Axios

Match Group sued Google in federal court Monday, charging that the tech giant unfairly forces apps to use its payment system, the dating app company announced.

Driving the news: Match is alleging Google violated federal and state antitrust law by requiring certain app developers "to exclusively use Google Play Billing to process payments."

Grindr, the LGBTQ dating app, is planning to go public, becoming the third dating giant to go public in the past three years.

Why it matters: Big data has bred a slew of billion-dollar dating companies, as matchmaking increasingly becomes reliant on algorithms.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has told employees that the ride-share company will reduce hiring in response to a "seismic shift" in the market, CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Khosrowshahi is setting a new tone for the company as investors are growing wary of unprofitable businesses.

The New York Times’ decision to change Monday’s Wordle answer is part of a long-running debate about how politically charged games should be.

Why it matters: From online crossword puzzles to Call of Duty, popular games rarely tackle, or even broach, charged topics. Books, music and other sectors of culture are far more likely to confront divisive subjects.

Is a non-fungible token a piece of property? Is it tangible? Tax authorities are grappling with these and other questions as they start to set policy on the sale and transfer of NFTs.

Why it matters: NFTs are being bought and sold for huge sums — the $69 million Beeple is an anomaly, but symbolically important — and federal and state revenue departments want to get their due shares.

Yearn Finance, DeFi's friendly yield robot, which has $2.2 billion in assets users have entrusted it with growing. All that despite a creator, Andre Cronje, who dropped off the blockchains in March.

The latest: Now he's back, in a way. It's not exactly a return, he told Axios via Telegram, because he's doing what he's calling RegFi, translating DeFi to TradFi. He said, "I'm never touching public crypto/DeFi again."

Dirt, the entertainment and culture newsletter that became one of the first newsletters to fund itself solely using only NFTs, has raised a $1.2 million seed round, its publisher Kyle Chayka and editor-in-chief Daisy Alioto tell Axios.

Why it matters: Most media companies that rely on web3 tech operationally also cover web3. Dirt aims to be one of the first digitally native media companies that rely on web3 tech but doesn't cover web3 topics exclusively.

More than four dozen former national security leaders are calling on Congress to exempt international advanced technical degree holders from green card caps in a bid to maintain U.S. science and tech leadership, especially over China, according to a copy of a letter viewed by Axios.

Why it matters: The breadth of signatories suggests widespread concern about China's rise could bolster bipartisan support for change in one corner of the otherwise politically charged issue of immigration policy.

A lasting market downturn is unlikely to knock the tech industry from its perch at the top of American business, but it would reshape the tech world's dynamics in profound ways.

Driving the news: The last big recession to hit Silicon Valley bottomed out 20 years ago, and last week's stock market carnage has tech's leaders and footsoldiers digging through their memory attics to remember what that feels like.

Elon Musk envisions a Twitter that is able to more than quadruple its revenue and user base by 2028, while cutting its dependence on advertising, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a leaked slide deck.

Why it matters: The documents show that Musk imagines himself as able to produce financial growth unlike any the company has seen in its history.

The White House said Monday 20 internet service providers have agreed to offer $30 high-speed internet plans to low-income families, effectively giving free service to households that qualify for a federal subsidy.

Why it matters: Cost is a key factor in the digital divide between those who have internet service and those who do not.

Marvel's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" brought in a whopping $185 million at the domestic box office this weekend, making it the second-biggest domestic theater opener in the pandemic era.

Why it matters: "It's clearly a very important next step in getting the summer movie season back," said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.