In a speech on disinformation, Obama said social media firms' design choices contribute to polarization, and called for more transparency and Section 230 reform
- Former President Barack Obama criticized social media companies for contributing to polarization through design choices on their platforms.
As the EU prepares its third landmark tech law in the last few years, the US has enacted just two narrow federal tech laws in the past 25 years
Federal privacy bills, security legislation and antitrust laws to address the power of the tech giants have all failed to advance in Congress …
Stripe will let companies pay users in cryptocurrency via USDC, starting with Twitter, which will pay some Ticketed Spaces and Super Follows creators in crypto
- Online payments firm Stripe says it will start offering merchants the ability to pay their users in cryptocurrency through the stablecoin USDC.
Filing: Elon Musk has secured $46.5B to acquire Twitter, including $25.5B in debt financing via Morgan Stanley and other firms, and is exploring a tender offer
now what? Matt Levine / Bloomberg : Elon Got His Money Kyle Chayka / New Yorker : Why Would Elon Musk Want to Buy Twitter? New York Post : Elon Musk in talks to partner on Twitter bid with buyout firm...
Sources: after churning out 500+ original programs last year, Netflix is looking to add fewer new titles and focus more on quality, while reining in spending
Streaming service spent lavishly on productions to win subscribers, but now growth has slowed — For Netflix Inc., NFLX -3.47% ▼ the era of carefree spending is over.
Investigation details Binance's efforts to build ties with the Russian government, including handing over data on opposition leader Alexei Navalny in April 2021
In April 2021, Russia's financial intelligence unit met in Moscow with the regional head of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.
Mandiant: one-third of all hacker groups exploiting zero-days in 2021 were financially motivated criminals as opposed to government-backed cyberespionage groups
The most valuable hacking tools were once the domain of governments. Not anymore. — Organized cybercriminals with money …
The UK's Department for Transport outlines rules for self-driving vehicles, including letting drivers watch TV on the go, ahead of a full framework in 2025
People using self-driving cars will be allowed to watch television on built-in screens under proposed updates to the Highway Code.
Andreessen Horowitz launches a16z Crypto Research, a lab focused on Web3 breakthroughs that can contribute to deployable code, led by academic Tim Roughgarden
Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is diving deeper into the crypto market with the launch of a new academic lab dedicated …
Google plans to effectively block third-party call recording apps from the Play Store on May 11 after placing further restrictions to its Accessibility API
A new Google Play Store policy coming into force is set to block third-party call recording apps from the online storefront from May 11.
The US OCC says Anchorage Digital, the first US chartered digital asset bank, failed to adopt a BSA/AML compliance program and has “begun corrective action”
The company must appoint a compliance committee and hire a Bank Secrecy Act officer.
Leaked chat logs: Lapsus$ hacked T-Mobile multiple times in March and stole some projects' source code; T-Mobile says no customer or government info was stolen
KrebsOnSecurity recently reviewed a copy of the private chat messages between members of the LAPSUS$ cybercrime group …
Warner Bros. Discovery will shut down CNN+ on April 30, after its March 29 debut; sources: CNN+ had ~150K subscribers and was on pace to hit first-year goals
the same firm that suggested pharmacists get REBATES for opioid deaths—charged CNN millions to tell it what someone wanted to hear. Every $ wasted could have gone to paying journalists. https://twitte...
Sources: SoftBank expects to retain a controlling stake in Arm and sell a smaller portion of shares than originally expected in Arm's planned IPO
SoftBank Group Corp. expects to retain a controlling stake in Arm Ltd. after the planned initial public offering of the chip business …
Jane Manchun Wong: Twitter is working on a feature codenamed “Vibe” that lets users set status updates that appear on tweets or on profiles
Status updates could appear on tweets or on profiles — Twitter is reportedly working on a feature that allows users to set a status, codenamed “Vibe.” Tweets: @wongmjane , @trustthedrip , @caseynewt...
Ethereum scaling project Polygon launches a dedicated blockchain network called Supernets and says it will invest $100M in initiatives that use it
Polygon has launched a new kind of dedicated blockchain network dubbed Supernets and said it will invest $100 million in projects that use it.
Snap reports Q1 revenue of $1.06B, up 38% YoY, vs. $1.07B est., global DAUs up 18% YoY to 332M vs. 330M est., and net loss up 25% YoY to $360M
if SNAP can catch a bid on those numbers in spite of its current sales/EPS multiples (faster user/revenue growth, but still), that suggests OK numbers from FB would be received quite well. Casey Neist...
CompTIA: US employers posted 1.1M tech jobs in Q1, up 43% YoY; Mondo: average salaries rose 25% for cloud architects and 11% for engineers from 2020 to 2022
Many technology workers are commanding compensation increases of 20% or more, corporate tech chiefs say Tweets: @cornoisseur Tweets: Michael / @cornoisseur : If you're an engineer that only got an 11%...
Levels, whose software pairs glucose monitors to its app to give users insights and track their metabolic health, raises a $38M Series A at a $300M valuation
A16z-backed startup Levels has landed $38 million in series A funding for its metabolic health software, the company announced Wednesday. Tweets: @vickerysec Tweets: Chris Vickery / @vickerysec : *end...
Jarvis ML, which offers an AI-powered personalization engine for brands to engage customers and boost sales, raises a $16M seed led by Dell Technologies Capital
Jarvis ML, a platform offering an AI-powered personalization engine to brands selling products, services and experiences …
A look at Douban, a Reddit-like social network that China has targeted in its crackdowns; Douban was fined $1.65M in 2021 and has shut down popular forums
Douban's tight-knit communities have finally made it a target of Beijing's tech crackdown. — • HONG KONG Tweets: @mvzelenks , @restofworld , @sauteesquid , and @violazhouyi Tweets: Michael Zelenko /...
After years of regulatory pressure, Google unveils “a full redesign” of its cookie consent banner in Europe, including a “reject all” button, starting in France
Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg :
A group of 18 House Republicans asks Twitter's board to preserve all records related to Musk's bid, setting up a potential probe if GOP wins back the majority
- A group of House Republicans is asking Twitter's board to preserve all records related to Elon Musk's offer to buy the company. Tweets: @drjasonjohnson and @deanobeidallah Tweets: Dr. Jason Johnson ...
Binance begins enforcing tougher KYC checks, including proof of address, on Russian users with crypto holdings exceeding €10,000, following further EU sanctions
NexHealth, which operates an EHR-integrated real-time scheduling platform for doctors, raises a $125M Series C led by Buckley Ventures at a $1B valuation
Katie Jennings / Forbes :
Glide, a no-code service that lets businesses create apps based on Google Sheets, Excel, or Airtable, raises a $20M Series A led by Benchmark
When Glide came out of Y Combinator in 2019, it was looking to help people with absolutely no coding ability to build a simple, but functional mobile app from data in a spreadsheet. Tweets: @dvdsgl , ...
Spotify now lets all creators in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand upload video podcasts via Anchor, which Spotify acquired in February 2019
Jon Porter / The Verge :
Treez, a cloud commerce platform that powers retail and supply chain operations for the cannabis market, raises a $51M Series C at a $260M+ valuation
Seed-to-sale and cannabis retail software platform Treez completed a $51 million Series C funding at a valuation in excess of $260 million.
Prezent.ai, which offers companies an AI presentation creation tool and gamified learning courses, raises a $20M Series A led by Greycroft at a $100M+ valuation
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch :
Twitter tests suggesting third-party apps in its Twitter Toolbox, including Block Party, Bodyguard, and Moderate, when select users block or mute in its web app
and win over developers Alex Atkin / MSPoweruser : Twitter is promoting third-party apps to help with safety Stephanie Mlot / PCMag : Twitter Embraces Third-Party Apps to Help Prevent Harassment Sumit...
Research: blockchain game startups raised $2.5B in Q1 2022, up 150% YoY; blockchain gaming accounted for 52% of all blockchain activity in March, up 2,000% YoY
Oliver Knight / CoinDesk :
Amazon announces a $1B Industrial Innovation Fund to back companies of all stages developing customer fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain technologies
Reify Health, which makes cloud-based tools for clinical trial research, raises a $220M Series D co-led by Altimeter Capital and Coatue at a $4.8B+ valuation
Michelle F Davis / Bloomberg :
Crypto investors are pushing for semi-autonomous economic zones in Central America, at the risk of repeating the region's long history of corporate colonialism
Laurie Clarke / MIT Technology Review :
Indian government data: Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay have a combined 80%+ share of India's mobile payments market while WhatsApp has a 0.02% share
Megha Mandavia / Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @mrinaldesai and @kunalb11 Tweets: Mrinal Desai / @mrinaldesai : Pe-L diya Mehta bhai ko ... https://twitter.com/... Kunal Shah / @kunalb11 : Prediction...
tvScientific, which offers a connected TV platform to make TV advertising accessible and measurable for brands and apps, raises a $20M Series A led by Norwest
Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger :
Crusoe Energy Systems, which uses excess natural gas from oil extraction to mine crypto in 86 data centers, raises a $505M Series C led by G2 Venture Partners
Catarina Moura / The Block :
Russia expands its entry ban on Americans to include Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky
India's smartphone shipments hit 38M in Q1 2022, growing just 2% YoY; top vendor Xiaomi fell 24% to 8M, Samsung fell 2% to 6.9M, while Realme grew 40% to 6M
Canalys : Tweets: @business_today Tweets: @business_today : Take a look at the shipments and annual growth figures of top smartphone makers in India. READ MORE: https://www.businesstoday.in/ ... http...
Mexico City-based Zubale, a marketplace for matching gig workers with e-commerce fulfillment jobs in Latin America, raises a $40M Series A led by QED Investors
Live Bash, which lets artists livestream their performances and convert the shows into digital collectibles and NFTs, raises a $21M seed from unnamed investors
Marc Wojno / ZDNet :
Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu lays off 9% of its staff amid China's regulatory crackdown; Xiaohongshu raised $500M in November at a $20B valuation
Josh Ye / Reuters :
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.