[Thread] Via iRobot, Amazon, one of the most powerful data collection companies on earth, will get another vast and intrusive set of data about people's homes  —  1. Hello. Amazon today announced it would pay $1.7 billion to acquire iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum. It may be the most dangerous, threatening acquisition in the company's history. A thread.

[Thread] How Apple's App Tracking Transparency blew up the digital ad ecosystem, bolstering Apple's ads business while positioning it as a privacy champion  —  APPLE ROBBED THE MOB'S BANK: How Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy blew up the digital advertising ecosystem, bolstering its ads business while positioning itself as a champion of consumer privacy. A masterclass in corporate strategy. (1/X) https://mobiledevmemo.com/...

The California DMV accuses Tesla of falsely advertising its Autopilot and FSD features in two July 28 filings with the state's Office of Administrative Hearings  —  The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of false advertising in its promotion of the company's signature Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies.

Researchers detail Dark Utilities, a new service that provides an inexpensive way for cybercriminals to set up a command and control center for their operations  —  Security researchers found a new service called Dark Utilities that provides an easy and inexpensive way for cybercriminals …

Tom Alberg, an early Amazon investor and Madrona Venture Group co-founder, who was a key figure in shaping the Pacific Northwest's tech economy, dies at 82  —  Tom Alberg, co-founder of the venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group and an early investor in Amazon.com Inc., has died.  He was 82.

Inside the cottage industry around “YouTube automation” that is dubiously persuading people to spend thousands of dollars to create video businesses on YouTube  —  A cottage industry is persuading people to spend thousands to create video businesses on YouTube.  Disclaimer: It is harder than it looks.

Kuo: Foxconn's production site in India will begin shipping at least one iPhone 14 model “almost simultaneously with China”, a first for a new iPhone  —  Apple's key partner Foxconn has iPhone production lines in a few other places in the world outside of China, such as Brazil and India.

CEO Changpeng Zhao claims Binance doesn't own Indian crypto exchange WazirX despite announcing the acquisition in 2019; WazirX co-founder disputes Zhao's claims  —  Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, said on Friday it doesn't own India-based platform WazirX despite disclosing …

A brief history of AI and why some AI researchers believe the technology they have built is sentient or conscious despite no evidence  —  Robots can't think or feel, despite what the researchers who build them want to believe.  —  As the sun set over Maury Island, just south of Seattle …

Voyager will begin processing customer cash withdrawals on August 11 after getting court approval on August 4; customers can withdraw up to $100K every 24 hours  —  - Voyager on August 4 received approval to honor cash withdrawals with the funds held in custody at Metropolitan Commercial Bank.

A look at Netflix scrambling to build an ad business and revive its subscriber growth; sources: Reed Hastings expects Netflix could charge ~$80 per 1,000 views  —  Reed Hastings insisted on focusing on subscriptions until competitors started nibbling away at his business model