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Techmeme
August 12, 2021, 10:00 PM
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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 …
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  —  Reddit, the virtual town square of the consumer internet, has raised a fresh $410 million in funding, valuing it at more than $10 billion, the company said on Thursday.
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
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.
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.
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).
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
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  —  TikTok today becomes the latest tech company to roll out increased protections for minors on its platform in the wake of increased regulatory scrutiny.
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.
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.
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Google says it banned location data company SafeGraph in early June, meaning apps using SafeGuard location SDK had to remove it  —  SafeGraph sells smartphone location data to essentially anyone.  Google banned the company in June.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Google has banned SafeGraph …
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.
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  —  Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi's transfer to French club Paris St Germain included a payment in cryptocurrency fan tokens …
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  —  During an Aug. 6 broadcast, the Twitch streamer RekItRaven — who is Black and uses they/them pronouns …
Li Yuan / New York Times:
After Alibaba fired an employee accused of rape, over 6,000 workers sign a letter urging it to ban sexual remarks and games in ice-breaking and business events
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 …
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  —  An internal document also mentions cases where imposters have stolen Amazon customer data.  —  Joseph Cox

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:00 PM ET, August 12, 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

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”, after CBS aired a Late Show rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss skipped five 60 Minutes CECOT screenings; after her edits were added on Thursday, she asked on Friday to add a Stephen Miller interview

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Disney crosses the $6B milestone at the box office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic; no other studio has managed to reach $6B since 2015

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
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Honor unveils Magic 3 series, its first post-Huawei smartphones, all with 6.76-inch displays, Google services, up to 512GB and 12GB RAM, starting at €899
Eric Krebs / Bloomberg:
Utah-based TaxBit, which provides cryptocurrency tax and accounting services, raises $130M Series B at a $1.3B+ valuation, after raising $100M in March
Li Jin / Li's Newsletter:
A look at how centralized social media platforms have made the creator economy corrosive for online workers and what can be done to remedy the issue
Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg:
Palantir reports Q2 revenue of $376M, up 49% YoY, as sales to governments rose 66% YoY; Q3 revenue is forecasted to rise 33% YoY to $385M; stock rises 7%+

Earlier Picks

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:
Talkdesk, which provides cloud-based call center software, raises $230M Series D at a $10B valuation, following $143M Series C at a $3B valuation from last July
Bloomberg:
Sources: Atlanta-based Mailchimp is exploring strategic options, including a sale at a $10B+ valuation; source says Mailchimp's EBITDA reached $300M in 2020
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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