Techmeme
August 5, 2021, 6:45 AM

Top News

Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Mozilla's analysis says Facebook's justifications for cutting off access to researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory project “simply do not hold water”  —  The company says privacy concerns forced it to block access for a team of academics.  Whose privacy, exactly?
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
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Senators Lummis, Wyden, Toomey propose amendment to infrastructure bill excluding crypto developers, miners, node operators, others from the “broker” definition  —  A trio of U.S. senators is proposing a legislative exclusion for crypto companies, including miners and software developers …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok says it is testing TikTok Stories; source says Stories are available in a handful of markets outside the US  —  Twitter may have shut down its Stories features known as Fleets, but the Stories format will continue to invade other social platforms.  TikTok today confirmed it's piloting …
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 ~5%  —  - 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.
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Apple places female engineering program manager on administrative leave after she tweeted about sexism in the office  —  Ashley Gjøvik says the employee relations team implied she should stay off Slack pending an ongoing investigation  —  Apple has placed senior engineering program …
Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE:
Amnesty International: of the world's 53 largest VC firms, only one meets UN human rights due diligence standards  —  Out of the 53 companies and accelerators surveyed, only one “potentially” set up a policy to investigate and stop contributions to human rights abuse.  —  EO
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple is reportedly considering using on-device hashing algorithms to match photos with known child abuse material, a potentially problematic practice  —  Apple is reportedly set to announce new photo identification features that will use hashing algorithms to match the content of photos …
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 …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
EA beats estimates with Q1 total net revenue of $1.55B, up from $1.46B YoY, net income of $204M, down from $365M YoY, and net bookings of $1.34B, down 3% YoY  —  Watch now.  —  Electronic Arts reported better-than-expected earnings today for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 …
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Tencent resumes accepting user registrations on WeChat, after suspending them on July 27 for a “security technical upgrade” to comply with Chinese regulations  —  - The company suspended registrations last week for upgrades  — Its shares have swung wildly in recent days on crackdown fears
FinSMEs:
Philadelphia-based ZeroEyes, which uses AI to detect guns, raises $20.9M Series A led by Octave Ventures  —  ZeroEyes, a Philadelphia PA-based provider of an AI powered weapons detection solution, raised $20.9M in Series A funding.  —  The round, which brought the total amount raised to date to $26.1m …

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered 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!
Zoho:
Saudi Arabia's data localisation era: Why compliance-ready clouds are now essential  —  Saudi Arabia is in a key phase in its digital transformation, where data governance, cybersecurity, and digital sovereignty are as vital as innovation.
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:
The non-technical PM's guide to building with Cursor | Zevi Arnovitz (Meta)
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:
Is Google's Gemini Winning?, Thinking Machines Drama, Claude Cowork's Potential
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.
Hard Fork:
Jonathan Haidt Strikes Again + What You Vibecoded + An Update on the Forkiverse
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:
Building an autonomous car utopia with Rivian's RJ Scaringe
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Three New Influencers
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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 6:45 AM ET, August 5, 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

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Bloomberg:
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:

Earlier Picks

Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Sam Shead / CNBC:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg: