Journals

Emma Roth / The Verge: Airbnb will no longer let hosts use indoor security cameras, staring April 30, citing renters’ privacy; previously, cameras in common areas had been allowed  —  Airbnb will no longer allow hosts to use indoor security… Read More »Airbnb will no longer let hosts use indoor security cameras, staring April 30, citing renters’ privacy; previously, cameras in common areas had been allowed (Emma Roth/The Verge)

Vishal Chawla / The Block: Eclipse Labs, which is developing an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain using the Solana Virtual Machine, raised a $50M Series A co-led by Placeholder and Hack VC  —  – Eclipse Labs has raised $50 million in Series… Read More »Eclipse Labs, which is developing an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain using the Solana Virtual Machine, raised a $50M Series A co-led by Placeholder and Hack VC (Vishal Chawla/The Block)

Financial Times: As global chip companies seek a backup to China, Malaysia becomes a surprise investment destination, thanks to a background in packaging, assembly, and testing  —  Tension between Beijing and Washington over access to technology has prompted many companies… Read More »As global chip companies seek a backup to China, Malaysia becomes a surprise investment destination, thanks to a background in packaging, assembly, and testing (Financial Times)

Fortune: Sources detail a secret $100M investment in Kickstarter by a16z Crypto, letting staff and investors cash out, that led to its abandoned blockchain pivot in 2021  —  In early December 2021, employees at the crowdfunding startup Kickstarter got news… Read More »Sources detail a secret $100M investment in Kickstarter by a16z Crypto, letting staff and investors cash out, that led to its abandoned blockchain pivot in 2021 (Fortune)

Lauren Goode / Wired: Q&A with Yoel Roth, as he joins Match Group as head of trust and safety, 16 months after his public exit from Twitter following Elon Musk’s acquisition  —  Yoel Roth suffered targeted harassment after quitting as… Read More »Q&A with Yoel Roth, as he joins Match Group as head of trust and safety, 16 months after his public exit from Twitter following Elon Musk’s acquisition (Lauren Goode/Wired)

Kashmir Hill / New York Times: GM, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, and others added optional features in their apps to rate people’s driving in recent years, offering the data to brokers like LexisNexis  —  LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for… Read More »GM, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, and others added optional features in their apps to rate people’s driving in recent years, offering the data to brokers like LexisNexis (Kashmir Hill/New York Times)

Flavia Rotondi / Bloomberg: An Italian minister says Singapore-based Silicon Box plans to invest €3.2B to build a chip factory; Silicon Box raised $200M in January 2024 at a $1B+ valuation  —  Semiconductors startup Silicon Box will invest €3.2 billion… Read More »An Italian minister says Singapore-based Silicon Box plans to invest €3.2B to build a chip factory; Silicon Box raised $200M in January 2024 at a $1B+ valuation (Flavia Rotondi/Bloomberg)

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: Pavel Durov says Telegram has 900M users, hopes “to become profitable next year, if not this year”, was “offered $30B+ valuations” by VCs, and considers an IPO  —  In rare interview, Pavel Durov says secretive… Read More »Pavel Durov says Telegram has 900M users, hopes “to become profitable next year, if not this year”, was “offered $30B+ valuations” by VCs, and considers an IPO (Hannah Murphy/Financial Times)

Financial Times: Interviews and court filings: 10 former Pinduoduo staff describe surveillance after leaving and lawsuits to enforce strict non-competes and stifle competition  —  Lawyers allege Chinese tech companies abuse laws intended to apply to top executives when they pursue… Read More »Interviews and court filings: 10 former Pinduoduo staff describe surveillance after leaving and lawsuits to enforce strict non-competes and stifle competition (Financial Times)

Bloomberg: Internal memo: Alibaba plans to roll out a new staff incentive plan on April 1 that combines equity with cash, a significant change to attract and retain talent  —  – Alibaba is trying to revive growth after years of… Read More »Internal memo: Alibaba plans to roll out a new staff incentive plan on April 1 that combines equity with cash, a significant change to attract and retain talent (Bloomberg)