Techmeme
January 11, 2022, 2:05 AM

Top News

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Report: European carriers voice opposition to Apple's Private Relay, as T-Mobile and others begin blocking the VPN-like service in the US and parts of Europe  —  Earlier today, a report indicated that some European carriers were blocking the Private Relay feature introduced by Apple with iOS 15.
Moxie Marlinspike / Signal Blog:
Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike steps down; WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton will act as the interim CEO as the search for a permanent replacement begins  —  It's a new year, and I've decided it's a good time to replace myself as the CEO of Signal.  —  I have now been working on Signal for almost a decade.
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
Interview with Microsoft's Phil Spencer on why he thinks the metaverse is an extension of gaming, sexual misconduct allegations at Activision Blizzard, and more  —  When you walk in the room, do you have sway?  —  I'm Kara Swisher, and you're listening to “Sway.”
Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:
Take-Two will acquire Zynga for $12.7B, or $9.86 per share, a 64% premium on Zynga's January 7 closing price; Take-Two develops GTA, Red Dead, and other titles  —  Deal would be about a 64% premium to Zynga's Friday closing stock price  —  Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. agreed …
Bloomberg:
Profile of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, worth an estimated $96B, as the company generated an estimated $20B+ in revenue in 2021  —  The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix draws princes, movie stars and world-famous athletes every year to party on Yas Island, the entertainment hub about 30 minutes from the center of downtown.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple shares 2021 highlights: developers made $260B+ via the App Store since its debut, up from $200B+ YoY, US and Canadian consumers used 30M tickets in Wallet  —  Apple today highlighted the continued growth and expansion of its services in 2021, including the App Store, Apple Music …
Geoff Ralston / Y Combinator:
YC announces a new standard deal: a $125K investment for 7% of the startup and a further $375K at terms founders can negotiate with future investors  —  We have a new standard deal at Y Combinator.  When a company is accepted into the YC batch program, we now invest a total of $500,000.
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
The Associated Press will launch a photojournalism NFT marketplace built by blockchain tech provider Xooa on Jan. 31, with proceeds used to fund its journalism  —  It's offering collectors ‘exclusive, historic, and stunning visual content’  —  The Associated Press, or AP …
Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
Intel names Micron's David Zinsner as CFO, replacing George Davis on January 17, and announces the exit of Gregory Bryant as GM of its Client Computing Group  —  At the close of play today, Intel is announcing two major changes at the top of its organization.
Lauren Kaori Gurley / VICE:
Court documents show Google ran a campaign from 2018 to 2020 to “convince” staff that “unions suck”; Google refuses a judge's order to produce more documents  —  New court documents reveal how Google ran its anti-union campaign, ‘Project Vivian,’ between late 2018 and early 2020.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Android lead Hiroshi Lockheimer says Apple is “holding back” the messaging experience for not just Android but its own users by not supporting RCS in iMessage  —  Android boss says it's not about iMessage — it's about RCS  —  On Saturday, Android boss Hiroshi Lockheimer accused Apple of …
The Guardian:
EU data watchdog orders Europol to delete much of a vast trove of personal data it obtained unlawfully; internal documents show Europol has at least 4PB of data  —  EU police body accused of unlawfully holding information and aspiring to become an NSA-style mass surveillance agency
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Qonto, a French challenger bank focused on business accounts for SMBs and freelancers, raises a $552M Series D led by Tiger Global and CSV at a $5B valuation  —  French startup Qonto has raised a $552 million Series D funding round (€486 million).  Following this investment …
More: Bloomberg

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Earlier Picks

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Paul Kiernan / Wall Street Journal:
Aaron Tilley / Wall Street Journal:
Ax Sharma / BleepingComputer: