Techmeme
August 21, 2019, 1:05 AM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
After announcing the Clear History privacy tool over a year ago, Facebook finally begins rolling it out in Ireland, South Korea, and Spain  —  But the United States isn't one of them  —  It was nearly a year and a half ago that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, standing onstage …
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple announces that Apple Card is now available to all iPhone users in the United States, with a 3% cashback offer for Uber and Uber Eats  —  Apple today announced that Apple Card is available to everyone in the United States from today.  To sign up, simply open the Wallet app on your iPhone and begin the application process.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple Music launches a new chart, the Shazam Discovery Top 50, powered by Shazam data and featuring songs trending in the US and 10+ other countries  —  Apple continues to make use of Shazam, the music recognition app it acquired for $400 million in 2018.  Earlier this month …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google Go, the lightweight search app that takes up only ~7MB of phone storage, launches to Android users worldwide, is optimized to save about 40% on data  —  Google Go, a lightweight version of Google's search app, is today becoming available to all Android users worldwide.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Pre-IPO analysis of WeWork, weighing its big capital needs and other issues against its bull case: that it can overcome commoditization of its space, as AWS did  —  There is a reason — beyond the fact it is August — that WeWork's upcoming IPO has driven so much discussion …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook debuts first findings from conservative bias audit led by former GOP senator, says it influenced policy changes like creating a content oversight board  —  Facebook will release the findings of a roughly year-long conservative bias audit Tuesday, along with changes to its advertising policies …
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Adult website Luscious left data of 1M+ users exposed, including user email addresses, location data, the content they uploaded, liked, and shared  —  A popular hentai porn site that promises anonymity to its 1.1 million users left a user database exposed without a password, allowing anyone to identify users by their email addresses.
Jeff Benjamin / 9to5Mac:
Hands-on with an early preview of Apple Arcade, which will reportedly cost $4.99/month, and some early-access trial games on macOS  —  Today I was able to go hands-on with an early preview of Apple Arcade, which Apple announced back during its March services-oriented event.
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
Sources: to satisfy regulators, YouTube officials are finalizing plans to end targeted advertisements on videos kids are likely to watch  —  - The solution could impact ad sales for the video giant  — Groups that complained to regulators aren't satisfied by fix
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Facebook to hire a small team of journalists to curate a Top News section in its upcoming news tab, which it plans to release as a test before the year-end  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook has long relied on algorithms to select news stories for its users to see.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: a group of as many as 20 states will launch a joint antitrust investigation of big tech companies as soon as next month  —  Investigation would put additional scrutiny on an industry already under a federal spotlight  —  WASHINGTON—A group of states is preparing to move forward …
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Internal raises $5M seed round from David Sacks' Craft Ventures to help companies deploy consoles to manage employee access to sensitive customer data  —  Uber and Facebook and countless other companies that know an awful lot about their customers have found themselves in hot water …
Bloomberg:
Source: the European Commission is “investigating potential anti-competitive behavior” and use of consumer data related to the Libra digital currency project  —  - EU sends questionnaires to groups tied to Libra proposals  — Antitrust regulator cites ‘possible competition restrictions’
Todd Feathers / VICE:
As ~20 US states use AI to grade standardized test student essays, a look at the problematic practice that has little oversight, misses nuance, introduces bias  —  Fooled by gibberish and highly susceptible to human bias, automated essay-scoring systems are being increasingly adopted, a Motherboard investigation has found

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable 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!
Equals:
Stop vibe coding analytics  —  Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards.  Build once, iterate for years.
Zoho:
Zoho Mail MCP: Make your inbox work for you  —  Maya is the head of operations at a 500-person B2B software company.  She's sharp, she's busy, and she starts every morning the same way-with her coffee, laptop, inbox.Not to work.
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

Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI Codex lead on the new shape of product work | Andrew Ambrosino
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:
Anthropic's Mythos is Back, OpenAI Releases GPT 5.6, Apple's Price Increases
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:
'The Daily' and 'The Opinions': How A.I. Is Changing Loneliness and Taste
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Writer's May Habib: Building AI Tools For Corporate 'Normal People' The Labs Leave Behind
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
A Nick, Dick, and Paul Buffet!
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 1:05 AM ET, August 21, 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

Stephen Shankland / CNET:
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Samit Sarkar / Polygon:
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Twitter: