Techmeme
August 10, 2021, 10:23 PM

Top News

Tim Copeland / The Block:
Group behind Poly Network, a cross-chain protocol used for DeFi applications, says a hacker has stolen $611M; one researcher blames the attack on a crypto flaw  —  Quick Take  — Cross-chain protocol Poly Network has been hacked for $611 million.  — The team behind the protocol …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Google will let under 18s delist photos by request, restrict ad targeting of children based on age, gender, or interests, and more  —  As part of a new series of protections for kids under 18  —  Google will no longer allow ad targeting of children based on their age, gender …
Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters:
Facebook says it has removed a network of accounts from Russia linked to a UK marketing firm that pushed anti-vaccine content using Planet of the Apes memes  —  Facebook (FB.O) said on Tuesday it had removed a network of accounts from Russia that it linked to a marketing firm which aimed …
New York Times:
Inside the rift between the White House and Facebook over vaccine misinformation, as the administration grew frustrated with Facebook's lack of transparency  —  Frustrations grew behind the scenes among top leaders on both sides, potentially hurting the government's efforts to overcome the pandemic.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans a modest iPhone update, with a smaller notch, faster refresh rate, and camera upgrades, including ProRes recording and video Portrait mode  —  - Company plans video Portrait mode and higher-quality recording  — New models to include smaller display cutout and faster chip
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Coinbase reports $2.23B in Q2 revenue, vs $1.78B est., and net profit of $1.6B, up nearly 4,900% YoY, following volatile stretch of cryptocurrency trading  —  - In Q2, Coinbase brought in $2.23 billion of revenue vs. $1.78 billion expected by Refinitiv.  — It also reported a profit per share of $6.42.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
OpenAI debuts a private beta for Codex, an API for turning natural language into code of one of over a dozen coding languages; Codex powers GitHub's Copilot  —  Watch now.  —  OpenAI today released OpenAI Codex, its AI system that translates natural language into code, through an API in private beta.
Frank Konkel / Nextgov:
Source: the NSA awarded a secret cloud computing contract worth up to $10B to AWS; Microsoft has filed a bid protest with the GAO in response  —  Much of the NSA's most prized intelligence data may be moving to the cloud.  —  The National Security Agency has awarded a secret cloud computing contract worth …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
Senate sends $1T infrastructure bill to the House after a 69-30 vote; the bill contains a controversial cryptocurrency tax provision critics see as too broad  —  The bill contains a broad definition of “broker” for crypto tax reporting requirements that lawmakers and industry advocates sought to change over the past week.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
BitMEX announces a $100M settlement with the CFTC and FinCEN over shortcomings in its anti-money laundering and know-your-customer oversight systems  —  Crypto derivatives trading platform BitMEX announced Tuesday it had reached a settlement on civil charges with U.S. authorities.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Microsoft will now require admin rights before Windows users can access the Point and Print feature, to mitigate a security flaw it has already tried to patch  —  Microsoft has released today a security update that will change the default behavior of the “Point and Print” …
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Xiaomi announces the Mix 4 smartphone with a bezel-less design and an under-display selfie camera, launching in China for ~$770  —  The first new Mi Mix in years  —  Xiaomi has announced the Mix 4, the first phone in the Mi Mix series to be announced in nearly three years.
Joanna Ossinger / Bloomberg:
Helium, a P2P 5G wireless network startup, raises $111M in an a16z-led token sale, says it has 116K+ wireless hotspots in 11K cities with 500K more back-ordered  —  - Napster's Shawn Fanning co-founded Helium with Amir Haleem  — Ribbit, Alameda, Multicoin among participants in the round
Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:
Court docs: Apple settles its 2019 lawsuit against Corellium over Corellium's “virtualized” iPhone business; Corellium says it still sells virtual iOS devices  —  Apple accused Corellium of violating its copyrights with virtual iPhones used for security research
Tweets: @counternotions
Tiernan Ray / ZDNet:
NortonLifeLock says that it will merge with Avast in a cash and stock deal worth between $8.1B and $8.6B  —  The two companies said they will create a “new, industry-leading consumer Cyber Safety business.”  —  Antivirus vendor NortonLifeLock this afternoon said it will merge …
Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac:
Apple publishes a CSAM FAQ to address misconceptions and concerns about photo scanning  —  Apple has responded to misconceptions and concerns about its photo scanning announcements by publishing a CSAM FAQ - answering frequently asked questions about the features.
Danielle Kaye / Reuters:
According to an internal Google pay calculator, staff who choose to work from home will likely get a pay cut, especially those who commuted over long distances  —  Google employees based in the same office before the pandemic could see different changes in pay if they switch to working from home permanently …
Dave Lee / Financial Times:
Amazon says it will pay up to $1,000 in damages for dangerous goods sold by third-party merchants starting September 1 in the US  —  More than half of products sold on the platform come from third parties and are not vetted by ecommerce giant  —  Amazon will start directly paying compensation …
TJ Denzer / Shacknews:
Unity reports Q2 revenue of $273.6M, up 48% YoY, and says it will acquire remote desktop and streaming company Parsec for ~$320M  —  Unity boasted a massive increase in revenue year-over-year and has raised its guidance as a result.  —  As fiscal quarters close and companies report earnings results …

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