Techmeme: Sources: Mysten Labs, a blockchain startup founded by ex-Meta crypto executives, is in talks to raise a $200M+ Series B led by FTX Ventures at a $2B valuation (Aidan Ryan/The Information)

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July 12, 2022, 7:45 AM

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Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

SEC filing: Twitter's lawyers call Elon Musk's deal termination “invalid and wrongful” and say Twitter “breached none of its obligations under the agreement” — Twitter Inc.'s lawyers called Elon Musk's termination of his $44 billion buyout agreement “invalid and wrongful” …

More: SEC.gov, The Verge, TechCrunch, Silicon Republic, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, Neowin, Variety, TheStreet, CNN, Quartz, Benzinga, and Adweek

Tweets: @elonmusk, @natesilver538, @scottnover, @kurtwagner8, @pt, and @danprimack

Wired:

Twitter employees say it's a “shit show internally”, exasperated by weak leadership and lack of support amid targeted harassment from outside the company — Days after the deal to buy Twitter fell apart, fed-up employees say they are being kept in the dark.

More: New York Times, CNBC, The Block, Barron's Online, Financial Times, RTÉ, Observer, iPhone in Canada Blog, Benzinga, Insider, TechSpot, and Dexerto. Thanks:@stokel

Matt Levine / Bloomberg:

A look at Twitter's options as Musk tries to back out, such as suing for “expectation damages”, which may be capped at $1B, or suing for “specific performance”

More: PolisPandit. Tweets: @caseynewton, @noupside, @scottlincicome, @sjvn, @opinion, @noupside, @drewpusateri, @teddyschleifer, @opinion, @opinion, @opinion, @opinion, @opinion, and @carlquintanilla

Jeremy Hill / Bloomberg:

Liquidators say they can't find Three Arrows Capital founders Kyle Davies and Zhu Su, and seek to subpoena them to prevent the dissipation of the fund's assets — The founders of bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital haven't been cooperating in the firm's liquidation process …

More: Reuters, CoinDesk, CoinDesk, Crypto Daily, CryptoPotato, Tech in Asia, CryptoPotato, Bitcoinist.com, The Verge, Web3 is going just great, and Cryptonews

Tweets: @coindesk, @ipodave, @thomastthai, @ideagov, @priapusiq, @bitfinexed, and @jason

Michael Kan / PCMag:

The FTC says it will crack down on tech companies' illegal use and sharing of highly sensitive data and false claims about data-anonymization — ‘Companies that make false claims about anonymization can expect to hear from the FTC.’ … Lots of websites and apps like to claim your data is …

More: Federal Trade Commission, The Verge, SiliconANGLE, and Engadget

Tweets: @karlbode, @loupas, @wendyndavis, @eric_seufert, @viacristiano, @ambaonadventure, @ftc, @tonyajoriley, @edmpirg, and @swiftstories

Sylvia Varnham O'Regan / The Information:

In an internal post, Meta Vice President of Remote Presence and Engineering Maher Saba instructed managers to identify and “move to exit” poor performers — Meta Platforms' Vice President of Remote Presence and Engineering Maher Saba has instructed managers to identify and …

More: Washington Post, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, and Insider

Tweets: @katieharbath, @joshuaogundu, @mjb_sf, @mattnavarra, @drewpusateri, @lizzadwoskin, @dannygroner, @ingrahamangle, @sylviavarnham, @jillgeisler, @mjb_sf, and @jenn_elias

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Twitter rolls out its Unmentioning feature to all users on all devices, letting users remove themselves from conversations that include their Twitter handle — Twitter announced today that it's rolling out its “Unmentioning” feature to all users on all devices.

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

YouTube begins rolling out picture-in-picture support for all US iOS users, but says that the feature requires a premium subscription to work with music videos — YouTube today announced that it has begun rolling out picture-in-picture support for all iOS users in the United States …

More: Fossbytes, BGR India, Ubergizmo, iThinkDifferent, and AppleInsider

Tweets: @teamyoutube, @barbietheestar, @aaron_pearce, @appleswupdates, @adequateemily, @dylanmcd8, @willrbishop, and @reneritchie

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

Wefox, a Berlin-based digital insurer focused on personal insurance products, raised a $400M Series D at a post-money valuation of $4.5B, up from $3B in 2021 — European insurance tech startup Wefox has raised $400 million in a series D round of funding, giving the German company a post-money valuation of $4.5 billion.

More: Tech.eu, AltFi, Finextra, Silicon Republic, FinSMEs, EU-Startups, Insider, and Bloomberg. Tweets: @julian_teicke

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

After scrutiny, TikTok will pause a privacy update in Europe, due for July 13, whereby it would stop asking users for consent to be tracked to receive ads — TikTok has agreed to pause a controversial privacy policy update in Europe, which had been due to happen tomorrow …

More: Silicon Republic

The Guardian:

Mark MacGann, who led Uber's lobbying in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, comes forward as the leaker of 124K+ files, says Uber flouted laws and sold a lie — Exclusive: Mark MacGann says he has decided to speak out about firm to ‘right some fundamental wrongs’

Lulu Yilun Chen / Bloomberg:

Sources: China decided to rein in Tencent after two scandals, including a secret WeChat project to use data to predict new Politburo standing committee members — Imagine for a second life before smartphones. Simple tasks—ordering takeout, staying in touch—become frustratingly difficult, never mind dealing with emergencies.

Tweets: @pingroma, @hancocktom, and @luluyilun

Aidan Ryan / The Information:

Sources: Mysten Labs, a blockchain startup founded by ex-Meta crypto executives, is in talks to raise a $200M+ Series B led by FTX Ventures at a $2B valuation — Mysten Labs—a startup founded by former Meta Platforms employees that is building a new blockchain for decentralized applications including gaming …

More: Blockworks, Coinspeaker, The Block, and CoinDesk

Tweets: @kyurieff and @zachweinberg

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD's board says it will “carefully review and consider” Paramount's revised offer, which includes a full backstop personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison

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Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:

XPeng Robotics, an affiliate of Chinese electric carmaker XPeng, raised $100M led by IDG, as it aims to commercialize household robotics in the next two years

Joe Schneider / Bloomberg:

Google countersues Match, accusing it of bad faith dealings and breach of contract, after Match sued Google in May over alleged monopolistic billing policies

Tweets: @dailymaverick

Yogita Khatri / The Block:

Crypto lender Vauld disclosed a ~$70M shortfall, listing $330M in assets and $400M in liabilities, but says the numbers may not be final as audits are ongoing

More: The Economic Times, Vauld Blog, and Moneycontrol. Tweets: @wublockchain

Jonathan Burgos / Forbes:

Singapore-based Intellect, which lets employers offer mental health services as part of employee benefit programs, raised $10M, doubling its Series A to $20M

More: TechCrunch, DealStreetAsia, and Tech in Asia. Tweets: @forbesasia

Wall Street Journal:

A look at the dispute between satellite internet providers like SpaceX and 5G operators like Dish, as both lobby the FCC over wireless frequencies above 12 GHz

Rachel Kaser / VentureBeat:

Edge, which lets gamers clip and turn shareable gameplay moments into standalone playable units called Playables, raised a $30M Series A led by Corner Ventures

More: GamesIndustry.biz, Jerusalem Post, GameDaily.biz, Globes Online, CTech, Business Wire, and sportsbusinessjournal.com

Reuters:

STMicro and GlobalFoundries plan to build a €5.7B chip factory in France with full capacity by 2026, with “significant” funding from the French government

Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal:

Broadcom's software president Thomas Krause plans to leave on July 15 and become CEO of combined Citrix and Tibco; CEO Hock Tan will assume his responsibilities

More: Business Wire, Broadcom, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, Investing.com, Light Reading, Channel Futures, Fortune, and The Register

Earlier Picks

CNBC:

GameStop launches its NFT marketplace in beta, letting users connect digital asset wallets, including the recently debuted GameStop Wallet, to buy and sell NFTs

More: Business Wire, CoinDesk, Coinspeaker, Decrypt, NFT CULTURE, Dow Jones Newswires, Cointelegraph, Ethereum World News, Crypto Briefing, Bitcoinist.com, The Verge, Kotaku, Benzinga, CryptoPotato, Wccftech, and Bloomberg

Tweets: @laurenthomas, @stevekovach, @business, @stevekovach, @gamoid, and @jooste_r

Jon Porter / The Verge:

WhatsApp rolls out the ability for users to react to messages with any emoji, after adding the ability to react with its chosen six emoji in May

More: Sammy Fans, Emojipedia, TechRadar, BGR India, Social Media Today, Android Headlines, BGR, Digital Trends, and GSMArena.com

Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg. Tweets: @jenniferdaniel, @emojipedia, @alecmuffett, @wabetainfo, and @jenniferdaniel

Kris Holt / Engadget:

Apple debuts iOS 16's first public beta with lock screen widgets, iMessage edit and undo, Pay Later, and more, alongside macOS, watchOS, and iPadOS public betas

More: 9to5Mac, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Thurrott, AppleInsider, AppleInsider, The Verge, 9to5Mac, ZDNet, Ars Technica, MacStories, Marques Brownlee: YouTube, PhoneArena, CNET, PCMag, TechRadar, Stuff, The Verge, TheStreet, TheStreet, ZDNet, TechRadar, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Phone Scoop, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, TheStreet, MacRumors, MacRumors, Six Colors, The Verge, Tom's Guide, TheStreet, The Verge, iDownloadBlog.com, The Apple Post, 9to5Mac, Engadget, TechRadar, TechRadar, MacRumors, MacRumors, MacRumors, iMore, iMore, iMore, CNET, ZDNet, Slashdot, MacStories, MacStories, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Macworld, and The Verge

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Meta launches Sphere, an open-source AI knowledge tool based on 134M public webpages; Wikipedia, Sphere's first user, is using it to verify articles' citations

Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:

Reports of hijacked accounts and analysis of Experian's authentication flow reveal poor security at the credit bureau, after PIN reset flaws were found in 2021

More: SlashGear and The Register

Tweets: @briankrebs, @jstrauss, @cathcam, @briankrebs, @ncweaver, and @adam_k_levin

Callum Burroughs / Insider:

Virtual events startup Hopin, valued at $7.75B in August 2021, lays off 242 employees, or ~29% of its staff, after cutting 12% of its staff in February 2022

More: Forbes and TechCrunch

Tweets: @paul__armstrong, @kadhim, @johnwilson, and @callumburroughs

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan / Financial Times:

Klarna confirms raising $800M at a $6.7B valuation, down from $46B in June 2021, including from new investors Mubadala and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

More: Klarna, Tech.eu, Bloomberg, Market Munch, CNBC, Reuters, TechCrunch, Crunchbase News, The Guardian, PYMNTS.com, and Silicon Republic

Tweets: @klarnaseb, @arashmassoudi, @eliotwb, @peter_tl, @carnage4life, @keithdsouza, @pkedrosky, @tonytassell, @marktluszcz, @ryan_browne_, and @robinwauters

Malcolm Owen / AppleInsider:

Report on Apple's eight-year self-driving car struggle as 20 people from the project cite “constantly shifting goals”, a “revolving door of leaders”, and more

Source: The Information. More: Macworld, The Verge, Cult of Mac, New York Post, and MacDailyNews

Tweets: @shiraovide, @markdistef, @parismarx, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, @wholemarsblog, @benhouston3d, @rsgnl, @jessicalessin, @carnage4life, @scobleizer, @hughlangley, @alex, @garrytan, @jetscott, and @jessicalessin