Techmeme
December 3, 2021, 7:50 PM

Top News

Reuters:
Sources: the iPhones of at least nine US State Department employees were hacked using NSO's spyware in the past several months  —  Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group …
Wall Street Journal:
The US plans to work with friendly nations to limit the export of surveillance tools and other tech used by authoritarian governments to suppress human rights  —  Administration official cites China's use of monitoring technologies, which Beijing has defended, in calling for tighter export rules
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony plans to launch a subscription service, codenamed Spartacus, next spring that merges PlayStation Plus and PS Now, to compete with Xbox Game Pass  —  - Subscription offering would blend PlayStation Now and PS Plus  — Code-named Spartacus, launch is targeted for next spring
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
An anti-fascist researcher says Twitter suspended her account after someone reported a 2019 tweet of hers following Twitter's updated Private Information Policy  —  Researchers fear the new ban on posts sharing people's private information will be ‘emboldening to the fascists’ eager to keep their identities concealed.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft backtracks on Windows 11's controversial default browser changes, adds a “set default” button for browsers in a preview build  —  Windows 11 will now make it easier to change default browsers  —  Microsoft is backtracking on changes it made to Windows 11 that made it more difficult to switch default browsers.
Washington Post:
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces a major reorganization, in which head of engineering Michael Montano and design lead Dantley Davis will step down  —  Engineering, design leads out as Parag Agrawal announces big changes.  —  Twitter's new CEO, Parag Agrawal, announced a major reorganization …
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google says it will not require US employees to return to the office on January 10 as expected but encourages them to come in to build “muscle memory”  —  - Google's security VP, Chris Rackow, sent a companywide email Thursday that said Google will not require employees to return to offices on Jan. 10 as expected.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta says it is testing a Split Payments feature for Messenger in the US that lets users share the cost of bills and expenses  —  Facebook Messenger announced today that it's starting to test out a new “Split Payments” feature that introduces a way for users to share the cost of bills and expenses through the app.
Dalvin Brown / Wall Street Journal:
Instagram has quietly rolled out a pop-up over the past year encouraging users to “try a new account” so they can “keep up with a smaller group of friends”  —  An in-app notice calls on users to ‘try a new account.’ Can a fresh start keep people from losing their enthusiasm for the platform?
Wall Street Journal:
The FTC sues to block Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, arguing the chip deal is anticompetitive; the $40B deal has risen to ~$75B due to Nvidia's share price  —  The agency alleges the semiconductor deal is anticompetitive  —  WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued …

Sponsor Posts

Tribe AI:
Is AI just hype?  —  Find out how top enterprises use Tribe to get real business results.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Zoho:
All new Zoho Workerly 2024  —  Staffing businesses around the world face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing their temporary workforce.  With a constantly shifting job market and changing staffing needs …
Comprehensive.io:
Browse salary data from 3,000 startups for free  —  Click for FREE, immediate access to real-time compensation benchmarking data.  Paid version helps HR automate comp reviews and communicate total compensation to employees.
The Kevin Rose Show:
Henry Shukman, Lessons from an Authentic Zen Master
Gain unconventional wisdom and insights through conversations with top expert in AI, investing, wellness, technology, and culture.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Thu. 03/28 - Claude 3 Opus Surpasses GPT-4 For The First Time
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or RSS.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:50 PM ET, December 3, 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

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
The Verge:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Tim Copeland / The Block:
Carly Page / TechCrunch: