Techmeme
March 29, 2020, 4:55 PM

Top News

Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Report: CDC, state and local authorities in the US have started using anonymized location data from mobile ads to help plan their response to the pandemic  —  The use of phone location tracking to keep tabs on COVID-19 is becoming increasingly common, and the US appears to be no exception.
Mark Wyciślik-Wilson / BetaNews:
Microsoft says that there has been a 775% increase in use of its cloud services in regions that have enforced social distancing or shelter in place orders  —  This weekend, Microsoft has given an insight into the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on its services.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Crowdsourced data from Candor shows 267 tech companies have frozen hiring, 44 had layoffs, 36 rescinded offers, while 111, like Zoom and Twitter, are hiring  —  The coronavirus has taken a toll on the workforce, and now you can see a list of who's hiring, freezing hires, laying off people …
Financial Times:
China proposes an internet architecture called New IP to UN's ITU; critics say its top-down design would give governments granular control over the internet  —  New architecture would enable cutting-edge technologies but western countries fear more control for state-run internet services
Financial Times:
An in-depth look at China's New IP proposal, whose plans are being spearheaded by Richard Li, chief scientist at Futurewei, Huawei's California-based R&D arm  —  Huawei is developing the technology for a new network.  But what does this mean for the rights of users?
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Zoom updates its iOS app to remove Facebook SDK after concerns were raised over Zoom's failure to disclose Facebook data sharing in privacy policy  —  On Friday video-conferencing software Zoom issued an update to its iOS app which stops it sending certain pieces of data to Facebook.
Leo Kelion / BBC:
UK's NHS says it is working with Microsoft, Google, Palantir, and Faculty AI on a dashboard that shows the spread of the virus and NHS' ability to deal with it  —  The NHS has confirmed it is teaming up with leading tech firms to ensure critical medical equipment is available to the facilities …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Big Tech's response to COVID-19 may have paused the tech backlash that dominated the coverage of companies like Facebook and Amazon over the past 3+ years  —  The backlash against tech giants may not be over — but at the very least it's on pause  —  On March 5th, as COVID-19 began …
ProPublica:
An in-depth look at China's Twitter propaganda machine, which uses over 10K fake Twitter accounts to promote the Chinese government's image abroad  —  Kalen Keegan, a college student at the University of Nebraska Omaha, immediately noticed when her Twitter account unleashed a torrent of posts in Chinese.
Peter White / Deadline:
Q&A with Jeffrey Katzenberg on launching Quibi on April 6 in the middle of a global pandemic, why Quibi only licenses rather than owns the content, and more  —  Quibi is one of the most anticipated platform launches of the year and it's also one of the most talked about in Hollywood circles.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Zoho Billing Enterprise Edition: A platform for strategic revenue operations  —  Today's enterprises are adopting more flexible pricing models, charging customers based on actual consumption.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Channels with Peter Kafka:
Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.
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.
Invest Like the Best:
Gavin Baker - Nvidia v. Google, Scaling Laws, and the Economics of AI
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Pat Grady & Alfred Lin from Sequoia
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
The Social Radars:
Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:55 PM ET, March 29, 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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Kali Hays / WWD: