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August 4, 2020, 6:50 PM
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Top News

Apple:
Greg Joswiak will replace Phil Schiller as SVP of Worldwide Marketing; Schiller becomes an Apple Fellow and will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events  —  Greg Joswiak joins Apple executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing  —  Cupertino, California …
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
In a letter to staff, ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming says a forced sale of TikTok to a US buyer is “unreasonable” and the real goal of the US is a ban  —  - U.S. doesn't really want to see a sale to American buyers  — Founder Zhang Yiming issues second letter in two days
Wall Street Journal:
With a TikTok sale, China would lose control of its first global internet sensation, hardening suspicions that the US is sabotaging its tech growth  —  Washington's push for Chinese company to sell American operations hardens suspicions in China that the U.S. aims to sabotage its technology
Dan Primack / Axios:
Apple says there are no talks to buy TikTok, and it isn't interested, after sources said it is among the companies that have expressed interest in buying TikTok
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft should refuse Trump's TikTok payoff, as it would set a dangerous precedent for the seizure of foreign businesses through regulatory fiat
Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Trump says he is fine with the idea of Microsoft buying TikTok in US, but the US government should be paid a “substantial amount of money” as part of the deal
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Apple refreshes 27" iMacs with 10th-gen Intel CPUs and a 1080p webcam, shipping this week, and makes SSDs standard across its iMac lineup  —  But the design remains the same  —  Apple is announcing updates for both the 27-inch and 21.5-inch iMacs.  It's updating the processors inside …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft's xCloud game streaming service will launch on September 15 on Android in 22 countries, bundled with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription  —  Available in 22 countries, but no iOS support at launch  —  Microsoft will launch its game streaming service, known as Project xCloud …
European Commission:
The European Commission opens an in-depth investigation into Google's proposed acquisition of Fitbit over concerns about vast amounts of data Google could use  —  The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Fitbit by Google under the EU Merger Regulation.
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Google launches Nearby Share on Android, an AirDrop-style tool, rolling out to Pixel and Samsung devices; support for Chromebooks will arrive in coming months  —  It only took Google nine years to catch up to AirDrop  —  It will finally be slightly easier to share files, images, links, and other content between Android devices.
Caleb Potts / Android Police:
Facebook adds a search tool in WhatsApp to help check viral messages for misinformation, rolling out today in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and US  —  WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, but that also means a lot of misinformation and rumors are shared on the platform.
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Rippling, an employee data management company led by Parker Conrad, raises $145M led by Founders Fund, valuing it at $1.35B, up 5x from its last valuation  —  - Former Zenefits founder's new company valued at $1.35 billion  — Investors include Founders Fund, Kleiner Perkins and Coatue
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Fawkes, a tool developed by researchers at the University of Chicago, disguises photos with pixel-level changes that confuse facial recognition systems  —  Researchers at the University of Chicago want you to be able to post selfies without worrying that the next Clearview AI will use them to identify you.
Jason Parham / Wired:
Interviews with 29 Black TikTok creators highlight issues of muted posts, in-app harassment, and incidents of racism, even as users lionize Black culture  —  On the app, users drape themselves in the trappings of Black culture—and steal the viral spotlight.  It's exploitation at its most refined and disturbing.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft has awarded $13.7M to security researchers who reported vulnerabilities in the last 12 months through 15 bug bounty programs, up from $4.4M last year  —  Microsoft has awarded $13.7 million to security researchers who have reported vulnerabilities over the last 12 months through …
Matthew Haag / New York Times:
Facebook agrees to lease all the office space in NYC's 730,000 sq. ft. James A. Farley Building; it's added 2.2M sq. ft. in NYC office space over the past year  —  Despite the pandemic, the social media giant leased all the office space in the former main post office at Penn Station in Midtown.

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From Mediagazer

Barbara Moens / Financial Times:
Sources: the EU is set to approve Paramount's $111B WBD takeover provided the company accepts certain remedies, the details of which are still being worked out

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Source: iHeartMedia has begun a new round of layoffs affecting dozens of workers in its local radio broadcasting units as part of a broader restructuring

Max Tani / Semafor:
Documents: The Daily Wire, founded by conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro in 2015, seeks to raise at least $100M in a round that would value the company at $750M

More News

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
As tech giants renew vows to diversify their workforces, a look at why their efforts have fallen short, especially in retaining new Black and Latinx employees
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