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August 12, 2021, 6:05 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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The Verge, Decrypt, TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, 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, Protocol, PCMag, BBC, Reuters, Engadget, Neowin, Tech Xplore, The Hill, CNN, Techaeris, 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
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GeekWire, The Verge, CNET, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNBC
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.
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TikTok, CNET, Axios, Engadget, The Guardian, PCMag, Tubefilter, The Mac Observer, Reuters, Neowin, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, BBC, Forbes, 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.
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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, Bitcoinist.com, Cryptonews, cryptodaily.co.uk, Decrypt, 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 …
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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 …
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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.
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Coinmonks. Tweets: @alexisohanian, @dmccabe, @steefcrypto, @partypenguinnft, @nytimestech, @mdudas, @kevinmdraper, @jeremysliew, @caseynewton, 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, @sarahbmyers, @josephfcox, @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
| 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 … | 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.| 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
| 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
| 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, and Firstpost Tech
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
| 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
| 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 …
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VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, Crunchbase News, Reuters, and Business Wire
Tweets: @500startups and @intelliverse
| CNBC: |
Snap creators say they are leaving Snapchat's Spotlight feature after payments dried up on 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.| 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.| 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
| 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
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