Friday, May 14, 2021

Bay Area tech companies racked up ~$1B on real estate impairments in the pandemic for their vacated spaces; Dropbox took $416M, Salesforce $216M, Airbnb $149M (Ari Levy/CNBC)

Ari Levy / CNBC:
Bay Area tech companies racked up ~$1B on real estate impairments in the pandemic for their vacated spaces; Dropbox took $416M, Salesforce $216M, Airbnb $149M  —  - The amount of available sublease office space in San Francisco more than tripled during the pandemic, and tech companies are paying the price.



Google leads US business push to preserve work permits for H-1B spouses

The organizations contend undoing employment authorization for spouses would cause financial havoc for families, because most made life choices such as having children or buying homes based on the expectation of two incomes. https://ift.tt/3bu6rqz

Pinterest to test livestreaming with 21 creators this month

Social media firm Pinterest is entering the live-streaming business with a virtual event with 21 creators this month. https://ift.tt/2RWzUTm

Facebook loses court fight over halting EU-US data transfers

The Irish watchdog had launched its inquiry last year shortly after a ruling by the EU's top court striking down an agreement covering EU-U.S. data transfers known as Privacy Shield, saying it didn't do enough to protect users from U.S. government cybersnooping. https://ift.tt/2RWiO7S

Foxconn profit leaps as COVID-19 drives demand for work-from-home devices

Officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, the firm January-March net profit rocketed to T$28.2 billion ($1 billion) from T$2.1 billion a year earlier, when the company's business was badly hit by the early outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic https://ift.tt/3ojB8E9

Amazon says to create 10,000 new jobs in Britain in 2021

Amazon said the new jobs will include roles across its operations network, at its corporate offices and Amazon Web Services (AWS). https://ift.tt/2STaTZG

Elon Musk's Bitcoin turnaround pleases some Tesla investors

The Tesla boss' tweets, which had helped drive some of the gains in bitcoin in recent months, this week triggered a 17% slide in the value of the cryptocurrency when he said his company's customers would no longer be able to use bitcoin to buy its cars. https://ift.tt/3uR9mRQ

Elon Musk's Bitcoin Turnaround Pleases Some Tesla Investors

Elon Musk's decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as payment over environmental concerns has been well-received by some of Tesla's investors, offering a warning to corporate peers mulling a dabble with... https://ift.tt/3flHJKa

China on Mars: Tianwen-1 Lands Successfully on Red Planet

China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully landed on the surface of Mars, making China the second space-faring nation after the United States to land on the Red Planet. https://ift.tt/2RkzPsz

How Can Genetic Data Be Used in Biodiversity Research?

Understand the record of history stored in DNA is an essential part of a biologist's toolkit, and allows us to understand the tree of life - the origin of species, and the way it all works together.... https://ift.tt/3eLMEF5

Apple knew ‘everything’ about him, claims employee fired after others complained

Moved by the backlash, Apple reportedly asked the employee to leave and now Martinez has come out with his version of events in a series of tweets. Martinez claims that Apple was very much aware of his writings and actively recruited him. https://ift.tt/3wb0tCP

Google Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro may sport brand new design

As per the render images of Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro shared, both the devices will come with thin bezels and a small centrally placed punch hole camera along with an in-display fingerprint reader. The design give the phones a premium look. The phones also seem to sport a thin frame. https://ift.tt/3uR3JD9

WhatsApp new privacy policy going live on May 15: What happens to your account if you don't accept it

https://ift.tt/2Qj23Dw

DeFi hacks made up 60%+ of the crypto hack and theft volume in 2021 and 47% of major fraud and misappropriation; criminals netted ~$240M from DeFi-related hacks (Adam London/CipherTrace)

Adam London / CipherTrace:
DeFi hacks made up 60%+ of the crypto hack and theft volume in 2021 and 47% of major fraud and misappropriation; criminals netted ~$240M from DeFi-related hacks  —  MAJOR TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS  —  DeFi Hacks Reach Record Highs 1% of Bitcoin Transactions are “Risky” 0.1% of Transacted Bitcoin Value is …



Payment card services company Marqeta files for IPO at a $16B to $17B valuation, reports Q1 revenue of $108M with a net loss of $12.8M, down from $14.5M YoY (Ari Levy/CNBC)

Ari Levy / CNBC:
Payment card services company Marqeta files for IPO at a $16B to $17B valuation, reports Q1 revenue of $108M with a net loss of $12.8M, down from $14.5M YoY  —  - Marqeta reported revenue growth in the first quarter of 123% to $108 million, while its net loss narrowed to $12.8 million from $14.5 million a year earlier.



MediaTek says it has started to use Intel Foundry's advanced chip packaging in addition to TSMC's, as the mobile chip designer bets on AI demand for growth (Cheng Ting-Fang/Nikkei Asia)

Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia : MediaTek says it has started to use Intel Foundry's advanced chip packaging in addition to TSMC's...