Techmeme
March 8, 2023, 5:55 PM

Top News

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:
Elon Musk apologizes after mocking laid-off, disabled Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson, who joined in January 2021 after Twitter acquired his startup Ueno  —  If you're not told you are fired, are you really fired?  At Twitter, probably.  And then, sometimes, you get your job back — if you want it.
More: BBC, BBC, Ars Technica, TechCrunch, Ethan Zuckerman, Daring Fireball, Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, Gizmodo, New York Post, Forbes, Axios, NBC Bay Area, Mashable, TechSpot, San Francisco Business Journal, Insider, Gizmodo, Forbes, RTÉ, Newser, TweakTown, Bloomberg, Fortune, CNN, The Hill, and VICE
David Pierce / The Verge:
Spotify redesigns its app's core homescreen with album and playlist covers above and a TikTok-like vertical scroll of playlists, video podcasts, and more  —  Spotify is redesigning the core homescreen of its app, trying to make it easier for users to find new stuff to listen to — and watch.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google adds its VPN service to all Google One plans in 22 countries, starting at $1.99 per month, and dark web monitoring for stolen personal info to Google One  —  After adding Magic Eraser last month, Google One is significantly expanding the availability of its VPN and introducing dark web monitoring for stolen information.
Politico:
TikTok announces Project Clover, its plan to charm European regulators, including keeping more users' data on servers in Europe and allowing a security audit  —  BRUSSELS — TikTok has launched its European counteroffensive to assuage politicians' fears over Chinese surveillance.
Bloomberg:
A look at Google scrambling to add generative AI to its products, reminding some alumni of the mandate to infuse Google+ into every key service starting in 2011  —  Artificial intelligence was supposed to be Google's thing.  The company has cultivated a reputation for making long-term bets …
Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:
DuckDuckGo launches DuckAssist in beta, an OpenAI- and Anthropic-powered tool that generates answers using Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, and other sources  —  The new DuckAssist tool will source answers from Wikipedia for quick, conversational responses to some questions.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Uber is exploring whether to spin off its Uber Freight logistics arm, likely via an IPO, to focus on its growing ride hailing and food delivery units  —  Uber Technologies Inc. is exploring whether to spin off its Uber Freight logistics arm in a sale or as a separate publicly traded company …
Aaron Tilley / Wall Street Journal:
Humane, founded by two former Apple executives, raised a $100M Series C and partners with OpenAI and Microsoft; patents suggest plans to build a wearable device  —  Humane to launch its first product this spring, with patents suggesting it may be a wearable device
Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:
Sources: Stripe is raising $6B at a $50B valuation from Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, a16z, and Founders Fund to help early employees exercise their RSUs  —  Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund are participating in the round along with Goldman Sachs private wealth clients.
James Hunt / The Block:
Coinbase unveils a “Wallet-as-a-Service” product, offering APIs to help companies create customizable onchain wallets with simple user onboarding in their apps  —  - Coinbase has announced a product called Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS), designed to let companies build web3 experiences that have simple wallet onboarding.
James Archer / Rock, Paper, Shotgun:
An interview with Valve designer Lawrence Yang and engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais on the Steam Deck a year in, community-driven improvements, Verified, and more  —  The portable PC's creators reflect on its first anniversary and look to its future  —  Happy birthday, anniversary, launchiversary …
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
YouTube plans to ease its restrictions on swearing in videos after finding that its November 2022 rules “resulted in a stricter approach than we intended”  —  YouTube will ease its restrictions on swearing in videos after an update it rolled out in November sparked backlash from several creators …
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
An oral history of LinkedIn, which turns 20 in May, told by co-founders including Reid Hoffman, current executives, Satya Nadella, Richard Branson, and others  —  Social media, for work?  The world was skeptical.  But 20 years and a few white-knuckle moments later, LinkedIn has become synonymous …
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Panic launches Catalog, a curated game store with 16 titles for Playdate, and plans to raise the handheld console's price by $20 to $199 starting in April 2023  —  As part of a showcase event, Panic announced that Catalog, a game store for its Playdate handheld, would be launching today.

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Zoho:
Introducing Campus: The digital home for educational institutions  —  Every educational institution needs a place where students, teachers, and administrators can find one another, communicate …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Anthropic's IPO Leak, OpenAI's Dots vs. Meta's Muse, Visual Turing Test
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.
Sources:
OpenAI's Dots lead on the future of ChatGPT
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Great Chat:
What does the tech industry owe San Francisco?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
David George from a16z
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
David Ellison's Paramount-Warner Empire & The Fight That Comes Next
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.
Invest Like the Best:
Noah Shinn - Building Instinct: The Personal Agent
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:55 PM ET, March 8, 2023.

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

Tom McKay / Rolling Stone:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:

Earlier Picks

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Todd Spangler / Variety: