Techmeme
July 29, 2020, 12:50 PM

Top News

New York Times:
At the hearing, Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Pichai will argue their businesses are relatively small, exist in competitive environments, and benefit consumers  —  The C.E.O.s are likely to argue before Congress that their companies aren't anticompetitive.  Here are the facts.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Sundar Pichai will tell lawmakers that Google operates in a “highly competitive” market and that its free products benefit the “average American”  —  - Ahead of a Wednesday House Judiciary hearing, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai released opening remarks that show …
The Amazon Blog:
Bezos statement to US House underscores Amazon's job creation, investments in social causes, and its role in supporting small and medium-sized businesses  —  Testimony before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law  —  Statement by Jeffrey P. Bezos Founder & Chief …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Betsy Woodruff Swan / Politico:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
TikTok's new CEO Kevin Mayer says it'll release code driving its content moderation algorithms, accuses Facebook of maligning attacks “disguised as patriotism”  —  In his first public statement as CEO of TikTok, f ormer Disney exec Kevin Mayer says the company will be releasing …
Reuters:
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says TikTok is being reviewed by CFIUS, which will make a recommendation to Trump  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Wednesday that TikTok was under a national security review and that his agency would make a recommendation …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google and Samsung are in talks about giving Google products more prominence on Samsung phones, including more control over search  —  - Google Assistant, Play app store may gain more prominent roles  — Samsung seeks other revenue sources as handset demand drops
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify reports Q2 revenue of €1.89B, up 13% YoY, with MAUs up 29% YoY to 299M, premium users up 27% to 138M, and ad-supported MAUs up 31% to 170M  —  In addition, ad revenue fell 21% — which Spotify blamed on the coronavirus pandemic — but the drop wasn't quite as bad as forecast.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Tempo, which sells a $2,000 AI-powered home weight training system, raises $60M Series B led by Norwest Venture Partners and General Catalyst  —  Home fitness startup Tempo today closed a $60 million round to ramp up manufacturing of its $1,995 AI-powered gym system.
More: TechCrunch and FinSMEs
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
AMC and Universal agree to shorten the theatrical window for films to 17 days, or 3 weekends, before Universal can release them onto premium on-demand platforms  —  Films only have to be in theaters for three weekends now before going to digital platforms  —  AMC Theaters and Universal …
Marc Santora / New York Times:
Sabahatjahan Contractor / Reuters:
US prosecutors are seeking 27 months in prison for ex-Uber executive Anthony Levandowski, who pleaded guilty in March to taking sensitive documents from Google  —  (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are seeking 27 months of imprisonment for the former head of Uber's self-driving technology unit …
Noam Scheiber / New York Times:
Federal judge in NY ruled that the state must promptly begin paying Uber and Lyft drivers unemployment benefits, after “an avoidable and inexcusable delay”  —  A federal judge's decision in New York is a key victory in efforts to secure the protections extended to other workers.
Annie Musgrove / Tech.eu:
Israeli cloud data protection startup Ermetic raises $17.25M Series A led by Accel, three months after emerging from stealth with $10M  —  Three months after emerging from stealth mode with $10 million, Israeli cloud security startup Ermetic has raised another $17.25 million, this time from Accel.
More: FinSMEs
Nick Kolakowski / Dice Insights:
In July, a H-1B software engineers' median salary at Google, Microsoft, and Apple was at least $142K, a substantial increase from at least $120K in October 2019  —  How much are software engineers on the H-1B visa making at some of the nation's largest tech companies?  At first glance, the answer seems simple: quite a lot.

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