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February 26, 2020, 9:45 AM
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Top News

Rob Price / Business Insider:
Facebook says it will now ban ads that promise to cure or prevent COVID-19, or attempt to “create a sense of urgency” about it  —  - Facebook is tightening up its rules on ads that reference the coronavirus outbreak.  — It is banning ads that mentioned it if they attempt to …
Salesforce:
Salesforce says Keith Block has stepped down as co-CEO but will still advise Marc Benioff; Gavin Patterson named President and CEO of Salesforce International  —  Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) today announced that Keith Block has stepped down as co-CEO of Salesforce and Marc Benioff is Chair and CEO of the company.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Salesforce acquires Vlocity, a provider of cloud and mobile software built atop Salesforce, for $1.33B, reports Q4 revenue of $4.85B, up 35% YoY, vs $4.75B est.  —  - Keith Block became co-CEO alongside Marc Benioff less than two years ago.  — Salesforce announced the $1.33 billion acquisition …
Rebekah Valentine / GamesIndustry.biz:
Facebook has acquired Sanzaru Games, developer of Asgard's Wrath, for an undisclosed amount; the game studio will remain independent under Oculus Studios  —  Studio behind Asgard's Wrath to join Oculus Studios and continue VR development  —  Facebook has acquired Asgard's Wrath developer Sanzaru Games for an undisclosed amount.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
PayPal is investigating unauthorized transactions affecting numerous German users; a researcher says hackers could be exploiting PayPal's Google Pay integration  —  All signs point to an attack exploiting PayPal's Google Pay integration. … Hackers have found a bug in PayPal's Google Pay integration …
The Walt Disney Company:
Bob Chapek has been named CEO of The Walt Disney Company, effective immediately; Bob Iger will serve as executive chairman through 2021  —  Robert A. Iger Assumes Role of Executive Chairman through 2021 Mr. Iger Will Direct the Company's Creative Endeavors Mr. Chapek Brings 27 Years …
Tom Krisher / NBC Bay Area:
NTSB says the driver in a 2018 Tesla accident was distracted by a game on his phone and that the NHTSA's hands-off approach to self-driving tech is “misguided”  —  Just before the crash, the Tesla steered to the left into a paved area between the freeway travel lanes and an exit ramp
Reuters:
Ex-Apple employees and supply chain experts say preparation for new iPhone production, which usually starts early in the year, may be delayed due to COVID-19  —  SAN FRANCISCO/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Travel restrictions to China because of the coronavirus have come just as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) …
Alfred Ng / CNET:
A look at US schools' growing use of mobile phone tracking tech from companies like Inpixon, using scanners to pick up Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cell signals  —  Teachers often lament that phones can be a distraction in classrooms.  Some governments have even banned phones outright in schools.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Plume, which develops an AI-powered adaptive home Wi-Fi mesh network system, has raised $60M Series D at a $510M valuation, bringing its total raised to $127M  —  Plume, a Comcast-backed startup that develops an AI-powered adaptive home Wi-Fi mesh network system, has raised $85 million in a mixture of equity and debt financing.
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
On-demand tutoring app Snapask raises $35M Series B led by Asia Partners and Intervest to expand in Southeast Asia, bringing its total raised to $50M  —  Snapask, an on-demand tutoring app, announced today that it has raised $35 million in Series B funding.
Hannah Gilberstadt / Pew Research Center:
Pew: 74% of Americans have little or no confidence in tech companies like Facebook and Google preventing misuse of their platforms to influence 2020 election  —  Nearly three-quarters of Americans (74%) express little or no confidence in technology companies like Facebook …
Lara O'Reilly / Digiday:
Sources: France's third largest telecom, Bouygues, awarded a contract to Google to develop a targeted TV ad system using data from Bouygues' set-top TV boxes  —  Google has long pitched YouTube as an alternative to traditional TV advertising, but it's never managed to make a move into the $170 billion global TV ad market itself.
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
US DOD has adopted a series of ethical principles for the use of AI, says recommendations came after 15 months of consultation with “leading AI experts”  —  The U.S. military has adopted new ethics guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in its futuristic robot tanks …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:45 AM ET, February 26, 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

Ryan Glasspiegel / Front Office Sports:
Sources: Netflix will pay Barstool a yearly fee “in the eight figures” for its video podcasts; Fanatics has pitched WWE podcasts to Netflix which airs WWE Raw

Natalie Korach / @nataliekorach:
Sources: VF's article by Chris Whipple featuring quotes from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles led to VF's biggest subscription signup day since 2016

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Axel Springer has considered buying about a dozen media businesses in the US, including TED Conferences, TechCrunch, the 1440 newsletter, and more

More News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Review of Apple's Chinese Store websites shows around 30 of 42 have reopened, most with shortened hours, as the company seeks to rebound from COVID-19's impact
Will Oremus / OneZero :
In-depth look at the iOS App Store and the potentially anti-competitive ways it restricts consumers and third-parties, an increasing area of regulatory scrutiny

Earlier Picks

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google patches a Chrome zero-day bug found by its Threat Analysis Group, the third actively exploited Chrome zero-day discovered in the past year
Biz Carson / Protocol:
Bird says it's testing Bird Pay, a feature that lets users buy products from local businesses by scanning a QR code in the Bird app, as it looks to stem losses
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Firefox for Mac and Linux will begin using a newly-developed security sandbox system called RLBox to minimize impact of errors in its largely C/C++ codebase
Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Amazon opens Amazon Go Grocery in Seattle, its first full sized grocery store without cashiers or checkout lines
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