Techmeme: OpenAI's Jeff Clune shares a new ML algorithm, ANML, which can learn 600 sequential tasks with minimal catastrophic forgetting, a long-standing challenge of AI (Khari Johnson/VentureBeat)

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February 27, 2020, 10:55 AM

Top News

Aaron Holmes / Business Insider:

Report: Rajeev Misra, head of the $100B Vision Fund, is accused of sabotaging other SoftBank execs for career advancement; Misra and SoftBank deny allegations — - Rajeev Misra, the head of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund, is accused of overseeing a plan to lure SoftBank's then-president into a …

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says TikTok is “fundamentally parasitic”, always listening, and its fingerprinting technology is “truly terrifying” — TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms but the CEO of Reddit had some harsh words for the popular app …

More: Telegraph, Business Insider, Protocol, TechSpot, The Daily Dot, Silicon Republic, and WebProNews

Tweets: @lucasmtny, @leojtravis10, @_djmoch, @vboykis, @can, @themetalraven, and @lucasmtny

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review: 120Hz screen is nice and battery life is good but the main camera often acts like a first-gen product with first-gen problems — A new-generation camera with first-generation problems — Samsung has something to prove. — That's the most obvious feeling …

More: PCMag, Gizmodo, Input, Android Authority, and PCWorld

Tweets: @raywongy, @richdemuro, @raywongy, @backlon, @joshuatopolsky, and @joshuatopolsky

Karandeep Singh / Android Police:

Samsung says the S20 series came with its first dedicated security chip, called the Secure Element, separating memory from main storage

More: Samsung Global Newsroom, Android Authority, Android Central, XDA Developers, Neowin, and Android Authority

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

DoorDash announces it has confidentially filed documents for an IPO with the SEC — Food delivery service DoorDash announced Thursday it has taken a first step toward a public offering. — DoorDash said it has confidentially submitted a draft S-1 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

More: Yahoo Finance. Tweets: @rurikbradbury, @bplewis, @rakeshlobster, @aaronwall, and @aaronwall

Bloomberg:

Sources: Nokia is working with advisers to explore strategic options ranging from asset sales to mergers — - Company working with advisers to consider asset sales, mergers — Equipment maker has cut outlook amid fierce competition — Nokia Oyj is exploring strategic options …

More: Reuters, Light Reading, Telecoms.com, TechRadar.com, Axios, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @mgsiegler, @baldingsworld, @anshelsag, @bloombergasia, @benwood, and @journeydan

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple has lost a pair of veteran execs from manufacturing, supply chain, and operations groups who had key roles in the production of major devices — - Company's vice president of manufacturing design departs — Operations executive who worked on iPhone discussing exit

More: AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, iMore, and MacDailyNews

Tweets: @davezatz and @markgurman

Martin Brinkmann / gHacks Technology News:

Google officially adds support for Google Earth on Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers, says it is working on adding support for Safari — When Google unveiled the new Google Earth back in 2017, it switched Google Earth from being a desktop application to a web application.

More: Google Earth and Earth Engine, The Verge, CNET, Engadget, Thurrott, MacRumors, 9to5Google, The Next Web, International Business Times, KnowTechie, iDownloadBlog.com, BGR, Neowin, MSPoweruser, and Mashable

Tweets: @googleearth, @googleoss, and @twone2

Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:

Square beats Q4 expectations with revenue of $1.31B, up 41% YoY, says its Cash App has 24M MAUs, up 60% YoY, with a profit of $144M; stock up ~6% after hours — The company reported its fourth quarter financial results on Wednesday. — Square reported its fourth quarter financial results on Wednesday.

More: Square Investor Relations, The Daily Hodl, CryptoGlobe, PYMNTS.com, The Kraft, Cointelegraph, and MarketWatch

Tweets: @hedgemind and @thekenyeung

Brady Dale / CoinDesk:

Square reports nearly half of its $361M Cash App revenue in Q4 came from bitcoin transactions, totaling $178M, up 240% YoY

More: The Next Web, Crowdfund Insider, PYMNTS.com, The Market Refresh, and The Block

Tweets: @coindesk and @ledgerstatus

John Nosta / Fortune:

Apple Watch largely does not detect or categorize AFib at a heart rate greater than 120 beats per minute, which may give some users a false sense of security — The success of the Apple Watch is unprecedented: In five short years, the Apple Watch has outsold the entire Swiss watch industry …

More: 9to5Mac, CNET, iMore, and Macworld. Tweets: @rosenthalhealth

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

At Apple's shareholder meeting, Tim Cook says Apple will open its online store in India this year, with physical stores in 2021, and addresses COVID-19 concerns — - CEO hints wearables sales $40 billion; equal to Marriott, Visa — Company plans to open retail stores in India next year

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Online gaming platform Roblox raises $150M led by a16z's Late Stage Venture fund, reportedly at a $4B valuation; Roblox was valued at $2.5B+ as of last year — Online gaming platform Roblox, now home to 115 million largely Gen Z players per month, announced today it has raised $150 million …

Source: Wall Street Journal. More: Fortune, PC Games Insider, Roblox, GameSpot, Gamasutra, Hollywood Reporter, Silicon Valley Business …, and VentureBeat

Tweets: @sjeneris, @jonrussell, @excellion, @jonrussell, @greylockvc, @cyberjournalist, @benfritz, @saraheneedleman, @chrisfralic, and @nongaap

New York Times:

Several high-profile Instagram accounts switch to private to avoid scrutiny when posting sponsored content for Bloomberg's campaign — The Bloomberg campaign is putting out more memes on private Instagram accounts — and running faster than Facebook can keep up.

More: Ars Technica. Tweets: @hshaban, @juliacarriew, @hshaban, @nytimes, @juliacarriew, @alexkotch, @taylorlorenz, @meganmorrone, @loisbeckett, @emilybell, @mccarthyryanj, and @taylorlorenz

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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

New York Times:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that President Trump would sue the network if it didn't air his interview with Tony Dokoupil unedited

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

A look at lessons from Wikipedia for journalism, including setting a clear set of standards and practices, preventing link rot, and using detailed documentation

Parker Molloy / The Present Age:

CBS News' credibility, built over decades, is being used now to launder political narratives that wouldn't survive scrutiny if they came from right-wing media

More News

Denise Howard Long / OneZero :

Profile of Visible Figures, a support network founded in 2016 for black women startup founders that now has more than 100 members as it plots expansion

Tweets: @drewcostley, @drewcostley, @ozm, @medium, @ozm, @dlberes, @drewcostley, @drewcostley, @drewcostley, @drewcostley, @ozm, and @drewcostley

Grant Stoner / Washington Post:

A look at the role of accessibility consultants in the video game industry, whose efforts are beginning to become standard practice within the industry

Tweets: @launcherwp, @theesa, @rangerstation, and @respect_ability

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Ribbon Health, which builds a data platform of doctors, insurance plans, and costs for healthcare companies, raises $10.25M Series A led by a16z

More: Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbon Health, FinSMEs, and hitconsultant.net. Tweets: @ellenjdasilva

Charles McLellan / TechRepublic:

A look at the current state of IoT in monitoring biodiversity loss and climate change, with examples of how it is being used to monitor vulnerable ecosystems

Tweets: @vodafoneiot, @techrepublic, @techrepublic, @techrepublic, and @techrepublic. Thanks:@steveranger

Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:

Box beats Q4 expectations with revenue of $183.6M, up 12% YoY, says its achieved first full year of non-GAAP profitability; stock is up ~8% after hours

More: Business Wire and Reuters

Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Atlantic:

Profile of Downdetector, a resource for determining website and platform outages; Downdetector relies almost exclusively on user reports since 2001

Tweets: @mattnavarra, @kait_tiffany, and @slaskow

Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:

Judge allows class action lawsuit against Ripple, which alleges the company misrepresented its XRP currency as a security, to proceed

More: coinspeaker.com and SiliconANGLE

Tweets: @xrpcryptowolf and @nikhileshde

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Microsoft says it will likely miss its guidance for its More Personal Computing segment, which includes Windows, due to COVID-19's impact on its supply chain

More: PR Newswire, AppleInsider, LaptopMag, WinBuzzer, TrueAchievements, GameSpot, coinspeaker.com, Wccftech, Neowin, Telegraph, Windows Central, SiliconANGLE, New York Times, ZDNet, MSPoweruser, OnMSFT.com, CNET, and GeekWire

Tweets: @neilcybart, @frankcurzio, @scottmcgrew, @scottmelker, @stevekovach, and @mattrosoff

Earlier Picks

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Q&A with Steven Levy on his new book, “Facebook: The Inside Story”, Instagram, interviewing Facebook executives, and the company's future after Mark Zuckerberg

More: The Interface and iPhone in Canada Blog

Tweets: @caseynewton, @zoeschiffer, @joshelman, @lagorio, @stevenlevy, @j_amesmarriott, @nytimesbooks, @andrew_adonis, @stevenlevy, and @caseynewton

TechCrunch:

Particle, a back-end IoT startup that raised $40M Series C in October 2019, says it laid off 10% of its staff, or 14 people, just weeks after co-founder left

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Bug in Cypress and Broadcom Wi-Fi chips meant billions of devices, many now patched, were left open to eavesdropping; Apple, Amazon, and others were affected

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Declassified study: NSA system to analyze American domestic call and text logs cost $100M from 2015 to 2019 and yielded only one significant investigation

More: Techdirt and Input

Tweets: @faizapatelbcj, @snowden, @shiraovide, and @jameeljaffer

Aaron Harris / Y Combinator:

YC shares learnings across 190 Series A rounds, providing a term sheet that's the “fairest one possible”, an extensive Series A Guide, and more

More: Hacker News and TechCrunch

Tweets: @ycombinator, @aaron_epstein, @kazanjy, @trengriffin, @gustaf, @akberzins, @cgventureshq, @ckneumann, @alexisohanian, and @mwseibel

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Google adds five new languages to Translate, including Uyghur, Turkmen, and Tatar, its first additions in four years, bringing its total to 108

More: The Keyword, Android Central, Thurrott, SlashGear, The Next Web, CNET, Engadget, Android Police, Neowin, BetaNews, MSPoweruser, 9to5Google, ZDNet, and Memeburn

Tweets: @dovletogly_b, @naswirushema, @cholericcleric, @google, @jambhalaalpina, and @etawakening

Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:

Clearview AI, in a letter to customers, says an intruder accessed its client list and the number of searches clients conducted, but not their search histories

More: CNN, ZDNet, Ars Technica, BBC, TechRadar.com, WeLiveSecurity, ComputerWeekly.com, Engadget, Mashable, Vox, Tom's Guide, MediaNama, infosecurity-magazine.com, MSN, SiliconANGLE, OneZero , CP24, PYMNTS.com, TechSpot, Channel Futures, USA Today, Gizmodo, The Hill, The Next Web, Business Insider, Input, IT Management, and VICE

Tweets: @woodruffbets, @bernardkeane, @wolven, @joshbutler, @monscience, @marietjeschaake, @eff, @martinsfp, and @adamblickstein

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Jury convicts ex-Microsoft engineer of 18 felonies after he stole $10M in digital currencies from the company and used it to make extravagant purchases

More: OnMSFT.com, U.S. Department of Justice, CoinDesk, infosecurity-magazine.com, news.com.au, Decrypt, Business Insider, and Micky. Tweets: @counternotions