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The Markup: Investigation finds US predictive policing tool PredPol, used countrywide, often perpetuates biases by directing police to poor, Black, and Latino neighborhoods -
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac: In a filing in the Epic lawsuit, Apple says it “could charge a commission” if developers use a competing payments platform, following a similar Google policy -
Bloomberg: Sources: Apple, which cut its projected iPhone 13 production targets for 2021 by up to 10M units, tells suppliers that it may not make up the shortfall in 2022 -
Kate Rooney / CNBC: Square is changing its name to Block, effective December 10, and renaming Square Crypto to Spiral, as its business shifts toward technologies like blockchain -
David Z. Morris / CoinDesk: Square's Block rebranding comes after years of making crypto integrations mainstream, although Block has downplayed the crypto elements so far -
Tom Simonite / Wired: AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who left Google last year, launches Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research, an institute focused on the responsible use of AI -
Tim Copeland / The Block: DeFi protocol BadgerDAO is investigating after security researchers say $120.3M was stolen from users via its compromised front end — Quick Take -
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: Apple announces the best apps and games of 2021, across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch, and the most downloaded apps of the year -
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post: In its end-of-year threat report, Meta says it took down several global disinformation networks, including anti-vaccine groups and groups linked to state actors -
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge: Interviews with 16 current and former Apple retail, support, and sales employees detail harsh working conditions, poor pay, and little interest from HR -
13 minutes ago The Verge: Report: Google's Pixel hardware group is working on the company's first smartwatch, internally codenamed “Rohan”, which it plans to launch next year -
CNBC: Meta expands the number of eligible regulatory licenses for running crypto ads on Facebook and Instagram from three to 27 — - Facebook on Wednesday announced … -
Carly Page / TechCrunch: Facebook makes 2FA mandatory for high-risk accounts, an expansion of Facebook Protect, which covers 1.5M accounts and will be in 50 countries by the end of 2021 -
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: DOJ charges an ex-employee of IoT manufacturer Ubiquiti with data theft and for attempting to extort his employer while posing as a whistleblower and a hacker -
Haje Jan Kamps / TechCrunch: Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform for Android gaming devices, partners with Razer on a handheld dev kit with a 6.65" 120Hz OLED display -
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge: Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, a 5nm chip with 5G and Wi-Fi 6, promising up to 85% better CPU and up to 60% faster GPU performance compared to Gen 2 -
Reuters: Grab begins trading on the Nasdaq after a record SPAC merger valuing it at $40B and raising $4.5B, the largest US listing by a Southeast Asian company -
Berber Jin / The Information: Sources: Instacart is planning to launch a 15-minute-or-less grocery delivery pilot for US customers, from existing partner stores -
Michelle Singletary / Washington Post: The CFPB's rule that lets debt collectors send texts, emails, and private social media messages to debtors, and requires opt-out instructions, goes into effect -
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: AWS announces Amplify Studio, a Figma-connected low-code service to help developers build cloud apps, as an extension of its AWS Amplify service -
Olivia Solon / NBC News: Meta partners with UK non-profit Revenge Porn Helpline to let victims get their intimate images “hashed” and prevent them from appearing on online platforms -
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times: London-based Glorify, a Christian app that offers audio prayers and more, raises a $40M Series A led by a16z at a $250M valuation -
Tim Casey / Forbes: 100 Thieves, which manages professional esports teams and 15 video game streamers, raises a $60M Series C at a $460M valuation, up from $160M in July 2019 -
Christine Hall / TechCrunch: Jokr, a rapid grocery delivery service in the US and Latin America, raises a $260M Series B at a $1.2B valuation, five months after raising a $170M Series A -
Mia Sato / The Verge: Five major education publishers sue Shopify for $500M+ over failing to remove pirated textbooks and other content that violate their trademarks and copyrights