Techmeme
November 30, 2020, 4:35 PM

Top News

Cade Metz / New York Times:
Alphabet's DeepMind says it has solved the key “protein folding problem”, cutting the job down from months to hours, which could speed up drug discovery  —  Researchers at DeepMind say they have solved “the protein folding problem,” a task that has bedeviled scientists for more than 50 years.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Facebook says it has agreed to acquire Kustomer, which specializes in customer service tools and chatbots, reportedly for $1B+  —  Facebook Inc. has acquired Kustomer Inc., a New York-based software company that helps businesses manage customer conversations from multiple services on one dashboard.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ajit Pai, the Trump-appointed Republican chairman of the FCC, announces he will leave the agency on Jan. 20, when president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office  —  Aji Pai, the Trump-appointed Republican chairman of the FCC, announced that he will leave the agency on Jan. 20, 2021, when president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office.
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Sources: Salesforce's deal to buy Slack is expected to be announced on Tuesday after markets close; Salesforce reports Q3 earnings on Tuesday  —  - Salesforce's deal to buy Slack is expected to be announced Tuesday after markets close, sources told CNBC's David Faber.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple hires Josh Elman, former VC at Greylock Partners and ex-VP of product at Robinhood, to work on app discovery at the App Store  —  Apple Inc. hired Josh Elman, a former venture capitalist at Greylock Partners who led early investments in Discord and the precursor to TikTok, to work on the App Store.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
SCOTUS will hear arguments on Monday that could lead to changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, signed in 1986, a law critics say is outdated and vague  —  The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a case that could lead to sweeping changes to America's controversial computer hacking laws …
Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:
Bitcoin price sets a record, passing $19,783, with more investors seemingly in it for the long haul, unlike 2017's boom driven by Asian investors new to crypto  —  The crazy cousin of traditional currencies, which fell below $4,000 in March, passed $19,783.  More investors now are buying it for the long term.
Surojit Chatterjee / The Coinbase Blog:
Coinbase says that, starting in early 2021, it will begin supporting Ethereum 2.0, letting users convert ETH into ETH2 and earn staking rewards  —  On December 1, the Ethereum Beacon Chain will launch, beginning a multi-year upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2).  Coinbase intends to support ETH2 through staking and trading.
Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
The UK will ban the installation of new Huawei 5G network equipment starting September 2021, after initially announcing a 2027 timeframe in July  —  - Britain set to impose security law on mobile network operators  — White House pushed allies to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Cloud-based IT services company ServiceNow is acquiring Montreal-based Element AI, which helps companies use AI to improve operations  —  ServiceNow, the cloud-based IT services company, is making a significant acquisition today to fill out its longer-term strategy to be a big player …
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Italy's antitrust watchdog fines Apple €10M for alleged misleading iPhone water resistance claims in its promotional messages  —  Apple has been slapped with a 10 million euro ($12 million) fine by Italy's antitrust watchdog for unfair commercial practices related to its iPhone marketing in the country.

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Ana Swanson / New York Times:

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