Techmeme
November 19, 2018, 10:20 PM

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it will use machine learning to find and remove inauthentic likes, follows, and comments from accounts using third-party apps to boost popularity  —  Instagram is fighting back against automated apps people use to leave spammy comments or follow then unfollow others in hopes of growing their audience.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple reduced production orders for all new iPhone models in recent weeks; iPhone XR production was slashed by up to one third of the initial 70M  —  In recent weeks, Apple slashed production orders for all three iPhone models that it unveiled in September
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Zuckerberg should give up his dual role as Facebook CEO and chairman, stepping down as chairman and appointing an independent director to oversee the board  —  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once set out a bit of digital-world wisdom that became his company's informal motto: “Move fast and break things.”
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Deepa Seetharaman / Wall Street Journal:
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Microsoft acquires Atlanta-based app provisioning and virtualization startup FSLogix, to improve Office 365 performance in “multi-user virtual environments”  —  Another day, another profitable exit for a well-regarded startup.  Microsoft today announced that it has acquired Atlanta …
Tom Dotan / The Information:
Sources: Evan Spiegel spends most board meetings looking at his phone and messaging on Snapchat, seemingly dismissive of some members' “short term” concerns  —  Until a few months ago, Snap's board meetings could be tense affairs.  Benchmark partner Mitch Lasky …
Julie Bort / Business Insider:
Inside Uber before its self-driving car killed a pedestrian: sources describe infighting, “perverse” incentives, and questionable decisions  —  Samantha Lee/Business Insider; Natalie Behring/REUTERS  — On March 18 one of Uber's self-driving cars killed a pedestrian …
Ina Fried / Axios:
Tim Cook says some government regulation of Silicon Valley is inevitable, defends deal to make Google Apple's default search engine despite privacy concerns  —  If Apple is so big on users' privacy, why does the company take billions of dollars from Google in exchange for letting the search giant …
Edmund Lee / New York Times:
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti suggests the site could eventually merge with rival publishers to negotiate better terms with companies like Facebook and Google  —  Jonah Peretti, the chief executive, says his company could eventually merge with other online publishers in order to negotiate better terms with tech platforms like Facebook.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it is bringing Skype calling to Alexa-enabled devices this week, including SkypeOut which lets users call mobile and landline phones  —  Microsoft and Amazon's partnership continues  —  Microsoft is bringing its Skype calling service to Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices this week.

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Earlier Picks

Sam Byford / The Verge:
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