Techmeme
October 1, 2021, 1:35 AM

Top News

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Senators grilled Facebook exec Antigone Davis at a hearing about Instagram's impact on teens and were frustrated by her reticence to answer questions directly  —  Last night, Facebook published two annotated slide decks in an attempt to contextualize the documents that the Wall Street Journal published …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Facebook Files don't show that the company's execs are evil or incompetent, but highlight their hubris in believing they can still get things back under control  —  Over the last few weeks, the WSJ has run a series of posts generally called “The Facebook Files,” which have exposed a variety …
Wall Street Journal:
The Verge:
Aislinn Keely / The Block:
TikTok launches Top Moments, an NFT collection featuring six “culturally significant TikTok videos” from creators including Lil Nas X  —  TikTok is launching a non-fungible token (NFT) collection that will see its top content creators partner with top NFT creators.
William Gallagher / AppleInsider:
USB Implementers Forum issues new USB-C certified logos that show if a cable or port supports 60W or 240W, hoping to solve customer confusion  —  The group responsible for the USB-C protocol has issued new certified logos that show if a cable or port supports 60W or 240W, hoping that customers will read the labels.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Zoom says it no longer plans to acquire cloud-based call center software maker Five9, following the FCC's review of the $14.7B deal on national security grounds  —  - Zoom's attempted acquisition of cloud contact center software maker failed to win sufficient approval from Five9 shareholders.
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
A look at the rise of employee dissent at Apple, including pushback against returning to the office, fighting for pay equity, and increasing leaks  —  On June 14th, 2021, Apple's remote work advocacy group sent an anonymous email to Tim Cook.  —  “We all agree that we are here at Apple …
BBC:
Researchers: a flaw in Apple Pay lets attackers make a Visa payment with a locked iPhone in Express Transit mode; Apple calls it “a concern with a Visa system”  —  Large unauthorised contactless payments can be made on locked iPhones by exploiting how an Apple Pay feature designed …
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Axios:
LinkedIn blocks the profiles of several US journalists on its Chinese platform, citing “prohibited content” without specifying what it was  —  LinkedIn blocked the profiles of several U.S. journalists from the company's China-based platform this week, citing “prohibited content.”
Samantha Cole / VICE:
Source: ex-OnlyFans staff had access to highly sensitive user and model data, like bank statements, legal names, and KYC images, long after leaving the company  —  Addresses, full names, passports, bank statements and other sensitive personal data were viewable.  —  Samantha Cole
Emma Betuel / TechCrunch:
Activ Surgical, which makes hardware-agnostic software for minimally invasive surgical systems, raises $45M Series B led by Cota Capital  —  Activ Surgical, a Boston-based digital surgery company, announced a $45 million Series B round on Thursday.  The round comes during a critical year for Activ Surgical.
Rebecca Szkutak / Forbes:
MaestroQA, whose ML-powered software finds customer service interactions that should be reviewed by a manager, raises $25M Series A led by Base10 Partners  —  Customer service outlets are one of the most direct ways people give companies feedback, yet the channels to do so are increasingly less personal.
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Intel unveils Loihi 2, a second-generation neuromorphic computing chip, and Lava, an open-source framework for developing “neuro-inspired” applications  —  Intel today announced a major update to its neuromorphic computing program, including a second-generation chip called Loihi 2 and Lava …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Chinese AR company Nreal unveils Nreal Air, consumer glasses with micro OLED displays and iOS compatibility, shipping in Dec. in Japan, China, and South Korea  —  They'll ship later this year in Asia  —  Augmented reality company Nreal is launching a cheaper, iOS-compatible, more compact version of its smart glasses.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple, for the first time, shares the top paid podcast subscriptions and free channels globally, counting devices that played at least one second of an episode  —  Happy International Podcast Day!  In today's podcast news roundup, Apple releases the top 10 most-subscribed podcasts and free channels …

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Earlier Picks

Karen Weise / New York Times:
Juli Clover / MacRumors: