Smyte, a San Francisco-based startup tech company that specializes in in stopping online abuse, fraud and spam through an automated labeling system that identifies nefarious activity and flags it for manual review, is being acquired by Twitter.
Why it matters: Twitter has been criticized for not doing enough to control hate speech and misinformation on its platform due to the proliferation of bots that exist. This is a step in its ongoing effort to solve both problems.
A bipartisan group of 2 senators and 3 representatives sent Google a letter on Wednesday calling on the company to reduce its ties with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.
What they're saying: The company's "strategic partnership" with the company "could pose a serious risk to national security and American consumers," wrote Sens. Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio, along with Reps. Liz Cheney, Dutch Ruppersberger and Mike Conaway.
Instagram has unveiled its long-form, vertical video hub for professional creators, rivaling YouTube and, to an extent, Snapchat Discover.
Why it matters: The new app, which will exist as a tab within its regular app, is intended to be a premium outlet for video creators and is designed to make it easier to discover and watch videos on smartphones.
If Liran Sorani has his way, the dark web — a hidden internet badlands populated by hackers, drug runners, gun traffickers, pornographers and human part merchants — will one day also be a haven for ordinary folk seeking privacy away from Facebook.
Why it matters: Facebook is under intense pressure in the U.S. and Europe for its role in the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and its general failure to safeguard user data. The dark web is a possible alternative.
Today's prosthetic devices don't allow users to perceive touch but a group of scientists from Johns Hopkins University developed a skin for devices that captures a range of sensations we experience, including pain for the first time. Their research is published today in Science Robotics.
The big picture: Over the past decade researchers have gained a better understanding of our "highly complex sense" of touch and worked on ways to add it to prosthetics, says Paul Marasco, a neurophysiologist at the Cleveland Clinic who wasn't involved in the work. Now, he adds, they are starting to trickle out of the research environment and into the clinical realm.
Apple is partnering with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that backs "Sesame Street," CNBC reports. While "Sesame Street" is not part of the deal, sources tell CNBC that the new content will include live-action, animated and puppet series.
Why it matters: While Apple hasn’t gone public with many of the content deals it's striking to build out its video streaming service, this is the first kid-oriented project that's been teased.
Instagram announced that it hit 1 billion monthly active users Wednesday, adding roughly 200 million users since last September and a half billion users in two years.
Why it matters: The milestone puts the Facebook-owned app in a high-end tier of 1 billion+ user apps, along with Facebook (2.2 billion users); Facebook Messenger (2.13 billion users); Whatsapp (1.5 billion users); YouTube (1.8 billion users) and WeChat (1 billion users).
Microsoft announced that it will acquire Bonsai, a Berkeley-based artificial intelligence company that helps non-programmers develop machine-learning tools for industrial applications like manufacturing, heating and cooling systems, and vehicle testing.
Why it matters: Companies in just about every sector are trying to infuse AI into their decision-making — but developing specialized machine learning is difficult and expensive. Services like Bonsai or Google's AutoML could help make it accessible.
Microsoft is rebranding its news apps on iOS and Android as "Microsoft News," as a part of a new push to house most of its news products under an AI-powered "Microsoft News" umbrella.
Why it matters: Microsoft has been experimenting with news products for years, but many have struggled to break through. Their efforts to consolidate all of their news efforts into one "News" destination more closely mimics the cross-platform strategies of Google News and Apple News.
The Federal Trade Commission will examine the questions surrounding powerful tech platforms like Google and Facebook as part of a review of consumer and competition policy issues beginning later this year.
Why it matters: Hearings into these issues, announced by FTC Chairman Joe Simons on Wednesday, could help frame the agency’s actions with regards to tech going forward.
Atul Gawande, a prominent doctor, health researcher and writer, has been tapped to lead the health care venture formed by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway, the companies said today.
Between the lines: The companies have given few details about what they want out of this effort, but Gawande is extremely well versed in both the practice of medicine and the broader health care system.
The White House is in the early stages of determining what a federal approach to online data privacy should look like, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The preliminary conversations show that the White House wants a voice in the contentious domestic and global debate about how to protect consumer privacy online. So far, Europe’s strict General Data Protection Regulation has set the terms of the debate, alarming companies and some regulators in the U.S.
The Walt Disney Company announced Wednesday a new $38-per-share acquisition bid for 21st Century Fox, giving Fox shareholders the option to select cash or stock in the combined entity.
Why it matters: Disney was forced to increase its bid for Fox's entertainment properties after Comcast unveiled a higher bid for the same properties last week at $65 billion, which was significantly higher than Disney's original $52.4 billion offer.
Microsoft CEO issued an e-mail to employees late on Tuesday, saying he is "appalled" at the Trump Administration policy of separating immigrant children from their families, which he called "abhorrent."
Why it matters: Microsoft employees have been calling on the company to sever its ties with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for which it supplies cloud computing technology.
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