Techmeme
March 24, 2021, 10:25 AM

Top News

David Pierce / Protocol:
Slack launches Connect DMs, letting users DM any other Slack user regardless of their organizations, making it a full-on messaging app  —  Rather than replacing email with chat, Slack now wants to replace the entire workplace.  —  Forget email.  The final frontier for Slack …
Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says it will spend $20B on two fabs in Ocotillo, Arizona and will reconfigure its external Foundry Services to serve new chip customers  —  The new CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, has today outlined his vision for Intel over the coming years.
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE:
Medium offers buyouts to everyone on its editorial staff, as it shifts focus from its own publications to supporting independent writers on its platform  —  After what workers describe as a successful union-busting campaign, Ev Williams has announced to journalists who work for him that they should feel free to go.
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Hundreds of free software advocates sign open letter seeking removal of Richard Stallman and entire FSF board saying he “has no place” in their community  —  Open letter signed by hundreds: RMS “has no place” in free software community.  —  Richard Stallman's return …
Axios:
Ahead of House hearing, Mark Zuckerberg calls for Section 230 reform that makes protections conditional on platforms' ability to identify and remove content  —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will tell lawmakers his plan for “thoughtful reform” of a key tech liability shield rests …
Jim Salter / Ars Technica:
Firefox 87 launches with Smart Block feature, which improves the rendering of pages when blocking third-party tracking scripts by using local “stand-in” scripts  —  An improved referrer policy also trims URLs from embedded images and scripts.  —  Mozilla released Firefox 87 …
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Leaked moderator docs say Facebook users may call for death of public figures, so long as the individual is not tagged or “purposefully exposed” to such calls  —  Exclusive: public figures considered to be permissible targets for otherwise-banned abuse, leaked moderator guidelines show
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Amazon announces to employees that the next AWS head will be Adam Selipsky, the CEO of Salesforce-owned Tableau and formerly VP of AWS Sales, Marketing, Support  —  Amazon has chosen to Adam Selipsky, currently CEO of Salesforce-owned Tableau, to run its Amazon Web Services division.
Bloomberg:
Robinhood says it has filed confidentially for an IPO with the SEC  —  Robinhood Markets Inc., the popular trading app, has filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reports.
Avaaz:
Study of US election misinfo shows Facebook could have prevented 10.1B views from Pages that spread misinfo; these Pages saw interactions rise 3x YoY  —  How Facebook Failed Voters and Nearly Set Democracy Aflame  — Section One - From Election to Insurrection: How Facebook Failed American Voters
Janice Min / TIME:
Former Pinterest COO Françoise Brougher and two former employees, Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, reflect on sexism and racism at the company  —  The day Françoise Brougher was fired from Pinterest began like so many of her workdays.  It was April 2, 2020 …
Sam Shead / CNBC:
Elon Musk says people can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin in the US and later this year outside the US  —  - The automaker last month revealed that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.  — People outside the U.S. will be able to buy a Tesla with bitcoin “later this year.”
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Verizon Media Group to rebrand most of its media franchises as Yahoo products and sell subscriptions to those products via Yahoo+, a new subscription platform  —  Verizon Media Group, the media division within Verizon, has 3 million people that pay for subscriptions across its portfolio …
Chip Cutter / Wall Street Journal:
Coaching and mental health startup BetterUp says Prince Harry has joined as chief impact officer  —  The Duke of Sussex is going to work for the unicorn employee coaching and mental health startup in his latest foray into business  —  No longer a working member of the royal family …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Neighbor, which operates a peer-to-peer self-storage marketplace, raises $53M Series B led by Fifth Wall  —  Neighbor, which operates a self-storage marketplace, announced Wednesday that it has raised $53 million in a Series B round of funding.  —  Fifth Wall led the financing …
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Amazon is forcing delivery drivers to sign a “biometric consent” form that lets Amazon use AI-powered cameras in its efforts to detect distracted driving  —  The new cameras, which are being implemented nationwide, use artificial intelligence to access drivers' location, movement, and biometric data.
David Ruddock / Android Police:
Source: Qualcomm plans a console for Q1 2022 similar to Nintendo's Switch, with detachable controllers, SD card slot, Android 12, and display-out capabilities  —  Qualcomm plans its first foray into the consumer electronics market in years — with a device that bears a strong resemblance …
Allison Schiff / AdExchanger:
Google says FLoC, its tool for advertisers to perform behavioral targeting, might not be compatible with GDPR and hence is stopping its testing in Europe  —  Google will not make FLoC-based cohorts available for testing in countries where GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive are in effect.

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Employ America:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch: