Techmeme
April 8, 2020, 2:15 AM

Top News

@jack:
Dorsey says he's moving $1B of his Square equity, ~28% of his wealth, to Start Small LLC to fund COVID-19 relief, to later focus on girls' health and education  —  I'm moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl's health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here: https://docs.google.com/...
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Facebook's experimental product unit debuts Tuned, an iOS app creating a “private space” for couples, letting them keep a photo diary, exchange notes, and more  —  Keep a photo diary and check in on each other's moods  —  First, Facebook launched a dating feature, and now …
Bloomberg:
Taiwan bars all government agencies from using Zoom for official work due to security concerns, becoming the first national government to impose a ban on Zoom  —  - Taipei joins SpaceX in halting use of video-conferencing app  — Researchers say Zoom routes data via servers in China
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
WhatsApp now limits forwarding of viral messages, forwarded five or more times, to one group at a time, to fight the spread of misinformation  —  Restrictions on frequently forwarded messages intended to disrupt false Covid-19 claims  —  WhatsApp is to impose a strict new limit …
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News:
Book excerpt: Apple's Information Systems & Technology group, which makes internal tools, operates in tumult, hampering its output and alienating contractors  —  Life in Apple's Information Systems & Technology division reminds some of a sweatshop.  An exclusive excerpt from Always Day One …
Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Book excerpt from Sarah Frier's No Filter covers how Mark Zuckerberg's jealousy held back Instagram and drove off founders, who gradually lost independence  —  Over the past decade, Instagram has become an engine of commerce and cultural influence with few peers—aside from its parent company …
Kaveh Waddell / Consumer Reports:
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
WeWork sues SoftBank over alleged breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, a few days after SoftBank said it would not consummate its $3B tender offer  —  Just days after SoftBank announced that it would not consummate its $3 billion tender offer for WeWork shares that would have bought …
Karen Gilchrist / CNBC:
Profile of Min-Liang Tan, the co-founder and CEO of global gaming giant Razer, one of the few companies managing to thrive in the disrupted business landscape  —  When the #stayathome hashtag emerged on social media last month in response to governments successively announcing coronavirus containment measures, Min-Liang Tan was ready.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Corporate catering marketplace ezCater, valued at $1.25B last year, lays off more than half of its 750-person workforce  —  ezCater, a Boston-based corporate catering startup valued last year at $1.25 billion, on Tuesday laid off more than half of its 750-person workforce, the company confirms to Axios.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Sensor Tower: Quibi had more than 300,000 downloads on its launch day; heavily promoted in Apple's App Store, it reached #3 but just #29 on Google Play  —  Quibi, the oddly-named mobile streaming service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, was downloaded over 300,000 times on launch day …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Facebook Gaming launches Tournaments, a tool for organizing amateur esports tournaments, ahead of schedule due to the pandemic  —  Facebook Gaming is launching tournaments for esports amateurs today in early access across the globe.  In the era of social distancing, Facebook believes that game can bring us together.
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
Hong Kong-based Neat, which helps startups and small businesses do cross-border banking online and apply for corporate credit cards, raises $11M Series A  —  Neat, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup, announced today that it has raised a $11 million Series A to help small businesses do cross-border banking.

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