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August 12, 2021, 5:45 PM
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| Mike Isaac / New York Times: |
Reddit raises $410M+ led by Fidelity Investments at a $10B+ valuation, up from $6B six months ago when it raised $250M; the new round could reach ~$700M — Reddit, the virtual town square of the consumer internet, has raised a fresh $410 million in funding, valuing it at more than $10 billion, the company said on Thursday.
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Upvoted. More:
The Verge, Decrypt, SiliconANGLE, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Insider, Tubefilter, Bloomberg, Input, The Wrap, Variety, and Reuters
| Felix Salmon / Axios: |
Circle announces intention to become a bank, fully regulated by Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, which could make USDC a de facto central bank digital currency — Crypto giant Circle has announced its intention to become a bank, fully regulated by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC.| Naman Ramachandran / Variety: |
UK's CMA says it has provisionally found that Facebook's Giphy acquisition could negatively impact competition, such as by denying competitors access to GIFs — The merger of social media giant Facebook and Giphy, the largest provider of GIFs, has run into a roadblock from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
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GOV.UK, The Verge, The Guardian, Ars Technica, Financial Times, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Protocol, PCMag, Reuters, CNET, Techaeris, Engadget, Neowin, Tech Xplore, The Hill, CNN, Associated Press, Coinspeaker, and Forbes
Tweets: @bongcapital, @bongcapital, @bongcapital, @cryptocobain, @s8mb, @s8mb, @mediamorphis, @mediamorphis, @bongspock, @seyitaylor, @s8mb, @s8mb, @shortformernie, @s8mb, @b_fung, @seyitaylor, @alexeheath, @alexeheath, @justbrosef, and @b_fung
| Bloomberg: |
Facebook delays its office reopenings in the US until January 2022; Facebook originally hoped for 50% office capacity by September and 100% by October — - Company originally planned to have employees back by October — Facebook will also require vaccinations for U.S. staff members
More:
The Verge and CNET
Tweets: @markgurman, @chris_herd, @entirelyamelia, @stevekovach, @carnage4life, @kurtwagner8, and @mikeisaac
| Jason Schreier / Bloomberg: |
In an internal memo, Amazon drops guidelines that claimed ownership rights to video games made by staff after work hours, following criticism from developers — - Memo from Game Studios chief suggests rules were too broad — Company previously claimed rights to games made outside work| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
TikTok details upcoming protections for users aged 13 to 17, including turning in-app messaging off by default and changes to notifications — TikTok today becomes the latest tech company to roll out increased protections for minors on its platform in the wake of increased regulatory scrutiny.
More:
TikTok, CNET, Axios, Engadget, The Guardian, PCMag, Tubefilter, The Mac Observer, Reuters, Forbes, Neowin, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, BBC, and TechSpot
Tweets: @frankcatalano and @mshannahmurphy
| Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE: |
Nvidia says part of its April keynote was led by a virtual replica of CEO Jensen Huang, created by scanning Huang and then training an AI to mimic his gestures — Nvidia pulled off a stunt to promote and showcase its latest technology by digitizing its CEO Jensen Huang in a conference keynote.
More:
The Official NVIDIA Blog, PCMag, Input, CNET, and TechSpot
Tweets: @jakobsonradical, @jaycuthrell, @nvidiaap, @pcper, @jbathgate, @jakobsonradical, @lorenzofb, @motherboard, and @jhuckaby
| Simon Evans / Reuters: |
Lionel Messi's new contract with Paris St Germain includes a “large number” of crypto $PSG Fan Tokens from Socios.com, which let holders vote on minor decisions — Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi's transfer to French club Paris St Germain included a payment in cryptocurrency fan tokens …
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EN.PSG.FR, Cointelegraph, The Block, Cointelegraph, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, CoinJournal, New York Post, Crypto Briefing, Decrypt, Bitcoinist.com, Cryptonews, cryptodaily.co.uk, Neowin, CNBC, and Reuters
Tweets: @reuterssports, @masonnystrom, @footballelixir, @footballelixir, @socios, @oscarwgrut, @oscarwgrut, and @mdudas
| Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC: |
Airbnb reports Q2 revenue of $1.34B, up nearly 300% YoY, with Gross Booking Value of $13.4B, up 320% YoY, and net loss of $68M, down 88% YoY — - Airbnb beat Wall Street's expectations for revenue and bookings in the second quarter, but the company warned about expected volatility from the Covid delta variant.| Joseph Cox / VICE: |
Google says it banned location data company SafeGraph in early June, meaning apps using SafeGuard location SDK had to remove it — SafeGraph sells smartphone location data to essentially anyone. Google banned the company in June. — Joseph Cox — Google has banned SafeGraph …
More:
Engadget and The Verge
Tweets: @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @vice, @josephfcox, @wolfiechristl, @jshermcyber, @mikereyes, @josephfcox, and @jason_koebler
| Nathan Grayson / Washington Post: |
Thousands of marginalized streamers implore Twitch to counter “hate raids”, where groups of malicious users fill a streamer's chat with targeted abuse — During an Aug. 6 broadcast, the Twitch streamer RekItRaven — who is Black and uses they/them pronouns …
More:
Gizmodo, Input, PC Gamer, afrotech.com, and Kotaku
Tweets: @twitch, @gibiz, @rizzn, @twitch, @iambrandontv, @cypheroftyr, @twitch, and @vahn16
| Kevin Roose / New York Times: |
A look at community NFT projects like Pudgy Penguins, which have become a new kind of financial and social status symbol on the internet — Is this what the metaverse looks like? — Earlier this week, I got attacked by penguins. — Not real ones, mind you.
More:
Coinmonks. Tweets: @alexisohanian, @dmccabe, @steefcrypto, @partypenguinnft, @nytimestech, @mdudas, @kevinmdraper, @caseynewton, @jeremysliew, and @kevinroose
| Joseph Cox / VICE: |
Internal docs: Amazon plans to monitor keyboard strokes and mouse movements of customer service staff to stop rogue workers or hackers accessing customer data — An internal document also mentions cases where imposters have stolen Amazon customer data. — Joseph Cox
More:
HotHardware.com News and Engadget
Tweets: @adam_k_levin, @vice, @josephfcox, @sarahbmyers, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @lainnafader, @josephfcox, and @cdibona
| Kelly Gilblom / Bloomberg: |
Study of 6K websites and 900 apps that host pirated movies and TV finds they make ~$1.3B per year from ads, including from ads by Amazon, Facebook, and Google — - Stolen-content providers make $1.3 billion a year, study says — Amazon, Facebook, Google contribute ads to the websites
Tweets: @creativefuture and @raju
| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Agora, a materials management platform for building contractors, raises $33M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total raised to about $45M — Agora, a startup that has built a materials management platform for contractors, has raised $33 million in a Series B round of funding led by Tiger Global Management.| David Uberti / Wall Street Journal: |
A look at efforts to shape federal rules for companies disclosing cyberattacks, with a group representing Alphabet and Amazon pushing for a 72-hour window — Companies and trade groups want at least 72 hours to report cyberattacks — Companies are pushing to narrow legislation … | Bloomberg: |
Sources: Atlanta-based Mailchimp is exploring strategic options, including a sale at a $10B+ valuation; source says Mailchimp's EBITDA reached $300M in 2020 — - Marketing company attracts interest from PE firms, strategics — Atlanta-based firm is currently 100% owned by founders
Tweets: @katie_roof, @newsynick, @joshsternberg, @newsynick, @yoda, and @astaniscia86
| Maia Szalavitz / Wired: |
Researchers say algorithms like NarxCare, which are used to identify a patient's risk of misusing opioids, may be actually worsening the US opioid crisis — A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse.
Tweets: @oliviasolon
| Andrew Deck / Rest of World: |
As Substack expands abroad, writers say it needs local payment options and customer service in other languages; some worry about legal support in hostile states — From India to Brazil, Substack is awarding grants and lending journalists editorial resources. How far will that support really go?
Tweets: @decka227, @dlberes, @wexler, @cengizyar, @kixes, @lmatsakis, @lmatsakis, @mccarthyryanj, @jason_koebler, @wongmjane, @ranaayyub, @iatalkspace, @lmatsakis, and @mvzelenks
| Gael Fashingbauer Cooper / CNET: |
Twitter rolls out a web and app redesign, implementing its first proprietary font, Chirp, high-contrast black and white follow and unfollow buttons, and more — It's inevitable: Twitter changes Twitter, and Twitter users complain on Twitter. But does Chirp make you feel like a woodpecker is pounding on your skull?
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Twitter, TechCrunch, Tom's Guide, TestingCatalog, Android Central, Wccftech, iPhone in Canada Blog, Memeburn, PCMag, BGR India, Firstpost Tech, TechRadar, and TNW
Tweets: @twitterdesign, @twitter, @marinamaral2, @shizumohnsfw, @beerbabe, @dispositiongay, @waitmanb, @johnkoetsier, @twittera11y, @patrickmoorhead, @davewiner, @cnet, @bloops_, @twitterdesign, @wongmjane, @queer_queenie, @favoniussol, @jennschiffer, @twitterdesign, @twitterdesign, @dcurtis, @gavreilly, @twitterdesign, @andrew3lash, @ztsamudzi, @dantley, @joshwcomeau, @rkrigney, @cmclymer, @revrrlewis, @andraydomise, @shoe0nhead, @andraydomise, @_psot, and @inflatabird
| Christine Hall / TechCrunch: |
Talkdesk, which provides cloud-based call center software, raises $230M Series D at a $10B valuation, following $143M Series C at a $3B valuation from last July — Talkdesk, a provider of cloud-based contact center software, announced $230 million in new Series D funding that more than triples …
More:
VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Crunchbase News, Reuters, and Business Wire
Tweets: @500startups and @intelliverse
| Jon Porter / The Verge: |
Honor unveils Magic 3 series, its first post-Huawei smartphones, all with 6.76-inch displays, Google services, up to 512GB and 12GB RAM, starting at €899 — Honor has announced its first flagship smartphones since being sold off by former parent company Huawei: the Magic 3 series.| CNBC: |
Snap creators say they are leaving Snapchat's Spotlight feature as payments have dried up after June 1, with some moving to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok — - Creators say they're leaving Snapchat's Spotlight feature after payments on the service had dried up.| Zoe Schiffer / The Verge: |
Daversa, an executive recruitment firm for companies like Instacart and Spotify, is facing allegations of male-on-male harassment and assault in a new lawsuit — The company places senior leadership in fast-growing startups to help them become stable, safe work environments
Tweets: @russellbrandom, @kateconger, @hkanji, and @cmuggla
| Li Jin / Li's Newsletter: |
A look at how centralized social media platforms have made the creator economy corrosive for online workers and what can be done to remedy the issue — The creator economy is becoming the gig economy—but there's still time to turn things around — Nearly two years ago, I published …
Tweets: @zoescaman, @p_millerd, @carnage4life, @mattschaar, @cnyari, and @om
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