Techmeme
April 9, 2018, 12:45 PM

Top News

Facebook:
Facebook launches new initiative to support independent academic research about the impact of social media on democracy and elections  —  By Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Communications and Public Policy, and David Ginsberg, Director of Research  —  Today, Facebook is announcing …
Sara Salinas / CNBC:
Congress releases Zuckerberg's prepared testimony: “it's clear now that we didn't do enough” to protect data privacy, prevent fake news, election interference  —  Congress has released Mark Zuckerberg's prepared testimony ahead of Wednesday's hearing.  —  Here's the full testimony:
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Sources: Mark Zuckerberg will meet with some US lawmakers today, a day before he is due to appear for congressional hearings  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will hold meetings with some U.S. lawmakers on Monday, a day before he is due to appear …
New York Times:
Ben Lang / Road to VR:
Leap Motion to release Project North Star, a low-cost open source AR headset dev kit with wide field of view, 1600x1400 display at 120 FPS, robust hand tracking  —  Over the last few weeks, Leap Motion has been teasing some very compelling AR interface prototypes, demonstrated on an unknown headset.
Megan Rose Dickey / TechCrunch:
Uber acquires bike-sharing startup JUMP, source says for ~$200M; JUMP will continue running independently  —  Uber has acquired bike-sharing startup JUMP for an undisclosed amount of money.  This comes shortly after TechCrunch reported that JUMP was in talks with Uber as well as with investors regarding …
Richard Nieva / CNET:
Twenty child advocacy and privacy groups ask FTC to investigate whether YouTube violates COPPA, a federal law designed to protect kids' online privacy  —  Consumer and privacy groups say the Google-owned video site is violating online child privacy laws.  —  YouTube is in hot water again …
Apple:
Apple debuts (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in 64GB and 256GB, available to order in select countries April 10 for the same $699+ price, in stores April 13  —  All (PRODUCT)RED Purchases Help Provide Testing, Counseling and Treatment for Tens of Millions of People Living with HIV/AIDS
Bloomberg:
SenseTime, a Chinese AI startup specializing in object and face recognition, raises $600M from Alibaba and others at $3B+ valuation, up from $1.47B in July 2017  —  It becomes the world's richest-valued private AI startup  —  The company drives China's ambition to dominate global AI
Kai Stinchcombe:
Blockchain's key promise of no-need-for-trusted-parties tech is largely irrelevant; systems built on trust, norms, and institutions inherently function better  —  Blockchain is not only crappy technology but a bad vision for the future.  Its failure to achieve adoption to date …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
HP debuts Chromebook x2, a detachable with keyboard cover and stylus, 12.3" IPS display, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 13MP camera, coming in June starting at $599  —  Two weeks ago, Acer announced the first tablet running Chrome OS.  And today, HP is announcing the second — and it's a lot higher end.

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Shopify:
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Zoho:
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Featured Podcasts

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Earlier Picks

Michelle Castillo / CNBC: