Techmeme: Analysts say the dominance of TSMC, which makes ~92% of the world's most sophisticated chips and 60% of chips used in cars, poses risks to the global economy (Wall Street Journal)

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June 21, 2021, 2:40 AM

Top News

Ezra Fieser / Bloomberg:

A look at El Zonte, a surfing village in El Salvador dubbed Bitcoin Beach after an anonymous 2019 donation turned it into a controlled alt-currency experiment — An anonymous donor turned a tiny Pacific coast town without a bank into the world's biggest Bitcoin experiment. Up next: the entire country.

Matt Dougherty / KHOU-TV:

Some power companies in Texas are remotely adjusting the smart thermostats of users enrolled in their energy saving programs to reduce strain on power grids — Some said they didn't know their thermostats were being accessed from afar until it was almost 80 degrees inside their homes.

More: Android Police, The Verge, Gizmodo, USA Today, BGR, AppleInsider, Insider, Click2Houston.com, The Daily Dot, and Slate

Tweets: @dellcam, @film_girl, @stealthygeek, @karlbode, @arvindpawan1, @elpasotimes, @erratarob, @apoorv_bh89, @vickerysec, @natebeachw, @grantstern, @nuclear94, @jgamblin, @phil_lewis_, and @mollyjongfast

Rita Liao / TechCrunch:

Amber Group, a Hong Kong-based crypto finance startup that provides trading and asset management services, raises $100M Series B at $1B pre-money valuation — More mainstream venture capital firms are jumping on the crypto bandwagon as investors increasingly consider bitcoin an investable asset …

More: Forkast, CNBC, CoinDesk, Bloomberg, and Cointelegraph. Tweets: @_annabellehuang

Alan Suderman / Associated Press:

Tax experts say that ransomware victims' ransom payments are probably tax deductible in the US, unless they were paid by an insurance company — As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don't pay the cybercriminals.

Tweets: @mikko, @thegrugq, @gossithedog, @sosowski, @xamat, and @thegrugq

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

Wristcam, which makes a $299 Apple Watch band with a camera capable of taking 4K images and recording 1080p video, raises $25M led by Marker LLC — Last week word got out that Facebook was taking another big step into first-party hardware with the planned launch of its own smartwatch.

Tweets: @brianfagioli and @daniel_duan. Thanks:@vscpr

Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:

Interview with Jim Keller, a chip expert lauded for his work at AMD and Apple, on ARM vs x86 vs RISC-V, managing 1,000 people at Intel, and plans at Tenstorrent — I've spoken about Jim Keller many times on AnandTech. In the world of semiconductor design, his name draws attention …

Tweets: @iancutress, @anandtech, @0xcats, and @hkanji. Thanks:@anandtech

Wall Street Journal:

Analysts say the dominance of TSMC, which makes ~92% of the world's most sophisticated chips and 60% of chips used in cars, poses risks to the global economy — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s dominance poses risks to the global economy, amid geopolitical tensions and a major chip shortage

More: phonearena.com. Tweets: @jasonmillerindc, @zackkanter, @djtgallagher, @jchengwsj, @scottlincicome, and @chinarealtime

Betsy Ladyzhets / MIT Technology Review:

An analysis of the usage of COVID-19 contact tracing apps in 25 US states and DC finds that only 13 have enough usage to benefit from exposure notification — A year ago, engineers built apps to track potential virus exposure. Our research shows the impact has been mixed—but there's still potential.

More: PCMag, Android Police, and 9to5Google

Tweets: @matthew_d_green, @techreview, @malwarejake, @pathcheck_fnd, @charlesmok, @techreview, @jennydove, @fabiochiusi, @techreview, and @techreview

Nicole Kobie / Wired UK:

A look at the evolution of AI chips and where they are headed, as companies like Google, Amazon, Graphcore, and Cerebras look to challenge Nvidia's dominance — NVIDIA's GPUs dominate AI chips. But a raft of startups say new architecture is needed for the fast-evolving AI field

Tweets: @jbonne5, @cerebrassystems, @wireduk, @vickiturk, and @sub8u

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal:

Pandemic boosted the “phone-ization” of PCs, which are adopting power efficient CPUs and thin designs, a trend which will accelerate with broader adoption of 5G — Apple is dragging Microsoft, Google and the entire PC industry into the 21st century

Tweets: @parthodasgupta, @mims, @psb_dc, @gregorymbryant, @onelinders, @mims, @dsilverman, and @stevesi

Forbes:

Leonid Radvinsky, billionaire owner of OnlyFans, ran sites in the '90s promoting “hacked” porn site passwords, including links promising access to child porn — Associate editor at Forbes, covering cybercrime, privacy, security and surveillance. — I cover the work and wealth of Europe's richest.

Tweets: @blacklodgewhore, @rizzn, @iblametom, @iblametom, @iwantjules, @iblametom, and @alanaevansxxx

Kristen Sinclair / The Verge:

A look at some Twitch streamers using the service to showcase minority languages like Galician, Welsh, Basque, and te reo Māori — Minority languages are often associated with aging rural communities, thought to have fallen out of use or confined to textbooks.

More: Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Tweets: @biliteracyseal, @unaminhkavanagh, @3000twitz, @zacharydiaz, and @xipiryon

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From Mediagazer

David Friend / Vanity Fair:

How 9/11 spawned the digital media era, as the attacks altered an already image-saturated media ecosystem

Joe Sonka / Louisville Public Media:

McClatchy enacts deep, nationwide layoffs, including at the Lexington Herald-Leader, Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, Charlotte Observer, and Idaho Statesman

New York Times:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill that prohibits social media platforms from offering addictive features to users under 16, the first such law in the US

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More News

Emma Folts / Los Angeles Business Journal stories:

Eltropy, whose suite allows financial institutions to communicate with customers via text messages, announces $21M investment from K1 as part of its Series A

Source: Eltropy and PR Newswire. More: FinSMEs

Heather Landi / FierceHealthcare:

Brightline, which provides virtual behavioral health therapy for children and teenagers, raises $72M Series B led by GV, bringing its total raised to ~$100M

Source: PR Newswire. More: FinSMEs and hitconsultant.net. Tweets: @gvteam

Omar Faridi / Crowdfund Insider:

Shopping and pay later app nate, which allows users to buy products from any e-commerce store and centralize their purchases, raises $38M Series A

Source: Business Wire. More: Finextra, AlleyWatch, and FinSMEs

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:

Lingokids, which offers educational games through its “playlearning” app for kids aged 2-8, raises $40M Series C and claims to reach 30M+ families worldwide

Source: Lingokids. More: Kidscreen, Angel News, Pocket Gamer.biz, Tech.eu, and FinSMEs

Tweets: @lingokids, @googlestartupes, @deantak, and @reachfund

Juliet Chung / Wall Street Journal:

Addepar, a provider of wealth management software, raises $150M from D1 Capital Partners at a $2.17B valuation; source: Addepar was valued at ~$1B in November

Source: PR Newswire. More: IBS Intelligence Market News, InvestmentNews, FinSMEs, and Silicon Valley Business …

Tweets: @davidsacks and @addepar

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Survey: social media users see the removal of hate speech as more fair than removing profanity, with moderators who removed hate speech seen as more trustworthy

More: Center for Media Management. Tweets: @engagingnews, @iansherr, and @ginammasullo

Earlier Picks

Olivia Solon / NBC News:

Drought-stricken communities in the US push back against data centers' water usage; a typical data center uses same water per day as a city of 30K-50K people

More: The Overspill, Slashdot, and Bloomberg

Tweets: @alicebell, @athertonkd, @dburbach, @thornet, @peterkatel, @william_fitz, @wndu, @sujeevshakya, @mattk, @alex, @oliviasolon, @deborahblum, @nycdsatechwg, @iainthomson, @hypervisible, @oliviasolon, @oliviasolon, and @pinboard

Chuq Von Rospach / 6FPS:

Apple, whose arrogance and sense of entitlement let it treat developers as a hassle for two decades, will find few allies as it fights looming regulation

Tweets: @sethjberman, @marccanter4real, @jamiequint, @siegel, @sethjberman, @siegel, @carnage4life, @siegel, @marcoarment, @chuq, @jimcarroll, @samdeane, @brucel, @keleftheriou, @chuq, @siegel, @kocienda, @kocienda, @savaran, @siegel, @kocienda, @siegel, and @marcoarment

Juan José Relmucao / Rest of World:

How an Argentinian govt. program that issued netbooks to 4M low-income students from 2011 to 2015 helped indirectly create a new generation of teen musicians

Tweets: @restofworld, @basgras, @rossdawson, @restofworld, @thatericalper, @sub8u, @restofworld, @restofworld, and @anirvan

Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:

Andreessen Horowitz's Future doesn't compete with journalism because it offers up essays, not reporting, limiting its potential to promote tech-positive views

More: Columbia Journalism Review. Tweets: @ericnewcomer, @davidgerard, @dotben, @jaycuthrell, @sarthakgh, @mattyglesias, @davewiner, @gaberivera, @gaberivera, @edzitron, @cathyreisenwitz, @iansherr, and @ericnewcomer

Karissa Bell / Engadget:

Facebook says it will update its community standards to clarify how it treats satirical content as a result of recommendations from the Oversight Board

More: mobilesyrup.com, The Verge, Gizmodo, MUO, and Android Central. Tweets: @iansherr