The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
What role exactly does Facebook play in society? Does it do more good than harm ー or more harm than good? Is it too big to control? Existential questions like these are beginning to circulate as the world's largest social network finds itself embroiled in yet another state of crisis.
PlayVS, a start-up created to build an infrastructure for high school esports, has announced a new Series B funding round of $30.5 million, led by Elysian Park Ventures, a firm that operates on behalf of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group. The new funding will also bring in new investments from Adidas, Samsung NEXT, and Plexo Capital, and angel investors include Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Apple talks a big game on customer privacy -- but that hasn't stopped it from making billions through its partnership with ad-based search engine Google. In an interview with Axios on Sunday, Apple ($AAPL) CEO Tim Cook defended his company's relationship with the world's leading search engine, and discussed the potential for regulation in tech, which he considers inevitable.
Snap Inc.— the maker of Snapchat — is planning to release a new version of its Spectacles glasses with two cameras and a higher price point of $350 by the end of the year, Cheddar has learned.
Since its founding in 1951, the Film Censor Board in India has kept Bollywood light and non-threatening. Enter Amazon, which is partnering with Excel Entertainment to produce "Mirzapur," a new, darker variety of Indian entertainment. Series creator Karan Anshuman talked to Cheddar about how Amazon helped them circumvent restrictions put on Indian television.
Affirm, the start-up that provides consumer loans at the point of sale, is ready to be more visible, according to its CEO and founder. "We’ve spent such a long time playing in the shadows and ... building this incredibly loyal following, but only by people who have encountered us,” Max Levchin, also one of the PayPal cofounders, told Cheddar. "Now we’re trying to get out there and say, ‘hey, here we are, you should be aware of us.’"
Nissan Motors Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested following a whistleblower report that he had under-reported his compensation and used company assets for his personal benefit, according to [reports]
These are the top stories, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Queens, N.Y. and Arlington, Va., will ultimately share the spoils of the hard-fought battle for Amazon's new headquarters. The two will split the planned HQ2s ー and the 50,000 jobs that come along with them. In a lower-profile twist, Nashville, Tenn. will unexpectedly be home to an operation center and about 5,000 new jobs.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fighting back after the New York Times published an investigation into how the company failed to address Russian meddling in the 2016 election. California officials doubled the number of people missing as a result of the wildfires to more than 600. And Bill Oliver, director of the new sci-fi drama 'Jonathan,' joins Cheddar to discuss his new film starring Ansel Elgort.
