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Zheping Huang / Bloomberg : Alibaba debuts AliExpress Connect, a service to pair influencers with brands and merchants, hoping to attract 100,000+ creators this year with a focus on Europe   —  - AliExpress Connect links social media darlings with merchants  — Model replicates China success of Taobao's live-streaming app from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3clsk9h

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch : Tia Health, the developer of a network of digital wellness apps, clinics, and telehealth services focused on women's health, raises $24M Series A   —  Tia Health, the developer of a network of digital wellness apps, clinics and telehealth services designed to treat women's health holistically … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gHUe2w

Ben Thompson / Stratechery : Facebook Shops integration with Shopify is good for Shopify merchants, but using Facebook Checkout limits the upside of Shopify's own payments offering   —  In the month since I wrote The Anti-Amazon Alliance, there has been two significant announcements from two of the principals in that alliance: from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3doQtwQ

Taylor Soper / GeekWire : A look at recent statements by tech companies, including Amazon, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and others, regarding racism in America   —  Comments Share 70 Tweet Share Reddit Email  —  Seattle tech giants Amazon and Microsoft issued statements this weekend in response to the outrage and protests … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gHGJQo

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg : Tim Cook, in a memo to staff addressing racism in US, says Apple will give to non-profits like Equal Justice Initiative, match staff donations 2-to-1 in June   —  - Tim Cook writes letter to employees after George Floyd killing  — Apple donating to equal justice, human rights groups, CEO says from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZU1Jxr

Kim Lyons / The Verge : YouTube says it will donate $1M to the Center for Policing Equity, a nonprofit think tank that works with police departments to change discriminatory practices   —  The nonprofit works with police departments to address discriminatory behavior  —  YouTube says it will donate $1 million … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XPONG2

Mark Kleinman / Sky News : London-based freight forwarding and supply chain finance startup Beacon raises $15M Series A with investors including 8VC and Jeff Bezos   —  The Amazon chief is taking a stake in Beacon, a digital freight-forwarding and supply chain finance firm, Sky News learns.  —  City editor @MarkKleinmanSky from Techmeme https://ift.tt/36LXcyB

Louise Matsakis / Wired : Some Walmart staff claim AI-based tech used in stores to prevent shoplifting misidentifies innocuous behavior as theft and often fails to flag actual stealing   —  The retailer denies there is any widespread issue with the software, but a group expressed frustration—and public health concerns. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3dkTvCr

Stitcher Blog : Stitcher releases its first podcasting report, with 10 years of data trends; a pandemic update shows a dip in listening at commute times and a lunchtime rise   —  What a decade of industry growth looks like from the app perspective.  —  It's been over a decade since we launched the Stitcher app. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Xh0Ihb

Mike Allen / Axios : Sources: President Trump and Mark Zuckerberg had a phone conversation on Friday that was described by both sides as productive   —  In the week that President Trump took on social media, Axios has learned that he had a call Friday with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that was described by both sides as productive. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/300mrvs

Amy Feldman / Forbes : Benchling, which makes software for tracking and managing data from biotech research, raises $50M at a $850M valuation, bringing its total raised to $114M   —  Sajith Wickramasekara started working on an idea for a cloud-based Crispr design tool for scientists during college at MIT eight years ago. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XkmGje

Andy Greenberg / Wired : US is taking a state-by-state approach to COVID-19 contact tracing apps, which could cause security and privacy issues in addition to hindering interoperability   —  With no nationwide Covid-19 notification software in sight, security and interoperability issues loom large. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZSrUVf

Ian Allison / CoinDesk : Experts discuss plans announced by Coinbase, Genesis Trading, and BitGo to become crypto's “prime brokers” and what that reveals about the state of the industry   —  It's probably no coincidence that three major crypto firms - Coinbase, Genesis Trading and BitGo … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3eB2Fed

Lily Hay Newman / Wired : Internet security group Shadowserver receives $600K over 3 years from Trend Micro and a $400K donation from Internet Society, says it can now operate into 2021   —  Ten weeks ago, Shadowserver's main source of funding dried up.  Now, it's back on level footing. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZUl1Tw

Kirsten Grind / Wall Street Journal : COVID-19 Technology Task Force, an effort to let big tech companies assist White House's pandemic response, beset by disagreements over privacy and other issues   —  Effort to join Silicon Valley tech giants including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon with the White House to fight the coronavirus is faltering from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3ckxItk

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch : Spain-based Freepik, a freemium vector graphics and stock photos marketplace, acquired by PE firm EQT; local news report says deal values Freepik at €250M   —  Freepik, a Malaga-Spain based website which offers a curated freemium marketplace of vector graphics and stock photos fed … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3gzHhbf

Annie Musgrove / Tech.eu : Berlin-based smava, an online portal that helps consumers compare loans offered by over 20 banks and lending partners, raises €57M in debt and equity   —  Berlin-based Smava, a credit comparison platform that offers cheaper loan options to consumers, has raised €57 million from Kreos Capital … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Bjm5pF

Mary Ann Azevedo / Crunchbase News : Pie Insurance, a startup offering an automated online service that provides small businesses with workers' compensation insurance, announces $127M raise   —  Pie Insurance, a Washington, D.C.-based startup offering workers' compensation insurance to small businesses, announced this morning … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2TVaTGb

John Herman / New York Times : The pandemic pushed Amazon to its breaking point, prematurely delivering a future it has been planning for, where whole categories of physical retail are closed   —  To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3djzU5D

Max Chafkin / Bloomberg : US to join Global Partnership on AI, set up to counter China's influence in development of AI technologies, becoming the last of the G-7 countries to sign on   —  The U.S. plans to join an international organization that will advise companies and governments on the responsible development … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3dkbgBQ

Adrianne Jeffries / The Markup : Grubhub should be thriving during the pandemic; instead, delivery apps' unworkable business model, charging high fees to small restaurants, creates huge losses   —  The crisis is a stark reminder that food delivery tech companies may have an unworkable business model from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2ZSMcOg

Nikkei Asian Review : Sources say Huawei has stockpiled up to two years' worth of crucial US chips, focusing on Intel CPUs, to shield its operations from US crackdowns   —  Stockpile aimed at shielding key businesses but long-term solution is elusive  —  TAIPEI — Huawei Technologies has stockpiled up to two years' worth … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3eCNDou

The Hacker News : Apple paid a researcher $100K for reporting a flaw in “Sign in with Apple” in April that could have let attackers hijack any user's account on third-party apps   —  Apple recently paid Indian vulnerability researcher Bhavuk Jain a huge $100,000 bug bounty for reporting … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3dv49GZ

Kate Conger / New York Times : How, after years of internal deliberations, Twitter finally came to the decision to begin labeling Trump's misleading and violence-glorifying tweets   —  Inside the company, one faction wanted Jack Dorsey, Twitter's chief, to take a hard line against the president's tweets while another urged him to remain hands-off. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2XjaWO9

Tom Warren / The Verge : Microsoft lays off editorial staff at its News and MSN divisions, reportedly affecting around 50 US and 27 UK jobs, as it increases use of AI for news curation   —  Microsoft News and MSN is increasingly being run by robots  —  Microsoft is laying off dozens of journalists and editorial workers … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/3dhDD3H