Techmeme
January 14, 2021, 5:50 AM

Top News

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Jack Dorsey says Trump ban was the right decision for Twitter, but reflects a “failure” to promote healthy conversation and sets a dangerous precedent  —  Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explained in a tweetstorm that the company faced an ‘extraordinary and untenable circumstance’
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Snapchat says it will permanently ban Trump's account on January 20 in the interest of public safety and based on repeated violations of Snapchat's guidelines  —  Snapchat will permanently ban President Trump's account on Jan. 20, Axios has learned, after locking it indefinitely last week following the Capitol siege.
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Airbnb says it is canceling and blocking reservations made for the week of Biden's inauguration in the Washington, DC metro area  —  - Airbnb is canceling and blocking future reservations in the Washington, D.C., metro area during the week of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, the company said Wednesday.
Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters:
In an interview, Parler CEO John Matze says he is not sure whether the social network will ever return after being cut off by service providers  —  (Reuters) - Social media platform Parler, which has gone dark after being cut off by major service providers that accused the app of failing …
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Sandberg deflected blame for Capitol riot, but fliers and hashtags promoting the pro-Trump rally circulated on Facebook and Instagram weeks beforehand  —  Fliers and hashtags promoting the pro-Trump rally circulated on Facebook and Instagram in the days and weeks beforehand
Gené Teare / Crunchbase News:
Global VC report 2020: overall funding rose 4% YoY to ~$300B, despite a slow Q1, with ~$13.6B seed, $88.4B early-stage, and $198.4B late-stage and growth  —  Startups closed out 2020 in a much stronger position than the one they started the year in, with global venture funding up 4 percent year over year to $300 billion.
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Crypto startup Anchorage says it has received a federal bank charter, making it easier for big banks to use Anchorage to offer cryptocurrencies to customers  —  A startup called Anchorage announced on Wednesday that it has become the first cryptocurrency company to receive a federal charter …
The Guardian:
Audio and chat logs of walkie-talkie app Zello reveal some Capitol rioters communicated via the app; Zello says it has now deleted 2K+ militia-related channels  —  Audio and chat logs show insurrectionists communicated via the app, which has avoided proactive content moderation
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Ring says it is adding opt-in end-to-end encryption for eight cameras in technical preview for US users  —  Starting today in a ‘technical preview’  —  Ring is starting to add support for end-to-end encryption to its cameras.  The feature will keep video streams encrypted from the camera …
John Callaham / Android Authority:
Asus announces Chromebook Flip CX9 for enterprises, with Titan C security, and CX5 for students, both equipped with Intel 11th-gen Core i7 and Iris Xe graphics  —  - Asus announced new Chromebook Flip models today as part of CES 2021.  — The Chromebook Flip CX5 Chromebook is targeting students …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
What to expect from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event: Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra, with S Pen support, Galaxy Buds Pro, SmartTag, and more  —  Three new phones, new earbuds, an item tracker, and more  —  Samsung's next Unpacked event is less than a day away, kicking off on January 14th at 10AM ET …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Poshmark is pricing its IPO at $42 per share, raising $277M, up from its $35-$39 price initially noted in an earlier filing  —  - Online marketplace is raising $277 million in share sale  — Poshmark IPO follows trading debut by consumer lender Affirm
More: TechCrunch
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Affirm began trading at $90.90 and closed at $97.24, up 98% after pricing shares at $49; the company raised $1.2B after pricing shares above its $41-$44 range  —  - Shares of Affirm, an online payments company, began trading on the Nasdaq.  — Affirm priced its shares at $49 apiece, above its target range of $41 to $44 each.
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Actions taken by Big Tech after violence at the Capitol may have sowed the seeds for Internet 3.0, which will be defined by open protocols and decentralization  —  Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man is, particularly relative to its prescience, one of the most misunderstood books of all time.
Nick Statt / The Verge:
WhatsApp clarifies its new data sharing policy with Facebook, which mostly concerns businesses, after recent backlash and surge in Telegram and Signal downloads  —  The company is trying to contain fallout over a privacy policy update  —  WhatsApp has published a new FAQ page …
Benjamin Powers / CoinDesk:
Ledger offers a 10 bitcoin bounty for details on the hacker who stole info on 272K crypto wallet device owners and says 20K more user records have been exposed  —  Ledger was also targeted by hackers in Shopify's data breach.  —  Matt Johnson, Ledger's new Chief Information Security Officer …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Telehealth startup NeuroFlow, which uses applied AI to treat patients with behavioral health conditions, raises $20M Series B led by Magellan Health  —  NeuroFlow, a digital health company combining workflow automation, patient engagement solutions and services, and applied AI to promote behavioral health …
More: NeuroFlow
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Qualcomm acquires chip startup Nuvia for $1.4B, with plans to put the company's tech into its smartphone, laptop, and automotive processors  —  (Reuters) - Qualcomm Inc on Wednesday said it will acquire Nuvia Inc, a chip startup founded by Apple Inc veterans, for $1.4 billion …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Zoho Webinar: A look back at 2025  —  As 2025 comes to a close, it's the perfect time to look back at how Zoho Webinar has transformed the way businesses connect, engage, and grow.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Naughty Citizen', With Quinn Nelson
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Big Technology Podcast:
2025 In Review, 2026 Predictions — With Reed Albergotti
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Podcast Pioneer PJ Vogt's Second Act: Less Budget, More Control
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:50 AM ET, January 14, 2021.

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.

More News

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Monica Chin / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Axios: