Techmeme
May 16, 2021, 8:20 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Microsoft's board decided in 2020 Gates should leave the board as it probed claims Gates sought to initiate an affair with a Microsoft engineer in 2000  —  Company's board members began investigation in 2019 into woman's allegations of prior sexual relationship with Bill Gates …
New York Times:
Sources: long after his marriage, Bill Gates would pursue women at Microsoft, at times creating an uncomfortable workplace environment  —  Melinda French Gates voiced concerns about her husband's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and a harassment claim against his money manager.
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Clubhouse, which launched its Android app in beta in the US last week, to expand the app to Japan, Brazil, and Russia on Tuesday, and globally by Friday  —  Voice social network Clubhouse said on Sunday it will expand its Android app worldwide in a week, days after launching a beta version …
Joshua Swingle / PhoneArena:
Jon Prosser leaks what he claims are Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro renders, as well as a promo video and images of Android 12, ahead of Google I/O  —  Google is rumored to be revamping Wear OS this year and the update is said to be so substantial that even Samsung is on board with the plans.
Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
After WhatsApp's privacy policy changes, in the first four months of 2021, Telegram's installs rose 98% YoY and Signal's first-time downloads were up 1,192% YoY  —  Popular mobile messenger WhatsApp encountered backlash in January when it was announced that users would need to accept …
Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:
An examination of Chamath Palihapitiya-sponsored SPACs, including Clover Health, which have plunged 50% on average after the SPAC market hit its peak in mid-Feb  —  One morning last October, as wildfires raged across Northern California, President Donald Trump convalesced from Covid‑ …
Clive Thompson / New York Times:
A brief history of NFTs and cryptoart, including interviews with artists who kickstarted the NFT boom, as celebrities and major brands fuel the frenzy  —  Digital creators used the blockchain to create a whole new art scene.  Then their work started selling for thousands — sometimes millions of dollars.
Adriana Hamacher / Decrypt:
Q&A with Dogecoin developer Ross Nicoll about its coming upgrade, and working with Elon Musk, who Nicoll says has been in touch with Doge developers since 2019  —  Dogecoin developers have turned down funding from Elon Musk, choosing instead to tap his brain to make the cryptocurrency a greener …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Say hello to Zia Answer Bot: Your organization's knowledge, on-demand in every Zoho Lens session.  —  Imagine your technician is halfway through a live remote assistance session.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
Building the most AI-pilled engineering team in the world | Fiona Fung (Manager of the Claude Code and Cowork Teams)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Are AI Glasses Over?, Big Technology Audience Questions, Alex Stamos on AI Cybersecurity
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Mutiny's Jaleh Rezaei: Walking Away From Millions In Software To Grow Even Faster With Sales AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 3: Differing Visions of an A.I. Future
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
The billionaire paying AI researchers to stay out of Big Tech
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 8:20 PM ET, May 16, 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

Matt Burgess / Wired UK:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:

Earlier Picks

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Wired:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Will Oremus / The Atlantic:
@antoniogm: