Techmeme
February 14, 2020, 4:00 PM

Top News

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Facebook to allow influencers to produce sponsored content for US politicians and political campaigns, if the posts are clearly identified as paid partnerships  —  Bloomberg's bad memes might just be the beginning  —  Facebook will allow influencers to produce sponsored content …
Takashi Mochizuki / Bloomberg:
Sources: Sony PlayStation 5's manufacturing costs may be around $450 per unit due to scarce components  —  - May wait for Microsoft's Xbox group to make first pricing move  — New PlayStation VR headset also planned after PS5 launch  —  Scarce components have pushed the manufacturing costs …
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Behind Signal's push to go mainstream by adding features like iPad support, ephemeral images and video, downloadable customizable stickers, and emoji reactions  —  The encryption app is putting a $50 million infusion from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton to good use, building out features to help it go mainstream.
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
DOJ has charged the owner of Helix, a dark web Bitcoin mixer service operating from 2014-2017, for allegedly laundering bitcoins worth $300M+ at the time  —  This is the first case the DOJ has brought against a Bitcoin mixer.  —  US authorities have arrested and charged an Ohio man for running a …
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Google is in talks with publishers, mostly outside the US, about paying a licensing fee for content that would be in a premium news product  —  The search giant is in talks with some publishers about paying a fee for content that would be part of a premium news product
Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:
Google has removed 500+ malicious Chrome extensions from its Web Store, likely affecting millions of users, that were part of a long-running ad fraud network  —  A network of malicious Chrome extensions was injecting malicious ads in millions of Chrome installs.
Bloomberg Law:
California Supreme Court rules that Apple violated CA law by not paying employees at its stores for time spent on mandatory bag and iPhone searches  —  Listen  —  Apple Inc. violated California law when it failed to pay employees for time they spend waiting for mandatory bag and iPhone searches …
Liana Baker / Bloomberg:
Toast, a cloud-based restaurant management platform, raises $400M at a $4.9B valuation, says its revenue grew 109% in 2019  —  - Restaurant payment technology firm raises $400 million  — Toast's new valuation is up from $2.7 billion last year  —  Toast Inc., which makes point …

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
We can build it.  Can we judge it?  —  As agentic AI shortens the path from idea to shipped code, journey evaluation becomes a critical design skill.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: Map My Client Location for Zoho CRM  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
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:
Google's Potential, AI Money Spigot Shutting?, PHP Bug & Cybersecurity's "Black October"
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.
Machine Gods:
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Parking Startup That Swallowed A 100-Year-Old Giant | Metropolis CEO Alex Israel
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on what's next for Google Gemini, Waymo, and data centers in space
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:00 PM ET, February 14, 2020.

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

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Social Science One:
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Danny Crichton / TechCrunch:
Kim Zetter / VICE: