Techmeme: Graphcore, which designs chips for AI workloads, raises $222M Series E led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan at a $2.77B post-money valuation (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

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December 29, 2020, 5:05 PM

Top News

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:

Federal judge dismisses Apple's claims that mobile device virtualization company Corellium violated copyright law with its software to run iOS on PCs — Corellium helps customers find bugs in Apple's mobile operating system. Apple aimed to shut it down. — Corellium, a security research firm sued …

Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:

Leaked docs: Lens, a supplier for Apple, Tesla, Amazon, used alleged forced Uighur labor; Apple says it has confirmed its suppliers have not used forced labor — New documents show Lens Technology, which makes iPhone glass and is owned by China's richest woman, received Uighur Muslim laborers transferred from Xinjiang.

More: 9to5Mac, The Verge, Engadget, Gizmodo, CNET, Business Insider, iPhone in Canada Blog, iPhone Hacks, Input, AppleInsider, and The Mac Observer

Tweets: @starfire2258, @chuckrossdc, @bubbaprog, @benlovejoy, and @reedalbergotti

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:

VMware sues its former COO Rajiv Ramaswami, claiming that his taking a job as CEO of Nutanix was a breach of contract — Earlier this month, when Nutanix announced it was hiring former VMware COO Rajiv Ramaswami as CEO, it looked like a good match. What's more, it pulled a key player from a market rival.

More: SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg, VMware, and Silicon Valley Business …

Tweets: @bryanrbeal and @aaronbuley

Flurry:

Survey: US smartphone activations on Christmas Day fell 23% YoY as iPhones dominated the top 10 activated smartphones and budget devices, like LG K30, surge — Christmas day in the United States is the single greatest day for new smartphone activations. And despite supply chain delays caused …

More: MacRumors, TechSpot, Tom's Guide, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, iClarified, Redmond Pie, Apple Must, iPhone Hacks, MacDailyNews, Patently Apple, and ArcticStartup

Tweets: @andruedwards, @khoi, and @stroughtonsmith

Svea Herbst-Bayliss / Reuters:

In a letter, an activist hedge fund pushes Intel to explore strategic alternatives, like whether it should remain an integrated device manufacturer; stock up 5% — (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is pushing Intel Corp to explore strategic alternatives, including whether …

More: TheStreet, CRN, Tom's Hardware, CNBC, AppleInsider, Wccftech, and MSPoweruser. Tweets: @markhachman

Bloomberg:

Source: Ant Group is planning to fold its financial operations into a holding company that could be regulated more like a bank — - Financial units face stricter regulation in planned structure — Lifestyle businesses to be excluded from holding company

More: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, TechCrunch, South China Morning Post, PYMNTS.com, Tech in Asia, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg

Tweets: @kate_okeeffe, @kevtellier, @wsjmarkets, @jchengwsj, @vusithembekwayo, @jchengwsj, @niubi, @bloombergquint, and @zhangtaisu

Wall Street Journal:

Unredacted draft version of the lawsuit filed by 10 states earlier this month details a Google-Facebook ad deal that allegedly constituted illegal price fixing — Lawmakers have called for an investigation into the tech giants' contract, dubbed ‘Jedi Blue,’ which allegedly allowed for auction rigging

More: The Irish Times and New York Post

Tweets: @repkenbuck, @johnvoorhees, @bowknowsbiz, and @paulnemitz

Olivia Solon / NBC News:

Police rely heavily on car sensor and infotainment system data, including GPS and call records, to challenge alibis, thanks to looser privacy standards for cars — On June 26, 2017, the lifeless body of Ronald French, a bearded auto mechanic with once-twinkling eyes, was mysteriously found in a cornfield in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

More: Slashdot and The Verge

Tweets: @fabiochiusi, @saramorrison, @chris_chmura, @lam_barrett, and @mslods

Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is tying the fate of $2,000 stimulus checks to the repeal of Section 230 — Both efforts are probably doomed. — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is tying the fate of $2,000 stimulus checks to the repeal of Section 230, an effort that will likely doom …

More: The Verge, CNBC, and The White House

Tweets: @realdonaldtrump, @brianschatz, @briantylercohen, @evan_greer, @juddlegum, @yashar, @martinsfp, @sethabramson, @kellymakena, and @karaswisher

CoinDesk:

Coinbase says it will suspend trading of XRP on January 19, 2021, following the SEC's suit against Ripple — Coinbase said it will suspend trading of XRP, the cryptocurrency the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claimed last week is really a security.

Kristin Robinson / Variety:

A loophole in Spotify's copyright infringement detection tactics is allowing unauthorized remixes and bootlegs of songs to be uploaded as podcasts — Spotify has joined the ranks of streaming services like SoundCloud and YouTube as a hub for bootlegs of popular songs.

More: Engadget

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From Mediagazer

The Hollywood Reporter:

The Sky-ITV deal raises questions about US ownership of the UK's largest commercially funded free-to-air network and a key part of its cultural landscape

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Netflix is studying its data to see why viewers quit its shows after S1, with some shows seeing a 30%-70% S2 drop, as it faces a quarter without hits

Alex Ritman / Variety:

AI-focused studio Particle 6 plans a full-length feature film to be led by the AI “actor” Tilly Norwood, as a hybrid production using film and TV professionals

More News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google is testing an expansion of its “Short Videos” feature at the top of mobile search that will surface TikTok and Instagram videos in a dedicated carousel

More: Search Engine Roundtable. Tweets: @type_seo and @eddie_childs

Joe Morrison / A Closer Look with Joe Morrison:

Google Maps' moat is vanishing after a ~1,400% price hike for API usage in 2018, as OpenStreetMap improves with support from Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft

Tweets: @randfish and @samgoeta

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

CommonGround, a stealth startup aiming to debut a product in 2021 that rethinks online communication with “4D collaboration”, raises $19M led by Matrix Partners

Bloomberg:

Apple and Amazon stock has risen 87% and 79% respectively in 2020, far outpacing the S&P 500's 16%, as Apple rises 16% in December amid strong iPhone 12 demand

More: MacDailyNews, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, and The Mac Observer

Kristen V Brown / Bloomberg:

DNA testing company 23andMe raises ~$82.5M Series F led by Sequoia Capital and NewView Capital; the company laid off 14% of its workforce earlier this year

More: TechCrunch

Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:

A look at a center for young people with disabilities in Georgia that Google and others have used as a place to test products for accessibility

Tweets: @ipoupyrev and @wsj

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Graphcore, which designs chips for AI workloads, raises $222M Series E led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan at a $2.77B post-money valuation

More: VentureBeat, SiliconANGLE, Tech.eu, CNBC, coinspeaker.com, Forbes, PR Newswire, Financial Times, and Crunchbase News. Tweets: @jwangark. Thanks:@ingridlunden

Siobhan Roberts / New York Times:

Mathematicians, professors, and others reflect on Game of Life, a simulation game devised in 1970, and its lasting influence on the field of cellular automata

Tweets: @nytnational, @ankurg90, @nytscience, @alexbellos, @rudytheelder, @nytnational, @padreinatlanta, @daedelus, @alanzucconi, and @mkapor

Earlier Picks

Rita Liao / TechCrunch:

DXY, a Chinese online portal for doctors, healthcare organizations, and consumers to share knowledge, raises $500M led by Trustbridge Partners

More: Pandaily and Tech in Asia. Tweets: @strictlyvc

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Amazon says during this holiday season, third-party sales grew 50% globally, compared to the same time period in 2019

More: Amazon News Blog, TechRadar, PYMNTS.com, CNET, and The Hill

Tweets: @primestudent, @glenngabe, @pip_net, @quinnypig, @amazon, and @jaycarney

Todd Spangler / Variety:

NY Post source for Hunter Biden laptop stories sues Twitter for defamation, alleging Twitter falsely labeled him a hacker after blocking NY Post content in Oct.

More: The Verge, Ars Technica, MakeUseOf, Reclaim The Net, Gizmodo, Deadline, LAW.com, The Wrap, New York Post, and Engadget

Tweets: @superwuster and @nypost