News

Teo Armus / Washington Post: Amazon confirms that HQ2 in Arlington lost 200 jobs in 2023, missing Amazon’s goal of adding 2,500 jobs; HQ2 has ~8,000 employees and plans to reach ~25,000  —  The tech giant’s deal with Virginia had… Read More »Amazon confirms that HQ2 in Arlington lost 200 jobs in 2023, missing Amazon’s goal of adding 2,500 jobs; HQ2 has ~8,000 employees and plans to reach ~25,000 (Teo Armus/Washington Post)

Dell Cameron / Wired: The Senate is set to vote on RISAA, which reauthorizes FISA’s Section 702 and could force new types of businesses to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant  —  A controversial bill reauthorizing the Section 702 spy… Read More »The Senate is set to vote on RISAA, which reauthorizes FISA’s Section 702 and could force new types of businesses to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant (Dell Cameron/Wired)

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: Apple debuts web distribution of iOS apps to EU users, allowing qualifying devs who opt in to its Core Technology Fee to offer direct downloads from their sites  —  Apple is opening up web distribution for… Read More »Apple debuts web distribution of iOS apps to EU users, allowing qualifying devs who opt in to its Core Technology Fee to offer direct downloads from their sites (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: Spotify says 25% of paid users in the US, UK, and Australia have started an audiobook as part of their subscriptions; 57% are between 18 and 34 years old  —  – Spotify listeners skew younger, with… Read More »Spotify says 25% of paid users in the US, UK, and Australia have started an audiobook as part of their subscriptions; 57% are between 18 and 34 years old (Ashley Carman/Bloomberg)

Pierluigi Paganini / Security Affairs: Resecurity: in Q1, malicious cyber activities targeting the Philippines, including cyberattacks and misinfo campaigns, were up 300%+ YoY, as China tensions rise  —  Amidst rising tensions with China in the SCS, Resecurity observed a spike… Read More »Resecurity: in Q1, malicious cyber activities targeting the Philippines, including cyberattacks and misinfo campaigns, were up 300%+ YoY, as China tensions rise (Pierluigi Paganini/Security Affairs)

Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg: Andreessen Horowitz raised $7.2B, with $600M for American Dynamism, $3.75B for late-stage startups, and $600M for gaming, exceeding its target by ~4%  —  Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s biggest venture capital firms, has raised $7.2… Read More »Andreessen Horowitz raised $7.2B, with $600M for American Dynamism, $3.75B for late-stage startups, and $600M for gaming, exceeding its target by ~4% (Lizette Chapman/Bloomberg)

The Guardian: The UK announces legislation to outlaw making sexually explicit deepfake photos without consent, regardless of whether the creator intended to share the image  —  Offenders could face jail if image is widely shared under proposed amendment to criminal… Read More »The UK announces legislation to outlaw making sexually explicit deepfake photos without consent, regardless of whether the creator intended to share the image (The Guardian)

Connor Jones / The Register: UnitedHealth says the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare cost the company $872M in Q1; another ransomware group appears to be extorting the company  —  First glimpse at attack financials reveals huge pain  —  UnitedHealth,… Read More »UnitedHealth says the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare cost the company $872M in Q1; another ransomware group appears to be extorting the company (Connor Jones/The Register)

Todd Spangler / Variety: TikTok signs a deal with ticketing provider AXS to let users buy tickets to live events in the US, UK, and more; TikTok has had a Ticketmaster deal since 2022  —  TikTok inked a partnership with… Read More »TikTok signs a deal with ticketing provider AXS to let users buy tickets to live events in the US, UK, and more; TikTok has had a Ticketmaster deal since 2022 (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Paul Alcorn / Tom’s Hardware: AMD unveils Ryzen Pro 8040 series for commercial laptops and mobile workstations and Ryzen Pro 8000 series for desktops, adding a neural processing unit for AI  —  AMD is the first with a Pro desktop… Read More »AMD unveils Ryzen Pro 8040 series for commercial laptops and mobile workstations and Ryzen Pro 8000 series for desktops, adding a neural processing unit for AI (Paul Alcorn/Tom’s Hardware)