Adi Robertson

Google has confirmed in court that Epic was offered a $147 million deal to launch its hit game Fortnite on Android’s Google Play store. The deal, which Google’s VP of Play partnerships Purnima Kochikar says was approved and presented to Epic but not accepted, would have seen the money dispensed over a three-year period of “incremental funding” (ending in 2021) to the games publisher. It was meant to stem a potential “contagion” of popular apps bypassing Android’s official store, and with it, Goo…

A purportedly leaked memo started going around Tumblr last night, suggesting much of the site’s staff is getting moved to other parts of Automattic (its parent company) after it failed to boost its audience. The screenshot has spread to other sites through people including Waxy’s Andy Baio, but I haven’t seen any official confirmation — we pinged Automattic several hours ago and have yet to receive a response. If any Tumblr employees happen to have more details, our tips are open. [Attachment:…

Tumblr is downscaling its ambitions after failing to reach goals for a new audience, aiming to move some staff members to other divisions of parent company Automattic. A leaked memo, which circulated on Tumblr and was confirmed in a Verge comment by Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg, says that “the majority” of Tumblr’s non-support, safety, and moderation staff will “switch to other divisions.” In follow-up posts on Tumblr, Mullenweg stated that Automattic is planning “a more focused approach in 202…

Former cryptocurrency kingpin Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty of fraud. A New York jury delivered the verdict on November 2nd, concluding a trial that has seen Bankman-Fried defend himself against claims that he criminally mismanaged his crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research. After more than a month in trial, the jury took four and a half hours to decide Bankman-Fried’s fate, declaring him guilty on all seven charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud…

Xreal is opening preorders for its latest generation of augmented reality glasses, the Xreal Air 2 and Air 2 Pro, for a November release in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Italy. The glasses are a follow-up to the first-generation Air glasses released last year under the company’s former name Nreal. Starting at $399, they plug into phones, computers, and a variety of gaming devices to project a display through a pair of sunglasses. The Air 2 glasses are an iterative upgrade from the original $…

PayPal co-founder, venture capitalist, Republican megadonor, and disputed vampire Peter Thiel may also have been an FBI informant — at least according to a new report from Insider. Insider spoke to multiple people who claim Thiel became a “confidential human source” for a Los Angeles-based agent named Johnathan Buma — a term that indicates a long-running relationship with the FBI, allegedly beginning in 2021. While Thiel was once a high-profile supporter of former President Donald Trump, a subj…

On Christmas Day 2021, a man took a crossbow to Windsor Castle with plans to kill Queen Elizabeth II. (He failed.) In court, the would-be assassin claimed he’d been egged on by a virtual companion named Sarai on the AI platform Replika. A virtual friend “always agrees with you when you talk with them,” warned an expert quoted by the BBC in an article about the saga last week, deeming the chatbot system dangerous. “It always reinforces what you’re thinking.” Including, it seems, regicide. Virtua…

Last week, Walmart made headlines with a claim that new weight loss drugs might be making people buy less food. Walmart US CEO John Furner told Bloomberg that people taking Wegovy, Ozempic, and similar drugs showed a “slight change” in their purchasing habits: “just less units, slightly less calories.” How does Walmart know this? Because, Bloomberg indicates, it can compare people’s prescription history against their food shopping patterns. It’s the kind of data mining that’s likely possible for…

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1394, a law that would punish web services for “knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation” of children. It’s one of several online regulations that California has passed in recent years, some of which have been challenged as unconstitutional. Newsom’s office indicated in a press release yesterday that he had signed AB 1394, which passed California’s legislature in late September. The law is set to take effect on Jan…

I can’t tell if Meta is trying too hard to make me look at the world through a screen strapped to my face or if it’s not trying hard enough. On October 10th, Meta will begin shipping the Quest 3, its latest virtual reality headset. The $499 Quest 3 delivers some things you might expect from an upgrade to the industry’s top-selling VR games console, like a higher-resolution display and an upgraded processor. But Meta has also made the Quest 3 part of the company’s plunge into “mixed reality” (MR…

The Justice Department can post exhibits from the US v. Google antitrust trial online once they’ve been shown in court, Judge Amit Mehta ruled late yesterday. Bloomberg reports that after a week of discussion between Google and the Justice Department, the department agreed to notify Google of documents it plans to post; Google will have until 9PM ET each day to dispute their release, and the department should address their objections by the next business day. “I would like both sides to be in a…