A collection of tech news feed from Techmeme.
Toni Gidwani / The Keyword:
Google sent users 40K warnings about phishing or malware attempts from nation-states in 2019, a 25% drop YoY; journalist and news outlet impersonations up — Security Engineering Manager, Threat Analysis Group — Google´s Threat Analysis Group . works to counter targeted …
William J. Broad / New York Times:
MIT, Princeton, Microsoft, and others form a consortium to launch the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute to investigate big issues, like pandemics, using AI — A new consortium of top scientists will be able to use some of the world´s most advanced supercomputers to look for solutions.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Huawei rolls out Celia, its multilingual AI assistant for phones outside China, initially on P40 in UK, France, Spain, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia — Huawei has officially announced its own voice-activated virtual assistant outside of China, as the Chinese technology titan continues to push its own versions of Google´s services.
Andy / TorrentFreak:
AMD confirms in Dec. 2019 someone claimed to have files related to its current and future graphics products and posted them online; the files have been removed — AMD has filed at least two DMCA notices against Github repos that carried “stolen” source code relating to AMD´s Navi and Arden GPUs …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
A self-reporting COVID-19 symptom app developed by Boston-based startup Zoe had 750k downloads in 24 hours in the UK; Zoe is working to bring the app to the US — One of the big challenges (among many) with the coronavirus pandemic is that overwhelmed health services do not always know how best …
David Carnoy / CNET:
Qualcomm introduces its QCC514X and QCC304X ultra-low power Bluetooth audio SoCs, with support for hybrid active noise cancelation and voice assistants — Qualcomm introduced two new Bluetooth audio systems-on-a-chip that will power upgraded true wireless headphones hitting stores in the coming months.
Biz Carson / Protocol:
Several former TripActions employees say ~100 staff members were fired en masse during a Zoom call, without being told the reason behind the meeting beforehand — Hundreds of tech employees are getting laid off amid the coronavirus outbreak — but now it´s all happening over Zoom.
John Herrman / New York Times:
As social interactions become more distant, Nextdoor has seen a spike in engagement as it helps neighbors connect and organize without risking physical contact — Homebound city dwellers are turning to a neighborhood app to connect, organize and help each other without risking physical contact.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Analyst estimates Facebook and Google could lose $44B+ in 2020 global ad revenue due to COVID-19; Facebook says its ad business has weakened in affected places — Ad spending is falling off a cliff amid the COVID-19 pandemic — and Facebook and Google, the two heavyweights in digital advertising …
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
France announces a $4.3B plan to support startups including bridge funding, liquidity support measures, and faster tax returns and public support payments — France´s Ministry of State for Digital Affairs Cédric O and public investment bank Bpifrance announced a comprehensive support plan for startups this morning.
