Techmeme
August 26, 2021, 2:55 AM

Top News

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Following WH meeting, Google says it will spend $10B over 5 years and train 100K IT and data workers, Apple pledges supply chain security improvements, more  —  - The White House hosted a cybersecurity summit with CEOs in sectors ranging from tech to insurance.
Washington Post:
Biden meets with CEOs from Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and others to discuss cybersecurity, says private sector must do more to protect infrastructure  —  “You have the power, capacity and responsibility, I believe, to raise the bar on cybersecurity,” President Biden tells CEOs of Apple, Google, JP Morgan Chase
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
YouTube says it has removed over 1M videos related to COVID misinfo since February 2020, and says it removes 10M videos a quarter, most of which have <10 views  —  But the 1 million coronavirus-related takedowns since the start of the pandemic are difficult to put in context, because of YouTube's gigantic scale.
Insider:
In an abrupt reversal, OnlyFans suspends its October 1 policy change banning porn after securing “assurances” and aims to provide “a home for all creators”  —  - OnlyFans is reversing its recent decision to ban porn.  — It had planned to prohibit sexually explicit …
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
A history of Google's messaging apps and how a lack of any kind of top-down messaging leadership has led to a decade and a half of failed messaging platforms  —  Sixteen years after the launch of Google Talk, Google messaging is still a mess.  —  Google Talk, Google's first-ever instant messaging platform …
Reuters:
DOJ and SEC charged ex-HeadSpin CEO Manish Lachwani with allegedly defrauding investors out of $80M from 2018 to 2020 in an effort to boost HeadSpin's valuation  —  U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged a co-founder and former chief executive of HeadSpin with defrauding investors …
New York Times:
Sources: Facebook has approached experts about forming an advisory body for how it handles global election matters, such as political ads, misinfo, and more  —  The social network has contacted academics to create a group to advise it on thorny election-related decisions, said people with knowledge of the matter.
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
GAO: 19 of 24 US government agencies surveyed use facial recognition in some capacity; DoD and DHS both have in-house systems, while 4 had used Clearview AI  —  A new GAO report finds 19 agencies are using some form of the technology  —  A new report from the Government Accountability Office …
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Instagram plans to more prominently feature photos and videos in search results in the future along with traditional accounts and hashtags  —  How search works and what it will be able to do next  —  Instagram plans to more prominently feature photos and videos in search results …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Western Digital is in advanced talks to merge with Kioxia, the chipmaker spun out of Toshiba in 2018, in a deal that could be valued at more than $20B  —  Stock deal could be finalized as early as the middle of September, according to people familiar with the matter
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Facebook adds features to Messenger on its 10-year anniversary, including word effects, contact sharing, and birthday gifting via Facebook Pay  —  To celebrate its ten year anniversary, Messenger today announced a handful of new features: poll games, word effects, contact sharing, and birthday gifting via Facebook Pay.
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Meditation app Headspace unveils plans to merge with Ginger, an on-demand mental health service, in a deal valuing the combined company at $3B  —  Meditation app Headspace this morning announced plans to merge with on-demand mental health service, Ginger.  Barring unforeseen regulatory roadblocks …
Tech Transparency Project:
Investigation finds underage users can easily evade age limits on ~80 apps on Apple's App Store, such as dating, sex, and gambling apps restricted to ages 17+  —  Apple just announced new steps to flag child sex abuse images on iPhones.  But a TTP investigation shows that Apple's App Store is rife with child safety problems.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Salesforce beats in Q2 with revenue of $6.34B, up 23% YoY, Platform and Other revenue of $1.88B, up 24% YoY, and Sales Cloud revenue of $1.48B, up 15% YoY  —  - Salesforce shares rose 3% in extended trading Wednesday after it reported fiscal second-quarter earnings.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Fitbit announces Charge 5 with a rounded design, a larger and brighter color AMOLED display, GPS, and more, arriving in the fall for $179.95  —  It costs $179.95 and will be out this fall  —  Following a couple of big leaks, Fitbit is officially announcing the Charge 5 …

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!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Website Traffic Analytics: How to Read Your Data and Take Action  —  Traffic is up.  Sessions look healthy.  The dashboard is full of green arrows and yet — conversions are flat, revenue targets are slipping, and the leads coming through aren't closing.
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

Big Technology Podcast:
Will Apple (Finally) Get AI Right At WWDC?, Anthropic's Worry, Microsoft vs. OpenAI
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:
Hot I.P.O Summer + What Is A.I. Doing to Math? + HatGPT
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Vanta's Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning 'Nonsense' Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
Who are the billboards for?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Access:
AI is turning sketches into real-world products
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 2:55 AM ET, August 26, 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

The Markup:

Earlier Picks

Financial Times:
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.vc:
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: