Techmeme
May 17, 2021, 12:10 AM

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.
Biz Carson / Protocol:
Q&A with Rick Klau, an ex-Google product manager and California's new CTIO responsible for building apps and services for various departments across the state  —  When Rick Klau joined the California government, he expected a culture shock after 13 years at Google.
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.
Katie Notopoulos / BuzzFeed News:
Pandemic-induced rise in app ordering has given birth to the “appuccino”, a phenomenon driven by TikTok, where customized Starbucks drink suggestions go viral  —  Stomachs churned and food service workers broke out in a cold sweat when a photo of a long, complicated custom Starbucks order went viral on Twitter.
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 …
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‑ …
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Matt Burgess / Wired UK:
A look at WhatsApp's approach to detecting child porn, as police worry that wider use of end-to-end encryption online will make it harder to catch predators  —  A trail of clues helped police close in on a dangerous predator.  Now, a battle over the future of end-to-end encryption could change the rules of engagement

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Featured Podcasts

Grit:
The Pull to Build: Joubin Mirzadegan on Grit and Starting Roadrunner
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
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Lenny's Podcast:
The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google's secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw
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.
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Hard Fork:
OpenAI Calls a 'Code Red' + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop
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.
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More News

Clive Thompson / New York Times:
Todd Spangler / Variety:

Earlier Picks

Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:
Adriana Hamacher / Decrypt:
@antoniogm: