Tech Meme

Alexander Onukwue / Semafor: Google Play began requiring local regulatory approval for loan apps in Nigeria and Kenya on January 31, matching rules in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines  —  Google has toughened its screening process for African digital lending companies that wish to have their apps on Play Store … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg: Baidu’s stock jumps 15%+ after the company announced plans to add its ChatGPT-like service “Wenxin Yiyan”, or “Ernie Bot” in English, to search in March 2023  —  Baidu Inc. surged more than 15% after affirming it’s on track to publicly roll out its ChatGPT-like service in March … Lees verder op Tech Meme

John Ourand / Sports Business Journal: The 2023 Super Bowl will not have crypto ads after FTX and others backed out despite buying spots early; crypto companies had around five spots in 2022’s game  —  Fox Sports officially sold out Super Bowl LVII inventory, selling its final in-game spot in the week before the NFL conference championship games. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Mitchell Clark / The Verge: Twitter on iOS and Android now defaults to the timeline the user had open last, instead of the algorithmic feed, after making the change on the web in January  —  Twitter’s iOS and Android app will now default to showing you the last timeline tab you selected, whether it’s the algorithmic … Lees verder op Tech Meme

CNBC: Gemini plans to provide up to $100M to Genesis’ bankruptcy recovery, mainly for its Earn users, who had ~$900M of assets frozen when Genesis paused withdrawals  —  – Crypto exchange Gemini will contribute $100 million in cash to a recovery plan for bankrupt crypto lender Genesis. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: Pinterest reports Q4 revenue up 4% YoY to $877M, vs. $886.3M est., $17M net income, global MAUs up 4% YoY to 450M, and forecasts weak Q1 revenue growth  —  – Pinterest said it expects sales in the first quarter to increase in the “low single digits” from a year earlier. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Erin Woo / The Information: Internal Twitter document: just ~180,000 US users paid for Blue and other subscriptions as of mid-January, implying ~$28M annual subscription revenue globally  —  Around 180,000 people in the U.S. were paying for subscriptions to Twitter, including Twitter Blue, as of mid-January … Lees verder op Tech Meme

WABetaInfo: WhatsApp updates Status, adding a Private Audience Selector, Status Reactions, 30-second Voice Status messages, and more, rolling out on iOS, Android, and web  —  WhatsApp has just announced a set of new features for status updates, which will be available to users on both iOS and Android devices over the coming weeks. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Reuters: An FTC official says the agency does not plan to appeal its US federal court loss over Meta’s Within acquisition, but could still appeal to an internal judge  —  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it will not appeal its loss in federal court in its fight to stop Meta Platforms … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch: An interview with Apple executives Tim Millet and Bob Borchers on M2, building on M1, transitioning from Intel, the future of Mac gaming, Metal APIs, and more  —  On M2 chips, Mac mini and how the Mac will thrive in gaming  —  Apple’s M series chips were incredibly well telegraphed when they arrived in late 2021. Lees verder op Tech Meme