Tech Meme

Wall Street Journal: A look at TikTok’s effect on small businesses in the US, as the app has become “a billion-person focus group”, disrupting business cycles and corporate R&D  —  The social-media giant has become ‘a billion-person focus group,’ disrupting business cycles and upending corporate R&D Lees verder op Tech Meme

Amrita Khalid / The Verge: As Spotify’s podcast strategy of focusing on exclusives and celebrity hosts continues to falter, the company seems to be shifting its focus to selling ads  —  The company is entering the ‘next phase’ of its podcast strategy — but will it learn from its mistakes? Lees verder op Tech Meme

Shen Lu / Wall Street Journal: Shein tries to shed its Chinese image, including by denying claims of sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, but remains silent on details of its suppliers in China  —  Shein says it doesn’t source cotton from Xinjiang as it navigates U.S.-China tensions  —  Shein, the China-founded ultrafast-fashion retailer … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bob Mehr / New York Times: A look at Dolby Atmos, supported by 15 music streaming services including Apple Music, which has heavily invested in Atmos, and the future of immersive audio  —  True believers in the immersive audio format say it could restore a musical appreciation lost to a generation that has come up during the streaming era. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia: ASML EVP Christophe Fouquet says the company believes decoupling the global chip supply chain isn’t possible, as the US, EU, and others push for self-reliance  —  Top equipment maker sources globally while keeping most production in Netherlands  —  Christophe Fouquet, ASML’s executive vice president and chief business officer. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Wall Street Journal: Source: Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino intervened to mend the company’s relationship with Google Cloud over payments; sources say the bills were $20M+ per month  —  Social-media platform is now paying for Google cloud services amid talks of broader partnership Lees verder op Tech Meme

Chavi Mehta / Reuters: Intel restructures its manufacturing business to work like a separate unit and begin generating a margin, but offers no clear timeframe; INTC drops 5%+  —  Intel Corp (INTC.O) said on Wednesday its manufacturing business will work like a separate unit and will begin to generate a margin … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Caiwei Chen / Rest of World: How Chinese-language subreddits like r/China_irl became a refuge for banned Chinese internet groups, with users jumping the Great Firewall with VPNs  —  They are drawn to the platform’s community-moderated, discussion-based format, which allows for more fringe voices to thrive. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: Venezuela’s temporary ban on crypto mining is killing the industry President Maduro promoted, with ~75K units of mining equipment disconnected since March  —  Venezuela’s temporary ban on mining cryptocurrencies within the country is effectively killing the industry President Nicolás Maduro worked hard to promote. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Edward Felsenthal / TIME: Q&A with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on why AI UX matters, AGI going “wrong” compared to “AGI is going to go fantastically well”, capping profit, regulation, and more  —  For this week’s TIME100 Most Influential Companies cover story about OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman … Lees verder op Tech Meme