Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise Site News
Techmeme
February 13, 2020, 5:20 AM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter

Top News

Tom Warren / The Verge:
GSMA says it has canceled Mobile World Congress after the coronavirus made it “impossible” to hold the event  —  MWC 2020 is no more  —  The world's biggest phone show, Mobile World Congress, is no longer taking place this year.  After coronavirus threatened to throw MWC into chaos …
New York Times:
Andy Rubin's Essential Products, which raised $330M to build smartphones and was valued at $1B, says it is ceasing operations  —  The smartphone company founded by Mr. Rubin, a former Google executive, struggled to win over customers.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Essential Products …
Financial Times:
Facebook says it has banned a network of two dozen fake pages and accounts linked to two Southeast Asian telecoms for using disinformation against rivals  —  South-east Asian providers said to have used fake accounts to discredit rivals  —  Facebook has alleged that one of south-east Asia's …
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE:
Consumer advocacy group DoNotPay launches Robo Revenge, an app that fights robocallers by giving them burner credit card info and then helping users sue them  —  DoNotPay, the family of consumer advocacy services meant to protect people from corporate exploitation, is launching a new app aimed …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp says it now has 2B users worldwide, up from the 1.5B it announced two years ago  —  WhatsApp, the most popular messaging service, revealed today just how big it has become.  The Facebook-owned app said it has amassed two billion users, up from 1.5 billion it revealed two years ago.
Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:
Democratic senators propose the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence Act that would place a moratorium on facial recognition use by federal agencies, police  —  Two Democratic U.S. Senators today proposed legislation that requires a moratorium on facial recognition use by federal agencies …
More: Axios
Data Protection Commission:
Ireland's Data Protection Commission: Facebook has postponed launching Dating on Valentine's Day in Europe after DPC resorted to an inspection to procure docs  —  Facebook Ireland first contacted the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) in relation to its intention to roll-out a new Dating feature in the EU on Monday 3 February.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: Spotify bought The Ringer for ~$141M to $196M in cash, some of it deferred and subject to closing adjustments  —  Spotify disclosed that it will pay upwards of $196 million for The Ringer, the podcast and media company founded by Bill Simmons.  —  The streaming music and audio company …
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Sources: Google's scattered health care projects unify under Google Health, which now has over 500 employees and is led by former Geisinger CEO David Feinberg  —  - More than 500 people now work at Google Health, mostly out of the Palo Alto offices formerly occupied by smart home group Nest.
Sarah Holder / CityLab:
Nextdoor launches new app for public agencies like police, fire departments, and city halls, allowing them to post updates and push out geotargeted alerts  —  The neighborhood social network's new app is aimed at public agencies, and it lets local law enforcement more easily tap into the online community.
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Google rolls out Emoji Kitchen, which mashes up two emojis into a sticker, for Gboard on Android  —  Compatible with WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, and more  —  There are already hundreds of emoji available to cover every emotion from yawning to being a straight-up drunk weirdo.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Q&A with McAfee CTO Steve Grobman on unusual types of ransomware, the state of AI in orchestrating and defending against cyberattacks, and deepfake detection  —  Artificial intelligence is sweeping through almost every industry, layering a new level of intelligence on the software used …
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Nominet survey of CISOs at large US and UK companies finds 88% are “moderately or tremendously stressed”, resulting in an average tenure of 26 months  —  Report: The vast majority of interviewed CISO executives (88%) report high levels of stress, a third report stress-caused …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Habu, which offers analysis and management tools for marketing data, emerges from stealth with $15M Series A  —  Marketing startup Habu is emerging from stealth today and announcing that it has already raised $15 million in Series A funding.  —  The company comes out of super{set} …
Thanks:@alexandrapaulv
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Reuters launches a new Reuters Fact Check business unit and blog and partners with Facebook to review news headlines, deepfakes, and user generated content  —  Eye-witness photos and videos distributed by news wire Reuters already go through an exhaustive media verification process.
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
UK expands broadcast regulator Ofcom's role to include online content, giving it the ability to enforce content standards on social media  —  Ministers unveil plans to block harmful content, while guaranteeing free speech  —  Ofcom will be put in charge of regulating the internet …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Judge in the Sprint merger trial decided T-Mobile would stay aggressive due to its public image, despite execs speaking of the merger in terms of raising prices  —  Judge Victor Marrero thinks John Legere is just the coolest  —  After a lengthy trial, a federal court ruled in favor …

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
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:
Introducing Meeting Co-Host support in Zoho Calendar  —  Because smooth meetings shouldn't depend on just one person.  You've planned your meeting down to the minute.  The agenda is clear, the invite is sent, and everyone's joined on time.
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.
Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
 Elon Musk's Mega-Merger + We Test Google's Project Genie + What's Next for Moltbook Creator
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
 Jeff Bezos Used To Be In Love with The Washington Post. What Happened?
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.
Cheeky Pint:
 Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and his manufacturing method
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Access:
 Where AI video is headed next, with Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
 Is building in public over?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
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.
Add your podcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:20 AM ET, February 13, 2020.

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.

From Mediagazer

Natalie Korach / @nataliekorach:
Sources: Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray spiked a story prepared by the newspaper's media desk covering the historic layoffs

The Guardian:
The UK raises the TV license fee, the BBC's main funding source, from £174.50 to £180 a year from April 1, saying it gives the BBC a “stable financial footing”

Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:
News Corp reports $242M in Q2 net income, down 21% YoY, rev. up 6% YoY to $2.36B vs. $2.30B est., digital-only WSJ subs up 13% to 4.3M, HarperCollins rev. up 6%

More News

Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:
A look at how Tala and other microfinance tech startups have exploded in Kenya, offering sky-high interest rates that have left some borrowers with nothing

Earlier Picks

Steven Levy / Wired:
Book excerpt from Steven Levy's Facebook: The Inside Story, with a look at Zuckerberg's lost handwritten journal, in which he noted plans for world domination
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter