Techmeme
March 29, 2020, 1:40 PM

Top News

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Crowdsourced data from Candor shows 267 tech companies have frozen hiring, 44 had layoffs, 36 rescinded offers, while 111, like Zoom and Twitter, are hiring  —  The coronavirus has taken a toll on the workforce, and now you can see a list of who's hiring,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 …
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.
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?
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
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.
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 …
Nick Statt / The Verge:
Microsoft will no longer invest in third-party facial recognition firms, including AnyVision, after the Israeli company was accused of surveilling Palestinians  —  AnyVision was accused of helping the Israeli government surveil the West Bank  —  Microsoft says it will no longer invest …

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