Meta plans to launch Instagram's standalone Twitter competitor Threads on July 6, per the pre-order App Store listing, which offers screenshots of some features  —  Instagram's rumored Twitter competitor just dropped on the iOS App Store in the US.  The app will be called Threads …

Twitter says that in 30 days users must pay for Blue to use TweetDeck, the new version of which supports full composer functionality, Spaces, polls, and more  —  We have just launched a new, improved version of TweetDeck. All users can continue to access their saved searches & workflows via https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/ by selecting “Try the new TweetDeck” in the bottom left menu. Some notes on getting started and the future of the product... https://twitter.com/...

The CJEU rules that Germany's Federal Cartel Office didn't overstep by demanding Meta overhaul its ad business in 2019; Meta says it is “evaluating” the ruling  —  Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook lost its European Union court fight over a German antitrust order that homed …

The social web is changing: Twitter set up limits, Reddit alienated its users, TikTok could get banned, and Instagram has turned into an entertainment platform  —  An era of the internet is ending, and we're watching it happen practically in real time.  Twitter has been on a steep …

Cameron Winklevoss makes a ~$1.47B “final offer” to DCG CEO Barry Silbert for Genesis' bankruptcy restructuring and threatens lawsuits if Silbert fails to agree  —  Creditors of the crypto financial firm Genesis propose a package $1.5 billion of forbearance payments and loans denominated …

Google updates its privacy policy to say the company may use “publicly available information” to train its AI models and build products like Translate and Bard  —  An update to Google's privacy policy suggests that the entire public internet is fair game for it's AI projects.

Thierry Breton says Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft notified the EU that they meet the DMA's gatekeeper status of 45M+ MAUs and a €75B+ market cap  —  Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon (AMZN.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Meta Platforms (META.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) …

Marques Brownlee details the Nothing Phone (2) in a video: slightly bigger than the Phone (1), tweaked LEDs on the back, a curved glass rear design, and more  —  Carl Pei's Nothing is just a week or two away from the full launch, and after showing off the camera earlier today, a new video shows off the Nothing Phone (2) in full.

How SoftBank is playing catch-up despite focusing on AI since 2018; PitchBook says the firm invested in just one of the 26 generative AI startups valued at $1B+  —  Billionaire Masayoshi Son said he would make SoftBank ‘the investment company for the AI revolution,’ but he missed out on the most recent frenzy

BlackRock refiles for its spot bitcoin ETF through Nasdaq, saying Coinbase will provide market surveillance to address the US SEC's insufficient info objection  —  BlackRock Inc. has refiled paperwork with US regulators through Nasdaq to add new details to its proposal for a exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin.

Sources: the US plans to require AWS and other cloud providers to seek permission before providing services that use advanced AI chips to Chinese customers  —  Biden administration proposal, aimed at closing loophole in chip export controls, could escalate tit-for-tat fight with Beijing

Ampere: Disney+ Hotstar remains India's streaming leader with ~50M subscribers in Q1 and a 29% share, despite losing IPL cricket rights, vs. Prime Video's 12.4M  —  Disney+ Hotstar lost the rights to offer Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket last year, but the streamer remains India's market leader, according to Ampere Analysis.