Techmeme
June 12, 2019, 2:10 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: as part of its response to FTC inquiries, Facebook unearths emails that appear to show Mark Zuckerberg knew of problematic privacy practices  —  Internal exchanges uncovered in response to FTC probe could cast doubt on founder's commitment to user privacy, people familiar with the matter say
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Epic Games, maker of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, says it has acquired video chat social network Houseparty for an undisclosed sum  —  What does a gaming company do after raising $1.25 billion?  Acquisitions seem like a pretty good place to start.  Epic Games — of Unreal Engine …
Juro Osawa / The Information:
Sources: Huawei has indefinitely postponed the announcement of a new Windows laptop, originally scheduled for this week, due to ongoing US trade sanctions  —  Huawei has indefinitely postponed the announcement of a new laptop computer that was originally scheduled for this week …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google is moving some production of US-bound Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China to Taiwan and Malaysia, avoiding punitive US tariffs  —  - Trump's tariffs push tech giant to boost Taiwan manufacturing  — Google proved keener than other tech companies about shift
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Bird confirms it is acquiring electric scooter and moped startup Scoot, which was valued at ~$71M, meaning Bird can now operate shared scooters in San Francisco  —  Bird is acquiring electric scooter and moped startup Scoot, confirming TechCrunch's previous report that the two companies were in acquisition talks.
More: The Verge, Axios, and CNET
Samantha Cole / VICE:
Instagram says it will not remove deepfake video of Mark Zuckerberg, will treat it the same way as it does all misinformation on the platform  —  A fake video of Mark Zuckerberg giving a sinister speech about the power of Facebook has been posted to Instagram.  The company previously said it would not remove this type of video.
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Critics question Alphabet's Jigsaw subsidiary's decision to hire a disinformation vendor to run a campaign during research into state-sponsored disinformation  —  FOR MORE THAN two years, the notion of social media disinformation campaigns has conjured up images of Russia's Internet Research Agency …
Aaron Tilley / The Information:
Sources: Apple is in talks to buy a key part of Intel's smartphone modem business, its German operations  —  Apple is in talks to buy a key part of Intel's smartphone modem business—its German operations—in a deal that could boost the iPhone maker's plans to internally develop a modem for its devices …
Sue Halpern / New Yorker:
A look at proposed US election security legislation, much of it bipartisan, and how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is stalling its progress  —  On May 21st, four commissioners who compose the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (E.A.C.) were asked to attest, in Congress …
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google Pixel 4 details are starting to leak, indicating that the upcoming flagship may have a square rear camera bump, Project Soli radar tech for new gestures  —  Project Soli returns?  —  Google has been releasing Pixel phones in October for three years now, and so we're expecting a Pixel 4 and a Pixel 4 XL this October too.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
The DOJ's antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, lays out potential antitrust arguments the US government may use against big tech  —  KEY POINTS  — Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim laid out some possible antitrust arguments against big tech in a new speech in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Contract Signed.  Project Ready.  Tasks Created.  —  Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms.  But for most businesses …
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

Lenny's Podcast:
The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google's secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI)
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:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Hard Fork:
OpenAI Calls a 'Code Red' + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop
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:
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:10 PM ET, June 12, 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

Earlier Picks

Troy Hunt:
Rani Molla / Vox:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Daniel Welsh / HuffPost UK: