Techmeme
November 4, 2021, 12:30 AM

Top News

Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
US sanctions four companies, including NSO Group, that sell spyware or hacking tools, adding them to a list of entities engaging in “malicious cyber activities”  —  The US government has sanctioned today four companies that develop and sell spyware and other hacking tools, the US Department of Commerce announced today.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Instagram brings back support for Twitter Card previews after removing the feature in 2012  —  Instagram is bringing back support for Twitter Card previews starting today.  Now when users share an Instagram link on Twitter, a preview of the post will be shown in the tweet.
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta announces new Facebook creator tools, including custom subscription links that use its native payments system to bypass Apple and Google's IAP cut  —  The change is specifically about circumventing Apple's 30 percent tax, according to Zuckerberg  —  Facebook has found a way to skirt Apple's 30 percent tax on in-app transactions.
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Take-Two Interactive Q2: revenue of $858.2M, up 2% YoY, net bookings of $984.9M, up 3%; GTA V has sold 155M+ copies and generated $6B+ in revenue since 2013  —  Join gaming leaders online at GamesBeat Summit Next this upcoming November 9-10.  Learn more about what comes next.
New York Times:
Google is aggressively pursuing a major cloud computing and AI contract with the Pentagon, three years after employee outcry ended similar work on Project Maven  —  Three years ago, the company walked away from a Defense Department project after employees objected to it.
Michael Kan / PCMag:
FCC approves Boeing's application to deploy and operate satellites providing broadband internet to US consumers and business; application was filed in 2017  —  According to the FCC, Boeing plans on using the satellite internet system to supply broadband to residential, commercial, and government customers.
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
CISA creates a catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities, including in Apple and Google products, and orders federal agencies to patch within timeframes  —  The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has established today a public catalog of vulnerabilities known to be exploited …
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
GitHub CEO Nat Friedman is stepping down on November 15; Thomas Dohmke, who became chief product officer in August, will take over as CEO  —  GitHub CEO Nat Friedman is stepping down from his role on November 15 to become the Chairman Emeritus of the Microsoft-owned service.
Rebecca Heilweil / Vox:
Meta will retain some of its facial recognition systems, including its DeepFace model, and plans to incorporate biometrics into its metaverse products  —  The social network is scaling back facial recognition, but similar technology could show up in the metaverse.
New York Times:
TechCrunch:
PitchBook: female-founded startups raised a record $40.4B across 2,661 VC deals in the first three quarters of 2021, with the value of exits reaching $59B  —  The coronavirus pandemic disproportionately reduced venture capital funding for female founders last year, despite a greater boom …
Joseph Cox / VICE:
A look at the booming market for bots that steal 2FA codes, often using SMS services like Twilio, to break into Coinbase, Amazon, PayPal, and bank accounts  —  The bots convincingly and effortlessly help hackers break into Coinbase, Amazon, PayPal, and bank accounts.  —  Joseph Cox
Frank Chaparro / The Block:
Coinbase confirms it is testing Coinbase One, a subscription service that internal docs show could feature zero trading fees and prioritized phone support  —  Quick Take  — Coinbase is testing out a new subscription service, dubbed Coinbase One  — The service would give users access to more features such as zero-fee trading
James Vincent / The Verge:
Google News will return to Spain “early next year” following a change to Spain's copyright laws that will let Google negotiate fees with individual publishers  —  Spain has changed its copyright law in accordance with EU legislation  —  Who should get paid when big tech platforms aggregate news stories?
Katie Jennings / Forbes:
Medallion, which helps health care providers automate administrative tasks, raises a $30M Series B led by Sequoia Capital, bringing its total raised to $50M  —  I am a staff writer covering healthcare.  Email me at kjennings@forbes.com.  —  Derek Lo acknowledges healthcare administration …
Source: Medallion
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Internal documents shed light on Facebook's “holdout” experiments, where it withholds certain protections from a subset of users to see how they will react  —  In her testimony before Congress last month, whistleblower Frances Haugen told lawmakers Facebook has conducted experiments …

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Earlier Picks

Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Campbell Kwan / ZDNet:
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Tom Warren / The Verge: