Netflix
Netflix missed out on subscriber growth.
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.
- Netflix reported its Q2 results on Wednesday, and denied speculation that it's moving to selling ads. The streaming-video giant said it still has no plans to start selling advertising, in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, which also reported weaker than expected subscriber growth for the second quarter.
- President Trump is reportedly taking a personal interest in the $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract that Amazon is widely expected to win. The bidding for Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) has narrowed down to Amazon and Microsoft.
- The EU launched a big antitrust probe into Amazon, and it could lead to a fine of up to $23 billion. The investigation is set to examine whether Amazon's use of data from the independent retailers that sell on its marketplace is in breach of EU competition rules.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Facebook exec David Marcus had an enlightening exchange on Wednesday during a hearing with lawmakers about the social network's Libra digital currency. Ocasio-Cortez made the point that the currency will be controlled by a group largely composed of corporations and not democratically elected representatives, a problem for a public asset.
- A viral app that makes you look old with shocking precision may be quietly keeping all your data. FaceApp is surging in popularity thanks to a filter that makes people look older.
- The DNC reportedly sent out an alert to 2020 campaigns telling them to delete FaceApp over Russia concerns. "It's not clear at this point what the privacy risks are, but what is clear is that the benefits of avoiding the app outweigh the risks," DNC chief security officer Bob Lord said in the security alert obtained by CNN.
- A prominent transgender YouTube star was deadnamed at a panel on LGBTQ activism, and it sparked a big discussion and several apologies. At a panel on LGBTQ activism and awareness, the moderator deadnamed transgender YouTuber Miles McKenna.
- Two days after an Instagram star's brutal killing went viral, YouTube is still hosting images of her body. The brutal killing of Bianca Devins, an Instagram star with thousands of followers, went viral on Monday after images of the crime were posted on the social network by the man charged with killing the 17-year-old.
- Elon Musk says he's tested his brain microchip on monkeys, and it enabled one to control a computer with its mind. Elon Musk's neurotechnology company, Neuralink, pulled back the veil on its ambitions to implant chips in people's brains.
- Elon Musk once reportedly introduced Mark Zuckerberg to Jeffrey Epstein at a dinner hosted by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. The incident illustrates how the disgraced financier was rehabilitated to high society after he went to jail in 2008.
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