Techmeme: According to a Startup Genome survey of 45 countries, nearly three-quarters of startups have laid off full-time employees due to the COVID-19 crisis (John Koetsier/Forbes)

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How Eric Schmidt is reinventing himself as the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the US military — The former Google C.E.O. has reinvented himself as the prime liaison between Silicon Valley and the military-industrial complex. — In July 2016, Raymond Thomas …

More: Reshaped. Tweets: @moonalice, @stevenstashwick, @kateconger, @anniejacobsen, @wonkvj, @ashermoses, @puiwingtam, @nytpolitics, @micahzenko, @tech_inquiry, @jvagle, and @gaylelemmon

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Companies are turning to intrusive monitoring of work-from-home employees, with always-on webcam rules, daily check-ins, and not-so-optional company happy hours — Always-on webcams, virtual “water coolers,” constant monitoring: Is the tech industry's new dream for remote work actually a nightmare?

More: New York Times. Tweets: @danpriceseattle, @teamcoworker, @_emmagh, @johnsumser, @sldgmachine, @nytopinion, @dhh, @evacide, @jasondebiak, @iamahairyson, @maxkriegervg, @golikehellmachi, @nerionaya, @feardept, and @jaclynmdiaz

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:

Researchers detail the increasingly prevalent LockBit ransomware, which may one day reach parity with other feared ransomware packages like Maze or Ryuk — You've probably never heard of LockBit, but that's likely to change. — Ransomware has emerged as one of the top threats facing large organizations …

More: McAfee Blogs, Wired, and BleepingComputer

Tweets: @john_fokker, @john_fokker, @_intelligencex, @dangoodin001, and @raj_samani

William Gallagher / AppleInsider:

How Apple relies on people like Mike Janicek, part of a vanishing breed of experts, for the manufacturing of products like Apple Watch and the unibody MacBook — Apple and all technology firms outsource work to around the globe, yet it's crucial that they keep key skills in America —and no one is training the new generation.

Tweets: @appleinsider

Emily Birnbaum / Protocol:

A look at TikTok's efforts to repair its reputation in DC, where Bytedance has spent $300K on lobbying in 2020 and has hired former Internet Association chief — For hundreds of millions of fans around the world, TikTok is the place to go for videos of dancing celebrities, cooking advice and teenage hormones on overdrive.

Tweets: @protocol, @birnbaum_e, and @issielapowsky

Kim Lyons / The Verge:

Kickstarter reaches agreement with its union on four months of severance pay, up to six months of healthcare coverage, and more for laid off employees — The workers voted to unionize in Feburary — The union for Kickstarter employees reached an agreement with management on Friday …

More: Gizmodo, Neowin, PR Newswire, and Engadget

Richard Milne / Financial Times:

Norwegian videoconferencing startup Pexip, whose clients include US government and Spotify, seeks ~$200M in IPO this quarter at a post-money valuation of ~$570M — Video-conferencing firm's clients include the US government, Amnesty International and Spotify

More: Telecompaper, Verdict, and PitchBook

Tweets: @pexipinc and @frodelia

Paul Karp / The Guardian:

Australia's home affairs department data breach reveals personal details of 774,000 migrants and aspiring migrants, including the outcome of applications — Exclusive: Privacy experts say the breach in the SkillsSelect platform, which affects data going back to 2014, was ‘very serious’

Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News:

Telemedicine startup Medici raises $24M Series B as demand surges due to COVID-19 pandemic, bringing Medici's total raised since 2016 to over $70M — We've seen a number of industries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. But we've also seen a number with increased demand. Telehealth is one of the latter.

More: MobiHealthNews and VentureBeat

Tweets: @bayareawriter and @hkanji

Yujie Xue / South China Morning Post:

Report: Huawei's HiSilicon overtakes Qualcomm as China's top smartphone processor supplier; Qualcomm's market share fell from ~38% YoY in Q4 to ~33% YoY in Q1 — Huawei's secretive chip unit shipped slightly more smartphone processor shipments in the latest quarter despite the coronavirus pandemic …

FinSMEs:

Salt Lake City-based Vutiliti, whose data monitoring tech helps energy utilities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase efficiency, raises ~$12M Series A — Vutiliti, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based smart utility monitoring company, raised $11.75m in Series A funding.

More: Business Wire

John Koetsier / Forbes:

According to a Startup Genome survey of 45 countries, nearly three-quarters of startups have laid off full-time employees due to the COVID-19 crisis — Three quarters of startups have laid off full-time employees due to COVID-19, according to a Startup Genome survey of 45 countries.

More: Startup Genome

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