Techmeme: Sources: Google agreed to refund advertisers that paid for ads displayed in an ad fraud scheme discovered in 2017, following lawsuit over back-payments (Patience Haggin/Wall Street Journal)

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Tom Warren / The Verge:

Microsoft announces Minecraft Earth, a real-world AR version of Minecraft, available in closed beta on iOS and Android this summer — Alex Kipman, Microsoft's HoloLens and Kinect creator, is always enthusiastic about the future of computing. As he stands in front of me inside …

More: Minecraft.net, Minecraft.net, TechCrunch, CNET, Engadget, Slashdot, SlashGear, PCWorld, Droid Life, KnowTechie, Polygon, GameSpot, Neowin, Mashable, iPhone Hacks, 9to5Mac, Pocket-lint, WinBuzzer, USgamer.net, OnMSFT.com, IGN, iPhone in Canada Blog, Thurrott, Bloomberg, Digital Trends, PhoneDog, Financial Times, MSPoweruser, TechSpot, Windows Central, and Kotaku

Tweets: @usgamernet, @notch, @satyanadella, @tomwarren, @klobrille, @mims, @_masterg_, @tomwarren, @theothertracy, and @caro_milanesi

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Spotify to start testing Car Thing, a voice-controlled smart assistant device that connects to your car and phone over bluetooth, with some Premium users in US — To learn how people consume audio in their car — Spotify will begin publicly testing its first hardware today …

More: Spotify, TechCrunch, Engadget, Cult of Mac, TechSpot, BGR, Fast Company, and Mashable

Tweets: @chriswelch, @oaktree_dave, @ashleyrcarman, and @caseynewton

See also Mediagazer

New York Times:

Profile of Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer, who admits AI alone may not be enough to deal with toxic content and chokes up when discussing the issue — Facebook has heralded artificial intelligence as a solution to its toxic content problems. Mike Schroepfer, its chief technology officer, says it won't solve everything.

More: Gizmodo and Mashable

Facebook: Mike Schroepfer. Tweets: @cademetz, @yoavgo, @jason_kint, @aifdn, @drdrasko, @johnolilly, @cademetz, @vboykis, @mikeisaac, @puiwingtam, and @fraying

Arjun Panchadar / Reuters:

Hewlett Packard Enterprise to buy supercomputer maker Cray in a deal valued at $1.3B, or $35 per share, which represents a premium of 17.4% to Cray's last close — (Reuters) - Supercomputer manufacturer Cray Inc said on Friday it would be bought by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co in a deal valued at about $1.30 billion, net of cash.

More: Bloomberg, Business Wire, Xconomy, The Register, CNET, Neowin, SiliconANGLE, ZDNet, TechCrunch, MarketWatch, TechSpot, Petri, Forbes, GeekWire, Engadget, Beyond Search, Silicon Valley Business …, Inquirer, and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @profmatsuoka, @mattlfinn, @ron_miller, @djspry, and @antonioneri_hpe

Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:

Sheryl Sandberg: there is concern in US “with the size and power of Chinese companies, and the realization that those companies are not going to be broken up” — KEY POINTS — Sandberg said breaking up Facebook does not address the underlying issues people have with tech companies.

More: CNET, Business Insider, and PYMNTS.com

Tweets: @reckless, @mattzeitlin, @reckless, and @jamesallworth

Bradley Tusk / Financial Times:

The key value of Uber was its relentless innovation and promise to change the world, which the board forgot when it focused on stability in replacing Kalanick — When Uber hired Dara Khosrowshahi in 2017, the company board was solving the wrong problem. — The ride-hailing app was in the midst …

Tweets: @mhdempsey, @stevecheney, @bradleytusk, @carnage4life, and @hshaban

Louise Matsakis / Wired:

After exploding bear repellent sent 20+ workers to the hospital, Amazon is building special warehouses for hazardous items, with first set to open this summer — JUST BEFORE 8AM one Wednesday last December, a can of bear repellent exploded in an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey, sending two dozen workers to the hospital.

More: Business Insider, Engadget, and TechSpot

Tweets: @dlberes and @lmatsakis

Google Online Security Blog:

Study: adding a recovery phone number to a Google Account can stop up to 100% of bot hijacking attempts, 96% of bulk phishing attacks, 76% of targeted attacks — Every day, we protect users from hundreds of thousands of account hijacking attempts. Most attacks stem from automated bots …

More: Gizmodo and 9to5Google. Tweets: @rdrv3

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:

Alphabet's Wing says it will start drone deliveries in Helsinki, Finland, in the coming weeks with a gourmet supermarket and a restaurant as launch partners — Alphabet X Labs graduate Wing announced late last year that it'd soon begin piloting autonomous deliveries in Helsinki, Finland …

More: Wing Blog, Engadget, SlashGear, and The Verge. Tweets: @wing

Chloe Taylor / CNBC:

Deliveroo announces that Amazon is leading a $575M funding round for the UK-based food delivery service, bringing the total raised to $1.53B — KEY POINTS — Deliveroo is a British company that allows users to order food deliveries from nearby restaurants using an app.

More: Deliveroo Foodscene, The Verge, GeekWire, TechCrunch, Reuters, Telegraph, SiliconANGLE, Inquirer, PaymentsSource, Thurrott, PYMNTS.com, The Guardian, New York Times, Engadget, VentureBeat, Sky News, The Times & The Sunday Times, BBC, ZDNet, and Telegraph

Tweets: @benwood, @tomwarren, @sohear, @markkleinmansky, and @whatthebit

Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi / Reuters:

Filing: Facebook has set up a new company in Switzerland, Libra Networks, that will focus on payments, financing, identity management, blockchain, and more — ZURICH (Reuters) - Facebook has set up a new financial technology company in Switzerland focusing on blockchain and payments …

More: CNET, CoinDesk, The Block, and Seeking Alpha

Dan Woods / The Register:

Sources shed light on Amazon's Away Team model inside AWS, where one team's service may be implemented by another team who needs the enhanced capability — Cloud giant's structure, staff practices revealed — Deep dive Companies inside and out of Silicon Valley have found their own ways …

Tweets: @timfoster, @simonw, and @cote

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon say they've stopped selling customer geo-location data to third parties, according to letters they all sent the FCC — Reports emerged a year ago that all the major cellular carriers in the U.S. were selling location data to third party companies …

More: The Verge, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, BGR, The Mac Observer, Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac, and The Hill

Michael Hytha / Bloomberg:

CDN provider Fastly closes up 50% on its first day of trading after raising $180M in its IPO, is now valued at about $2.2B — Software provider Fastly Inc. closed its trading debut Friday up 50% after raising $180 million in its U.S. initial public offering.

More: CNBC, Crunchbase News, Barron's Online, Seeking Alpha, MarketWatch, GlobeNewswire News Room, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @tsantero, @carlquintanilla, and @anildash

Dennis Schaal / Skift:

Amazon launches flight bookings in India for a variety of carriers, offers Amazon Prime customers up to 2,000 rupees ($28.50) cash back on bookings — A shoe just dropped. Amazon is stepping into travel again. It may offer travel products in all sizes once it really gets going.

More: TechCrunch, The Points Guy, Entrackr, Inc42 Media, PYMNTS.com, and Seeking Alpha. Tweets: @skift

South China Morning Post:

Huawei has been stockpiling critical US components and investing in its own supply chain to prepare for disruptions like the one created by Trump's crackdown — US Commerce Department added Huawei and 70 affiliates to its Entity List, saying the company was engaged in activities 'contrary …

More: Reuters, South China Morning Post, Windows Central, Abacus, Phandroid, Bloomberg, Android Authority, KrASIA, Pocketnow, and TechNode. Tweets: @jc_mittelstadt

Jonathan Hillman / Axios:

Trump's actions against Huawei limit its 5G tech in US, but Huawei continues to build or improve ~100 undersea cables; ~380 cables carry most international data

More: Reuters, Mashable, Washington Post, and TechCrunch

Tweets: @buzzfeednews and @sunchartist

Financial Times:

Rural US broadband carriers, of which about 25% reportedly use Huawei equipment, say Huawei ban will hinder rural high-speed internet rollout

More: Vox and Axios

Tweets: @nfergus, @bensasse, @njtmulder, @cstross, @henryfarrell, and @shashj

Amir Efrati / The Information:

Sources: DoorDash is finalizing a major round that would value the food delivery app at $10B-$12B, just three months after it raised at a $7B valuation — DoorDash is finalizing a fundraising round likely to value the U.S. food delivery app between $10 billion to $12 billion after the investment …

More: Forbes. Tweets: @teddyschleifer, @gavinsbaker, @ldrogen, and @xamat

Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Google agreed to refund advertisers that paid for ads displayed in an ad fraud scheme discovered in 2017, following lawsuit over back-payments — Google has agreed to refund advertisers for ads purchased through its ad marketplaces that ran on websites with fraudulent traffic …

More: Marketing Land and Seeking Alpha

Tweets: @patiencehaggin, @craigsilverman, and @dinasrinivasan

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