Techmeme
April 21, 2022, 2:35 PM

Top News

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Filing: Elon Musk has secured $46.5B to acquire Twitter, including $25.5B in debt financing via Morgan Stanley and other firms, and is exploring a tender offer  —  - Elon Musk is exploring whether to commence a tender offer for Twitter, according to a new securities filing.
Bloomberg:
Elon Musk's free speech promise for Twitter follows years of silencing or punishing criticism at Tesla and SpaceX, including attacking staff trying to unionize  —  If Elon Musk is able to take over Twitter Inc., his biggest promise is to transform it into a platform for free speech with few restrictions …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta is reviewing whether COO Sheryl Sandberg pressured the Daily Mail in 2016 and 2019 into killing stories about her then-boyfriend Bobby Kotick  —  Social-media executive, who dated the Activision Blizzard CEO, was part of campaign to persuade the U.K. tabloid to shelve a potential article
New York Times:
Warner Bros. Discovery will shut down CNN+ on April 30, after its March 29 debut; sources: CNN+ had ~150K subscribers and was on pace to hit first-year goals  —  The new corporate owners of CNN are moving to end the new streaming service after a splashy debut.
Ryan Weeks / The Block:
Binance begins enforcing tougher KYC checks, including proof of address, on Russian users with crypto holdings exceeding €10,000, following further EU sanctions  —  Crypto exchange Binance is enforcing tougher Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for Russian users after the latest wave of European Union sanctions.
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Andreessen Horowitz launches a16z Crypto Research, focused on Web3 breakthroughs that can contribute to deployable code, to be led by academic Tim Roughgarden  —  Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is diving deeper into the crypto market with the launch of a new academic lab dedicated …
Cobie:
How crypto staking evolved from rewards for collateralized coins validating blocks into a Ponzi scheme, as Yuga Labs effectively pays ApeCoin to hold ApeCoin  —  Recently, I was contacted by a member of the board of ApeCoin, which is the BAYC token's equivalent of a board of directors I guess.
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon unveils Buy with Prime, which lets select third-party merchants use Amazon's shipping and logistics network to fulfill orders placed on their own sites  —  - Buy with Prime enables third party retailers to take advantage of Amazon's vast shipping and fulfillment network for orders placed on their own site.
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg:
After years of regulatory pressure, Google unveils “a full redesign” of its cookie consent banner in Europe, including a “reject all” button, starting in France  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google said it's rolling out a new European-wide policy allowing users to more easily avoid …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Spotify now lets all creators in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand upload video podcasts to through Anchor  —  After over a year of more limited tests  —  All creators in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can now upload video podcasts to Spotify, the streaming service has announced.
Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
Sources: on Friday, the EU will unveil the Digital Services Act, which bans targeting users based on religion, gender, or sexual preferences, among other rules  —  Digital Services Act lays out rules for technology groups to keep users safe online  —  The EU is poised to unveil a law …
MIT Technology Review:
How AI data-labeling companies like Appen profit from cheap labor in crisis-ridden countries like Venezuela to meet exploding demand  —  It was meant to be a temporary side job—a way to earn some extra money.  Oskarina Fuentes Anaya signed up for Appen, an AI data-labeling platform …
Logan Plant / IGN:
Report: like Microsoft, Sony is working on letting partners insert ads into free-to-play PlayStation games, and giving players in-game items for watching ads  —  Sony is reportedly planning its own program to insert ads into games.  —  After last week's report that Xbox is looking to include …
Anushree Dave / The Block:
Flipside Crypto, which provides blockchain analytics and business intelligence to crypto companies, raises $50M led by Republic Capital at a $350M valuation  —  Quick Take  — The funding round, led by Republic Capital, values the company at $350 million.

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:
ETL tool evaluation checklist: 6 things to look for before you choose  —  Your data is only as valuable as your ability to move, prepare, and access it efficiently.  Choosing the wrong ETL tool can lead to months of rework …
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:
Are We Too Obsessed With AI Predictions? — With Carissa Véliz
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:
The hills we'll die on
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Jason Blum Built a Hit-Making Movie Machine. Does It Still Work?
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Cheeky Pint:
The economics and trends of the restaurant industry, with Tony Xu of DoorDash
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Invest Like the Best:
Alex Karnal - The Trillion-Dollar Health Revolution
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 2:35 PM ET, April 21, 2022.

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

Chris Metinko / Crunchbase News:

Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: