Techmeme
May 20, 2021, 9:30 AM

Top News

Echo Wang / Reuters:
Zhang Yiming, co-founder of ByteDance, says he is stepping down as CEO and will be succeeded by another co-founder Rubo Liang, current head of human resources  —  (Reuters) -Zhang Yiming, co-founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, told employees of the Chinese technology giant in a memo …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it is finally retiring Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022, after more than 25 years, in favor of Edge  —  Internet Explorer will no longer be supported in June 2022  —  Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer next year, after more than 25 years.
Ian Sherr / CNET:
During the Epic trial, Craig Federighi says malware on macOS has reached an “unacceptable” level and the problem is “significantly larger” than iOS  —  Apple's head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, said malware on Macs have hit “unacceptable” levels.
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Rumman Chowdhury / Twitter:
Twitter shares the results from an investigation into bias within the image cropping algorithm it used to employ, finding it favored white people and women  —  In October 2020, we heard feedback from people on Twitter that our image cropping algorithm didn't serve all people equitably.
Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
FTC and six state AGs sue internet service provider Frontier for allegedly providing slower internet speeds than promised to 1.3M DSL customers across 25 states  —  Frontier Communications is accused of misrepresenting internet speeds it advertised and charged for, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches tools to allow creators to bulk delete comments and block users  —  TikTok today is introducing a feature that will allow creators to deal with online abuse in an easier way.  The company is launching new tools that will allow creators to bulk delete comments and block users …
David Cohen / Adweek:
Facebook launches a new Transparency Center, a site for info on its policies to tackle hate speech, says it now removes 97% of hate speech before it's reported  —  Facebook introduced its new Transparency Center Wednesday, billing it as a single destination for information on its integrity and transparency efforts.
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
WarnerMedia says HBO Max's cheaper, ad-supported tier will cost $10 per month and launch in the first week of June  —  HBO Max's cheaper, ad-supported tier will cost $10 a month and launch in the first week of June, WarnerMedia said Wednesday.  It'll come the week after — possibly just days after …
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Immuta, which provides a cloud-native data governance software, raises $90M Series D, bringing its total raised to $169M  —  Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021.  —  Immuta, which provides a cloud-native data governance platform for organizations …
CNBC:
Bitcoin fell 30% to just over $30K on Wednesday, recovering partially to $38K; Ether, Dogecoin, and others also plunged  —  Galaxy Digital's Novogratz on bitcoin's plunge: These are setbacks for investor base  —  Bitcoin plunged to near $30,000 at one point on Wednesday morning …
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Cisco reports Q3 revenue of $12.8B, up 7% YoY, with Security revenue up 13% YoY to $876M and Infrastructure Platforms revenue up 6% YoY to $6.8B  —  The company's third quarter results were slightly ahead of market estimates, with growth across categories.  However, Cisco said it will face …
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Pitch, which develops collaborative presentation software, raises $85M Series B led by Lakestar and Tiger Global  —  Elevate your enterprise data technology and strategy at Transform 2021.  —  Collaborative presentation platform Pitch today announced it has raised $85 million in a series B round …
More: TechCrunch, Tech.eu, and Pitch
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Uncapped, which offers upfront financing to digital companies for a flat fee, raises $80M combined debt and equity round led by Lakestar  —  Buzzy US startup Pipe — which claims to be the “Nasdaq for revenue” — has just raised $250 million at a $2 billion valuation?  The secret for the hype?
More: altfi.com and FinSMEs
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Right-wing video platform Rumble says it has raised an undisclosed amount from Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, and others; sources say Rumble is valued at ~$500M  —  Backing from conservative venture capitalists comes amid push for alternative social-media channels with looser rules on speech
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google is testing a “Follow” button in Chrome for sites that support RSS, with content appearing in the New Tab page, initially with Chrome Canary users  —  Web browsers used to feature feed aggregators, but those built-in capabilities have since been phased out.
Jeff Stone / CyberScoop:
Federal judge sentences a Russian citizen, extradited to the US in March 2019, to five years in prison for stealing $1.5M in targeted hacks of US tax preparers  —  A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Russian man to five years in prison for his role in a scheme to use malicious software …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Dooly, which builds AI-based tools to automate sales workflows, raises $80M Series B led by Spark Capital, sources say at a $300M+ valuation  —  Salespeople have more tools than ever these days to help them with their work, whether they are tools to source new leads, keep those leads interested …
Bloomberg:
Squarespace stock closed down ~9% at $43.65, after opening at $48 per share, valuing the company at ~$5.9B, well below its $10B valuation in March  —  - Firm is first major direct listing to close below guide price  — Listing comes on third day of losses on U.S. exchanges
Reuters:
JD.com reports Q1 revenue of $31.57B, up 39% YoY, beating market expectations as COVID-19 boost in domestic e-commerce sector persisted  —  China's JD.com Inc's first-quarter revenue beat Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as growth remained robust in the domestic e-commerce sector following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Earlier Picks

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Michael Simon / Macworld: