Techmeme
December 21, 2021, 4:35 PM

Top News

Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:
Jack Dorsey's tweet stirs uproar: “You don't own ‘web3.’ The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It's ultimately a centralized entity”  —  Fresh off relinquishing the chief executive reins of Twitter Inc., Bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey has taken …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely steps down as CEO, naming head of communications and marketing Ami Gan as his replacement; Stokely will remain as an adviser  —  OnlyFans named spokesperson Ami Gan as its new chief executive officer, replacing Tim Stokely, who founded and built the media company …
The Cloudflare Blog:
TikTok.com was the most popular domain globally between August and December 2021, after passing Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon this year  —  Loading...  Sofia Cardita  —  The years come and go, Internet traffic continues to grow (at least so far and with some ‘help’ from the pandemic) …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T plans to sell its Xandr programmatic advertising marketplace to Microsoft; the deal would not include the ad sales business supporting DirecTV  —  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed; the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory reviews.
New York Times:
Crypto and blockchain startups raised $28B+ in 2021, up 4x YoY, according to PitchBook, as large tech companies lose execs and engineers to crypto companies  —  Tech executives and engineers are quitting Google, Meta, Amazon and other large companies for what they say is a once-in-generation opportunity with crypto.
Kimberly Chin / Wall Street Journal:
McDonald's is selling Dynamic Yield, a startup it acquired for $300M+ in 2019 that helps retailers offer personalized digital promotions, to Mastercard  —  Burger chain acquired startup in 2019 for more than $300 million, which was then its largest acquisition in decades
Anish Athalye:
Researcher shows how ML models can create low-resolution images from PhotoDNA hashes, used to identify CSAM, despite Microsoft's claim they can't be reversed  —  Microsoft PhotoDNA creates a “unique digital signature” of an image which can be matched against a database containing signatures …
Stephanie Chan / Sensor Tower Blog:
In 2021, 906 developers are projected to pass $1M annual revenue for the first time on Apple's App Store and Google Play, vs. 475 in 2016 and 1,003 in 2020  —  As global consumer spending in mobile apps is projected to again reach new heights in 2021, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data reveals …
Isla McKetta / Speedtest Stories & Analysis:
A look at US satellite internet speeds, with Starlink median download/upload speeds of 87.3 Mbps and 13.5 Mbps, followed by HughesNet at 19.3 Mbps and 2.5 Mbps  —  Satellite internet is making headlines across the globe as Starlink continues to launch service in new countries and Viasat plans to acquire Inmarsat.
Politico:
Sources detail Amazon's increasingly close relationship with the DOJ and FBI, as it tips off the agencies to investigate its employees and third-party sellers  —  Amazon has increasingly tipped off the Justice Department and FBI to investigate its own employees and the sellers using its platform …
Sahar Massachi / MIT Technology Review:
A framework for fixing social media: apply lessons from physical cities, prevent fake accounts, improve corporate behavior, and listen to integrity workers  —  We need to make our online spaces more similar to our offline ones to limit the reach of bad actors and keep people safe.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Get your favorite apps talking to Zoho Sign with Zapier  —  Your business didn't come together overnight.  It's something you've built, refined, and fine-tuned over time.  Every tool you use has a purpose …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
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.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 4:35 PM ET, December 21, 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

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Brian Sozzi / Yahoo Finance:
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC: