News

Jeanne Whalen / Washington Post: How the US CHIPS Act is helping boost the economy of Arizona’s Maricopa County, with TSMC and other manufacturers building factories and creating high-tech jobs  —  Computer-chip manufacturers are building giant factories in Phoenix, helping… Read More »How the US CHIPS Act is helping boost the economy of Arizona’s Maricopa County, with TSMC and other manufacturers building factories and creating high-tech jobs (Jeanne Whalen/Washington Post)

Mia Sato / The Verge: Websites with seemingly AI-generated obituaries litter Google search, sometimes listing living people as deceased and turning private individuals into clickbait  —  In the wake of death, AI-generated obituaries litter search results, turning even private individuals… Read More »Websites with seemingly AI-generated obituaries litter Google search, sometimes listing living people as deceased and turning private individuals into clickbait (Mia Sato/The Verge)

Rebekah Valentine / IGN: Interviews with 40+ developers detail reasons for layoffs in gaming, including an environment fraught with high costs and execs having little regard for staff  —  An estimated 10,000 game workers lost their jobs in 2023 alone. … Read More »Interviews with 40+ developers detail reasons for layoffs in gaming, including an environment fraught with high costs and execs having little regard for staff (Rebekah Valentine/IGN)

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: Helsinki-based Bob W, an Airbnb-like marketplace for premium short-term apartment rentals, has raised a €40M Series B led by Evli Growth  —  Bob W, a marketplace for premium short-term apartment rentals, has raised €40 million ($43… Read More »Helsinki-based Bob W, an Airbnb-like marketplace for premium short-term apartment rentals, has raised a €40M Series B led by Evli Growth (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times: Sources: Temu is scooping up suppliers removed by Shein, as Shein moves to clean up its supply chain ahead of a planned US listing  —  PDD Holdings-owned marketplace gains manufacturers as fashion competitor prepares for… Read More »Sources: Temu is scooping up suppliers removed by Shein, as Shein moves to clean up its supply chain ahead of a planned US listing (Eleanor Olcott/Financial Times)

Dan Mangan / CNBC: Court notice: the sentencing of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been postponed until April 30, 2024; CZ is free on a $175M release bond in the US  —  – The sentencing of former Binance CEO Changpeng… Read More »Court notice: the sentencing of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been postponed until April 30, 2024; CZ is free on a $175M release bond in the US (Dan Mangan/CNBC)

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch: EveryNoise, a music encyclopedia using Spotify data, has ceased updating after Spotify laid off the employee running it in December, pissing off the site’s fans  —  Now, Glenn McDonald’s beloved Every Noise At Once project is… Read More »EveryNoise, a music encyclopedia using Spotify data, has ceased updating after Spotify laid off the employee running it in December, pissing off the site’s fans (Amanda Silberling/TechCrunch)

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer: Q&A with Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko on the state of the platform, its future, collaborating with Meta on ActivityPub, Bluesky’s AT protocol, and more  —  Founder Eugen Rochko on helping Threads federate, dodging venture capital, and… Read More »Q&A with Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko on the state of the platform, its future, collaborating with Meta on ActivityPub, Bluesky’s AT protocol, and more (Zoë Schiffer/Platformer)

Reuters: Sources: Founders Fund bought $100M in bitcoin and $100M in ether from late summer to early fall 2023; it sold its crypto portfolio in 2022 for $1.8B in returns  —  Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by billionaire… Read More »Sources: Founders Fund bought $100M in bitcoin and $100M in ether from late summer to early fall 2023; it sold its crypto portfolio in 2022 for $1.8B in returns (Reuters)

Nate Raymond / Reuters: A US federal judge blocks the enforcement of an Ohio law that would require children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps  —  A federal judge on Monday prevented Ohio from implementing… Read More »A US federal judge blocks the enforcement of an Ohio law that would require children under 16 to get parental consent to use social media apps (Nate Raymond/Reuters)