Techmeme Ride Home

A major algorithmic stablecoin has lost its peg to the dollar. More concerns of a slowdown as Tiger Global has racked up massive paper losses. Match Group sues Google. Has GDPR crushed the European app economy? Amazon engages mom and pop stores to deliver packages. And an interesting raise that is building the GitHub of machine learning. Sponsors: ConstantContact.com Links: UST Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg for Second Time in 48 Hours, LUNA Market Cap Falls Below UST's (CoinDesk) Crypto’s Audacious Algorithmic Stablecoin Experiment Crumbles (Bloomberg) Tiger Global hit by $17bn losses in tech rout (FT) Europe's GDPR coincides with dramatic drop in Android apps (The Register) Match Sues Google Over App Store Billing Rules (Bloomberg) Amazon’s surprising new delivery partners: Rural mom-and-pop shops (Recode) Hugging Face reaches $2 billion valuation to build the GitHub of machine learning (TechCrunch) Watch iconic Broadway theatre rise 30 feet above the ground (Borat voice: MY WIFE!) Lea

Everything is down, not just tech stocks, but now crypto too. More signs of belt tightening and possible hiring freezes, this time from Uber. Twitter has avoided the overall market route thanks to Elon’s bid, but could the downturn effect that as well? Instagram launches an NFT pilot. And what to expect from Google’s I/O later this week. Sponsors: OurCrowd.com/ride Links: Bitcoin’s Unraveling Hits 50% From Peak With Drop Below $33,000 (Bloomberg) Uber CEO tells staff company will cut down on costs, treat hiring as a ‘privilege’ (CNBC) Why Musk’s Twitter Bid Has Shaken Tesla Investors (NYTimes) Meta to start testing digital collectibles on Instagram (The Block) Costa Rica declares national emergency after Conti ransomware attacks (BleepingComputer) What to expect from Google I/O 2022 (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Apple, Google and Microsoft all signed up to offer FIDO Alliance technology, are we about to hear about some big passwordless tech at all the developers conferences this summer? China wants the whole country to turn in their foreign made laptops. Fortnite is available everywhere, including iOS, thanks to Microsoft. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: HubSpot.com Ortto.com Links: Apple, Google, Microsoft Back 'FIDO' Tech to Dump Passwords on Websites and Apps (CNET) China Orders Government, State Firms to Dump Foreign PCs (Bloomberg) Epic's Fortnite Now Free to Play on Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming for Mobile, Desktop, Console (CNET) Exclusive: Crypto.com passes the 50 million user mark (Axios) Weekend Longreads Suggestions ™ Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise (Wired) Elon Musk’s Fixer Is Quietly Tending the World’s Biggest Fortune (Bloomberg) Russians plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine – to find they’ve been remotely disabled (CNN)

Elon gets some friends to join his Twitter deal. And does he expect to be Twitter CEO soon? A Google acquisition shows their metaverse aspirations. Sonos to launch a voice assistant. A hiring slowdown at Meta. How can there be need for layoffs at Cameo? And is anyone other than me and the US Government concerned about quantum computing breaking encryption? Sponsors: HubSpot.com Links: Ellison, Binance and Sequoia back Musk’s $44bn bid for Twitter (FT) Google bought a MicroLED display company that could help make AR headsets better and cheaper (The Verge) Exclusive: Sonos is about to introduce its own voice assistant (The Verge) Facebook plans to reduce hiring as revenue growth slows and inflation concerns increase (CNBC) Cameo lays off close to 90, including senior executives (Protocol) Stripe flexes its fintech muscle with Financial Connections to pull banking data automatically (TechCrunch) White House wants nation to prepare for cryptography-breaking quantum computers (The Record) L

Uber is seeing rider usage return to pre-Covid levels. New, better flash storage. Twitter tests the ability to only tweet to certain circles. An interesting laptop and an interesting raise. And Spotify wants you to hang out, in Roblox. Sponsors: AthleticGreens.com/ride Links: Uber reports surging revenue as drivers return, but posts massive loss on investments (CNBC) NFT Sales Are Flatlining (WSJ) Samsung's UFS 4.0 flash storage is a major upgrade, especially for 5G phones (Android Authority) Twitter Testing New 'Twitter Circle' Feature for Sharing Tweets With a Smaller Number of People (MacRumors) Meta has built a massive new language AI—and it’s giving it away for free (MIT Technology Review) Razer’s Blade 15 is the first laptop with a 240Hz OLED display, but you’ll have to wait a while (The Verge) Larry Ellison leads $21.5 million Series A in cancer treatment startup Imagene AI (CTech) Spotify becomes first music streamer to launch on Roblox (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad

What do you know? Facebook got bored of something and left the market in a bit of a mess. The SEC seems to be staffing up to get serious about crypto. Apple accuses a rival of stealing trade secrets. And it seems like Meta wants to start getting those Metaverse enabling headsets in our hands sooner rather than later. Sponsors: Smith.ai promocode techmeme for $100 off signup CreditKarma.com Links: Facebook Pulls the Plug on Podcast Business After a Year (Bloomberg) SEC to Hire More Crypto Cops to Fight Digital Frauds (WSJ) PayPal Helped Spur EU Antitrust Complaint Against Apple Payments (Bloomberg) UK ministers ditch plans to empower tech regulator (FT) Apple accuses engineers of stealing chip secrets with AirDrop and Time Machine (9to5Mac) Meta Plots Ambitious VR Release Schedule of Four Headsets by 2024 (The Information) Rocket Lab captures booster in mid-air with a helicopter for the first time (Engadget) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The expected EU hammer is coming down on Apple. Yuga Labs’ latest project didn’t bring down Ethereum, but made it hella expensive. Bots DID bring down Solana. Again. A new book looks at why Jony Ive left Apple. And what the heck is going on with Google and it’s AI researchers? Sponsors: Traceroute Podcast (Origins.dev for more info) Links: Apple charged by Brussels with abusing its market power in mobile payments (Financial Times) Bored Ape Metaverse Frenzy Raises Millions, Crashes Ethereum (Bloomberg) Bored Ape Yacht Club creator’s metaverse mint rocks the Ethereum blockchain (The Verge) Solana Goes Dark for 7 Hours as Bots Swarm ‘Candy Machine’ NFT Minting Tool (CoinDesk) Grindr User Data Has Been for Sale for Years (WSJ) How Technocrats Triumphed at Apple (NYTimes) Another Firing Among Google’s A.I. Brain Trust, and More Discord (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(The audio has been fixed in this version) How was the web won and lost? If you had to do Web2.0 over again, what would you do differently? What is the future of Twitter under Elon Musk. All this and more from a huge crew of web 2.0 OGs. Check them out from 15 years ago on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Snap’s Pixy, is a new sort of done/camera hybrid. We wrap up tech earnings week with Apple and Amazon. I continue to wonder if the one click checkout space is all it’s cracked up to be. And of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions. Sponsors: Ortto.com Masterworks.io/ride Links: Snap announces a mini drone called Pixy (TechCrunch) Snap Pixy Review: Don’t Call It a Drone or a Selfie Stick—Even Though It’s Both (WSJ) Apple Reports Second Quarter Results (BusinessWire) The Twitter Thread With The Charts On Amazon (@juokaz) Bolt, a Checkout Startup Worth $11 Billion, Lost Customers as Revenue Stalled (The Information) The Weekend Longreads Suggestions ™ Elon's Giant Package (Margins Substack) Weather Prediction Startups Grow as More Volatile Storms Loom (Bloomberg) As Polaroid’s SX-70 turns 50, instant photography is booming (Fast Company) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter reports earnings, for maybe the last time, publicly. Meta’s earnings weren’t THAT bad but that’s mostly because the set the table for it. Apple faces antitrust charges in the EU as soon as next week. Another country adopts bitcoin as currency. And would you like a dedicated metaverse room in your next house? Sponsors: Ortto.com Composer.trade/ride Links: Twitter reports user bump, revenue miss for Q1, days after accepting Musk’s takeover bid (CNBC) Twitter miscounted its daily users for three years straight (The Verge) Meta's Bleak Q1; Spotify's Netflix Moment (The Information) Apple to face fresh antitrust charges in Brussels (FT) Google may now remove search results that dox you (The Verge) Bitcoin becomes official currency in Central African Republic (BBCNews) NSA Re-awards Secret $10 Billion Contract to Amazon (NextGov) How the pandemic is changing home design (Axios) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quick summation of Alphabet and Microsoft earnings. DJI is trying to prevent its drones from being used in the Ukraine war. Google has released tools to make it easier to spin up your own YouTube. Apple wants you to repair your iPhone yourself. And a deep dive into why autocorrect can’t ducking get it right sometimes. Ducking. I said ducking, which is the iPhone autocorrect version of that word. Sponsors: HubSpot.com discover.upland.me/techmeme Links: Alphabet Announces First Quarter 2022 Results (Alphabet) Earnings Release FY22 Q3 (Microsoft) Robinhood lays off nine percent of its full-time employees (Engadget) DJI Becomes Most Prominent Chinese Firm to Halt Russia Business (Bloomberg) Google launches Media CDN to compete on content delivery (TechCrunch) Apple Launches Do-It-Yourself Repairs For iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone SE (CNET) Apple’s Studio Display’s poor webcam quality is not a software bug after all (9to5Mac) Autocorrect Explained: Why Your iPhone Adds Annoying Typos While Fix

You did it, you crazy son of a bitch, you did it. You know what that’s referring to, of course. Fidelity lets you allocate some of your 401(k) to bitcoin. More Bored Apes got swiped. And with the F-150 Lightning actually shipping today, another glimpse at the precarious reality of the electric car revolution. Links: Twitter accepts Elon Musk’s buyout deal (CNBC) Elon Musk buys Twitter (Platformer/Casey Newton) From punchline to deal in under 2 weeks: how Elon Musk won his Twitter prize (Financial Times) Fidelity to Allow Retirement Savers to Put Bitcoin in 401(k) Accounts (WSJ) Bored Ape Instagram account hacked: NFTs worth $2.8 million stolen (The Block) SoftBank Cuts Back Spending, Leaving Startups Desperate for Cash (Bloomberg) THE F-150 LIGHTNING IS FINALLY SHIPPING — IS FORD READY? (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time you hear these words, Elon Musk might already own Twitter. A big Java vulnerability. All of Mark Gurman’s expectations for the iPhone 14. Where and by how much, tech worker salaries are rising. And why the struggles at Netflix might lead to worse television across the board. Sponsors: HubSpot.com discover.upland.me/techmeme Links: Twitter Eyes Deal With Musk as Soon as Monday (Bloomberg) Analysis: Musk tears up buyout playbook with $46.5 billion Twitter financing (Reuters) Major cryptography blunder in Java enables “psychic paper” forgeries (ArsTechnica) The iPhone 14 Is Less Than Six Months Away. Here’s What to Expect (Bloomberg) Tech Wage Inflation Puts Pressure on Companies (WSJ) Netflix and Facebook have given up most of the last few years’ gains since tech’s November peak (CNBC) The Netflix Nightmare: What Happens When an Industry Becomes a Squid Game (Vanity Fair) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founder Alex Damianou tells us about OpenAxis, which tells stories with data. If a picture tells a thousand words, how many does a chart tell? Easily and beautifully visualize data with an accessible point-and-click, no-code, no-pivot-table tool. Learn more about the Ride Home Fund. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great Julia Alexander (@loudmouthjulia) joins us to talk about Netflix's big earnings bomb, CNN+ biting the big one, and the state of the streaming wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CNN+ only made it, what, 1/8th of a Quibi? There’s blood on the streaming wars dance floor. a16z’s new crypto research lab makes me feel like I have to start covering them like a startup or a conglomerate. More bad news for Meta: they’re way behind in the payments race in India. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: discover.upland.me/techmeme Links: CNN+ Streaming Service Will Shut Down Weeks After Its Start (NYTimes) a16z Crypto is launching an academic research lab focused on web3 (The Block) How Meta Platforms Fell Behind in Indian Mobile Payments (WSJ) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: ApeCoin & the death of staking (Cobie Substack) Cutting-Edge Crypto Coins Tout Stability. Critics Call Them Dangerous. (WSJ) Rivian CEO Warns of Looming Electric-Vehicle Battery Shortage (WSJ) Video Game Junkie Quietly Builds $3 Billion Payments Powerhouse (Bloomberg) The Sidekick Was the Best Smartphone Ever (Debugger) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch

Ok. Funding actually secured, Elon? For real this time? A look at Tesla’s good earnings and monster margins. Unions are coming for big tech, it seems. A reckoning is coming for the lightning cable, it seems. And advertising in your console games is inevitable, it seems. Sponsors: Composer.trade/ride Policygenius.com Links: Twitter Has a Poison Pill Now (Matt Levine/Bloomberg) Elon Musk Says He Has Commitments for $46.5 Billion in Financing for Twitter Deal (WSJ) Elon Musk lays out funding for ambitious Twitter takeover (The Verge) Tesla record profit blows away estimates (CNN Business) Tesla reports $18.76 billion in revenue and record margins in Q1 (CNBC) Apple Store workers in Atlanta are the first to formally seek a union. (NYTimes) Amazon opens up Prime delivery service to other retailers in its latest move to compete with FedEx and UPS (CNBC) PlayStation Wants Ads In Its Games, Too (IGN) MEPs vote to expand scope of common charger rules (TechCrunch) Zoom’s thumbs-up and raise-hand

Netflix shares crater after earnings, and the company might be turning to ad-supported streaming to eke out some growth. Coinbase’s NFT marketplace is live. Why crypto stocks are uncoupled from the underlying crypto market. Why the surge in zero days might actually be good news. And the tech bubble that would never burst. So far. Sponsors: Linkedin.com/ride Hapbee.com/techmeme Links: Netflix Q1 net subscribers unexpectedly decline, revenue misses expectations (Yahoo!Finance) Netflix Plans to Launch Cheaper Ad-Supported Plans (The Hollywood Reporter) Just Eat Weighs Grubhub Sale in Tough Food Delivery Market (Bloomberg) Coinbase NFT marketplace goes live in beta for select customers (The Block) Crypto Stocks Perform Worse Than Cryptocurrencies (WSJ) Google: 2021 was a Banner Year for Exploited 0-Day Bugs (ThreatPost) Brave is bypassing Google AMP pages because they’re ‘harmful to users’ (The Verge) The Tech Bubble That Never Burst (NYTimes) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m

Courts have reaffirmed the right to scrape the public facing web. We have some hints about how the Twitter edit button might work. Updates on the whole Twitter/Elon situation. Microsoft wants to bring in-game ads to Xbox. And a new startup accelerator you’re gonna want to put on your radar. Sponsors: OurCrowd.com/ride Links: Web scraping is legal, US appeals court reaffirms (TechCrunch) Twitter's in-development Edit button offers hints as to how the feature could work (TechCrunch) Apollo Global Considers Participating in a Bid for Twitter (WSJ) Insteon is down and may not be coming back (Stacey On IOT) Microsoft reportedly wants to bring ads to free-to-play Xbox games (The Verge) Andreessen Horowitz unveils piloted program for early-stage entrepreneurs (TechCrunch) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gergely Orosz of The Pragmatic Engineer helps us figure out the strategy and expectations of joining a high profile startup, vs. the expectations and reality of joining a FAANG company. Also: the perils and promise and best practices of joining a startup, vs. the perils and promise and best practices of joining a big tech company. Hopefully, if you are a tech worker, an engineer, a designer, what have you, there will be some valuable learnings for you. Oh, and Chris and I try our hand at Elon punditry. Sponsors: Composer.trade/ride Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices