Techmeme
May 18, 2020, 4:15 PM

Top News

Preetika Rana / Wall Street Journal:
In email to staff, Dara Khosrowshahi says Uber will cut 3,000 more jobs, in addition to the 3,700 that were let go earlier this month, and will close 45 offices  —  The ride-hailing giant also is exploring the sale of noncore businesses  —  Uber Technologies Inc. is cutting several thousand …
Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asian Review:
Sources: TSMC, the biggest contract chipmaker, has halted new orders from Huawei in response to new US export controls; orders placed before are not impacted  —  Taiwan chipmaker's relationship with its second biggest customer under fire  —  TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. …
Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac:
AG Barr says that, “no thanks to Apple”, the FBI succeeded in unlocking the “phones” of the Pensacola gunman, who they found had significant links to Al Qaeda  —  It looks like the most recent contention between the FBI and Apple over device encryption has come to an end …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says Minecraft has now topped 200M sales, up from 100M in 2016, with 126M monthly players; Minecraft saw a 25% increase in new players last month  —  Minecraft continues to grow despite being 11 years old  —  Minecraft sales have officially topped 200 million, with 126 million people playing the game monthly.
Sam Nussey / Reuters:
Alibaba's Jack Ma resigns from SoftBank board, as he pulls back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy; SoftBank to propose three new appointments  —  TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp said on Monday that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma will resign from its board …
Pavel Alpeyev / Bloomberg:
SoftBank Vision Fund records $17.7B loss in the last fiscal year after writing down investments including WeWork and Uber, reports a net loss of $8.96B  —  SoftBank Group Corp. said its Vision Fund business lost 1.9 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) last fiscal year after writing down the value of investments …
Bloomberg:
Apple says it's reopening 25 US stores this week plus 12 stores in Canada, adding to nearly 100 global locations that have reopened so far  —  - Company has 100 stores back in operation after virus closures  — Plans temperature checks and face coverings at every location
Ranjan Roy / Margins:
DoorDash is listing restaurants on its service without their permission, leading to inaccurate menus, unhappy customers, and even arbitrage opportunities  —  There is such a thing as a free lunch  —  If capitalism is driven by a search for profit, the food delivery business confuses the hell out of me.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
David Cohen / Adweek:
Instagram introduces Guides, a feature letting creators curate content on a specific subject, debuting with select accounts focusing on wellness  —  Creators, public figures, organizations and publishers can curate content on a specific subject  —  Instagram introduced a new Guides feature Monday …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Google suspended a popular Android podcast app, Podcast Addict, from the Play Store and removed ads from existing installs, because it lists COVID-19 content  —  Part of a new Google policy  —  Podcast Addict, an Android podcast app with millions of users, was suspended over the weekend because it lists COVID-19 content.

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Featured Podcasts

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Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 "Spud," AI Model Moats, and Cybersecurity Risks
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Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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Earlier Picks

Sachin Ravikumar / Reuters:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: