Techmeme
August 5, 2021, 2:15 PM

Top News

Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Mozilla's analysis says Facebook's justifications for cutting off access to researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory project “simply do not hold water”  —  The company says privacy concerns forced it to block access for a team of academics.  Whose privacy, exactly?
Bloomberg:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple is reportedly considering using on-device hashing algorithms to match photos with known child abuse material, a potentially problematic practice  —  Apple is reportedly set to announce new photo identification features that will use hashing algorithms to match the content of photos …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon delays its return to offices from September 3 to January 3, 2022  —  Amazon told employees Thursday that it will delay its timeline for returning to regular work in the office until early next year.  —  The new date: Jan. 3, 2022.  Previously, Amazon had expected employees …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
Scammers are abusing Instagram's protections against self-harm and impersonation to purposefully target and ban Instagram accounts, some charging $60 per ban  —  An underground industry is abusing Instagram's mechanisms for removing self-injury and impersonating content to censor and harass people.
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Nintendo misses in Q1 with $1.09B operating profit, down 17.3% YoY, on $2.94B revenue, down 9.9% YoY, as Switch sales decline by 21.7% YoY to 4.45M units  —  It was not exactly a normal quarter this time in 2020  —  Nintendo has released its earnings for the April-June quarter …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Google refreshes its Nest lineup, including its video doorbell and indoor-only camera, with a unified design language and lower prices  —  A whole new lineup of cameras for Nest smart homes  —  Google has announced a new line of home security cameras and a video doorbell under its Nest brand.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok says it is testing TikTok Stories; source says Stories are available in a handful of markets outside the US  —  Twitter may have shut down its Stories features known as Fleets, but the Stories format will continue to invade other social platforms.  TikTok today confirmed it's piloting …
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Yelp will let businesses list their vaccination policies, including if customers must show proof of vaccination, wear masks, or if all staff are vaccinated  —  Including details on staff and customer vaccinations  —  Yelp will let businesses share their policies on COVID-19 vaccinations, the company announced today.
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Ethereum's “London” hard fork has been activated, with changes to how transaction fees are calculated to decrease volatility, among other fixes  —  - Ethereum's “London” hard fork has just activated, and it's a major change.  — One of the changes alters the way transaction fees …
Michael McSweeney / The Block:
Senators Lummis, Wyden, Toomey propose amendment to infrastructure bill excluding crypto developers, miners, node operators, others from the “broker” definition  —  A trio of U.S. senators is proposing a legislative exclusion for crypto companies, including miners and software developers …
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Apple places female engineering program manager on administrative leave after she tweeted about sexism in the office  —  Ashley Gjøvik says the employee relations team implied she should stay off Slack pending an ongoing investigation  —  Apple has placed senior engineering program …
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Indian startup MindTickle, which offers tools to improve sales staff, raises $100M Series E led by SoftBank at a $1.2B valuation, bringing total raised to $281M  —  So-called sales readiness technology provider MindTickle Inc. is running with the unicorns today after landing a $100 million Series E round of funding.
Michael del Castillo / Forbes:
Cryptocurrency analytics firm Messari raises $21M Series A led by Point72 Ventures with Kraken Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, and Coinbase among investors  —  Point72 Ventures,, the venture capital firm of billionaire Steve Cohen, whose unconventional style helped inspire the hit television show Billions …
Chris McGreal / The Guardian:
Report: 25 oil and gas organizations spent $9.5M+ on 25K+ Facebook ads in 2020, seen 431M+ times, potentially undermining Facebook's ban on oil and gas misinfo  —  Thinktank InfluenceMap accuses petroleum giants of gaming Facebook to promote oil and gas as part of climate-crisis solution
Khari Johnson / Wired:
New study says encouraging consensus among data labelers from diverse backgrounds can lead to better AI for detecting misogyny and harassment on social media  —  Misogyny on the internet too often slips through the filters of content moderators.  A new method hopes to inject more nuance into the process.
Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg:
Crehana, a Latin American online learning service, raises $70M led by General Atlantic and says its user base jumped from 1.2M to 5M in 2020  —  - Crehana learning platform operates across Latin America  — Startup plans to launch Brazil office in October with proceeds

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Zoho People in 2025: A year in review  —  As we wrap up 2025, we're taking a moment to look back on a year filled with progress and transformation at Zoho People.  Our team has been constantly pushing boundaries …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
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.
Hard Fork:
Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin' Xmas Song
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 2:15 PM ET, August 5, 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

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Tom Warren / The Verge: