Techmeme
December 23, 2021, 2:25 PM

Top News

Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Marc Andreessen blocked Jack Dorsey on Twitter following his tweets critical of a16z and Web3; Dorsey then tweeted “I'm officially banned from web3”  —  The venture capitalist blocked the former Twitter CEO, and Dorsey said he's now ‘banned from Web3’
Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:
Priya Anand / Bloomberg:
Internal docs show Amazon is struggling to retain Alexa device users; in some years between 2018-2021, 15%-25% of new users were no longer active after one week  —  Each holiday season since 2015, Amazon.com Inc. has counted on selling a lot of its Alexa voice-controlled smart speakers.
Karen Weise / New York Times:
Amazon reaches a nationwide settlement with the NLRB to let its warehouse employees more easily organize, likely affecting over 1M current and former workers  —  The agreement's national scope and its concessions to organizing go further than any previous settlement that the e-commerce giant has made.
Bloomberg:
Intel apologizes, following a backlash in China, for telling Chinese suppliers to avoid Xinjiang labor, saying it only did so to “ensure compliance” with US law  —  - Brand ambassador Wang Junkai cuts ties with the U.S. chipmaker  — Intel asked suppliers not to use labor, products from Xinjiang
James Vincent / The Verge:
Huawei debuts P50 Pocket, a clamshell-style folding device with a circular 1" outer display and 6.9" inner display, available now in China starting at ~$1,400  —  The phone launches in China today, but won't be coming to the US  —  Huawei has officially announced the P50 Pocket …
Brad Stone / Bloomberg:
How Tobi Lütke led Shopify to become an e-commerce giant, helping ~2M merchants run stores as its market cap rose from $46B in early 2020 to $177B today  —  Tobi Lütke transformed the Canadian upstart into an e-commerce giant by being the anti-Bezos.  How long can the formula keep working?
Reuters:
Tencent plans to issue nearly all its JD.com shares, worth $16.37B, to shareholders as a dividend, reducing its stake from 17% to about 2.3%  —  Chinese gaming and social media company Tencent (0700.HK) will hand a $16.4 billion JD.com (9618.HK) stake as a dividend to its shareholders …
Ryan Mac / New York Times:
In a note to employees, Andrew Bosworth envisions Meta offering “deep compatibility with the blockchain” and working “with entrepreneurs in the web3 space”  —  Meta, Facebook's parent company, is aiming for “deep compatibility” with blockchain technology …
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Research: decentralized exchanges reported $1T+ in 2021 trading volumes as of December 23, up 858% from $115B in 2020; monthly volume peaked in May at $162.8B  —  Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) reported more than $1 trillion in trading volumes in the year 2021, according to The Block Research.
FinSMEs:
China-based TandemAI, which uses AI to speed up the design and optimization of drug candidates, raises $25M in seed and pre-Series A funding  —  TandemAI, a Suzhou, and Shangai, China-based provider of a computational platform to accelerate the design and optimization of drug candidates, raised $25m in Seed and pre-Series A financing.
Jon Caramanica / New York Times:
A look at attempts by TikTok's biggest stars to expand onto other platforms, including Charli D'Amelio's Hulu docuseries, often with mixed results  —  This year, the app's biggest stars — Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, Noah Beck, Addison Rae and others — leapt from the phone screen to other platforms …

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.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
AWS WorkMail is shutting down: Migrate to a secure alternative without downtime  —  If your organization is currently using AWS WorkMail, this probably wasn't news you were expecting, but it is something …
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

Access:
OpenClaw for normies is here
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
When AI Kills
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI vs. Anthropic's Direct Faceoff + Future of Agents — With Aaron Levie
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.
Great Chat:
OpenAI's new media M&A and old media exposé
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.
Invest Like the Best:
Alan Waxman - Private Credit and the Modern Financial System
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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 2:25 PM ET, December 23, 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

Pranav Balakrishnan / The Economic Times:
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Katanga Johnson / Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Ben Dummett / Wall Street Journal:
Tom Krisher / Associated Press:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: