Investor letter: Reid Hoffman won't be a GP for Greylock's next $1B fund, down from its $1.5B funds in 2020 and 2021; Hoffman made one deal in its 16th fund (Berber Jin/Wall Street Journal)

Berber Jin / Wall Street Journal:
Investor letter: Reid Hoffman won't be a GP for Greylock's next $1B fund, down from its $1.5B funds in 2020 and 2021; Hoffman made one deal in its 16th fund  —  Co-founder of LinkedIn is one of Silicon Valley's most influential AI enthusiasts  —  Reid Hoffman, one of Silicon Valley's …

Lessons from the rapid grocery delivery boom: $10B+ of VC money, used for ads and promos, created the market from nothing, app downloads have cratered, and more (Bryce Elder/Financial Times)

Bryce Elder / Financial Times:
Lessons from the rapid grocery delivery boom: $10B+ of VC money, used for ads and promos, created the market from nothing, app downloads have cratered, and more  —  The failure and folly behind a $10bn bribe to not go to the shops  —  The inflation adjusted price for delivering you a packet …

Elon Musk says X users will be able to make video and audio calls without a phone number, but offers no timeframe, as X "is the effective global address book" (Charlotte Hughes-Morgan/Bloomberg)

Charlotte Hughes-Morgan / Bloomberg:
Elon Musk says X users will be able to make video and audio calls without a phone number, but offers no timeframe, as X “is the effective global address book”  —  Users of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, will be able to make video and audio calls through …

Free Fire game by Garena to Launch in India on September 5

Singapore-based online games developer and publisher, Garena, is launching Free Fire India, a game with unique content and features to promote safe and fun gameplay. Yotta, a Hiranandani Group company, will provide local cloud hosting and storage for the game. Free Fire India will have features specifically developed for Indian users, including a verification system for parental supervision. Garena is committed to supporting India's esports and startup ecosystems, with plans to host the Free Fire India Esports Championships in the coming months. https://ift.tt/7bXsAfJ

Republican AGs from 16 states write to the SEC over concerns about Shein filing for a US IPO and urge the agency to order an investigation on using forced labor (Jordyn Holman/New York Times)

Jordyn Holman / New York Times:
Republican AGs from 16 states write to the SEC over concerns about Shein filing for a US IPO and urge the agency to order an investigation on using forced labor  —  A group of state attorneys general urged the S.E.C. to make the fast fashion company prove it doesn't use forced labor if it files to go public.

Samsung launches Food, a "personalized" AI-based food and recipe app in eight languages and 104 countries, drawing on a 160K+ recipes from Whisk, bought in 2019 (Steve Dent/Engadget)

Steve Dent / Engadget:
Samsung launches Food, a “personalized” AI-based food and recipe app in eight languages and 104 countries, drawing on a 160K+ recipes from Whisk, bought in 2019  —  It builds on Whisk, an app it acquired a few years back.  —  As it promised last week, Samsung has launched Food …

How to install WhatsApp on Macs

WhatsApp has introduced a new app for Mac, allowing users to make video calls with up to eight people and audio calls with up to 32 people. The app can be downloaded from WhatsApp's website and will soon be available on the Apple App Store. It offers features such as file sharing and a larger chat history view. The article also provides step-by-step instructions on how to install and log into WhatsApp on macOS devices. https://ift.tt/EpaJeMS

A look at the wave of child safety legislation in the US to age gate minors' access to the internet, backed by Republicans and Democrats alike (Makena Kelly/The Verge)

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
A look at the wave of child safety legislation in the US to age gate minors' access to the internet, backed by Republicans and Democrats alike  —  By the end of this month, porn will get a lot harder to watch in Texas.  Instead of clicking a button or entering a date of birth to access Pornhub …

Huawei quietly launches the ~$960 Mate 60 Pro, giving no advance notice and releasing no ads; some investors speculate that Huawei used its own 5G chip (Reuters)

Reuters:
Huawei quietly launches the ~$960 Mate 60 Pro, giving no advance notice and releasing no ads; some investors speculate that Huawei used its own 5G chip  —  Chinese chip stocks rallied on Wednesday following Huawei Technologies' (HWT.UL) launch of its new Mate 60 Pro phone …

Google is testing watermark to identify AI-generated images: Here’s how it works, what it means for users, and more

Google's AI arm, DeepMind, is testing a digital watermark called SynthID to combat disinformation. The watermark is embedded into AI-generated images, allowing for identification purposes. It has three confidence levels: "Digital watermark detected," "Digital watermark not detected," and "Digital watermark possibly detected." SynthID combines watermarking and identification using metadata and deep learning models. Unlike traditional watermarks, SynthID remains detectable even after modifications. The goal is to reduce misinformation by helping users determine if an image is real or fake. https://ift.tt/7kldYDt

Apollo.io, which offers sales and marketing tools used by 500K+ firms, raised $100M led by Bain at a $1.6B valuation, up from ~$900M after raising $110M in 2022 (Katie Roof/Bloomberg)

Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Apollo.io, which offers sales and marketing tools used by 500K+ firms, raised $100M led by Bain at a $1.6B valuation, up from ~$900M after raising $110M in 2022  —  - $100 million investment led by Bain Capital Ventures  — Apollo's clients include Stripe, DocuSign, Utah Jazz

Philips expands local manufacturing in line with ‘Make in India’ initiative

Philips has announced the expansion of its Personal Health product categories in India, in line with the country's 'Make in India' initiative. The consumer electronics brand will now produce 'Mother and Childcare' products in addition to its existing female and male grooming products. The expansion aims to cater to local consumers and tackle product counterfeiting. Philips also unveiled new products including the Beard Trimmer Series 1000 and the Hair Straightening Brush. https://ift.tt/ceJ9PKH

LTIMindtree partners with CAST AI to help businesses optimize cloud investments

LTIMindtree has partnered with CAST AI to help companies save over 60% on cloud costs during the process of modernizing legacy applications for cloud migration. The collaboration combines LTIMindtree's Infinity platform with CAST AI's cloud cost optimization platform, providing enterprises with a comprehensive view of their cloud portfolio. The partnership aims to optimize Kubernetes management and costs in both single and multi-cloud environments, automating 100% of cloud-native infrastructure and reducing costs for customers. https://ift.tt/sgu3Lvb

Philips launches Hair Straightening Brush, Beard Trimmer Series 1000, and Avent Bottle Steriliser

Healthcare technology brand Philips has announced the expansion of its product portfolio in India. The company has launched the Beard Trimmer Series 1000, Hair Straightening Brush, and Avent Bottle Steriliser. These new products are manufactured locally and target India's Gen Z and millennial customers. The Beard Trimmer is priced at Rs 945, the Hair Straightening Brush at Rs 3,199, and the Avent Bottle Steriliser at Rs 4,499. The products are available for purchase on Philips' official website and other e-commerce platforms. Philips aims to support the Indian market by diversifying its offerings. https://ift.tt/ANOIydg

A look at Disney's shifting India strategy, after the unit reported a $41.5M loss on $390M revenue in the year to March 2022, including free cricket on mobile (Reuters)

Reuters:
A look at Disney's shifting India strategy, after the unit reported a $41.5M loss on $390M revenue in the year to March 2022, including free cricket on mobile  —  Walt Disney (DIS.N) is attempting to revive the fortunes of its streaming business in India by offering free cricket on smartphones …