The company laid off some US staff and told workers in Europe and the UK that their jobs are at risk.

In the tortured deal’s alternate reality, it makes sense for the company’s leaders to try to force Musk to take over—but things will get tricky if they succeed.

This battle royale is insane. Try these basics and tricks to outlast your 59 opponents and be the last bean standing.

Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch: Slack to update its subscriptions on Sept. 1, with free plans getting access to the last 90 days of messages and Pro plans to cost a max $8.74/user per month  —  Slack, the chat platform that serves as an online watercooler for oh-so-many teams, is bumping up its monthly price and […]

Malathi Nayak / Bloomberg: A private antitrust lawsuit, filed in California, accuses Apple of using its smartphone dominance to fend off competition to Apple Pay from rival payment apps  —  Apple Inc. was hit with an antitrust lawsuit over Apple Pay, accused of using its market power in the mobile device industry …

PYMNTS.com: New York-based Meow, which offers corporate investors a compliant-first approach to cryptocurrency investing, raised a $22M Series A led by Tiger Global  —  Crypto corporate treasury firm Meow raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global, with participation from QED Investors …

A quadruped robot can learn how to walk by adjusting its gait after every stumble, mimicking the way animals learn how to move

Late this spring, the MIT Governance Lab (MIT GOV/LAB) hosted a pair of online conversations between public service leaders about governance innovation. Discussion topics included how governments can be motivated to innovate and what role design can play in reforming government and public services.  MIT GOV/LAB is an applied research group directed by Lily L. […]

Four researchers with MIT ties — Juncal Arbelaiz, Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, Sandya Subramanian, and Heather Zlotnick ’17 — have been honored with competitive Schmidt Science Fellowships. Created in 2017, the fellows program aims to bring together the world’s brightest minds “to solve society’s toughest challenges.” The four MIT-affiliated researchers are among 29 Schmidt Science Fellows […]

Over several decades, neuroscientists have created a well-defined map of the brain’s “language network,” or the regions of the brain that are specialized for processing language. Found primarily in the left hemisphere, this network includes regions within Broca’s area, as well as in other parts of the frontal and temporal lobes. However, the vast majority […]

Three ways to improve both — at the same time.

Don’t undervalue the overlooked.

Five strategies to get a word in.

The loss of sea ice is exposing darker waters, which absorb more of the sun’s energy. It’s a devastating feedback loop with major consequences for the planet.

The Nolan has a total of four motors and is the most stable sit-stand workstation I’ve ever tried.

Among the Boston slowcore group’s inspirations are The Ocarina of Time, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Mario Party 3.

Wall Street Journal: The linchpin in Microsoft’s Netflix deal was Xandr, the ad tech firm it recently acquired from AT&T that’s helping fuel Microsoft’s online advertising ambitions  —  Tech company, embracing underdog role, reignites its ambitions in online advertising  —  Microsoft Corp. MSFT 1.04%▲ …

Nikkei Asia: Tracxn: ~$8.5B in VC funding was raised by Indian education startups from 2014 to 2021, with about half of that in 2021 alone, as they vie for US marketshare  —  Grab for market share takes on extra urgency as valuation woes and job cuts bite  —  AKITO TANAKA, Nikkei Asia chief business news […]

Karen Hao / Wall Street Journal: Researchers say Alibaba’s cloud platform that hosted Shanghai’s now-leaked police database used outdated systems that didn’t offer the ability to set a password  —  Cybersecurity companies say Alibaba’s cloud platform that hosted Shanghai’s police database used outdated systems that didn’t offer ability to set a password

Unemployment insurance is a lifeline for many people when work goes away. And when times get really bad in the U.S. — in recessions and during the Covid-19 pandemic — Congress has extended the duration of unemployment benefits for millions of workers. But is there a better way to structure the timing of unemployment insurance? […]

It has never been hard to imagine how information technology (IT) might improve health care services. Fast messaging replacing faxes. Electronic health records that can be accessed more easily. Software that can inform doctors’ decisions. Telemedicine that makes care more flexible. The possibilities seem endless. But as a new review paper from an MIT economist […]

Microsoft’s subscription service includes captivating titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Citizen Sleeper.

Streaming music giving you the blues? These entry-level turntables will help you rock on to analog audio at home.

Wall Street Journal: Adam Neumann’s Flowcarbon and some other startups offering cryptocurrencies backed by carbon-offset credits have slowed product rollouts amid the crypto crash  —  Investors rushed to startups offering cryptocurrencies backed by carbon-offset credits, then the markets tanked

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: Sydney-based Hivery, whose software helps retailers select the right mix of products to stock on store shelves, has raised a $30M Series B led by Tiger Global  —  Hivery, a startup that bills itself as an “optimization platform” for retailers, today announced that it raised $30 million …

Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: Seattle-based Phaidra, whose AI software automates building controls for industrial facilities like power plants, raised a $25M Series A led by Starshot Capital  —  Industrial production is one of the dirtiest corners of the corporate world.  A startup from former Google engineers thinks …

With her homeland mired in war, the sphere-packing number theorist Maryna Viazovska has become the second woman to win a Fields Medal in the award’s history.

Donating to national organizations is great. But these local reproductive health care services—in places under immediate threat—could use your help, too.

There may be a reason your favorite shows aren’t looking their best.

Nathan Grayson / Washington Post: A look at YouTube’s strategy that began in 2019 of signing Twitch streamers who have a network of collaborators to try and build its own game streaming culture  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  Where once the departure of Twitch stars for YouTube Gaming elicited shock and awe …

Sabah Gurmat / Rest of World: An app for India’s largest public employment program is jeopardizing the livelihood of millions in the country due to technical glitches and poor connectivity  —  Poor connectivity and an English-only interface make the app unusable for many who rely on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: MakeMyMove: at least 71 US cities and town are now offering cash grants and other perks to attract remote tech workers, up from 24 in October 2021  —  Incentives are drawing high-paid tech workers, and challenging how we think about local economic development

Thousands of people are traveling far and paying huge sums for a procedure that has not been proven effective for persistent Covid symptoms.

Plus: A wild Indian cricket scam, an elite CIA hacker is found guilty of passing secrets to WikiLeaks, and more of the week’s top security news.

Plus: BMW fiddles with fee-based feature unlocking, Twitter lets you untag yourself, and the final beta of Android 13 arrives.

CNBC: The 2022 “crypto winter” differs from previous crashes, in part due to the macro environment, the TerraUSD collapse, excess leverage, and contagion via 3AC  —  – Cryptocurrencies have suffered a brutal comedown this year, losing $2 trillion in value since the height of a massive rally in 2021.

Financial Times: India escalates its crackdown on Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, which control ~60% of its smartphone market, with claims of tax evasion and unlawful remittances  —  Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi hit by claims of tax evasion and unlawful remittances in legal actions that have stoked tensions with China

Alastair McCready / VICE: Online scam centers in Southeast Asia have perfected “pig butchering”, a romance-meets-investment fraud, to lure victims into bogus investment schemes  —  Thousands of imprisoned and abused workers are propping up Southeast Asia’s ‘pig butchering’ industry, an online fraud emptying bank accounts across the world.

From extra game storage to a fancy new 120-Hz TV, here are our favorite WIRED-tested complements to your PS5.

Seizure-inducing methyl bromide and carcinogenic formaldehyde are only some of the poisonous gases scientists found inside cargo containers.

Capture that weird message, high score, or malfunctioning app in a snap.

New York Times: As China builds up its vast surveillance and security apparatus, it is running up against growing public unease about data security and privacy in the country  —  Beijing’s swift move to censor news about one of the largest known data breaches shows keen awareness of how major security lapses can harm its […]

Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times: Experts say archiving content from TikTok is challenging and urge the platform to preserve and provide access to content for war crime investigations in Ukraine  —  The Chinese-owned video app is a trove of digital intelligence that lawyers are attempting to mine and archive

Will Oremus / Washington Post: Study: as the war persists, Meta has responded fairly effectively to Russian propaganda flagged by Ukrainian officials, while YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn lag  —  As the war rages on, a new report finds that YouTube and Twitter are ignoring requests to take down hate and disinformation targeting Ukrainians

It’s a formative, and sometimes traumatic, time in many people’s lives. So why do so many video games want to revisit it?

His son, Chris Matheson, examines his father’s legacy in the new book ‘Conversations with the Father.’

Plus: Tweeting your personal life, swimming like sharks, and a breakup for the ages.

Ryan Tracy / Wall Street Journal: TikTok says its global CSO Roland Cloutier will step down in September to take an advisory role, and that the move is not related to security concerns in the US  —  Roland Cloutier to take advisory role; Kim Albarella, head of security risk, tapped as interim CSO

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: SEC filing: Twitter’s board invites shareholders to a special meeting to vote on Elon Musk’s acquisition and unanimously recommends they approve the deal  —  – In an SEC filing on Friday, Twitter told investors that approving the company’s sale to Elon Musk is the only remaining step in satisfying the merger […]

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg: Filing: Elon Musk’s lawyers say Twitter is unfairly pushing for a “warp speed” four-day trial in September and ask for a court date in February 2023 or later  —  Elon Musk’s lawyers say Twitter Inc. officials are unfairly pushing for a “warp speed” trial over claims …