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December 8, 2020, 5:10 AM
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Top News

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Uber's self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to be acquired by rival Aurora Innovation in a deal valuing ATG at $4B; source: Aurora now valued at $10B  —  - Self-driving vehicle start-up Aurora is acquiring Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, which works on self-driving technology.
Alan Boyle / GeekWire:
SpaceX's Starlink satellite network wins $885M in federal aid for rural broadband, as part of a $9.2B allocation by FCC to be paid across 180 auction bidders  —  SpaceX's Starlink satellite network — which relies on hundreds of spacecraft built in Redmond, Wash. — has been awarded $885.5 million …
Connie Chan / Andreessen Horowitz:
In a new era of video ushered in by TikTok, real-time interactivity is baked into viewing experiences, which may lead to shifts in education, shopping, and more  —  Social Strikes Back is a series exploring the next generation of social networks and how they're shaping the future of consumer tech.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Google says Stadia users will be able to live stream directly to YouTube starting December 8  —  Finally fulfilling its biggest original promise  —  From the very beginning, Google Stadia and YouTube were supposed to work together — thanks to the magic of cloud computing …
More: 9to5Google, Engadget, and SlashGear.  Tweets: @jaycuthrell
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
A look at Waymo's driverless taxi service, in Phoenix suburb Chandler, which seems to work well but still only offers ~100 rides/week and limits cars to 45 mph  —  Human drivers are pretty safe, making it hard to prove driverless tech is safer.  —  Waymo has long kept details …
Kristine Owram / Bloomberg:
MicroStrategy, which was the first publicly traded company to invest in bitcoin and, as of Dec. 4, held 40,824 BTC, is raising up to $400M in debt to buy more  —  MicroStrategy Inc. is doubling down on its Bitcoin bet, saying Monday that it plans to offer $400 million of convertible bonds in order to buy more of the cryptocurrency.
Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Palantir wins a three-year deal worth $44.4M with the FDA to use Palantir software to power drug reviews and inspections, including possible COVID-19 treatments  —  Palantir Technologies Inc. won a deal with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help power drug reviews and inspections …
More: Reuters and CNBC
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Sydney-based shipping logistics service Shippit says it has raised ~$22M Series B to help fuel its expansion in Southeast Asia  —  Sydney-based shipping logistics platform Shippit today nabbed AU$30 million (approximately $22 million), bringing its total raised to date to over $31 million.
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google starts rolling out Apple Music support to Assistant smart speakers and displays, including its Nest products, in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan  —  Stream Apple Music on a Nest Audio  —  Google has announced that Apple Music is now available on smart speakers and displays …
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Sources: a Foxconn facility in Mexico was hit by ransomware in Nov., resulting in website outage and business docs leaked, as the attackers demand a $34M ransom  —  Foxconn electronics giant suffered a ransomware attack at a Mexican facility over the Thanksgiving weekend …
More: Decrypt
Joyce Lee / Reuters:
LG says it has reorganized its mobile phone division, which has reported a loss for 22 consecutive quarters, to outsource low- and mid-range smartphones  —  SEOUL (Reuters) - LG Electronics said on Monday it had reorganised its mobile phone division to increase outsourcing of its low to mid-end smartphones …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:10 AM ET, December 8, 2020.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: WBD is preparing to tell its shareholders to reject Paramount's latest offer and plans to recommend they support the existing deal with Netflix

Todd Spangler / Variety:
E.W. Scripps' board unanimously rejects Sinclair's unsolicited acquisition proposal of $7 per share in cash and stock, offered in November

Christal Hayes / BBC:
The BBC says “as we have made clear previously, we will be defending” against Trump's defamation lawsuit and “we are not going to make further comment”

More News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
French court sentences BTC-e founder Alexander Vinnik to five years in prison for laundering ransomware funds, following the Russian national's arrest in 2017
Wall Street Journal:
By July, Chinese banks and trust companies had ~$230B in outstanding loans to users who borrowed via Alipay, a factor in new regulatory scrutiny of Ant Group
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
NortonLifeLock says it has acquired Germany-based antivirus vendor Avira for $360M in cash, eight months after Avira was acquired for $180M by a PE firm

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is preparing new Apple Silicon-powered MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Pros for as early as spring 2021; full Mac transition will finish in 2022
Maureen Farrell / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Airbnb plans to boost the proposed price range of its IPO to between $56 and $60 a share, which equates to a valuation of $39B to $42B, fully diluted
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