Singapore-based Grab reports Q1 revenue rose 6% YoY to $228M, beating analyst estimates, as its net loss narrowed to $435M; Grab stock is down 70%+ from its IPO (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: Singapore-based Grab reports Q1 revenue rose 6% YoY to $228M, beating analyst estimates, as its net loss narrowed to $435M; Grab stock is down 70%+ from its IPO  —  Grab Holdings Ltd. said revenue rose 6% in the first quarter after the ride-hailing and delivery company won back consumers as the pandemic receded in […]

FTX.US launches FTX Stocks, a zero-commission stock trading feature available through the FTX app, rolling out in the US over the coming months (Frank Chaparro/The Block)

Frank Chaparro / The Block: FTX.US launches FTX Stocks, a zero-commission stock trading feature available through the FTX app, rolling out in the US over the coming months  —  – The news comes shortly after Sam Bankman-Fried’s acquisition of a 7.6% stake in retail trading giant Robinhood.

Sources: TikTok is testing in-app games in Vietnam as part of a push into gaming; TikTok says it has tested HTML5 games in partnership with Zynga and others (Reuters)

Reuters: Sources: TikTok is testing in-app games in Vietnam as part of a push into gaming; TikTok says it has tested HTML5 games in partnership with Zynga and others  —  TikTok has been conducting tests so users can play games on its video-sharing app in Vietnam, part of plans for a major push into gaming […]

From South Africa, a success story for democracy

Back in April 1994, the world watched a remarkable event: South Africa’s first democratic election with universal suffrage. The country whose Apartheid system had legalized racial segregation since the late 1940s went to the polls and elected a new national assembly. In turn, that assembly picked a Black president: Nelson Mandela, who, after decades in […]

Report: subscribers who have been with Netflix for over three years made up 13% of cancellations in Q1 2022; Netflix hit 3.6M total cancellations last quarter (Emma Roth/The Verge)

Emma Roth / The Verge: Report: subscribers who have been with Netflix for over three years made up 13% of cancellations in Q1 2022; Netflix hit 3.6M total cancellations last quarter  —  Users subscribed to Netflix for more than three years represented 13 percent of total cancellations

India says cloud providers and VPN operators that don’t comply with its cybersecurity rules, which go into effect in late June, “will have to pull out” of India (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch: India says cloud providers and VPN operators that don’t comply with its cybersecurity rules, which go into effect in late June, “will have to pull out” of India  —  India is pushing ahead with its new cybersecurity rules that will require cloud service providers and VPN operators …

N3TWORK Studios, a blockchain gaming startup that incorporates features like NFTs into their mobile games, raises a $46M Series A led by Griffin Gaming Partners (MK Manoylov/The Block)

MK Manoylov / The Block: N3TWORK Studios, a blockchain gaming startup that incorporates features like NFTs into their mobile games, raises a $46M Series A led by Griffin Gaming Partners  —  Blockchain gaming startup N3TWORK Studios announced Wednesday that it closed a $46 million Series A funding round.

MIT community stands together against hate

Members of the MIT community gathered on the steps of the Stratton Student Center on May 17 to support each other in the wake of yet another mass shooting targeting the Black community, this time in Buffalo, New York. As MIT President L. Rafael Reif wrote in his letter to the community about the violence, […]

Filing: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund takes a ~5% stake in Nintendo, worth $2.98B; the PIF disclosed a 5% stake in Japan’s Nexon and Capcom in February (Financial Times)

Financial Times: Filing: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund takes a ~5% stake in Nintendo, worth $2.98B; the PIF disclosed a 5% stake in Japan’s Nexon and Capcom in February  —  Sovereign wealth fund has already bought into Japan’s Capcom and Nexon  —  Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired …

Dutch BNPL service in3 raises a $85.3M Series B in debt and equity, partners with Dutch payments company Mollie, and says it supports over 130K merchants (Amelia Isaacs/AltFi)

Amelia Isaacs / AltFi: Dutch BNPL service in3 raises a $85.3M Series B in debt and equity, partners with Dutch payments company Mollie, and says it supports over 130K merchants  —  Mollie’s millions of consumers will now have access to ‘socially responsible’ BNPL services with in3.

A profile of Do Kwon, the trash-talking founder of Terraform Labs, which raised $200M+ to build LUNA and UST; many investors avoided losses by cashing out early (New York Times)

New York Times: A profile of Do Kwon, the trash-talking founder of Terraform Labs, which raised $200M+ to build LUNA and UST; many investors avoided losses by cashing out early  —  Do Kwon, a South Korean entrepreneur, hyped the Luna and TerraUSD cryptocurrencies.  Their failures have devastated some traders …

Living better with algorithms

Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) student Sarah Cen remembers the lecture that sent her down the track to an upstream question. At a talk on ethical artificial intelligence, the speaker brought up a variation on the famous trolley problem, which outlines a philosophical choice between two undesirable outcomes. The speaker’s scenario: Say a […]

Thought Machine, provider of cloud-based banking infrastructure for 35+ banks globally, raises a $160M Series D at a $2.7B valuation, up from $1B+ in November (Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan/Financial …)

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan / Financial Times: Thought Machine, provider of cloud-based banking infrastructure for 35+ banks globally, raises a $160M Series D at a $2.7B valuation, up from $1B+ in November  —  Unicorn brings Morgan Stanley on board as client and investor  —  London-based fintech Thought Machine has doubled its valuation …

Google Cloud launches new software supply chain and zero trust tools, including one that gives governments and enterprises access to vetted open-source packages (Frederic Lardinois/TechCrunch)

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch: Google Cloud launches new software supply chain and zero trust tools, including one that gives governments and enterprises access to vetted open-source packages  —  Google Cloud is holding its annual Security Summit this week and unsurprisingly, the company used the event to launch a few new security features.

As startups face potential drops in valuation and VCs demand lower spending and higher margins, some companies turn to cutting staff, marketing, and projects (Heather Somerville/Wall Street Journal)

Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal: As startups face potential drops in valuation and VCs demand lower spending and higher margins, some companies turn to cutting staff, marketing, and projects  —  Funding is suddenly scarce as venture capital firms grow stingy, forcing young companies to get frugal and focus on breaking even

Eleanor Freund receives Jeanne Guillemin Prize

The daughter of an American diplomat, Eleanor Freund spent most of her childhood living abroad in such places as Madagascar, Ghana, South Africa, and Austria. These experiences, she explains, led to an early interest in politics and international relations. “Whether in South Africa, which was emerging from decades of racial discrimination and violence under apartheid, […]

Zero-trust architecture may hold the answer to cybersecurity insider threats

For years, organizations have taken a defensive “castle-and-moat” approach to cybersecurity, seeking to secure the perimeters of their networks to block out any malicious actors. Individuals with the right credentials were assumed to be trustworthy and allowed access to a network’s systems and data without having to reauthorize themselves at each access attempt. However, organizations […]

Apple announces several accessibility features, including Watch improvements and a live captioning tool for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, rolling out later in 2022 (Devin Coldewey/TechCrunch)

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Apple announces several accessibility features, including Watch improvements and a live captioning tool for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, rolling out later in 2022  —  Apple has released a bevy of new accessibility features for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac, including a universal live captioning tool …

A look at tech political advocacy group American Edge, funded solely by Meta, as it tries to create the appearance of grassroots opposition to antitrust reform (Washington Post)

Washington Post: A look at tech political advocacy group American Edge, funded solely by Meta, as it tries to create the appearance of grassroots opposition to antitrust reform  —  Records show Facebook-funded American Edge backed minority interest groups, conservative think tanks and small business groups …

On the road to cleaner, greener, and faster driving

No one likes sitting at a red light. But signalized intersections aren’t just a minor nuisance for drivers; vehicles consume fuel and emit greenhouse gases while waiting for the light to change. What if motorists could time their trips so they arrive at the intersection when the light is green? While that might be just […]