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February 2, 2021, 3:45 PM
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| Federal Trade Commission: |
FTC says Amazon will pay $61.7M to settle charges that it withheld some customer tips from Flex drivers over 2.5 years; FTC will use the sum to pay the drivers — Settlement prohibits Amazon from misrepresenting driver earnings, pay or percent of tips paid to drivers, changing its handling of tips without drivers' consent
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Los Angeles Times, Vox, Washington Post, Forbes, Engadget, NBC News, TechCrunch, New York Times, The Hill, Gizmodo, VICE, Business Insider, CNET, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, Axios, The Verge, and WRAL TechWire
Tweets: @suhaunah, @rkslaughterftc, @ftc, @adamndsmith, @repkenbuck, @sarahfkessler, @zachdcarter, and @kantrowitz
| Konrad Putzier / Wall Street Journal: |
Amazon unveils plans for part of its HQ2 in VA, including three 22-story office buildings and the Helix, a 350-foot building with spiraling outdoor walkways — Centerpiece of design is a 350-foot building dubbed the Helix, which features two spiraling outdoor walkways
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About Amazon, CNET, SiliconANGLE, NBC4 Washington, Business Insider, Axios, GeekWire, Engadget, Associated Press, USA Today, Bloomberg, WRAL TechWire, CNBC, AppleInsider, Washington Post, and Reuters
Tweets: @jaredlholt, @somebadideas, @sonnybunch, @ibogost, @jonostrower, @noonanjo, @jonostrower, @mcwm, @jake_bittle, @amazonnews, @timsteno, @fordm, @cjscalia, @owenthomas, @alexjamesfitz, and @ranimolla
| Dan Primack / Axios: |
Uber says it is buying alcohol delivery startup Drizly for $1.1B in cash and stock; Drizly co-founder and CEO Cory Rellas is expected to remain with Uber — Uber on Tuesday announced an agreement to buy Drizly, a Boston-based alcohol delivery startup, for $1.1 billion in cash and stock.
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Uber, CNBC, TechCrunch, ZDNet, Gizmodo, Crunchbase News, Washington Post, PYMNTS.com, Pocketnow, The Hill, Fast Company, The Economic Times, Fortune, CNN, Input, TechSpot, Business Insider, and Tech Xplore
Tweets: @cnni, @helena, @rachelmercer, @alex, @shaig, @mcwm, @hypervisible, and @alexrkonrad
| Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post: |
In a report, NYU researchers call conservative claims of social media censorship “a form of disinformation” and warn against completely repealing Section 230 — A new report concludes that social networks aren't systematically biased against conservatives, directly contradicting Republican claims …
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NYU Stern Center …, The Verge, and USA Today
Tweets: @jeffhorwitz, @digiphile, @mehdirhasan, @digiphile, @digiphile, @mmcauliff, @twittercomms, @stanfordcis, and @robpegoraro
| Casey Newton / Platformer: |
The unedited nature and serendipity of conversations makes Clubhouse a compelling platform for productive discussions on otherwise fraught topics — Elon Musk disrupts podcasting. PLUS: Robinhood's big mistake — I. Andreessen Horowitz and the backdoor pilot — Hey, did you hear Elon Musk went on Clubhouse?
Tweets: @taylorlorenz, @nickstatt, @leimer, @marklittlenews, @trengriffin, @jaycodon, @elissabeth, and @rafat
| Mike Butcher / TechCrunch: |
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Vox, VICE, The Economic Times, International Business Times, The Daily Hodl, Cointelegraph, TechNode, Business Insider, Pocketnow, and CNBC
Tweets: @elonmusk, @jessicalessin, @andrewrsorkin, @a16z, @shaanvp, @immad, @nelliebowles, @zhaoyinfeng, @jyarow, @dwr, @lady_astor, @cathyhackl, @jasonzada, @bobmurphyecon, @joinclubhouse, @alexeheath, and @jessicalessin. Thanks:@mikebutcher
| Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider: |
Kuo: Apple Car will use Hyundai's E-GMP battery electric vehicle platform; new models could be built in association with GM and European manufacturer PSA — Noted TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo weighed in on “Apple Car” on Monday, saying Apple will work in close cooperation with Hyundai … | Reuters: |
Sources: Chinese hackers are thought to have hacked a payroll agency inside the US Dept. of Agriculture in 2020 by exploiting another bug in SolarWinds software — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Suspected Chinese hackers exploited a flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp to help break … | Elizabeth Culliford / Reuters: |
Wikimedia begins work on implementing its first global code of conduct, which addresses harassment, the introduction of false or biased information, and more — (Reuters) - The foundation that operates Wikipedia will launch its first global code of conduct on Tuesday, seeking to address criticism …
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Wikimedia Foundation, Engadget, and The Hill
Tweets: @krmaher, @carolinesinders, and @mmasnick
| Ian Hamilton / UploadVR: |
Oculus says six Oculus Quest titles have each cleared $10M in revenue and 60, or one third of all paid apps available on its store, have earned $1M+ — Six Oculus Quest titles cleared $10 million in revenue and one third of all the paid apps available on the store — more than 60 total — have earned more than $1 million.
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Oculus, UploadVR, UploadVR, Social Media Today, and VRFocus
Tweets: @epro, @mattconte, @piershr, and @c_pruett
| CNBC: |
In a letter, Sen. Warren asks Robinhood to explain its restriction of GameStop shares, noting it should have transparent, consistent rules around market access — - Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked stock trading company Robinhood in a letter to explain why it restricted trading in red-hot shares … | Peter Rudegeair / Wall Street Journal: |
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Under the Hood, CNBC, and coinspeaker.com
Tweets: @joshelman, @alexrkonrad, @allstarcharts, @alexrkonrad, and @robinhoodapp
| Ashley Carman / The Verge: |
Instagram now puts deleted content into a Recently Deleted folder for 30 days, where it can be restored by the user; deleted Stories disappear after 24 hours — Content can be brought back for up to 30 days — Instagram is making it easier to bring back deleted posts.
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Instagram, 9to5Mac, SlashGear, Engadget, Social Media Today, phonearena.com, Neowin, and Mashable. Tweets: @mattnavarra
| Mike Masnick / Techdirt: |
Any US legislation to ban anonymity online will be unconstitutional, will not work, and most importantly will put many marginalized/vulnerable people at risk — There's an idea that pops up every so often among people who are upset about misinformation online but don't actually understand …
Tweets: @kareshy_zen, @mmasnick, @senatorshoshana, @kfogel, @jeffjarvis, @amac, and @dispositive
| Zoe Schiffer / The Verge: |
Google to pay $2.5M to 5,500+ female engineers as well as female and Asian job applicants to settle pay and hiring discrimination allegations — The US Department of Labor alleges systemic pay and hiring discrimination — Google has agreed to pay $2.5 million to more than 5,500 employees …
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U.S. Department of Labor, Android Police, Input, CNN, Android Central, and Android Headlines
Tweets: @byjacobward, @barryrevzin, @zephyrteachout, @usdol, @ruby, @jeffbargmann, @carnage4life, @quinnypig, and @lutherlowe
| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Valon raises $50M Series A led by a16z to grow its mobile-first mortgage servicing tools, says in one year it committed to servicing its first $10B in mortgages — If you've ever applied for a mortgage, you know it's one of the most painful processes out there.
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FinLedger, FinSMEs, Bloomberg, and Andreessen Horowitz
| Ryan Browne / CNBC: |
UK Treasury proposes stricter regulations for “buy now, pay later” services like Klarna, including affordability checks before lending — - The U.K. Treasury said buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms would come under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Oyster, which develops HR software for a distributed workforce, raises $20M Series A, bringing its total raised to about $24M — The growth of remote working and managing workforces that are distributed well beyond the confines of a centralized physical office — or even a single country … | Coco Liu / Bloomberg: |
Alibaba sales beat estimates in the three months ended December, with revenue of $34.2B, up 37% YoY, and net income of $12.23B, up 52% YoY — - Company is communicating with regulators on antitrust probe — Sales rose at a faster-than-expected pace in December quarter| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Divvy, which buys and rents homes while setting aside ~25% of monthly payments toward the renter's future down payment on the house, raises $110M Series C — Despite all the headaches that come with it, homeownership is still the American dream for many. — Divvy Homes - a startup …
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FinLedger, PYMNTS.com, Business Insider, Forbes, and Crunchbase News
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