Techmeme
April 30, 2019, 10:00 AM

Top News

Theodore Schleifer / Recode:
Sources: Anki, the robotics startup that raised $200M+ from investors including a16z, is shuttering and laying off its staff of 200 with one week's severance  —  It's a hard, hard fall.  —  Anki, the robotics company that has raised over $200 million in venture capital …
Bloomberg:
Vodafone says it found hidden backdoors in Huawei equipment in 2011 and 2012 but the issues were resolved and there was no evidence of data being compromised  —  Vodafone Group Plc has acknowledged that it found vulnerabilities going back years with equipment supplied by Huawei Technologies Co. for the carrier's Italian business.
Alphabet:
Alphabet Q1: revenue of $36.3B, up 17% YoY, net income of $6.66B with EC fine, CPC down 19%, and paid clicks on Google properties up 39% YoY  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - April 29, 2019 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Amazon is looking to hire a managing editor of news for its video doorbell company Ring to “deliver breaking crime news alerts to our neighbors”  —  When news organizations think about competition from tech companies, it's usually in terms of the audience's attention and advertisers' dollars.
CNBC:
The We Company, better known as WeWork, announces it has filed confidentially for IPO; the company has said its 2018 revenue was $1.8B with a net loss of $1.9B  —  KEY POINTS  — The We Company, better known as WeWork, filed confidentially for an IPO.  — The company did not reveal …
Ju-min Park / Reuters:
Samsung posts a profit of $5.4B in Q1, down 60% YoY, as its semiconductor and mobile businesses post a 64% drop and a 40% drop in operating profits respectively  —  SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd posted a 60 percent drop in first-quarter operating profit on Tuesday …
Sally Khudairi / The Apache Software Foundation Blog:
The Apache Software Foundation has completed migrating its Git service to GitHub, says its Git service was decommissioned after completing migration in February  —  Provides source code tooling services for 200M+ lines of code across 350+ Apache Projects  —  The Apache® Software Foundation …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Bird is launching monthly scooter rentals for $24.99 in San Francisco and Barcelona  —  The company will even deliver the scooter right to your front door  —  If using an app to track down a nearby electric scooter to rent is too much of a crapshoot, Bird is now offering monthly rentals …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Twitter announces live streaming content deals with Univision, WSJ, and Time and new initiatives with previous partners including Viacom, the NFL, and ESPN  —  - Twitter Expands Live-Streaming Video Lineup, Sets Content Deals With Viacom, ESPN, Live Nation, Univision, and More
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Facebook's Ad Archive API is criticized for lacking info on ad targeting criteria and being limited to keyword searches, preventing a comprehensive look at ads  —  Facebook has been accused of blocking the ability of independent researchers to effectively study how political disinformation flows across its ad platform.
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
UiPath, a process automation platform targeting IT businesses, raises $568M Series D led by Coatue, at a $7B valuation  —  Companies are on the hunt for ways to reduce the time and money it costs their employees to perform repetitive tasks, so today a startup that has built a business …
Spiegel Online:
Analysis: Germany's AfD right-wing party, estimated to have support of 11%-15% voters, accounts for 85% of all German political party posts shared on Facebook  —  A comprehensive analysis has revealed the degree to which German right-wing populists from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party are dominating the social media landscape.
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
On paid email newsletter platforms, small audiences are translating to dollars for writers, such as on Substack, where the 12 top earners make $160K+ on average  —  As writers gravitate toward paid email newsletters, small audiences translate to meaningful dollars.
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
ICE's Bakkt, which has faced regulatory delays, says it has acquired the Digital Asset Custody Company and has applied with NY to become a registered trust  —  Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange, made a splash last August with big plans to get into the Bitcoin business.

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Chris Welch / The Verge:
BBC:
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Ginny Marvin / Search Engine Land:
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Spotify: