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Our friend Alex Kantrowitz returns to my kitchen table for a crossover episode with Big Technology Podcast (subscribe here) to discuss whether or not Meta is going to see its promise land Metaverse? And are we in a recession or just a tech recession? Oh. And tips to survive plane travel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon wants to acquire the company that makes the Roomba robot, or as it’s known in my family, Vrrrrooom. We finally know the legal arguments both sides are making in the Elon/Twitter case. Does crashing semiconductor demand prove we’re in a recession or not? And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Links: Amazon is buying iRobot for $1.7B (TechCrunch) Twitter slams Elon Musk's response to its lawsuit (Axios) Cooling Semiconductor Sales Heighten Fears of a Global Recession (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The endless search for a crypto use case (Networked substack) It’s paintbrushes at dawn as artists feel the pressure of AI-generated art (TechCrunch) CNN Exclusive: FBI investigation determined Chinese-made Huawei equipment could disrupt US nuclear arsenal communications (CNN) THE UNSUNG INVENTOR WHO CHASED THE LED RAINBOW (ieee Spectrum) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple is delaying releasing iPadOS 16 just because it’s trying to make Stage Manager not suck. I wasn’t imagining it… the majority of the crypto hacks this year have been because of bridges. Would you pay $50k to be a guest on this show? The new OnePlus smartphone. And I’m gonna let you guess what Google did. Again. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Apple Plans to Delay Launch of iPadOS 16 Update by About a Month (Bloomberg) Solana Hack Blamed on Slope Mobile Wallet Exploit (Decrypt) Vulnerabilities in Cross-chain Bridge Protocols Emerge as Top Security Risk (Chainalysis) Twitter to revamp Spaces, tests themed stations and a daily digest (TechCrunch) Podcast Guests Are Paying Up to $50,000 to Appear on Popular Shows (Bloomberg) OnePlus 10T review: Speed above all (Engadget) Google Meet meets Duo Meet, with Meet in Duo but Duo isn’t going into Meet (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now the hackers are stealing crypto from individual wallets at scale. Robinhood makes a massive layoff announcement. Y Combinator is shrinking its summer cohort. I’ve found an actual use case for NFT’s and it is college textbooks. And, you know, an actual flying car you could buy right now. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Solana, USDC Drained From Wallets in Attack (Decrypt) Robinhood Lays Off 23% of Staff as Retail Investors Fade From Platform (WSJ) Michael Saylor to step down as MicroStrategy CEO, shift to executive chairman role (The Block) Y Combinator narrows current cohort size by 40%, citing downturn and funding environment (TechCrunch) UK regulator makes U-turn on Avast-Norton cyber security deal (Financial Times) Pearson plans to sell its textbooks as NFTs (The Guardian) Samson Switchblade flying car is finally ready for takeoff (New Atlas) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seriously, what is it with crypto bridges? Why are they seemingly so easy to hack? New York cracks down on Robinhood. A bunch of Silicon Valley boldfaced names are going to be swept up into the Twitter/Elon trial. And if Chromebooks and gaming are suffering post-Covid hangovers, is Uber a post-covid Phoenix? Sponsors: Babbel.com/ride for 60% off go.factor75.com/techmeme130 and code techmeme130 to get $130 off Links: Nomad token bridge drained of $190M in funds in security exploit (CoinTelegraph) Robinhood’s Crypto Unit Fined $30 Million by New York’s Top Financial Regulator (WSJ) Twitter is probing Elon Musk’s social circle in broad legal requests (Washington Post) As worldwide tablet shipments grow, Chromebooks face a different reality (ZDNet) Activision Blizzard Sales Fall on Weak Call of Duty Release (Bloomberg) The Morning After: Did Microsoft just neg Activision Blizzard? (Engadget) Uber reports another big loss but beats on revenue, shares pop 14% (CNBC) Learn more about y

Apple opens up Apple Pay a tiny bit. But again, from pressure from the Europeans. Meta is accused of abetting sectarian violence in another developing nation. A deep dive into the seeming demise of the entire e-scooter industry. How much good will the CHIPS Act actually do? And a review of the new Dell XPS 13 Plus. Sponsors: KeeperSecurity.com/techmeme Links: Apple Pay may finally work on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox in iOS 16 (The Verge) Why dangerous content thrives on Facebook and TikTok in Kenya (Washington Post) Bolt Mobility has vanished, leaving e-bikes, unanswered calls behind in several US cities (TechCrunch) Japan, U.S. to launch R&D for 2-nm chip mass production (NikkeiAsia) Chipmakers battle for slice of US government support (Financial Times) DELL XPS 13 PLUS REVIEW: XPS PLUS, BATTERY MINUS (The Verge) Join the Mutant Podcast Army Fantasy League: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/i8t2k1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out Cognitive Talent Solutions here, or get in touch with me to put you in touch with them. And if you'd like to invest in CTS, subscribe and invest to the Ride Home Fund by August 30th here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Ball comes on to talk about his new book: The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything. Then, Jason Del Rey @DelRey talks to us about how Amazon has been faring in the post-Jeff Bezos era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even a weak earnings report from Apple can still break records. Instagram’s been in a stare down with the Kardashians, and Adam Mosseri just blinked. Congress just passed a ton of money to jump start domestic chip production. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: KeeperSecurity.com/techmeme Kolide.com/ride Links: Apple iPhone Sales Remain Resilient as Company Reports 11% Decline in Profit (WSJ) Instagram walks back its changes (Platformer) CHIPS Act clears Congress, ensuring $52 billion boost to US foundries (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: The Buy Now, Pay Later Juggernaut Is About to Be Tested (Bloomberg) F.T.C. Chair Upends Antitrust Standards With Meta Lawsuit (NYTimes) Who Is Collecting Data from Your Car? (The Markup) TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants (The New Yorker) RollerCoaster Tycoon taught me to be a ruthless capitalist (Polygon) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta has reported its first-ever YoY quarterly revenue decline. The FTC has moved to block a Meta acquisition, the first big regulatory move of the Lina Khan era. Google delays it’s cookie cleanup. Again. You’re not seeing things. There’s been a Gmail redesign. And DeepMind has solved one of the oldest problems in biology. Sponsors: StitchFix.com/ride for $20 off Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Facebook Parent Meta Platforms Reports First Ever Revenue Drop (WSJ) F.T.C. Sues to Block Meta’s Virtual Reality Deal as It Confronts Big Tech (NYTimes) Jack Ma Plans to Cede Control of Ant Group (WSJ) Google delays when Chrome will phase out third-party cookies to 2024 (9to5Google) Gmail’s new look is now rolling out to everyone (The Verge) DeepMind's protein-folding AI cracks biology's biggest problem (NewScientist) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’ll wrap up the earnings from Microsoft, Alphabet, Spotify and Shopify. Proof that the cost of a data breach for companies is skyrocketing. What ever happened to the legislative crackdown on Big Tech? Inflation comes to the Metaverse as Meta is jacking up the prices on Quest headsets. And a big update to Google Maps. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Techmeme headlines from this morning running down earnings (Techmeme, 8:25am eastern today) IBM Security report finds data breaches are costlier than ever before (SiliconAngle) Discovery of new UEFI rootkit exposes an ugly truth: The attacks are invisible to us (ArsTechnica) Senate’s Antitrust Crackdown Sputters as Schumer Signals Doubts (Bloomberg) Quest 2 Price Jumps To $399 As Meta Costs Rise (UploadVR) Google Maps rolls out location sharing notifications, immersive views and better bike navigation (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the SEC about to crack down on Coinbase? Why is Kylie Jenner mad at Instagram? Why are all the big tech companies mad at the leap second, of all things? And a deep dive look at what Amazon probably wants to do with its big healthcare acquisition. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Cybersecurityinside.com/RIDE Links: Coinbase Faces SEC Probe on Crypto Listings; Shares Tumble (Bloomberg) Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian tell Instagram to 'stop trying to be TikTok,' which could spell major trouble for the platform (Insider) Creators on Facebook can now earn money through videos that use licensed music (TechCrunch) Shopify to Lay Off 10% of Workers in Broad Shake-Up (WSJ) Why One Critical Second Can Wreak Havoc on the Internet (CNET) The Amazon + One Medical Post (Out Of Pocket) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NFL+ arrives, and at the end of the show, we’ll take a deep dive into sports rights as the great free radical in the streaming wars and the evolution in sports in general. In between that, people accuse Sam Bankman-Fried of lowballing them. More details on the so-called Apple Watch Pro. And if I told you there’s a global shortage of fiber optic cable, would you be surprised? Sponsors: Ramp.com/techmeme ZocDoc.com/techmeme Links: NFL+ Enters Sports Streaming Wars As League Launches New Service (The Hollywood Reporter) Voyager Responds to FTX’s Offer, Calling It a ‘Low-Ball’ Bid (Bloomberg) Apple Begins to Show Rare Vulnerability Ahead of Economic Slowdown (Bloomberg) Intel bags deal to make chips for MediaTek, that other Android processor designer (The Register) Global shortage of fibre optic cable threatens digital growth (FT) Why Big Tech Is Making a Big Play for Live Sports (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saoud Kalifah of FakeSpot.com joins us to discuss what I guess we could call, the fake review economy. Chris made a compelling case for the new Browser Company browser Arc. I try to find my way to a Brian’s Unified Theory of what makes new social networks succeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, things weren’t so rosy with Twitter earnings, and downright abysmal over at Snap. The Feds bring the first ever case for insider trading in the crypto space. Your next smart lock might draw its power from your phone as you use it. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Work Check podcast Links: Twitter misses earnings expectations, partially blames revenue drop on Elon Musk takeover bid (CNBC) Snap shares dive 35% following poor earnings report (CNBC) Ex-Coinbase Manager Arrested in US Crypto Insider-Trading Case (Bloomberg) Your next smart lock could ditch the battery by harvesting energy from your phone (The Verge) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Chiplets helped save AMD. They might also help save Moore’s law and head off an energy crisis. (Protocol) Meta’s next big bet: The ‘metaversity’ (Protocol) Amazon C.E.O. Andy Jassy Breaks From the Bezos Way (NYTimes) The Great Fiction of AI (The Verge) The Re-Reinvention of the Travel Agent (

Amazon is acquiring actual doctors offices. Facebook splits the newsfeed to make it more TikTok-y. Minecraft foreswears NFTs. The big tech platforms are pausing hiring now too. Did Tesla cause the crypto crash? And DALL-E 2 is now more widely available. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome KeeperSecurity.com/techmeme Links: Amazon is buying primary care tech provider One Medical for $3.9B (TechCrunch) Facebook doubles down on algorithms in the main feed (The Verge) Minecraft team says NFTs and blockchain are, well, blocked (Polygon) Microsoft Cuts Many Open Job Listings in Weakening Economy (Bloomberg) Google Announces Hiring Pause (The Information) Elon Musk’s Tesla Has Sold 75% of Its Bitcoin Holdings (Decrypt) @CryptoKaleo Tweet TextExpander, which lets users build shortcuts to speed up business communications, raises $41.4M, its first-ever funding (TechCrunch) OpenAI expands access to DALL-E 2, its powerful image-generating AI system (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices.

Netflix reported earnings that weren’t as bad as even they had been telegraphing. So that’s something. The court case is already going against how Elon Musk hoped it would go. What’s up with everyone leaving Neuralink? And a deep-dive look at BeReal. Is it the next big thing or just the latest fad? Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome AthleticGreens.com/ride Links: Netflix loses fewer subscribers than expected and says cheaper ad tier is coming in early 2023 (CNBC) Twitter-Musk trial on $44 billion deal set to begin in October after Musk loses effort to delay (CNBC) A Neuralink cofounder left Elon Musk's brain-chip company, leaving it with just 2 of its 8 founding members (Insider) Google Begins Publicly Testing Its AR Glasses (CNET) Fad or frenzy, BeReal is having a real moment right now (FastCompany) Why BeReal is breaking out (Platformer) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon is stepping up its war against bogus product reviews. Netflix is testing more crackdowns on password sharing. Slack is raising prices. ESPN+ is raising prices. But one streaming service is actually LOWERING prices? And mark your calendars, cause the Fall product launch season is upon us. Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: Amazon sues admins from 10,000 Facebook groups over fake reviews (TechCrunch) Netflix Tests Another Way to Charge for Password Sharing (Bloomberg) Apple Sued Over Apple Pay, Accused of Antitrust Violations (Bloomberg) Slack is increasing prices and changing the way its free plan works (TechCrunch) ESPN+ Monthly Subscription to Rise $3 as Disney Strives for Streaming Profits (Variety) Crunchyroll is lowering monthly subscription fees in almost 100 regions (Engadget) Samsung confirms August 10th Unpacked event date with ‘cryptic’ puzzle (The Verge) WD begins shipping 22TB Red Pro, Purple Pro and Gold HDDs (Club386) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m

Everything we cover is in a full vibe shift of… pulling back. Coinbase sent some eyebrows up over the weekend, but insolvency is off the table. Right? Right? Adam Newmann’s crypto startup is hitting the pause button. All the rapid delivery startups that flooded New York City last year seem to be done. Poof. And is Silicon Valley itself definitively shrinking? Sponsors: Zapier.com/ride Gusto.com/ride Links: Snap launches Snapchat for Web to bring the app's core features to desktop (TechCrunch) Leaked emails: Crypto exchange Coinbase is 'temporarily shutting down' its US affiliate-marketing program (Insider) Coinbase stirs rumors of liquidity woes as it halts affiliate-marketing program (Insider Bitcoins) Crypto Crash Stalls WeWork Founder Adam Neumann’s Climate Venture (WSJ) The Speedy Downfall of Rapid Delivery Startups (Wired) Tiger Global-backed Missfresh faces fight for survival (FT) 71 Cities and Towns Are Paying Tech Workers to Abandon Silicon Valley. It’s Working. (WSJ) Learn