Sources: Meta has drawn up plans to add “social tokens”, lending services, and a non-blockchain virtual currency that employees dubbed “Zuck Bucks” to its apps
Meta has drawn up plans to introduce virtual coins, tokens and lending services to its apps …
Epic Games and Lego form a long-term partnership to “shape the future of the metaverse” by building a safe place for children to play but offer few details
Epic Games has already outlined ambitious plans for the metaverse and Thursday the “Fortnite” maker announced it intends to build part of it with Legos.
Meta disrupts several covert influence operations against Ukraine by Belarus- and Russia-linked actors, including attempts to hack Ukrainian military personnel
Facebook said Thursday it disrupted several covert influence operations targeting Ukrainians, as the company has intensified …
Google will roll out Privacy Guide, a guided tour of privacy and security settings in Chrome, to all desktop users on version 100 or above in the coming weeks
Product Manager, Chrome at Google Safety Engineering Center Munich — Your browser plays a big role in your online experience — including protecting your privacy.
One-click checkout service Bolt acquires crypto payments startup Wyre, sources say for around $1.5B
Deal extends crypto's hot M&A market following record deal activity in 2021 — Bolt Financial Inc., a payments-focused financial technology company, is acquiring crypto-services startup …
OpenSea adds Solana NFT trading support in beta; a marketplace search shows 865K NFTs minted on Solana
At long last, Solana support is finally live on OpenSea—in beta mode. — In brief — Solana NFTs have been added to OpenSea, the largest overall NFT marketplace.
Google plans to hide and block Play Store apps that don't target an Android API within two years of the latest major Android release, starting on November 1
Google is preparing to clear its Play Store of outdated apps. The company warned Android app developers that starting on November 1 …
Coinbase adds support for the popular UPI payment method in India, making the cryptocurrency exchange functional in the country for the first time
Coinbase is adding support for the popular UPI payment instrument in India, making its eponymous cryptocurrency exchange functional …
Google Play removes dozens of Android apps, including Muslim prayer apps with 10M+ downloads, after researchers find malware tied to a US defense contractor
Code placed in consumer-facing apps is tied to U.S. national-security contractors, documents show
Google announces “multisearch” for Lens, letting users ask questions about photos and screenshots, available in beta in the US on iOS and Android
One of the most interesting announcements at Google's Search-focused keynote in September was a big upgrade to Lens that lets you take a photo and ask questions about it.
OpenAI releases DALL-E 2, a higher-resolution and lower-latency version of its text-to-image generation program with new capabilities, to researchers in preview
Researchers can sign up to preview it — Artificial intelligence research group OpenAI has created a new version of DALL-E, its text-to-image generation program.
Biden appears to show support for Amazon workers who unionized in Staten Island, saying in a speech: “By the way, Amazon, here we come. Watch”
“By the way, Amazon, here we come. Watch,” the president said. But the White House quickly said his remarks did not mean the government would get formally involved.
How Gwyneth Paltrow, Mila Kunis, and others are pushing women to invest in NFTs, which critics see as a form of self-serving feminism centered on white women
Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis joined a Zoom in January to encourage 5,000 women in the audience to break into the male-dominated world of crypto.
Berkshire Hathaway discloses that it has purchased ~121M shares of HP Inc, worth ~$4.2B, for an 11.4% stake; HP's stock rises 11%+
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) disclosed on Wednesday that it has purchased nearly 121 million shares of HP Inc (HPQ.N), the latest in a series of large investments …
Sources: online fast fashion retailer Shein raised between $1B and $2B in a round closed last week, valuing it at $100B; Shein was valued at ~$15B in 2020
China-based fast-fashion seller now worth more than H&M and Zara combined — Fast-fashion retailer Shein was valued at $100 billion …
Samsung expects Q1 operating profit to rise 50% YoY to $11.6B, the highest since 2018, and revenue to rise 18% YoY to $63B on strong smartphone and chip sales
South Korean group's strong sales undercut by performance concerns against rivals Apple and TSMC
Blockchain audit service CertiK raises an $88M Series B3 led by Insight, Tiger Global and Advent at a $2B valuation, bringing its total funding to $230M
CertiK, a Web3 and blockchain security company, has raised $88 million in its latest round, bringing its valuation to $2 billion.
New data-sharing proposals in Europe push for the expansion of facial recognition and to allow police forces across the EU to link their photo databases
Lawmakers advance proposals to let police forces across the EU link their photo databases—which include millions of pictures of people's faces.
Berlin-based consumer electronics rental service Grover raises a $110M Series C in equity led by Energy Impact Partners and $220M in debt at a $1B+ valuation
A growing number of people are looking for ways to live more sustainably amid increasing concerns over the environment and what we humans keep doing to pollute it.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gives her first speech on digital assets, saying a central bank digital currency would require years of development and more
The U.S. official addressed CBDCs, stablecoins and regulations. — A digital dollar could become a “trusted money comparable to physical cash …
Sources: the SEC is investigating how Amazon disclosed its use of third-party seller data for its business; source: the probe has been under way for over a year
Tech giant's use of third-party sellers' data is a focus of regulator's probe, a person familiar with the matter says
JD's Richard Liu steps down as CEO, joining other Chinese tech tycoons who have exited top roles amid China's tech crackdown; President Xu Lei will take over
JD.com Inc.'s billionaire founder Richard Liu has stepped down as chief executive officer of China's No. 2 online retailer … Source: JD.Com, Inc. .
Russia's cyberattacks on government, military, logistics, and critical infrastructure have been its biggest military success to date in the war in Ukraine
but on balance it is unhelpful and a tad too academic: unnecessarily all-or-nothing, getting ahead of the evidence, lacking attention to detail https://t.co/aTIfEVYAJk
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal may struggle to balance his own vision against that of Elon Musk, an unpredictable board member with a much louder megaphone
now what? - The Verge https://www.theverge.com/... Luke O'Brien / @lukeobrien : Twitter protects Jack Posobiec, no matter how many dangerous lies he spreads. No matter how many neo-Nazis or Kremlin as...
Fetch Rewards, which offers rewards to customers who submit receipts of purchases from 600+ partners, raises $240M led by Hamilton Lane at a $2.5B valuation
Fetch Rewards, a shopping rewards app backed by SoftBank Group Group's (9984.T) Vision Fund 2, has raised $240 million in a funding round …
In a court-authorized March operation, the FBI cut off the servers of the Cyclops Blink botnet, tied to Russia's Sandworm, from Asus and WatchGuard routers
Nord Security, the Lithuania-based startup behind NordVPN, raises $100M, its first ever funding, at a $1.6B valuation led by Novator Ventures
VPN usage has surged in the last several years, with growing concerns over data privacy and security — and sometimes completely different motivations …
IntelyCare, whose app matches nurses with open shifts at post-acute care settings, raises a $115M Series C at a $1.1B valuation led by Janus Henderson Investors
Nurse staffing platform IntelyCare is now valued at $1.1 billion after landing $115 million in series C funding.
Mandiant and CrowdStrike partner to help customers investigate and mitigate threats; Mandiant will begin deploying CrowdStrike's tools
Joseph Menn / Washington Post :
Meta won't hold its F8 developer conference in 2022, instead holding Conversations, a “business messaging event” on May 19, and an AR/VR event “later this year”
Similar to years past, we are taking a brief break in programming … Scott Hayden / Road to VR : Meta Cancels F8 Developer Conference This Year to “build the metaverse” Oliver Haslam / iMore : There wi...
Apple restores the “Smart Voting” app run by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's supporters in Russia; Apple removed the app after the Kremlin threatened its execs
Washington Post :
A report finds over 50 US gig workers were murdered while working since 2017; the families say Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and others offer little support
Indian conglomerate Tata Group rolls out Tata Neu, a “super app” combining at least seven services associated with Tata, competing with Jio Platforms and Amazon
The 154-year-old Indian giant, valued at $103 billion, operates 29 listed companies across nearly a dozen sectors including retail, travel to automobiles
Amazon will increase its Music Unlimited plan on Prime from $7.99/month to $8.99/month and its Single Device plan from $3.99/month to $4.99/month on May 5
Mexico City-based online-only supermarket Jüsto raises a $152M Series B led by General Atlantic, after raising a $65M Series A in February 2021
Jüsto, the Mexico City-based online grocer, continues to run on all cylinders with a goal of saturating the Latin American market.
Tencent will shutter its game streaming service Penguin Esports on June 7, after China blocked a Tencent-led merger between Huya and DouYu
Zheping Huang / Bloomberg :
Eleos Health, which uses voice AI tech to analyze conversations between behavioral health clinicians and their patients, raises a $20M Series A
Jasmine Pennic / HIT Consultant :
Blockchain gaming startup Improbable raises $150M to expand M², which aims to help virtual worlds connect, led by a16z and Vision Fund 2 at a $1B valuation
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg :
Senator Patrick Toomey introduces a bill to regulate stablecoins, including defining a “payment stablecoin”, creating a license for issuers, and more
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk :
Avi Medical, which offers app-based personalized telehealth services, raises a €50M Series B led by Balderton Capital, after raising €28.5M in June 2021
Kai Nicol-Schwarz / Sifted :
Sources: Indian online learning startup Unacademy laid off around 1,000 employees to cut costs; Unacademy last raised $440M in August 2021 at a $3.4B valuation
The Economic Times :
Warp, which is building a new command-line terminal to help developers be more productive, launches its public beta on macOS with $23M in seed and Series A
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch :
Oura, which makes a smart ring for personalized sleep and health tracking, says it has raised funding at a $2.55B valuation and has sold over 1M Oura Rings
Abigail Gentrup / Front Office Sports :
OpenPhone, which provides SMBs with a business phone line through its mobile app, raises a $40M Series B led by Tiger Global, bringing its total funding to $56M
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch :
Sources: banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are considering whether to use Zelle as a payment option to compete with Visa and Mastercard
Wall Street Journal :
Ascend.io, which develops data automation tools for enterprise customers, raises a $31M Series B led by Tiger Global
Sports e-commerce company Fanatics raises $1.5B at a $27B valuation led by the NFL, MLB, and others; the NFL invested $320M, the biggest portion of funding
ReadySet, which is building a database infrastructure to help developers build real-time applications, raises a $24M Series A led by Index Ventures
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch :
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.
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.
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.