Techmeme
May 26, 2022, 3:05 PM

Top News

Chavi Mehta / Reuters:
Broadcom offers to acquire VMware for ~$61B in cash and stock, paying $142.50 per share, a nearly 49% premium, and will assume VMware's $8B in net debt  —  May 26 (Reuters) - Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) said on Thursday it will buy cloud service provider VMware Inc (VMW.N) in a $61 billion cash …
Patrick McGee / Financial Times:
Q&A with Epic CEO Tim Sweeney on creating the metaverse, Unreal Engine's role, Apple's and Google's app store monopolies, Meta's metaverse investment, and more  —  Online game Fortnite is arguably the closest thing to the metaverse that exists today.  Some 70mn gamers immerse themselves …
Alex Konrad / Forbes:
A profile of Stripe's John and Patrick Collison; sources say the startup's gross revenue rose 60% YoY to nearly $12B in 2021 as net revenue reached almost $2.5B  —  Billionaire brothers John and Patrick Collison built Stripe into one of the world's most-hyped, highest valued — and profitable! — startups, worth some $95 billion.
Tim Higgins / Wall Street Journal:
Apple plans to bump US hourly workers' pay to $22+ per hour, up 45% from 2018, amid inflation and unionization pushes; US starting salaries are also set to rise  —  The iPhone maker faces store unionization attempts, higher inflation  —  Apple Inc. AAPL .11%▲ is boosting pay …
Debby Wu / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to keep iPhone production in 2022 at ~220M, about the same as 2021, compared to ~240M market forecasts, amid inflation and a tough market  —  Apple Inc. is planning to keep iPhone production roughly flat in 2022, a conservative stance as the year turns increasingly challenging for the smartphone industry.
Sujith Somraaj / Decrypt:
Binance, FTX, Crypto.com, Bitfinex, and other exchanges have pledged support for Do Kwon's Terra 2.0, set to launch on Friday by airdropping tokens  —  Cryptocurrency exchanges have pledged support to Terra's upcoming relaunch, following the passing of a proposal to launch a new blockchain.
Sam Nussey / Reuters:
Sony plans to ramp up PlayStation 5 production as supply chain issues ease, and a radical broadening of its game portfolio, including more PC and mobile titles  —  Sony Group Corp (6758.T) said it plans to ramp up production of its PlayStation 5 console as supply chain snarls ease and signalled …
Dan Primack / Axios:
Bolt Financial laid off 185 employees, or about one-third of its workforce, a few of whom will have to pay back loans they took from the company within 90 days  —  One-click checkout company Bolt Financial yesterday laid off 185 employees, or approximately one-third of its workforce …
Kyle Alspach / Protocol:
Cloud security company Lacework, which said in March that it has 1,000 employees, lays off 20% of its workforce; the company last raised $1.3B in November 2021  —  A well-funded startup in the cybersecurity industry, Lacework, has become the latest tech firm to disclose a major round …
Bloomberg:
The tech market collapse, aided by macroeconomic forces, is an opportunity to reckon with inflated valuations, overzealous VCs, and the rise of crypto startups  —  Over the past half-century, Silicon Valley has toggled between two similar-sounding pursuits that are often in conflict: wealth creation and moneymaking.
Politico:
Sources: a bipartisan bill that would stop platforms from favoring their own products is facing resistance from some Senate Democrats worried about the midterms  —  A bipartisan legislative effort to rein in the nation's largest tech companies is facing fresh resistance from a faction …
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Twitter agrees to pay $150M to the FTC, settling allegations that it misrepresented the “security and privacy” of user data between May 2013 and September 2019  —  Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) has settled with U.S. authorities over allegations it misrepresented the “security and privacy” …
Ashley Stewart / Insider:
Interviews with former and current Microsoft employees suggest a widespread pattern of executive misconduct persists, years after Satya Nadella vowed to end it  —  The Microsoft executive walked into the small, windowless room in Studio C at about 8 o'clock that evening.
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Sources: Substack dropped efforts to raise money, after talks to raise $75M to $100M at a $750M to $1B valuation, and told investors it had ~$9M revenue in 2021  —  Amid an industrywide downturn, venture investors are preaching austerity and halting new deals, particularly for companies that have spent aggressively on growth.
Jonathan Browning / Bloomberg:
The UK's CMA opens an investigation into whether Google illegally favored its own ad tech exchange services and excluded rivals  —  The UK's antitrust watchdog started a new investigation of Alphabet Inc.'s Google, over suspicions it may have abused its dominant position across its ad tech …
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Oura partners with Gucci on the Gucci x Oura Ring wearable, letting users monitor heart rate, sleep, and more, available at select stores for $1,100  —  Oura, the startup that's pushing the limits of how small a wearable can be, just announced a collaboration that could boost its profile considerably.
Peter Grant / Wall Street Journal:
Some hotels are looking to guarantee bookings revenue by partnering with startups like Pinktada that convert stays into NFTs to be bought and sold by guests  —  NFTs also are being used to raise capital to buy golf courses or land, giving token buyers a stake in the projects
Noi Mahoney / FreightWaves:
Fleet management software provider Motive, formerly called KeepTruckin, raises a $150M Series F led by Insight and Kleiner Perkins at a $2.85B valuation  —  Motive raised $150 million to invest in products aimed at the “safety, productivity and profitability” of businesses.

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.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
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.
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 3:05 PM ET, May 26, 2022.

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

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
CNBC:
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: