Techmeme: Intuition Robotics, which makes companion robots for elderly people, raises $36M Series B co-led by Sparx Group and OurCrowd (Paul Sawers/VentureBeat)

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Theodore Schleifer / Vox:

Larry Ellison is hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump next week; while Ellison has consistently backed Republicans, he wasn't a major Trump donor until now — Larry Ellison risks blowback from his employees at Oracle. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images — It's the most significant endorsement …

More: Wall Street Journal, Desert Sun, Business Insider, and Politico

Tweets: @brianstelter, @aparanjape, @leojtravis10, @dangraziano, @prof_gabriele, @teddyschleifer, @rdrv3, @jonathanalter, @fredbenenson, @juddapatow, @cmarinucci, @justinhendrix, @nicoleperlroth, and @teddyschleifer

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Snapchat is testing a redesign with a navigation bar, a top news section, and a more accessible Snap Map, three years after its last, widely panned redesign — A new home for the Snap Map and its original shows — plus a new test of news briefs — Snap is working on two significant tests …

More: Social Media Today, Business Insider, iPhone Hacks, and Memeburn

Kim Zetter / VICE:

Researchers: Voatz, the voting app used in W. Virginia and four other states, has elementary security flaws that could let an attacker intercept and alter votes — A mobile voting app being used in West Virginia and other states has elementary security flaws that would allow someone …

More: New York Times, Voatz, The Verge, MIT Technology Review, ZDNet, and PR Newswire

Tweets: @kimzetter, @ericgeller, @konklone, @ideagov, @thevowel, @joeuchill, @voatz, @matthew_d_green, and @mmasnick

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

The Bloomberg campaign is working with Meme 2020, whose lead strategist is the CEO of Jerry Media, to create sponsored posts on influential Instagram accounts — A campaign of sponsored content for the candidate flourished suddenly on Instagram. A new outfit, called Meme 2020, is behind it.

More: BuzzFeed News, Gizmodo, The Intercept, Reuters, and The Next Web

Tweets: @mathewi, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @crislopezg, @jfagone, @adamjohnsonnyc, @anandwrites, @anildash, and @andylevy

See also Mediagazer

Mia Sato / Input:

How teens are using Instagram to create eBay-like thrift shops, with the Story highlight area as a FAQ page, and comments for bidding — Carly Shipman, who hails from the suburbs of Chicago, lives the typical life of a high schooler. She goes to class every day, then to track practice in the afternoon.

Tweets: @abcdedgar

Larry Dignan / ZDNet:

Broadcom unveils Wi-Fi 6E chip designed to deliver 2 Gbps+ speeds with better battery life, says it will also improve Bluetooth audio performance and range — With a Wi-Fi 6E processor called BCM4389, Broadcom is aiming to take advantage of new 6 GHz spectrum coming online through multiple devices.

More: CNET, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, iPhone in Canada Blog, TheStreet, Reuters, and AnandTech

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google's Area 120 launches GameSnacks, which offers casual games for low memory devices on 2G and 3G, launching initially in Indonesia on Gojek's GoGames — A new project called GameSnacks is launching today from Google's in-house incubator, Area 120, with the goal of bringing fast-loading …

More: The Keyword and Android Central

Eileen Yu / ZDNet:

Alibaba Q3: total revenue of $23.1B, up 38% YoY; net income $7.49B, up 58% YoY; cloud revenue grows 62% YoY to hit $1.53B — Alibaba's cloud revenue exceeds 10 billion yuan for the first time in a single quarter, growing 62% to hit 10.72 billion yuan for its third quarter …

More: South China Morning Post, Financial Times, Financial Times, and TheStreet

Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:

DOJ announces a 16-count indictment against Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou that includes charges of racketeering and conspiracy to misappropriate IP — Ratcheting up its pressure campaign against Huawei and its affiliates, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced today …

More: U.S. Department of Justice, Axios, CNET, SlashGear, and MSPoweruser

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Intuition Robotics, which makes companion robots for elderly people, raises $36M Series B co-led by Sparx Group and OurCrowd — Israeli robotics startup Intuition Robotics has raised $36 million in a series B round of funding co-led by Sparx Group and OurCrowd, with participation from Samsung Next …

More: TechCrunch, Nasdaq, PR Newswire, The Times of Israel, FinSMEs, and Voicebot.ai

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Senator Gillibrand proposes creating a government agency to protect internet privacy, similar to a bill proposed by a pair of California House Democrats — - New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand just became the latest lawmaker to propose digital privacy legislation.

More: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Protocol, TechCrunch, Threatpost, Gizmodo, Yahoo Finance, The Hill, and The Verge

Tweets: @privacyproject, @kellymakena, @ecmclaughlin, @rollcall, @profcarroll, @karlbode, @gillibrandny, @zackwhittaker, @epicprivacy, and @issielapowsky

Kris Holt / Engadget:

Uber pilots booking rides with a phone call, not via the app, in Arizona, by dialing 1-833-USE-UBER and talking to a human operator — Uber is piloting a different way to order one of its cars beyond its apps or voice assistants, and it's one you might be familiar with if you ever had to order a cab before 2009 or so.

More: The Verge, Digital Trends, CNET, The Next Web, TechCrunch, Mashable, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @jamestitcomb, @yoda, @kantrowitz, and @can

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 …

More: GSMA Newsroom, Bloomberg, WIRED UK, The Guardian, KrASIA, HMD Global, Protocol, CNET, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Tech.co, Nokia, MSPoweruser, Axios, BGR, Music Ally, International Business Times, Skift, Mashable, CNX Software, Associated Press, SamMobile, CNBC, CNET, RCR Wireless News, NBC Bay Area, USA Today, Patently Apple, BetaNews, Channel Futures, Fortune, BT Group statement …, SDxCentral, ExtremeTech, SiliconANGLE, Variety, Digital Trends, Silicon Republic, TechCrunch, Washington Post, Gizchina, South China Morning Post, MacDailyNews, Wccftech, LaptopMag, Android Authority, iDownloadBlog.com, PCWorld, TechSpot, Phandroid, Tom's Guide, Droid Life, OnMSFT.com, AnandTech, ZDNet, TechRadar.com, Input, Reuters, Thurrott, XDA Developers, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, Android Central, MacRumors, Yahoo Finance, SlashGear, Android Police, GeekWire, Gizmodo, and Phone Scoop

Tweets: @yvonnemantv, @leojtravis10, @scobleizer, @spencerdailey, @brianhonan, @iainthomson, @markgurman, @ruskin147, @danielthomasldn, @dcseifert, @paulobrien, @urbanstrata, @panzer, and @ingridlunden

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Datometry raises $17M Series B led by WRVI Capital to virtualize data warehouses, following its $10M Series A in June 2017 — Warehouse virtualization, alternatively known as logical data warehousing and data federation, offers advantages over traditional data warehousing solutions in that it's faster and cheaper to market.

More: TechCrunch and FinSMEs

Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:

Astranis raises $90M Series B from a16z and others to launch its first commercial satellites through which it wants to provide broadband internet — YC-backed Astranis has raised $90 million of new combined debt and equity funding in a Series B round led Venrock, with a sizeable contribution …

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