Techmeme
May 20, 2023, 6:05 PM

Top News

Neeva:
Neeva, co-founded by ex-Google executive Sridhar Ramaswamy, plans to shut down its ad-free search engine, citing a “vastly changed search environment” and more  —  We started Neeva with the mission to take search back to its users.  Having worked on search and search ads for over a decade …
Rebekah Valentine / IGN:
China's State Administration approves Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard, joining a total of 37 regulators globally, including the EU and Japan  —  Thirty-seven total regulators have voiced approval thus far.  —  China's State Administration has approved Microsoft's attempted …
Kellen Browning / New York Times:
Unable to turn a profit amid a fall in views, some US esports organizations are laying off staff, ending player contracts, or even selling their teams at a loss  —  At least two organizations in America's most prominent league for professional video game players are selling their teams, underscoring the industry's uncertain future.
Lia Haberman / ICYMI:
Meta briefed some creators on Instagram's decentralized text-based app that may launch in June 2023 with a Twitter-like design, Mastodon compatibility, and more  —  Meta's hosting secret meetings with select creators to share details  —  [a sneak peek at Instagram's new text-based app]
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Court finds FBI misused a FISA Section 702 database 278K+ times between 2020 and 2021, as the White House seeks to persuade Congress to renew the law in 2023  —  The bureau made changes after the newly revealed violations of rules for querying messages intercepted under an expiring warrantless surveillance law.
Financial Times:
Sources: top shareholder SoftBank demanded compensation from Revolut after UK regulators told the startup to simplify its ownership to obtain a banking license  —  Minister to meet payment group's bosses amid fears UK's biggest tech group will leave the country
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
After Niantic's latest AR game Peridot got negative app store reviews and few downloads, a look at the company's metaverse games struggling to find an audience  —  Just a few years ago, tech evangelists were hailing Niantic Inc., the maker of the hit game Pokémon Go …
Ariana Perez-Castells / Wall Street Journal:
Some doctors, bird watchers, and others still use pagers due to their simplicity; paging company Spok has 800K+ pagers in use in the US, down from 6.6M in 2004  —  Fans, including some doctors and bird watchers, appreciate the simplicity of the once-popular devices, even as others move on

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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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More News

Leo Schwartz / Fortune:
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:

Earlier Picks

Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
Cory Weinberg / The Information:
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: