Central-bank issued digital currency experiments outside of the U.S. are making small steps forward amid heightened scrutiny of private-sector stablecoins.
Why it matters: Governments are keen on the potential for faster, more efficient payment options between countries with digital currencies, but want to preserve monetary and financial stability.
On Saturday, Axios brand studio editor Alexis Kleinman received a troubling pair of back-to-back emails.
The first was from Zola, a wedding planning and registry website that's raised nearly $200 million in VC funding from firms like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners and Thrive Capital. It said that her account's email address and password had been changed.
The second was from her credit card issuer, saying some new charges had exceeded her limit.
This was part of a hack that impacted nearly 3,000 Zola accounts.
America's free speech frustration has pivoted from tech companies to media publishers, according to this year's Axios Harris Poll 100.
Why it matters: It's a sign of growing hostility toward publishers, with little recourse for people who think they don't do enough to guard against bias or misinformation.
Walmart customers in six states will soon be able to have their orders delivered by drone in less than 30 minutes.
Why it matters: This will be the first large-scale drone delivery operation in the United States. So far, drone deliveries have been available only in a few small towns, with customers selecting from a short list of items.
Candle Media, the new media rollup company backed by Blackstone and led by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, is acquiring Exile Content Studio, an independent Spanish-language production company.
Why it matters: The deal gives Candle access to premium Spanish content. Exile is one of the fastest-growing Spanish language production studios in the world.
SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell defended Elon Musk after Business Insider reported last week that SpaceX paid $250,000 to settle sexual misconduct allegations against the billionaire, CNBC reports.
Driving the news: Insider reported a SpaceX flight attendant had alleged sexual misconduct against Musk, including that he exposed his erect penis to her and touched her inappropriately while aboard a private flight in 2016. SpaceX later settled with her for $250,000 in a deal that also barred her from discussing the payment or disclosing any information about Musk, according to Insider.
Shares for Snap were down more than 25% in after-hours trading Monday after the company warned investors of slowed growth in the months ahead.
Why it matters: The news comes as the entire tech sector, but particularly social media companies, struggle to maintain the unprecedented growth levels they saw during the pandemic.
The creators of the action game Aztech built their unusual virtual world with a simple premise: What would have happened if the Aztecs hadn’t been conquered?
Why it matters: Aztech is an ambitious game from a small team in Mexico, a part of the world that has little representation in the industry and its culture.
New Jersey's Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Monday that the state has launched an investigation into the social media platforms Discord and Twitch in connection to the Buffalo mass shooting.
Why it matters: The alleged shooter killed 10 people, all of whom were Black, and posted footage from the attack in real-time to Twitch, a platform owned by Amazon that often features live videos of gaming. The probe will determine whether lax content moderation and policy enforcement allowed the platforms to serve as a hub for violent extremism.
Quality assurance workers at Activision-owned development studio Raven Software voted to unionize today, setting up what would be the first union at a big American game publisher.
Driving the news: The vote, administered by the National Labor Relations Board in Minnesota passed 19-3.
The big picture: Republican-run states are flocking to punish social media companies for what they see as bias against conservatives, and the U.S. Supreme Court is about to issue a ruling on a Texas law similar to Florida's.
Broadcom is in talks to buy VMware, the cloud computing giant controlled by Michael Dell, per multiple reports. VMware had a $40 billion market cap prior to the news, and its stock price spiked nearly 20% at this morning's open.
Why it matters: Broadcom has become one of tech's biggest acquirers, even if it doesn't get lumped into "Big Tech."
Discussions of abortion are posing big problems for some Big Tech companies, not just on their platforms but inside their walls.
Driving the news: With the Supreme Court readying to let states ban abortion, Meta last week reminded employees of a 2019 policy that bars discussion of the topic on the internal discussion system that runs the company, Workplace, per reporting from the Verge and the Washington Post.
/2022/05/22/1653235391644.gif?w=3840)