Techmeme
May 13, 2021, 12:35 PM

Top News

Sean O'Kane / The Verge:
Elon Musk says Tesla no longer accepts bitcoin for vehicle purchases, due to its environmental cost, will look at more environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies  —  Tesla has stopped accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars out of concern that it will contribute to greater consumption of fossil fuels …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Cryptocurrency markets lost around $365B in value after Musk tweeted Tesla will suspend car purchases with bitcoin; bitcoin, ether, and XRP all fell sharply  —  - Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the electric vehicle maker would suspend car purchases using bitcoin, citing environmental concerns.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Colonial paid ~$5M ransom in cryptocurrency within hours of the attack, but the hackers' decrypting tool was so slow that it had to use its own backups  —  - Payment came shortly after attack got underway last week  — FBI discourages organizations from paying ransom to hackers
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
Colonial Pipeline says it has restarted operations, after being shut down for five days due to DarkSide's ransomware attack  —  Colonial Pipeline, operator of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline, said Wednesday it is restarting operations after being shut down for five days due to a cyberattack.
Ina Fried / Axios:
Apple says it parted ways with recent hire Antonio García Martínez, an ex-Facebook staffer and author, after employee petition citing “misogynistic statements”  —  Apple has severed ties with recent hire Antonio Garcia-Martinez, a former Facebook employee and author …
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Biden signs EO to strengthen US cyber defenses, including the development of cybersecurity standards for software companies that sell to the government  —  President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at shoring up the federal government's digital defenses as his administration grapples …
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Microsoft is shutting down its Azure Blockchain Service on September 10, six years after initial launch, and is not supporting any new deployments as of May 10  —  Six years after its initial launch, Microsoft's Azure Blockhain as a Service is going to be shut down this September.
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Google has been fined €100M+ by Italy's antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant market position by restricting third party access to the Android Auto app  —  Google has been fined just over €100 million (~$123M) by Italy's antitrust watchdog for abuse of a dominant market position.
Benjamin Wallace / New York Magazine:
Behind the online battle between notable tech figures including a16z partners and Balaji Srinivasan, and the journalists who report, and tweet, on the industry  —  Late last fall, the New York Times was preparing a bombshell article about Coinbase, a financial exchange that had become …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Roku announces launch of its original programming, including the Quibi content it acquired, on the Roku Channel, starting May 20  —  Roku today announced the launch of its own original programming, which will initially become available to viewers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada through …
Joey Roulette / The Verge:
SpaceX signs a satellite connectivity deal with Google Cloud, as part of which SpaceX will install Starlink terminals at Google's data centers around the world  —  Under a new agreement, SpaceX will plant Starlink terminals at Google Cloud's data centers  —  Google said on Thursday …
Detroit News:
Michigan GOP lawmaker introduces a bill that requires fact checkers to register with the state using a $1M fidelity bond, and levies $1K/day fine for violations  —  Lansing — A Michigan lawmaker who's been at the center of efforts to question the 2020 election introduced a bill Tuesday that would require …
Billy Steele / Engadget:
Amazon Echo Buds (2nd gen) review: affordable, better sound, smaller, True ANC, optional wireless charging, but middling battery life and mediocre call quality  —  Compared to its closest rivals, Amazon was late to the true wireless earbud game.  By the time the company introduced its
Bloomberg:
South Korea plans to spend around $450B to build the world's biggest chipmaking base over the next decade; Samsung to boost spending by 30% to $151B by 2030  —  - Samsung and SK Hynix leading investment to rev up capacity  — Severe chip shortages prompt global race to shore up supply
Crystal Tse / Bloomberg:
Axtria, which makes data analytics software for life sciences companies, raises $150M, sources say at a valuation close to $1B  —  Axtria, which makes software for life-sciences companies, raised $150 million in a funding round from Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Alibaba reports Q4 net loss of $836M, as the massive antitrust fine it received last month weighed on earnings, and revenue of $28.6B, up 64% YoY  —  - Alibaba swung to a net loss in the March quarter of 5.47 billion yuan.  The market had expected a net profit of 6.95 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv estimates.
Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:
GRIN, which helps brands manage influencer marketing campaigns, adds $16M to its $10M Series A announced in December 2020  —  GRIN, a developer of influencer marketing software, added an “opportunistic” $16 million to its $10 million Series A announced five months ago.

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