Techmeme
August 4, 2021, 6:15 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Facebook says it has disabled the accounts, apps, Pages, and access to its APIs for researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory Project, citing TOS violations  —  - Company says researchers of political ads were scraping data  — NYU's Ad Observatory got cease-and-desist letter last October
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sony beats estimates with Q1 operating profit of $2.6B and says the PS5 is no longer selling at a loss; PS Plus subscribers declined to 46.3M from 47.6M  —  - Sony expecting more from music streaming and digital cameras  — PlayStation software sales and subscriber additions slowed
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft pauses free trials of its new Windows 365 service, which lets users stream Windows 10 or 11 via web browser, after “significant demand”  —  Windows 365 lets you stream a cloud PC to a web browser  —  Microsoft launched its new cloud PC Windows 365 service earlier this week …
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Robinhood shares surged as much as 80% on Wednesday, reaching $85, with trading halted several times, and closed the day at $70.39 up 50.41%  —  Cramer: Hedge funds think Robinhood is a house of cards  —  Robinhood shares soared again Wednesday, extending a wild rally in the newly public stock trading app's stock.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Internal document: Google fired dozens of engineers between 2018 and 2020 for abusing their access to data and tools  —  Some allegations potentially center around accessing Google user or employee data.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Google has fired dozens of employees between 2018 and 2020 …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Uber beats estimates with record gross bookings of $21.9B, up 114% YoY, adjusted EBITDA loss of $509M, an improvement from $837M YoY; stock down 6%+ after hours  —  - Uber beat on both the top and bottom lines in its second quarter earnings report Wednesday.  — The company reported a net income of $1.1 billion for the quarter.
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Email service Superhuman, which charges $30/month and hasn't formally launched, raises $75M Series C led by IVP, source says at a $825M valuation  —  Covering venture capital, software and startups  —  When Superhuman CEO Rahul Vohra agreed to meet with former Dropbox CFO Ajay Vashee's …
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Instacart hires longtime Facebook ads chief Carolyn Everson, who left in June, as president, starting Sept. 7, following other high-profile hires from Facebook  —  - Weeks after poaching Facebook's Fidji Simo as CEO, Instacart hires Carolyn Everson as president.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Tinder parent company Match Group says it will add audio and video chat, including group live video, to several of its brands over the next 12 to 24 months  —  Dating app maker and Tinder parent, Match Group, said during its Q2 earnings it will bring audio and video chat, including group live video …
Tweets: @quinnypig
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Activision beats expectations in Q2 with revenue of $2.29B, up 19% YoY, and net bookings of $1.92B, down only 7% YoY, notes risks of the sexual harassment suit  —  Activision Blizzard reported earnings today that beat Wall Street's and its own expectations with 19% revenue growth to $2.29 billion for the second quarter ended June 30.
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
A look at Amazon's dilemma around mandating worker vaccinations, which could alienate the many virus skeptics in its warehouse ranks, amid a tight labor market  —  While much of Corporate America scrambled to adjust Covid-19 policies this summer in response to a surge of cases …
Sam Shead / CNBC:
After a report showed Amazon destroying millions of unsold items in the UK, Amazon introduces two programs to reduce waste, including reselling used items  —  - The so-called Fulfilment by Amazon programs, announced in a blog post on Wednesday, will help to build a circular economy, the company said.
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Human Interest, a 401(k) provider for SMBs that promises zero transaction fees, raises $200M at a $1B valuation, less than six months after its $55M Series C  —  Less than six months after raising $55 million in a Series C round of funding, SMB 401(k) provider Human Interest today announced …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
On-demand movie and TV service FandangoNOW has merged with video streaming service Vudu, which will become Roku's official movie and TV store  —  Last year, movie ticketing and discovery business Fandango, a division of NBCUniversal, bought the on-demand video streaming service Vudu from Walmart …

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!
Equals:
Stop vibe coding analytics  —  Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards.  Build once, iterate for years.
Zoho:
Zoho Writer now offers enhanced accessibility and usability to make it easy to use for everyone  —  Zoho Writer has implemented key accessibility improvements based on WCAG 2.1 Level AA and WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards …
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

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Trae and Delian from Founders Fund
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Training Data:
Why Hardware-Software Co-Design Is AI's Real 100x: Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Grit:
Airwallex's Jack Zhang on Fintech, Failure, and Growth
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
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.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI Codex lead on the new shape of product work | Andrew Ambrosino
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:
Anthropic's Mythos is Back, OpenAI Releases GPT 5.6, Apple's Price Increases
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:15 PM ET, August 4, 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

Liana Baker / Bloomberg:
Josh Ye / South China Morning Post:

Earlier Picks

Kate Kaye / Digiday:
Mike Dano / Light Reading:
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE: