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Techmeme
December 3, 2021, 1:45 PM
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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
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.
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.
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony plans to launch a subscription service, codenamed Spartacus, next spring that merges PlayStation Plus and 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
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 …
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.
Dalvin Brown / Wall Street Journal:
Instagram has quietly rolled out a pop-up over the past year encouraging users to “try a new account” to help them “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?
Reuters:
Didi Global says it will begin the process of delisting from the NYSE and listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in an attempt to appease Chinese regulators  —  Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global (DIDI.N) said on Friday it will start work on delisting from the New York stock exchange …
The Verge:
Report: Google's Pixel hardware group is working on the company's first smartwatch, internally codenamed “Rohan”, which it plans to launch next year  —  A Pixel Watch is finally in the works  —  Google is finally making its own in-house smartwatch that's set to launch in 2022 …
Tim Copeland / The Block:
DeFi protocol BadgerDAO is investigating after security researchers say $120.3M was stolen from users via its compromised front end  —  Quick Take  — DeFi protocol BadgerDAO was exploited earlier today for $120 million.  — It appears that its front end was compromised and users were tricked into making unwanted transactions.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:45 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.

From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day

More News

New York Times:
A look at the Xbox Series X and PS5 markets, as holiday shoppers navigate a world of “purchase bot” resellers, retail memberships, and social media tips
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Marketers are reacting to privacy laws and Big Tech policy changes with quizzes and other events to collect their own customer info and build detailed profiles

Earlier Picks

Hristina Yordanova / DappRadar:
The four leading virtual worlds recorded over $100M in NFT land sales in the past week, with The Sandbox alone seeing trading volumes of over $86M
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
In a filing in the Epic lawsuit, Apple says it “could charge a commission” if developers use a competing payments platform, following a similar Google policy
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Facebook makes 2FA mandatory for high-risk accounts, an expansion of Facebook Protect, which covers 1.5M accounts and will be in 50 countries by the end of 2021
Tom Simonite / Wired:
AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who left Google last year, launches Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research, an institute focused on the responsible use of AI
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple, which cut its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by up to 10M units, tells suppliers that it may not make up the shortfall in 2022
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