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July 3, 2018, 12:25 PM

Top News

Washington Post:

Sources: DOJ's probe into the Cambridge Analytica scandal has broadened to focus on the actions and statements of Facebook; FBI, SEC, and FTC are also involved — A federal investigation into Facebook's sharing of data with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica has broadened to focus …

More: Associated Press, Reuters, Vanity Fair, New York Times, Silicon Republic, MediaNama, CNNMoney, Firstpost, Gizmodo, Slate, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Engadget, Facebook, VentureBeat, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Reuters, Business Insider, CNBC, CNET, The Verge, Axios, Engadget, TechCrunch, and Forbes

Tweets: @chrisinsilico, @jason_kint, @profcarroll, and @matthewstoller

Matt Weinberger / Business Insider:

Google says Cloud COO Diane Bryant has left the company, less than a year after joining from Intel, where she had been for 32 years — - Google Cloud COO Diane Bryant is leaving the company less than a year after coming aboard. — Bryant came from Intel, where she had a storied 32-year career …

More: GeekWire and CNBC. Thanks:@stevetweedie

Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo:

Samsung says it's aware of reports from some phone owners that its Messages texting app randomly sent photos to their contacts without permission — Sending pictures to others is one of the most basic functions of a smartphone, but when your phone's texting app starts randomly pushing …

Facebook:

Facebook is shutting down Android contacts app Hello, fitness tracking app Moves, and anonymous teen social media app tbh due to “low usage” — We wanted to let you know that we are shutting down three apps due to low usage: Moves, tbh and Hello.

More: BGR, The Next Web, BBC, MacRumors, Business Insider, Engadget, Adweek, TechSpot, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Neowin, Ubergizmo, Fortune, Android Police, SlashGear, TechCrunch, and Axios

Tweets: @mgsiegler, @codybrown, and @martinsfp

Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal:

Makers of email software like Return Path and Edison Software let their employees read users' email, a practice they say is covered by user agreements — Software developers scan hundreds of millions of emails of users who sign up for email-based services — Google said a year ago …

Kim Bhasin / Bloomberg:

Inside Instagram's master class for marketing executives from fashion and beauty companies, where they learn to sell products on its platform — It's the first day of class at Instagram. Students check in at two security desks and sign non-disclosure agreements before heading up to the photo-sharing app's Manhattan offices.

More: iPhone in Canada Blog. Tweets: @lisafleisher, @bogscab, @taylorlorenz, and @katienotopoulos

Axios:

All charges against ex-Vungle CEO Zain Jaffer have been dismissed at the request of San Mateo DA, who said prescribed drugs from multiple doctors were at fault — Last fall we reported that tech entrepreneur Zain Jaffer was arrested on a variety of awful charges, including sexual assault of his own child.

More: TechCrunch

Tim Higgins / Wall Street Journal:

Tesla's SVP of engineering Doug Field is officially leaving the company, after Tesla characterized his initial departure in May as a “leave of absence” — Doug Field's departure is latest of several high-level executive exits in the last two years

More: Tesla, Inc., SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Engadget, The Verge, Quartz, BGR, and CNBC

Jon Russell / TechCrunch:

Melbourne-based international payments startup Airwallex raises $80M Series B led by Tencent and Sequoia China — Airwallex, a three-year-old fintech startup focused on international payments for SMEs and businesses, is putting itself on the map after it raised an $80 million Series B round.

More: Financial Review, The Business Times, DealStreetAsia, Tech in Asia, and China Money Network

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

DirecTV Now prices go up by $5/month, but two months ago, AT&T said in a court filing that buying Time Warner would “enable the merged company to reduce prices” — Most DirecTV Now prices go up $5 a month, weeks after AT&T bought Time Warner.

More: Washington Post, CNBC, Droid Life, CNBC, Dallas Morning News, and reddit.com

Tweets: @jessefelder and @matthewstoller

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:25 PM ET, July 3, 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.

From Mediagazer

Salon:

Salon, launched in 1995 to cover politics, culture, and more, says it is closing: “business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly”

A.J. Katz / The Wrap:

LIV Golf is shutting down after five years and over $5B in Saudi backing, ending its efforts to build a TV audience on Fox and, before that, The CW

Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:

Nexstar reports Q3 net income up 285% YoY to $250M and net revenue up 78% YoY to $2.1B, as Q3 political ads brought in $317M; results include Tegna numbers

More News

Yimian Wu / China Money Network:

Aikucun, an online fashion platform that connects brands with professional online shoppers on WeChat, raises ~$87M Series B, months after raising ~$15M Series A

Wall Street Journal:

Data mining firm Acxiom is selling its marketing solutions business to IPG for $2.3B in cash, will focus on its customer data onboarding unit LiveRamp

More: investors.acxiom.com, Axios, The Drum, AdExchanger, and Peter Krasilovsky

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:

Citymapper adds dockless bikes and electric scooters to its app globally including Bird scooters in San Francisco and Ofo bikes in London

More: Citymapper and Engadget

Max Willens / Digiday:

Analysis of six publishers shows huge difference in Facebook ad presence: NYT has 72 active ads, BuzzFeed 82, Fox News 3, Business Insider 2,100+

Nathaniel Popper / New York Times:

As Ripple tries to promote XRP use via giveaways and a $300M fund to pay firms for using it, the company raises the risk of XRP being categorized as a security

More: NewsBTC. Tweets: @paulkrugman, @nathanielpopper, and @nathanielpopper

Christina Farr / CNBC:

SEC filing: as of June 28, telemedicine firm American Well had raised $291M in new funding, aiming to raise ~$315M, with Philips as a strategic investor

Thanks:@chrissyfarr

Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:

Singapore-based Trax, which uses image recognition tech to digitize store aisles, raises $125M Series E as CEO says it's valued at ~$1B ahead of a planned IPO

More: PYMNTS.com, DealStreetAsia, and VentureBeat

Earlier Picks

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:

Sources: Anthony Levandowski, the entrepreneur at the heart of the Uber/Waymo trial, is involved with Kache.ai, an autonomous trucking company still in stealth

More: Ars Technica, Engadget, and Business Insider

Tweets: @shiraovide and @bizcarson

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Sources say Verizon spent about $1.2B on the failed go90, including the purchase of OnCue and Vessel, in an effort without clear market research

More: Fortune and Light Reading. Tweets: @carlospache_co

Annie Gowen / Washington Post:

Mob lynchings fueled by WhatsApp messages continue to sweep India as authorities struggle to combat fake news; five were killed by a rumor-driven mob on Sunday

More: Times of India, Hindustan Times, CNET, Engadget, and BBC

Tweets: @bentaub91, @pritishnandy, @nidhi, @caseynewton, @anniegowen, @rama_rajeswari, @anniegowen, @mhbergen, and @karlbode