Techmeme
December 8, 2021, 9:45 PM

Top News

C-SPAN.org:
Video of Adam Mosseri's testimony before a Senate Commerce subcommittee examining Instagram's negative effects on teen mental health  —  Instagram CEO testifies on impact of platform on young users before a Senate Commerce subcommittee.
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram plans to bring back “a version” of its chronological feed in Q1 2022, as it experiments with other options for users including a “favorites” feed  —  After more than five years, Instagram plans to bring back “a version” of its chronological feed next year, the company's top executive said on Wednesday.
Bloomberg:
Adam Mosseri proposes updating Section 230 so that tech companies are only protected if they follow kids' safety rules set by a new government oversight body  —  - Mosseri proposes new oversight body to create standards  — Senators say they're unconvinced by Instagram's new features
Russell Brandom / The Verge:
A US appeals court grants a stay in the Epic v. Apple ruling, letting Apple keep its IAP system as the sole source of iOS in-app payments as the case proceeds  —  Apple can maintain its App Store payment monopoly while the case proceeds  —  An appeals court has paused one of the most consequential parts …
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg apologizes for how he handled firing ~900 employees, 9% of his workforce, over Zoom, as a report says Better.com is delaying its SPAC  —  Better.com CEO Vishal Garg apparently realizes he's done wrong.  —  (As if the barrage of negative publicity wasn't enough evidence of that.)
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Kickstarter plans to transition its crowdfunding site to a newly created blockchain-based protocol in 2022, and will offer tools for others to build on it  —  It's creating a new company to develop and distribute the technology.  —  For more than a decade, Kickstarter PBC has convinced …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Roku says it has agreed to a multi-year extension with Google for distributing YouTube and YouTube TV apps on its devices; Roku's stock is up 18%+  —  Roku and Google have agreed to a multi-year extension for both YouTube and YouTube TV apps to be distributed on Roku.
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Facebook is testing a Professional Mode, letting eligible creators monetize their profiles, including the Reels Play bonus program that offers up to $35K/month  —  Facebook has launched a new professional mode for profiles that will let eligible creators earn money without the need to create a separate Page.
Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
Sami Fathi / MacRumors:
Kuo: AirPods Pro 2, the first update since 2019, will launch in Q4 2022 with a Beats Fit Pro-like design, an improved chip, fitness tracking, and more  —  The AirPods Pro 2, the first update to the AirPods Pro since its debut in 2019, will launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Apple analyst Ming Chi-Kuo.
Neal E. Boudette / New York Times:
After Tesla added over 12 video games that can be played while driving, critics argue the company is compromising road users' safety, on top of Autopilot issues  —  The feature raises fresh questions about whether Tesla is compromising safety as it rushes to add new technologies.
Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon has emerged as the de facto wage-and-benefits setter as US companies fight to attract workers in a tight labor market, causing ripples across the economy  —  In local markets throughout America, the e-commerce giant's facilities have an impact on inflation, job markets and labor standards
Andrew Tangel / Wall Street Journal:
The FAA outlines flight restrictions, including limiting bad weather automated landing systems to avoid interference with the C-band 5G spectrum from January 5  —  Agency's order could disrupt air travel with limits to cockpit systems needed in poor weather; new 5G services expected to go live Jan. 5
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Meta, Nike, GM, IBM, Walmart, Deloitte, Mastercard, and others join the Data & Trust Alliance, which built an anti-bias scoring system for AI used in HR tools  —  The organization has created a format for evaluating the technology, which is often used to screen job candidates.

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Intel:
5G's most deployed platform  —  Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN.  That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
Introducing Leaderboard in Zoho Publish  —  Managing one business location is straightforward.  Managing ten, fifty, or hundreds?  That's where clarity disappears.When multiple locations operate under the same brand or business …
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:
Why OpenAI Killed Sora, Did Apple Just Save Siri?, Meta's Big Loss
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:
The Ezra Klein Show: How Fast Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?
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.
Great Chat:
Bubble talk
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 takes over meetings, the SF vs London tech scene, and ethics in media
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Everybody Goes Home: How technology is helping prevent wildfires from spreading
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 9:45 PM ET, December 8, 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

Queenie Wong / CNET:
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt: