurance startup founded by Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, has today announced a $300 million Series D financing led …
More: Forbes and FinSMEs
Karen Weise / New York Times:
The Pentagon says Amazon and Microsoft are the final candidates for its $10B JEDI contract and that IBM and Oracle didn't meet the minimum requirements  —  The Pentagon said Wednesday that Amazon and Microsoft were the final candidates for a hotly contested $10 billion contract to bring modern cloud computing to the Defense Department.
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it will demote posts that are “inappropriate” but do not go against its Community Guidelines by not showing them in Explore or hashtag pages  —  Instagram is home to plenty of scantily-clad models and edgy memes that may start to get fewer views starting today.
Wired:

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