Newslit Daily

Today’s pick

Bad Inflation Reports Raise Odds of Surprise 0.75-Percentage-Point Rate Rise This Week. A string of troubling inflation reports in recent days is likely to lead Federal Reserve officials to consider surprising markets with a larger-than-expected 0.75-percentage-point interest rate increase at their meeting this week. Before officials… (Nick Timiraos / Wall Street Journal)

Microsoft Teams now uses AI to improve echo, interruptions, and acoustics. Microsoft has spent the past two years adding flashy new productivity features to Teams, and now the company is overhauling how the fundamentals work thanks to AI. We've all been on a call where someone has poor room acoustics making it hard to… (Tom Warren / The Verge)

Is Your TV Still Playing Ads When It's Turned Off? As struggling streaming services race to expose more viewers to ads, advertisers are seeing some pretty expensive hiccups start to happen. Case in point: on Monday, GroupM—one of the biggest ad-buying brands around—published a new… (Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo)

Big Tech makes concessions on EU's new anti-disinformation code. Facebook, Twitter and TikTok set to agree to provide country-by-country data on efforts to curb fake news Receive free EU tech regulation updates We'll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest EU tech regulation news every morning. (Javier Espinoza / Financial Times)

We Can Still Save the Quiet and Preserve the Dark. Every creature lives within its own sensory bubble, but only humans have the capacity to appreciate the experiences of other species. What we’ve learned is astounding. (Ed Yong / The Atlantic)

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Today’s pick

The Google engineer who thinks the company's AI has come to life. Google engineer Blake Lemoine opened his laptop to the interface for LaMDA, Google's artificially intelligent chatbot generator, and began to type. “Hi LaMDA, this is Blake Lemoine...,” he wrote into the chat… (Nitasha Tiku / Washington Post)

Crypto lender Celsius pauses withdrawals, transfers citing 'extreme market conditions'. Cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, recently valued at about $3 billion, told customers Sunday evening that it is pausing “withdrawals, swap, and transfers between accounts” in a move that is sparking discussions and has prompted… (Manish Singh / TechCrunch)

The ad industry is bracing itself for 'rough waters ahead' amid an impending spending downturn. Here are all the ways it could play out. The economic downturn is about to hit the ad industry, with global ad spend expected to decline. But consumers are still buying, and ad spend might just shift to different areas. Digital platforms and streaming TV are bright spots, while… (Ryan Joe / Business Insider)

Bitcoin briefly drops below $25,000 as $150 billion wiped off crypto markets over the weekend. Bitcoin tumbled below $25,000 late on Sunday, hitting its lowest level since December 2020, as investors dump crypto amid a broader sell-off in risk assets. Meanwhile, a crypto lending company called Celsius has paused withdrawals for its… (Arjun Kharpal / CNBC)

Why Urban Life Suddenly Got Way More Expensive. Several weeks ago, I needed a ride home after some late-night drinks about two miles from my place in Washington, D.C. I pulled up the Uber app and entered my address. When the price on the screen popped up, I assumed I'd entered the wrong street… (Derek Thompson / The Atlantic)

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— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Facebook Rethinks News Deals, and Publishers Stand to Lose Millions in Payments. Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook is re-examining its commitment to paying for news, people familiar with the matter said, prompting some news organizations to prepare for a potential revenue shortfall of tens of millions of dollars. The company has… (Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal)

Exclusive: Mattel makes its play for the metaverse-and the metaverse plays back. The famed toymaker will turn its iconic characters into playable avatars in Cryptoys' NFT gaming world. (Connie Lin / Fast Company)

Disney fires Peter Rice, its top TV content executive. The Walt Disney Company has abruptly fired Peter Rice, its most senior television content executive, citing an ill fit with Disney's corporate culture, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to…  (Brooks Barnes / The New York Times)

Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey launched a Bitcoin academy in a public housing complex. Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey is teaming up with artist Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) to launch The Bitcoin Academy at Marcy Houses, the public housing complex in Brooklyn… (Amanda Silberling via TechCrunch)

Meta will stop making Portal for consumers. Meta plans to stop making consumer versions of its Portal video calling hardware and instead pivot the product line to focus on use cases for businesses, like conference calling. The change in strategy, first reported by The Information and… (Jacob Kastrenakes and Alex Heath / The Verge)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

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— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Mandatory USB-C phone port edges closer after EU deal. European Union lawmakers have reached an agreement on proposed legislation that would force all future smartphones, including Apple's iPhone, to use the universal USB-C port for charging. Alongside phones, the rules will also apply to other… (Jon Porter / The Verge)

A Long-Awaited Defense Against Data Leaks May Have Just Arrived. After years of data breaches, leaks, and hacks leaving the world desperate for tools to stem the illicit flow of sensitive personal data, a key advance has appeared on the horizon. On Tuesday, MongoDB is announcing “Queryable… (Lily Hay Newman / WIRED)

ID.me's pandemic growth spurt led to frantic hiring and security lapses. Identity verification service ID.me won dozens of government contracts during the pandemic to prevent benefits fraud. Workers hired to respond to new demand described insufficient training and harassment from customers. Former employees also… (Caroline Haskins / Business Insider)

With $240 Million Fund, The General Partnership Looks To Revamp Value-Added VC For Founders. Venture capital firms typically start out with money. As they get bigger and compete more for choosy entrepreneurs, they add more bells and whistles — marketing help, recruiting services, legal support and the like — over time. At a… (Alex Konrad / Forbes)

How the Internet Is Like a Dying Star. Scrolling online is a bit like looking at a dying star.… (Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

White House Won't Put New Tariffs on Solar Imports for Two Years, Sources Say. The White House is preparing to announce on Monday that it won't impose any new tariffs on solar imports for two years, in a move that's aimed at getting stalled solar power projects on track, according to people familiar with the decision. The… (Timothy Puko / Wall Street Journal)

Engineer Who Fled Charges of Stealing Chip Technology in US Now Thrives in China. Few companies are better positioned to benefit from the crippling shortage of computer chips than ASML Holding NV, a Dutch manufacturer whose equipment plays an integral role in making the world's most advanced semiconductors. But four lines tucked… (Jordan Robertson / Bloomberg)

The Hacker Gold Rush That's Poised to Eclipse Ransomware. Ransomware attacks, including those of the massively disruptive and dangerous variety, have proved difficult to combat comprehensively. Hospitals, government agencies, schools, and even critical infrastructure companies continue to face… (Lily Hay Newman / WIRED)

Elon Musk's Bot Problem on Twitter Is Extraordinary. Elon Musk's battle with bots on Twitter is personal. In the three weeks since Mr. Musk cited fake accounts as a reason for putting his planned $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc. “on hold,” observers and participants in the deal… (Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal)

AppOmni raises $70M to find and secure vulnerabilities in SaaS app stacks. As more enterprises migrate apps and workloads into the cloud, so grows the need for more sophisticated tech to secure that activity. That's resulted in a strong run of funding rounds for startups building… (Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

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Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Joe Biden: My Plan for Fighting Inflation. The global economy faces serious challenges. Inflation is elevated, exacerbated by Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Energy markets are in turmoil. Supply chains that haven't fully healed are causing shortages and price hikes. Americans are anxious. (Joseph R. Biden Jr. / Wall Street Journal)

DeLorean offers a first look at its gull-winged Alpha 5 EV revival. DeLorean Motor Company has revealed the first images of the Alpha 5 electric vehicle (EV), the brand's attempt at resurrecting the DeLorean name in an all-electric form. Staying true to the classic ‘80s-era DeLorean known for its appearance… (Emma Roth / The Verge)

How censoring China's open-source coders might backfire. “Code review in OSS is about improving the code quality and building trust between developers. Adding politics to the code review will hurt both, and eventually roll back the open-source movement in China,” says Han Xiao, the… (Zeyi Yang via MIT Technology Review)

U.S. Retakes Top Spot in Supercomputer Race. The United States has regained a coveted speed crown in computing with a powerful new supercomputer in Tennessee, a milestone for the technology that plays a major role in science, medicine and other fields. Frontier, the name of the massive… (Don Clark / The New York Times)

Remembering Apple's Newton, 30 years on. Thirty years ago, on May 29, 1992, Apple announced its most groundbreaking and revolutionary product yet, the Newton MessagePad. It was released to great fanfare a year later, but as a product, it could only be described as a flop. Widely mocked in… (Jeremy Reimer / Ars Technica)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

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Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

A Face Search Engine Anyone Can Use Is Alarmingly Accurate. For $29.99 a month, a website called PimEyes offers a potentially dangerous superpower from the world of science fiction: the ability to search for a face, finding obscure photos that would otherwise have been as safe as the proverbial needle in… (Kashmir Hill / The New York Times)

The Collison Brothers Built Stripe Into A $95 Billion Unicorn With Eye-Popping Financials. Inside Their Plan To Stay On Top. Billionaire brothers John and Patrick Collison built Stripe into one of the world’s most-hyped, highest valued — and profitable! — startups, worth some $95 billion. Now they must stave off going from disruptor to disrupted. (Alex Konrad / Forbes)

First-quarter GDP declined 1.5%, worse than thought; jobless claims edge lower. First-quarter GDP declined at a 1.5% annual pace, worse than the 1.3% Dow Jones estimate and a writedown from the initially reported 1.4%. The pullback in GDP represented the worst quarter since the pandemic-scarred Q2 of 2020. Initial jobless… (Jeff Cox / CNBC)

Broadcom to acquire VMware in massive $61B deal. Sometimes when there is smoke, there is actually fire. Such was the case with the rumors of Broadcom's interest in VMware this past weekend. It turns out that fire was burning hot and today… (Ron Miller / TechCrunch)

Apple Supplier Faces Worker Revolt in Locked Down China Factory. Violent clashes, mounting infections and vacant factory floors: the turmoil that's engulfed tens of thousands of workers at an Apple Inc. supplier in Shanghai is a troubling symptom of China's extreme efforts to keep factories humming during its… (Bloomberg)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

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Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Adam Neumann's blockchain-based redemption story now sponsored by a16z. In a classic “pivot-to-crypto-to-reinvent-yourself” moment, controversial WeWork founder Adam Neumann recently launched a startup, Flowcarbon, to sell tokenized carbon… (Anita Ramaswamy / TechCrunch)

Watchdogs to Joe Biden: Start leading on Congress stock-trade ban. 16 watchdog groups are demanding that Joe Biden push Congress to ban stock trades by its members. An Insider investigation published in December found widespread violations of conflicts of interest law. Biden has remained largely silent on the… (Dave Levinthal / Business Insider)

Niantic moves beyond games with AR platform and Campfire social network. Niantic made a name for itself in the mobile gaming industry through the enduring success of Pokémon Go. Now the company is hoping to become something else: a platform for other developers to build location-aware AR apps on top of. This plan… (Alex Heath / The Verge)

Andreessen Horowitz raises $4.5 billion crypto fund to take advantage of bargains in down market. The Silicon Valley firm announced a new $4.5 billion fund for backing crypto and blockchain companies on Wednesday. Partners Ariana Simpson Chris Dixon liken the long-term opportunity in crypto to 'the next major computing cycle,' after PCs in the… (Kate Rooney / CNBC)

US New-Home Sales Plunge to Lowest Since Start of Pandemic. Sales of new US homes plummeted in April by the most in nearly nine years, dented by the combination of high prices and a steep climb in mortgage rates. Purchases of new single-family homes decreased 16.6% to an annualized 591,000 pace, the weakest… (Jordan Yadoo / Bloomberg)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

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Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Airbnb is closing its domestic business in China, sources say. All mainland Chinese listings — homes and experiences — will be taken down by this summer, but Airbnb will continue to maintain an office in the country to focus on outbound travel… (Deirdre Bosa / CNBC)

Hello? Hello? Is This Facebook? Anybody There? (Nope.). You thought you had to wait forever to speak with a customer service representative? Facebook and Instagram serve nearly 3 billion users a day with a help desk that numbers closer to zero. So pity John Bacon, a 72-year-old retiree of Cleveland… (Kirsten Grind / Wall Street Journal)

How GDPR Is Failing. One thousand four hundred and fifty-nine days have passed since data rights nonprofit NOYB fired off its first complaints under Europe's flagship data regulation, GDPR. The complaints allege Google, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram forced people… (Matt Burgess / WIRED)

Why we need a public internet and how to get one. For weeks, tech news has been dominated by billionaire Elon Musk's attempts to buy (and subsequently avoid buying) Twitter. And since Musk announced his plans in April, people have debated whether it's better for online social spaces like Twitter… (Adi Robertson / The Verge)

Conan O'Brien's Podcast Company Sells to SiriusXM in Deal Valued Around $150 Million. Conan O'Brien found a friend—and a buyer—in Sirius XM. The former late-night host sold his hit podcast, “Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend,” to the satellite-radio company, along with his Team Coco digital-media… (John Jurgensen / Wall Street Journal)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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Today’s pick

Broadcom in Talks to Acquire Cloud Company VMware. Broadcom Inc. is in talks to buy cloud-computing company VMware Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Talks are ongoing and there is no guarantee they will lead to a deal, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the… (Liana Baker / Bloomberg)

Metaverse app BUD raises another $37M, plans to launch NFTs. BUD, a nascent app taking a shot at creating a metaverse for Gen Z to play and interact with each other, has raised another round of funding in three months. The Singapore-based startup told TechCrunch that it has closed $36.8 million in a Series B… (Rita Liao / TechCrunch)

The Era of Borderless Data Is Ending. Every time we send an email, tap an Instagram ad or swipe our credit cards, we create a piece of digital data. The information pings around the world at the speed of a click, becoming a kind of borderless currency that underpins the digital… (David McCabe / The New York Times)

SpaceX looks to raise $1.7 billion in new funding, boosting its valuation to $127 billion. SpaceX is raising a massive round of fresh funding, CNBC has learned, sending the private company's valuation to about $127 billion. The space venture is looking to bring in up to $1.725 billion in new capital, at a price of $70 per share… (Michael Sheetz / CNBC)

Small Businesses Lose Confidence in U.S. Economy. Small businesses are flashing warning signs on the U.S. economy as inflation, supply-chain snarls, a shortage of workers and rising interest rates darken the outlook for entrepreneurs. Fifty-seven percent of small-business owners expect economic… (Ruth Simon / Wall Street Journal)

Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit fuelled highlights for your morning.

I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply or on Twitter.

Take care and see you tomorrow!

— Jose Montes de Oca

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