Techmeme
January 18, 2021, 5:50 PM

Top News

Los Angeles Times:
Amateur digital sleuths have joined massive crowdsourcing efforts on social media to track violent Capital rioters, passing the evidence to authorities  —  The digital sleuths take to their computers in the moments when they can peel away from their real-world responsibilities — jobs …
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
Samsung Electronics heir Jay Y. Lee was sentenced to 30 months in prison over bribery charges; Lee still faces a second prosecution related to succession  —  - Lee sentenced to two and a half years in jail after court case  — Samsung succession scandal has rocked South Korea for years
Joanna Stern / Wall Street Journal:
Social media algorithms amplify the reach of incendiary, misinformation-filled, conspiracy theories, and users have no control over them  —  What you see in your feeds isn't up to you.  What's at stake is no longer just missing a birthday.  It's your sanity—and world peace.
Joan Donovan / HBR.org:
Reuters:
Sources: in a flurry of parting actions against China, Trump's admin has notified Huawei suppliers including Intel that it's revoking licenses to sell to Huawei  —  NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration notified Huawei suppliers, including chipmaker Intel …
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
GitHub apologizes to the employee it fired for using the term “Nazis” on January 6, offers him his job back, and says the company's head of HR has resigned  —  The company is offering the employee his job back  —  GitHub is admitting that a Jewish employee was fired in error and is offering him his job back.
Sebastian Sinclair / CoinDesk:
Maps.me, an offline mobile map for travelers, raises $50M seed led by Alameda Research, aims to launch “yield earning” DeFi tools inside the app  —  The funding will go toward the launch of a multi-currency wallet on Maps.me, enabling decentralized finance (DeFi) features for 140 million users.
Medium:
A look at the shady aspects of Tether, the stablecoin being probed by SDNY for over a year, widely used to buy BTC and other cryptocurrencies on many exchanges  —  This is the story of a Bitcoin trade — the most financially impactful trade I've ever made in my life.
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
proSapient, a research service helping customers gather insights from experts via interviews and surveys, raises $10M Series A led by Smedvig Capital  —  For several years there has been talk about how to leverage ‘experts’ online.  How do you ‘suck their brains’ for information in an efficient manner …
Bloomberg:
Sources: as German car trading service Auto1 plans its IPO, Sequoia and Lone Pine will each buy €50M shares from existing investors and put €50M+ into its IPO  —  - Lone Pine also purchases stock from early backer DN Capital  — Both funds want to buy more shares in Auto1's planned IPO

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:
Saudi Arabia's data localisation era: Why compliance-ready clouds are now essential  —  Saudi Arabia is in a key phase in its digital transformation, where data governance, cybersecurity, and digital sovereignty are as vital as innovation.
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

Access:
Building an autonomous car utopia with Rivian's RJ Scaringe
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
How to show up in any room with a low heart rate: Silicon Valley's missing etiquette playbook | Sam Lessin
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Three New Influencers
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Big Technology Podcast:
Who Wins if AI Models Commoditize? — With Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch
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.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Daniele Perito from depthfirst
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
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 5:50 PM ET, January 18, 2021.

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

Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Miriam Berger / Washington Post: