SoftBank
Praveen Akkiraju, Managing Partner, Americas, Asia
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.
- One of SoftBank Vision Fund's 12 managing partners is leaving the company. Praveen Akkiraju, a managing partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, is leaving to pursue opportunities in early stage startups.
- Amazon sells children's smartwatches that are so easy to hack that strangers could track and talk to kids. Security researchers found that these smartwatches have critical flaws that could let strangers track and talk to the kids wearing them.
- Twitter is trying to build a new decentralized social media service that could transform its business. Developed by a new team called "Bluesky," it will take inspiration from email and try to offer an alternative to traditional, centralized social media platforms.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook says monopolies aren't bad if they aren't abused. Apple has faced several complaints about how its App Store treats app providers that compete with Apple services, including Spotify.
- YouTube is cracking down on insulting and malicious content. YouTube will no longer allow videos that "maliciously insult someone" based on "protected attributes" such as race, gender identity or sexuality.
- Amazon's massive investment in food delivery startup Deliveroo hit a major roadblock after the UK regulator decided it could harm competition. The Competition and Markets Authority announced Wednesday it was proceeding with an in-depth investigation into the investment to determine how the deal could hurt competition.
- A former Uber driver claims he was fired for participating in a peaceful protest against the company. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Illinois federal court, Ahmed Youssef claims he was fired for participating in a peaceful protest against the company in Chicago last year.
- Cryptocurrency exchange BitMex is facing a $300 million investor lawsuit. BitMex, one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, and its founder Arthur Hayes are being sued for allegedly stifling an early investor, according to Bloomberg.
- Apple's pricey new $6,000 screen for the Mac Pro can only be cleaned with a special cloth from Apple. The version of Apple's Pro Display XDR that comes with nano-texture glass requires a special cloth provided by Apple to clean it.
- Cisco has started supplying switch chips to major data-center operators, including Microsoft and Facebook. California-based Cisco is now offering the chips, which it says are the fastest in the industry, to all of its customers, regardless of whether they buy its networking machinery.
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