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August 13, 2021, 8:45 AM
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Top News

Reuters:
Sources: Apple employees have sent 800+ Slack messages on an internal channel debating the company's plans to scan US iPhones, iPads, and computers for CSAM  —  A backlash over Apple's move to scan U.S. customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images has grown to include employees speaking …
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:
Nvidia says part of its April keynote was led by a virtual replica of CEO Jensen Huang, created by scanning Huang and then training an AI to mimic his gestures  —  Nvidia pulled off a stunt to promote and showcase its latest technology by digitizing its CEO Jensen Huang in a conference keynote.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Disney+ beats Q3 subscriber estimates, reaching 116M subscribers vs. 114.5M expected; ESPN+ subscribers rose 75% YoY to 14.9M, Hulu grew 21% YoY to 42.8M  —  Disney's streaming service is seeing improved growth, after initially seeing slower numbers of subscriber additions in Q2 as Covid lockdowns and mask mandates came to an end.
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
A look at community NFT projects like Pudgy Penguins, which have become a new kind of financial and social status symbol on the internet  —  Is this what the metaverse looks like?  —  Earlier this week, I got attacked by penguins.  —  Not real ones, mind you.
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
In an internal memo, Amazon drops guidelines that claimed ownership rights to video games made by staff after work hours, following criticism from developers  —  - Memo from Game Studios chief suggests rules were too broad  — Company previously claimed rights to games made outside work
Felix Salmon / Axios:
Circle announces intention to become a bank, fully regulated by Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, which could make USDC a de facto central bank digital currency  —  Crypto giant Circle has announced its intention to become a bank, fully regulated by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC.
Bloomberg:
Facebook delays its office reopenings in the US until January 2022; Facebook originally hoped for 50% office capacity by September and 100% by October  —  - Company originally planned to have employees back by October  — Facebook will also require vaccinations for U.S. staff members
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Airbnb reports Q2 revenue of $1.34B, up nearly 300% YoY, with Gross Booking Value of $13.4B, up 320% YoY, and net loss of $68M, down 88% YoY  —  - Airbnb beat Wall Street's expectations for revenue and bookings in the second quarter, but the company warned about expected volatility from the Covid delta variant.
Shen Lu / Protocol:
In response to internal calls for reform, Alibaba says it will form a committee of five female execs to handle workplace sexual harassment and related issues  —  This story contains mention of sexual assault.  —  After rape allegations of a female employee against her manager …
Rory Smith / New York Times:
How soccer industry database Transfermarkt arrives at its highly influential player valuations, even as its data is crowdsourced from volunteers and staff  —  Soccer takes the player valuations posted on the website Transfermarkt extremely seriously.  It has never really stopped to ask where they come from.
Hirsh Chitkara / Protocol:
Illustrators say Corporate Memphis, an art aesthetic synonymous with tech marketing, has stuck around because execs continue to overlook the value of their work  —  You may not have heard of “Corporate Memphis,” but you've almost certainly seen it.  The illustration style can be found …
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
UK's CMA says it has provisionally found that Facebook's Giphy acquisition could negatively impact competition, such as by denying competitors access to GIFs  —  The merger of social media giant Facebook and Giphy, the largest provider of GIFs, has run into a roadblock from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
David Ramli / Bloomberg:
Innovusion Holdings, which develops lidar systems, raises $66M Series B plus round, bringing its total raised to $180M  —  - Supplier to auto-makers completes Series B plus round  — Financing led by Guotai Junan International, Shunwei Capital  —  Innovusion Holdings Ltd …
Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:
Divvy Homes, which buys homes on behalf of renters and helps them become owners, raises $200M at a $2B valuation, co-led by Tiger Global and Caffeinated Capital  —  - San Francisco company seeks to enable renters to own homes  — Caffeinated Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, GIC also invested
Maia Szalavitz / Wired:
Researchers say algorithms like NarxCare, which are used to identify a patient's risk of misusing opioids, may be actually worsening the US opioid crisis  —  A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis.  It may only be making the crisis worse.
KrASIA:
XtalPi, which uses AI for drug discovery and development, raises $400M Series D led by OrbiMed and RRJ, at a valuation of over $2B  —  The company provides its AI technology to pharmaceutical companies to enhance R&D for new drugs.  —  AI pharmaceutical company XtalPi secured USD 400 million …

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:45 AM ET, August 13, 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.

From Mediagazer

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
BBC DG Matt Brittin says the BBC and UK public service broadcasting face “real jeopardy” as license fee erosion drives BBC's third consecutive annual deficit

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Lionsgate's Michael crosses $1B at the global box office, its first film to reach the milestone, per Rentrak, reviving Hollywood's last major independent studio

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist Pat Oliphant, 90, has died in Santa Fe, NM; at the height of his career, he was syndicated in as many as 500 newspapers

More News

Andrew Deck / Rest of World:
As Substack expands abroad, writers say it needs local payment options and customer service in other languages; some worry about legal support in hostile states
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Internal docs: Amazon plans to monitor keyboard strokes and mouse movements of customer service staff to stop rogue workers or hackers accessing customer data

Earlier Picks

Joseph Cox / VICE:
Google says it banned location data company SafeGraph in early June, meaning apps using SafeGuard location SDK had to remove it
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok details upcoming protections for users aged 13 to 17, including turning in-app messaging off by default and changes to notifications
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Reddit raises $410M+ led by Fidelity Investments at a $10B+ valuation, up from $6B six months ago when it raised $250M; the new round could reach ~$700M
Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:
Thousands of marginalized streamers implore Twitch to counter “hate raids”, where groups of malicious users fill a streamer's chat with targeted abuse
Simon Evans / Reuters:
Lionel Messi's new contract with Paris St Germain includes a “large number” of crypto $PSG Fan Tokens from Socios.com, which let holders vote on minor decisions
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper / CNET:
Twitter rolls out a web and app redesign, implementing its first proprietary font, called Chirp, high-contrast black and white follow and unfollow buttons, more
Wolfie Zhao / The Block:
The attacker who stole $611M from Poly Network has now returned over $342M in USDC, BTCB, SHIBA, and others, after saying they were “ready to surrender”
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