Techmeme
February 15, 2019, 9:45 AM

Top News

J. David Goodman / New York Times:
Amazon says it has canceled plans to build HQ2 in New York City, focusing instead on Northern Virginia and Nashville, following backlash  —  Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from lawmakers …
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Natt Garun / The Verge:
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Sources: the FTC and Facebook are negotiating a record multi-billion dollar fine to settle the agency's investigation into the company's privacy practices  —  The Federal Trade Commission and Facebook are negotiating over a multi-billion dollar fine that would settle the agency's investigation …
James Vincent / The Verge:
OpenAI says it won't release the dataset behind GPT-2, its new text generator algorithm that can write, translate, and summarize text, due to fears of misuse  —  OpenAI's researchers knew they were on to something when their language modeling program wrote a convincing essay on a topic they disagreed with.
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Sources: Facebook keeps a “lookout” list of ex-employees and users who made threats against the company, and sometimes uses its products to track their location  —  - Facebook maintains a list of individuals that its security guards must “be on lookout” for that is comprised …
Shara Tibken / CNET:
Samsung to open stores in LA, Houston, and Long Island on February 20, the first US retail stores to be operated by the company  —  Samsung's coming to a mall near you — if you live in California, New York or Texas.  —  The company on Thursday said it plans to open three Samsung Experience Stores …
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Samsung's wearables app reveals new products including Galaxy Buds wireless earbuds, the Galaxy Watch Active smartwatch, and Galaxy Fit and Fit e fitness bands  —  An update to Samsung's wearables app has inadvertently revealed an entire lineup of new products that are presumably set to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S10 next week.
Stefan Etienne / The Verge:
Samsung unveils 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S5e, its lightest and thinnest tablet and the first with Bixby built-in, starting at $399, launching in the second quarter  —  It's $399 and comes in three “millennial friendly” colors  —  There isn't a single Android tablet we can currently wholeheartedly recommend …
Marco Chown Oved / Toronto Star:
Internal docs show Google's Sidewalk Labs plans expansion in Toronto's Port Lands, seeks share of property taxes, development fees in return  —  Google's futuristic development on the eastern waterfront, Quayside, is only the first step in an expansive and ambitious plan to build new neighbourhoods …
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
US Copyright Office has refused a copyright claim for the “Carlton Dance”, a potential blow to performers seeking rights to dance emotes in games like Fortnite  —  A government examiner also questioned the submission of the actor's performance on ABC's “Dancing With the Stars,” …
Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Sources: Snap is offering $40K to $50K per episode for original series that premiere on Snapchat, wants 10-12 episodes per series, each up to seven minutes long  —  DIGIDAY+ MEMBER ARTICLE  —  Snap is willing to pay for original shows, and it's enough to pique entertainment executives' interest …
Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
JibJab, one of the first companies that let people insert selfies into videos, GIFs and e-cards, has been acquired by Catapult Capital for an undisclosed sum  —  JibJab, one of the first companies that let people insert selfies into videos, gifs, and e-cards, has been acquired by Catapult Capital.

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