Techmeme
March 21, 2018, 6:40 AM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Brian Acton, who cofounded WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook for $16B, tweeted “It is time. #deletefacebook”  —  Facebook bought his app for $16 billion  —  In 2014, Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion, making its co-founders — Jan Koum and Brian Acton — very wealthy men.
Wired:
With the storm over user data misuse intensifying into a hurricane, Facebook now faces several vexing questions about its opaque privacy practices  —  Two weeks ago, Facebook learned that The New York Times, Guardian, and Observer were working on blockbuster stories based on interviews with a man named Christopher Wylie.
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
As US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle call for Mark Zuckerberg to testify, he and Sheryl Sandberg remain publicly silent on the Cambridge Analytica scandal  —  The bad thing about making your face synonymous with the company you run: When you go M.I.A., everyone tends to notice.
Washington Post:
Chris Wylie says Breitbart's Steve Bannon approved Cambridge Analytica's 2014 work to collect Facebook data; firm used focus groups to test views on Putin, more  —  LONDON — Conservative strategist Stephen K. Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica's early efforts to collect troves of Facebook data …
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Source: Mark Zuckerberg expected to address Facebook employees about Cambridge Analytica scandal at 1pm ET on Friday during the company's regular Q&A session  —  And Sheryl Sandberg is too  —  After nearly four days of silence from top executives on the unfolding controversy around …
Channel 4 News:
Cambridge Analytica execs boasted of running “all the digital campaign” for Trump, described its comms tactics to avoid paper trail: Proton Mail, deleting email  —  An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News has revealed how Cambridge Analytica claims it ran key parts of the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
Bloomberg:
Cambridge Analytica's board suspends CEO Alexander Nix, saying it's with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation  —  Board of Cambridge Analytica suspended CEO Alexander Nix with immediate effect, pending a full, independent investigation, according to a statement from the company.
Rani Molla / Recode:
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Bloomberg:
Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:
Travis Kalanick becoming CEO of City Storage Systems, which focuses on repurposing real estate, and says his new fund is acquiring a $150M controlling interest  —  The company was formerly called CloudKitchens and was led by Diego Berdakin, an early Uber investor.  —  Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has found his new job.
Jim Albrecht / The Keyword:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Blair Hanley Frank / VentureBeat:
Microsoft announces Windows Server 2019, the first big update since 2016, with Linux and Kubernetes support  —  Microsoft announced today that it will launch the next major release of Windows Server later this year with better support for hybrid workloads, Linux workloads, and hyper-converged infrastructure.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube rolls out a new feature that lets users “go live” directly from the desktop site without encoding software, currently only supported in Chrome  —  YouTube today is rolling out a new feature that will allow video creators to start a live stream from their web cam without …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
Amazon, with a market value of $768B, has passed Alphabet's market value of $761.4B, making it the world's second-most valuable company, trails Apple's $889.2B  —  Amazon has passed Alphabet and now trails just Apple among the list of the world's most valuable companies.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
CryptoKitties, a game built on top of the Ethereum blockchain, raises $12M Series A led by a16z and USV, and will be spun out of Axiom Zen game studio  —  CryptoKitties became a sensation after it debuted in November as a collectible game built on top of a blockchain and the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
TechCrunch:
A look at 60+ startups that launched at Y Combinator's Winter 2018 Demo Day 2, which showcased risky frontier tech and some predictable enterprise companies  —  Microbiome therapeutics, Photoshop for augmented reality, and cancer treatments were some of the ideas presented at Day 2 …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
Zoho RPA named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix by Nucleus Research  —  Zoho RPA has been named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix, published by Nucleus Research …
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

Lenny's Podcast:
The hidden pattern behind successful products | Mark Pincus (founder of Zynga)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
SpaceX's IPO Triumph, Anthropic's Fable Fumble, OpenAI's Price War
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.
Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
TBC's Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 6:40 AM ET, March 21, 2018.

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

Samit Sarkar / Polygon:

Earlier Picks

Ron Miller / TechCrunch:
Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian: