Techmeme: The Authors Guild, the American Booksellers Association, and the Open Markets Institute urge the DOJ and the FTC to investigate Amazon's book market “monopoly” (Alexandra Alter/New York Times)

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August 16, 2023, 6:45 PM

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Timmy Shen / The Block:

Coinbase says the exchange received regulatory approval from the CFTC-backed National Futures Association to offer futures trading services to eligible US users — - Coinbase is now allowed to operate as a futures commission merchant and offer eligible U.S. customers access to crypto futures from its platforms, the company said.

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

NYC bans TikTok on city-owned devices and asks agencies to remove the app within 30 days; a NYC Cyber Command review found that TikTok “posed a security threat” — New York City is banning TikTok from city-owned devices and requiring agencies to remove the app within the next 30 days.

More: TechCrunch, New York Times, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, Reuters, Engadget, GovTech, MacRumors, Neowin, MacDailyNews, Mashable, 9to5Mac, Variety, and TweakTown

Forums: Hacker News, r/technews, r/technology, Slashdot, and MacRumors Forums

Sankalp Phartiyal / Bloomberg:

Sources: Foxconn's plant in Tamil Nadu, India plans to deliver iPhone 15 units weeks after Chinese factories; output previously lagged by six to nine months — - Apple is diversifying iPhone supply chain away from China — India's push to become a manufacturing hub is bearing fruit

Financial Times:

Docs: India accounts for $10B of Foxconn's annual revenue, or 4.6% in 2022, showing the limits of “China plus one”; China makes up 75% of Foxconn's operations

More: Times of India, Gadgets 360, DigiTimes, and Livemint

X: @birdyword, @financialtimes, @rmantri, @sushantsin, @pstasiatech, @chadbown, and @conradkbarwa

Nico Grant / New York Times:

Docs: Google DeepMind has been developing generative AI to perform 21+ different types of personal and professional tasks, including to give users life advice — The tech giant is evaluating tools that would use artificial intelligence to perform tasks that some of its researchers have said should be avoided.

More: SiliconANGLE, TechRadar, nft now, CNBC, Fast Company, SlashGear, Engadget, Tech Startups, Mashable, Neowin, and The Verge

Bluesky: @hypervisible.bsky.social and @sirshannon.com. X: @silvermanjacob

Bloomberg:

Docs: Amazon plans to impose a new 2% fee per sale on merchants who ship products themselves, on top of the ~15% commission they already pay, from October 2023 — - The new levy comes even with an FTC antitrust suit looming — Merchant fees generate revenue as online sales growth slows

More: PYMNTS.com, Gizmodo, Android Police, The Verge, and CNBC

X: @seyitaylor and @halsinger. LinkedIn: Spencer Soper. Forums: r/wallstreetbets

Bloomberg:

Intel ends its $5.4B bid to acquire Israeli company Tower Semiconductor, announced in February 2022, after failing to win Chinese regulatory approval in time — - Deal for Tower Semiconductor needed Chinese antitrust approval — Intel Corp. walked away from its attempt …

Leah Nylen / Bloomberg:

Filing: Leslie Kilgore and Andrea Wishom stepped down from Nextdoor's board on August 1 after the US DOJ raised concerns they were also on Pinterest's board — - DOJ is cracking down on directors serving on rival companies

More: US Department of Justice, The Information, The Hill, Reuters, and Associated Press. Bluesky: @hunterwalk.com

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:

Crypto custody startup BitGo raised $100M at a $1.75B valuation from unnamed US and Asian investors; Galaxy Digital scrapped a $1.2B BitGo acquisition in 2022 — The crypto company raised $100 million from new investors, emphasizing its focus on following rules and regulations.

More: PRWeb, FinTech Global, Cointelegraph, SiliconANGLE, Coinpedia Fintech News, Bitcoin News, The Block, Crowdfund Insider, FinSMEs, NFTgators, Crunchbase News, CoinDesk, and Decrypt

X: @bitgo and @silvermanjacob

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:

Sources: Eric Schmidt is building an organization, modeled on OpenAI, to tackle scientific challenges using AI's help; most of the funding comes from his wealth — Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is building an ambitious new organization to tackle scientific challenges with the help …

More: The Verge. X: @reedalbergotti. Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Epic Games expands its Epic Online Services crossplay tools from PC to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, helping developers more easily add crossplay multiplayer — The change could mean that developers will be able to more easily bring crossplay multiplayer to their games.

More: Epic Online Services, VentureBeat, Game Developer, IGN, GameSpot, Dexerto, and Neowin

LinkedIn: Louis Denoly. Forums: r/PS5, r/pcgaming, r/fuckepic, and r/Games

Kif Leswing / CNBC:

Apple backtracks and moves the iPhone's “end call” button back to the middle of the screen, from the bottom-right corner, in the latest iOS 17 beta — - Apple has moved the end call button back to the middle of the screen in the the newest developer version of iOS 17 released on Tuesday.

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

The Authors Guild, the American Booksellers Association, and the Open Markets Institute urge the DOJ and the FTC to investigate Amazon's book market “monopoly” — The online retailer's size and sway affects the free exchange of ideas, the groups argue.

More: Ars Technica, Open Markets Institute, Axios, New York Post, and The Verge

X: @billineastala, @openmarkets, and @openmarkets

Forums: r/books and Ars OpenForum

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From Mediagazer

New York Times:

WBD says the Ellisons have “consistently misled” shareholders, including claiming Paramount's proposal had a “full backstop” but it “does not, and never has”

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Meta is testing limiting Facebook professional accounts and Pages to posting just two links per month, unless they subscribe to $14.99+/month Meta Verified

Associated Press:

A US federal judge denied Sarah Palin's bid for a new libel trial against the NYT and rejected her motion for his recusal, after a jury found no libel in April

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Candice Ortiz / Mediaite:

Conservative radio host Glenn Beck says all Glenn Beck Program podcast episodes, dating back to 2017, “have been removed from Apple/iTunes with no explanation”

More: The Verge, Variety, Reclaim The Net, TheBlaze, and The Post Millennial

X: @jdvance1, @glennbeck, @glennbeck, @glennbeck, @edkrassen, @glennbeck, and @thelofaz. Forums: r/Liberal

Earlier Picks

Olivia Poh / Bloomberg:

Southeast Asian giant Sea's stock fell 29%, its largest single-day drop, wiping out nearly $10B to hit a $23B market cap, down ~$180B from a November 2021 peak

More: Reuters, Tech in Asia, Business Wire, and Bloomberg

Yuka Hayashi / Wall Street Journal:

The US Commerce Department forms a team of financiers from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, KKR, and other Wall Street firms to help allocate $39B in chip subsidies

More: The Information and Politico

X: @davidasmanfox, @davidpgoldman, @adamthierer, and @zachweinberg. LinkedIn: Matt Hill

Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:

GOP House Financial Services Committee lawmakers demand that SEC Chair Gary Gensler explain how Prometheum won its unique approval as a broker-dealer for crypto

More: Financial Services Committee, Crowdfund Insider, The Block, Coinspeaker, Crypto Daily, Inside Bitcoins, Unchained Crypto, Bitcoinist.com, CryptoSlate, Cryptopolitan, Decrypt, and CoinGape

X: @financialcmte, @brian_armstrong, and @repfitzgerald

Chelsey Cox / CNBC:

At a White House roundtable, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau touts Fair Credit Reporting Act rules to crack down on harmful data broker practices

More: CNN, PYMNTS.com, Techdirt, Reuters, The Hill, Nextgov/FCW, SC Media, WebProNews, Forbes, Consumer Financial …, The Register, CyberScoop, and Bloomberg Law

X: @slaterfe, @tonyajoriley, @tonyajoriley, @chopracfpb, @chopracfpb, @chopracfpb, @chopracfpb, @alfredwkng, and @juliaangwin

Ash Parrish / The Verge:

Xbox debuts a strike-based enforcement program, to improve “player transparency” and clear up confusion; eight strikes over six months results in a one-year ban

More: Xbox Wire, PCMag, TweakTown, Ars Technica, PC Gamer, Reclaim The Net, Polygon, Gameranx, KitGuru, iPhone in Canada Blog, Gamereactor UK, MSPoweruser, PC Games Insider, GamingBolt, Press Start, Wccftech, TechSpot, GamesIndustry.biz, Dexerto, SlashGear, Android Headlines, Gizmodo, MobileSyrup, Kotaku, and Game Rant

X: @xboxp3, @dmc_ryan, @vicious696, @duckvalentine, @hot_bid, @xboxwire, @nextgenplayer, @steinekin, @tomwarren, @tomwarren, and @tomwarren

Forums: r/xboxone, r/TwoBestFriendsPlay, and Slashdot

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:

OpenAI says the company has been using GPT-4 to enforce its content policies and says some of its customers are already using the LLM for content moderation

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Google adds an experimental browsing feature that summarizes page content to Search Generative Experience, first in the Google mobile app for Search Labs users

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube updates YouTube Music on iOS and Android with Samples, a music discovery feed featuring vertically cropped, 30-second clips uploaded directly by artists

More: YouTube Official Blog, Android Police, TweakTown, T3, Chrome Unboxed, Wccftech, PhoneArena, Pricebaba.com Daily, Phandroid, TechRadar, The Verge, Engadget, Tom's Guide, BGR, Social Media Today, MobileSyrup, Tubefilter, GSMArena.com, and TechCrunch. Forums: r/YoutubeMusic