Techmeme
December 26, 2018, 8:30 PM

Top News

Don Reisinger / Fortune:
Amazon announces a record-breaking holiday season with the number of voice-activated shopping orders placed using Alexa tripling YoY  —  Shoppers are increasingly using their voices to buy products online.  —  Amazon on Wednesday said that the number of voice-activated orders placed via …
Washington Post:
Reid Hoffman says he wasn't aware of disinformation campaign in Alabama race, apologizes for funding group linked to it; source says Hoffman invested $750K  —  Internet billionaire Reid Hoffman apologized on Wednesday for funding a group linked to a “highly disturbing” effort …
Wall Street Journal:
Analysis: SEC and state regulators brought 90+ crypto-related cases in the past two years, recovering just ~$36M; cases increased as the market crashed  —  SEC and state regulators have brought more than 90 crypto cases over the past two years, but tracing funds is hard because of the elusive nature of the currency
Wolfie Zhao / CoinDesk:
Crypto mining startup Bitmain confirms layoffs, which, source says, may affect half of its total head count, with some departments being laid off entirely  —  Months after it filed an application to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Beijing-based cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain …
Taylor Lorenz / The Atlantic:
A look at Speakr, a social media influencer management platform that some influencers say has failed to pay them, with trouble starting in late 2017  —  The agency Speakr set influencers up with brands for lucrative campaigns—and then stiffed them.  —  After rising to MySpace fame in the mid-aughts …
Max Read / New York Magazine:
The internet now feels increasingly fake as trust declines and users begin to understand how bots fake page views, conversations, and more  —  In late November, the Justice Department unsealed indictments against eight people accused of fleecing advertisers of $36 million …
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
In 2018, smartphone makers, users, and some academics began to appreciate the effects of excessive smartphone use, leading to iOS' Screen Time and other tools  —  But will we actually reclaim our time from smartphones?  —  At the beginning of this year, I was using my iPhone to browse …
Raymond Zhong / New York Times:
As Huawei comes under government scrutiny worldwide, a look at the company's aggressive culture that encouraged employees to bend the rules, up to a point  —  SHENZHEN, China — Earthquakes, terrorist attacks and low oxygen levels on Mount Everest could not hold them back.
Abrar Al-Heeti / CNET:

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered 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!
Zoho:
Turn your Zoho CRM into a communication hub  —  This is a guest post by Shray Sawariya, Marketing Executive at Times Mobile.A common problem that sales teams face that negatively impacts businesses …
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

Big Technology Podcast:
Is AI Killing Software? — With Bret Taylor
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Running a Newsroom in Minneapolis + How to Make a Game of Thrones For Less
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Acquired:
The NFL (2026 Update)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'A Mitigated Disaster', With Daniel Jalkut
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Grit:
The Safest Dollar on the Internet | Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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 8:30 PM ET, December 26, 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

Megha Rajagopalan / BuzzFeed News:
Mara Hvistendahl / MIT Technology Review:

Earlier Picks

Zachary Fryer-Biggs / Wired: