Techmeme
September 9, 2021, 9:10 AM

Top News

Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Twitter says it is testing Communities, invite-only topic-based public feeds curated by moderators, initially limited to a few topics, such as dogs and skincare  —  Twitter is a useful place for following breaking news and keeping up with what the people you're already interested in are doing …
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Coinbase says SEC threatened to sue over its yet-to-be-launched Lend program, following discussions with the regulator that have lasted almost six months  —  Crypto exchange Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded Tuesday evening to planned enforcement by the U.S. Securities …
Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
While SEC rules are hazy, Coinbase's Lend product likely does constitute a security; to avoid SEC oversight, Coinbase would need to be regulated like a bank  —  Is lending your Bitcoins a security?  —  Oh, sure, yes, absolutely.  The rule in the U.S. is that an “investment contract,” …
Josh Ye / South China Morning Post:
Sources: China has temporarily suspended approvals for all new online games, revealing the move in a meeting with Tencent and NetEase  —  Sources said the decision to freeze new video game approvals was revealed at a meeting between Chinese regulators and industry giants Tencent and NetEase …
Jack Nicas / New York Times:
Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro temporarily bans social media companies from removing accounts and content that violate their rules, ahead of a presidential election  —  The new rules in Brazil appear to be the first national policy that restricts how tech companies can control their sites, analysts say.
Odanga Madung / Wired:
Investigation reveals how social media influencers in Kenya are hired to spread disinformation on Twitter against Kenyan journalists, judges, and activists  —  It's a lucrative gig for content creators, who can make $10 to $15 a day by smearing journalists and activists on social media.
Joseph Menn / Reuters:
Microsoft says it has fixed a flaw that could have let hackers access the data of some Azure customers; Palo Alto Networks reported the flaw in July  —  Microsoft (MSFT.O) warned some of its Azure cloud computing customers that a flaw discovered by security researchers could have allowed hackers access to their data.
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
UK network Three joins EE and Vodafone in adding a £2/day charge for EU roaming starting May 2022; O2 will offer free EU roaming as an add-on for some plans  —  Three has become the latest UK mobile network to reintroduce EU roaming fees, in another post-Brexit setback for customers traveling abroad.
Damien Wilde / 9to5Google:
Xiaomi says its upcoming 11T flagship series will get three years of OS updates and four years of security updates, matching Samsung and Google  —  Ahead of the release of the Xiaomi 11T Pro and 11T, the Chinese firm is promising extended support for the upcoming duo with three years …
Dave Nyczepir / FedScoop:
US Commerce Dept. says it is forming the National AI Advisory Committee, which will advise POTUS and federal agencies on AI research, competitiveness, and more  —  The Department of Commerce has set up a committee to advise the president and other federal agencies on artificial intelligence issues …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Google announces Workspace updates, including spaces for collaboration, Meet calling within Gmail, and 27" and 65" video calling devices by Logitech and Avocor  —  A new GamesBeat event is  Google today announced a series of updates across Workspace, its collection of cloud computing …
Cade Metz / New York Times:
A look at Sila Nanotechnologies' new battery model, which ships in the new Whoop wearable and may fuel a change in energy storage for electric cars and more  —  This week, a more efficient type of battery arrives in a wristband fitness tracker.  It could soon reach smart glasses, cars and even aircraft.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Canadian startup Nuula, which offers app-based financial services for SMBs, raises $20M equity and a $100M credit facility  —  A Canadian startup called Nuula that is aiming to build a superapp to provide a range of financial services to small and medium businesses has closed $120 million of funding …
Source: PR NewswireMore: Finextra and BetaKit
Shai Oster / The Information:
Munich- and Beijing-based robotics startup Agile Robots, which will work with Foxconn, raises $220M led by SoftBank, source says at a ~$1B post-money valuation  —  SoftBank is leading a $220 million round into Agile Robots, a startup based in Munich and Beijing that says its systems …
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Researchers: China-linked fake social media accounts tried to draw Asian-Americans to protests against racism; Facebook, YouTube, Twitter suspended the accounts  —  Campaign is first known instance of China-linked actors fomenting real-world U.S. protest; 'They're copying the Kremlin's playbook'
Sam Levin / The Guardian:
Documents: LAPD directs its officers to collect social media information of every civilian they interview, including those not arrested or accused of a crime  —  An internal police chief memo shows employees were directed to use ‘field interview cards’ which would then be reviewed

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