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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From Mediagazer

Associated Press:

After a short-term hold, SCOTUS denies former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge's bid to stay an $800-a-day fine if she refuses to reveal a source

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:

A look at Comcast co-CEO Brian Roberts' earlier bundling strategy for connectivity and content, and his plan now to unbundle in order to keep growing

Janko Roettgers / The Verge:

A look back at BitTorrent, launched by Bram Cohen 25 years ago, and how media piracy fueled its growth while its architecture shielded it from legal liability

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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