Tech Brew Ride Home - Thu. 06/03 – Twitter Launches Twitter Blue!

Episode Date: June 3, 2021

Twitter takes the wrapping off its subscription product, Twitter Blue. Multi-device support hints at a future WhatsApp app for iPads. Stack Overflow is the latest part of the developer ecosystem to sell for big bucks. And taking the temperature of Google’s Ethical AI team. Sponsors: Metalab.com Cybereason.com Links: Twitter launches its first subscription service (CNBC) Apple asks staff to return to office three days a week starting in early September (The Verge) WhatsApp to Roll Out Multi-Device Support, Hints at Future iPad App (Mac Rumors) Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock will let customers mine crypto (CNN) Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion (Wall Street Journal) Google says it’s committed to ethical AI research. Its ethical AI team isn’t so sure. (Recode) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the TechMeme ride home for Thursday, June 3rd, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough today. Twitter takes the wrapping off its subscription product, Twitter Blue.

Multi-device support hints at a future WhatsApp app for iPads. Stack Overflow is the latest part of the developer ecosystem to sell for big bucks and taking the temperature of Google's ethical AI team. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. Well, there it is. Twitter took the wrapping off its subscription service, Twitter Blue, morning, but only if you're in Canada and Australia for now. Pricing is $3.49 per month Canadian and $4.49 a month Australian, which suggests, I think, what, a $2.99 a month price point

for when it comes to the U.S. Although Twitter did not say today when that might actually happen, quoting CNBC. Twitter blue users will get an undue tweet feature that allows them to set a customizable timer of up to 30 seconds to take back a tweet if it needs to be fixed. The feature is not quite an edit button, a feature often requested by users, but it will allow subscribers to preview what their tweets look like and adjust them before they're published. Other features include bookmark folders so users can organize tweets they save, a reader mode that makes it easier to read long threads, the option to customize the Twitter app icons on their phones, access to color themes for the Twitter app and dedicated customer support, end quote. More details on those particulars from Sarah Perez

in TechCrunch. The new bookmark folders option is designed to help Twitter users organize their saved content collected through Twitter's bookmarks feature. Introduced in early 2018, Twitter's bookmarks give users a private way to save tweets for later reference. This is useful for those who want to read long-form content at a later time, or for those who want to save tweets without alerting others to that fact. For example, if the tweets being saved aren't those they would normally favorite, the heart icon, perhaps because the user disagrees with the sentiment being expressed, the bookmarks button lets them save the tweet more privately. The folders feature will let users create subfolders for their bookmarks, which are also color-coded for easy, at-a-glance access.

And there's an add bookmark button on this screen, so you can add a tweet to the collection from the bookmark section directly. The new Reader Mode feature, meanwhile, may not be exactly what some Twitter users were expecting. Ahead of Twitter Blues launch, Twitter acquired Scroll, a distraction-free reading service that cleans up news articles by removing ads and other clutter for a better reading experience. Scroll CEO Tony Hale then tweeted that the product's features would be integrated into Twitter subscription, quote, later in the year. But Twitter tells us that reader mode isn't correlated to any of the company's recent acquisitions, including Scroll, and instead was built separately. for the Twitter Blue offering. For the time being, at least, reader mode is focused on making it easier to read through longer Twitter threads, basically an alternative to something like the third-party app thread reader app. When you go into the tweet detail view where it shows you the full Twitter

thread, Twitter Blue subscribers will see a button which lets you change the screen to show you long-form text. You can exit reader mode to see the thread as usual. As for scroll, Twitter says the better reading experiences it brings to the platform will be incorporated into Twitter Blue later on. Finally, there's Twitter Blue's flagship feature, undo tweet. While not the edit button users really want, it will allow you to quickly unsend a tweet when you spot a typo or make some other kind of mistake, like forgetting to tag someone, for instance, end quote. And then there are the customizable app icons and color themes that Jane Manchin Wong uncovered a few weeks ago. But speaking of Tony Hale and Scroll, you might remember we had to do that. You might remember we had to

Tony Hale on one of our Twitter spaces recently talking about selling to Twitter and getting started working for that team. Well, last night on our Twitter space, we actually spoke to Eric Holt House, who remember we talked about just this week as founding that Tomorrow project at Twitter, the whole local weather news collective. It was actually really interesting. I feel like that story got misreported earlier this week. So it was enlightening to hear Eric straighten out the details around this project. And then, and this is why live rooms are so useful for us, Eric's, I guess, boss at Twitter. Twitter VP, Mike Park, just popped into the room to talk about tomorrow and more about Twitter's product roadmap more generally, which is interesting,

given this morning's unveiling now. It was a cool, surprising episode. We had no guests planned, not much to talk about, really, and then bam, Eric and Mike showed up, and we were sort of breaking Twitter-related news. Anyway, check out that space. the episode went up this morning. And of course, you can only listen to it on Spacecast. So if you haven't subscribed to that feed yet, you know, do so. We actually got caught up in the new cycle ourselves this week. In an email, Tim Cook has asked Apple employees to return to physical offices for at least three days a week, starting in early September, quoting the verge. For all that we've been able to achieve, while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been

essential missing from this past year. Each other, Cook said. Video conference calling has narrowed the distance between us to be sure, but there are things it simply cannot replicate, end quote. Cook said that most employees will be asked to come into the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays with the option of working remotely on Wednesdays and Fridays. Teams that need to work in person will return four to five days a week. Employees also have the chance to work remotely for up to two weeks a year, quote, to be closer to family and loved ones, find a change of scenery, manage unexpected

travel, or a different reason all your own, according to the letter. Managers need to approve remote work requests, end quote. As Apple was one of the first companies to go remote because of the pandemic last year, nature is healing and all that jazz,

what do you think the odds are we get a live iPhone reveal this year? Or has Apple learned via this last year that just doing pre-recorded video events is better for them in the end. Mark Zuckerberg says that WhatsApp is working on a disappearing mode for messages, a view-once mode for photos and videos, and multi-device support might be coming soon, which might even suggest a WhatsApp iPad app might finally be coming as well.

Quoting Mac rumors. In an interview with W.A. Beta Info, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, confirmed that the popular messaging app will soon be rolling out multi-divor capability, allowing users to use their WhatsApp account on up to four different linked devices, even when their main smartphone is not connected to the internet. According to Zuckerberg, Facebook has faced, quote, a big technical challenge in getting all your messages and content to sync properly across devices even when your phone battery dies. However, Zuckerberg says that Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has found a, quote, elegant solution to the issue, and that,

quote, it'll be the best solution out there. In addition, WhatsApp head Will Cathcartes says that multi-device support will be rolling out in a public beta. Specifically targeting the prospect of a future native iPad app for WhatsApp, Kathkart says that the company would, quote, love to support the iPad, and hints that the rollout of multi-device support will, quote, make it possible for us to build things like that. Other features confirmed to be coming soon to WhatsApp include disappearing mode, which will turn on disappearing messages for all chat threads, making users WhatsApp accounts ephemeral, according to Zuckerberg. Additionally, Zuckerberg confirmed that WhatsApp will soon roll out.

out view once mode for photos and videos, where similar to Snapchat and Instagram users will only be able to view received content once, end quote. Norton Lifelock says it's adding an Ethereum mining function to its Norton 360, its paid antivirus software suite, quoting CNN. Norton Lifelock is the consumer cybersecurity company formerly known as Symantec. The company changed its name after Broadcom bought the. the enterprise security software business, which focuses on big corporate customers of Symantec in 2019. The new feature dubbed Norton Crypto will be available only to a small group of customers,

but the company said it hopes to expand it to nearly all of its nearly 13 million Norton 360 users in the coming months, while the company will start slow. With a focus on helping customers safely mine Ethereum, Norton Lifelock is considering adding reputable cryptocurrencies in the future, the company said in an answer to questions from CNN. While the company press release did not say whether it was looking to add other top cryptocurrencies, the company said it initially, quote, will be focused on top cryptos that allow our members to get the highest reward for their computing capacity, end quote. Not saying this is related, but over the last two weeks,

on my usual scan of that tech stock all-time high screener, Norton Lifelock just so happened to keep coming up, keep reaching new highs, and I want to. why, but I never bothered to research it. As I say, I have no idea if this crypto news is the cause of those recent highs. I haven't researched it, but again, that screener remains really useful to me, at least in terms of finding companies I need to be paying more attention to. Stack Overflow says it will be acquired by ProSys, a European tech giant and Tencent's largest shareholder for $1.8 billion, quoting the Wall Street Journal. Based in New York, closely held Stack Overflow operates a question-and-answer website used by software developers and other types of

workers such as financial professionals and marketers who increasingly need coding skills. It attracts more than 100 million visitors monthly, the company says. ProSys, one of Europe's most valuable tech companies, is best known as the largest shareholder in Chinese internet and video gaming giant Tencent holdings. Listed in Amsterdam, ProSys signaled its appetite for deal-making when it sold a small portion of its equity stake in Tencent in April for $14.6 billion. The Stack Overflow deal ranks among Process's biggest ever acquisitions. Process invests globally across a range of online platforms focused on areas such as food delivery, classifieds, and FinTech. It also maintains a more than $200 billion holding in Tencent.

Process's parent company, NASPRs, acquired the Tencent stake in 2001 for $34 million. The Stack Overflow deal is Process's first outright acquisition. in the educational tech space. Process already owns stakes in two educational tech companies, Udeme and Code Academy, servicing companies. It is set to make an investment in SkillSoft, a publisher of training software used by businesses as part of that firms, plan to merge with special purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp and list in New York, end quote. This is something else we talked about, by the way, on the Twitter space last night. And no, I had never heard of process either, but I guess they're sort of analogous,

to Yahoo, back when Yahoo was valued basically for its Alibaba stake. It looks like Prossus is largely a giant because of that Tensin holding, which is now allowing them to diversify into even more tech investments. But also, this news made me go down the rabbit hole of researching Naspers, a company that you always hear about, but frankly, I never knew the full story of. Finally today, following up on the turmoil over at Google's AI team, Some current members of Google's ethical AI team say that they have been in limbo for months and now have serious doubts about whether Google can rebuild credibility with the AI community. Quoting Sharon Gafari at Recode,

six months after star AI ethics researcher Timit Gebrou said Google fired her over an academic paper scrutinizing a technology that powers some of the company's key products, The company says it's still deeply committed to ethical AI research. It promised to double its research staff, studying responsible AI to 200 people, and CEO Sundar Pichai has pledged his support to fund more ethical AI projects. Jeff Dean, the company's head of AI, said in May that while the controversy surrounding Gebru's departure was a reputational hit, his words, it's time to move on. But some current members of Google's tightly knit ethical AI group told Recode the reality

is different from the one Google executives are publicly presenting. The 10-person group, which studies how artificial intelligence impacts society, is a subdivision of Google's broader new responsible AI organization. They say the team has been in a state of limbo for months and that they have serious doubts the company's leaders can rebuild credibility in the academic community or that they will listen to the group's ideas. Google has yet to hire replacements for the two former leaders of the team. Many members feel so adrift that they convene daily in a private messaging group to complain about leadership, manage themselves on an ad hoc basis, and seek guidance from their former bosses. Some are considering leaving to work at other tech

companies or to return to academia and say their colleagues are thinking of doing the same. Quote, we want to continue our research, but it's really hard when this has gone on for months, said Alex Hanna, a researcher on the ethical AI team. Despite the challenges, Hana added, individual researchers are trying to continue their work and effectively manage themselves, but if conditions don't change, quote, I don't see much of a path forward for ethics at Google in any kind of substantive way, end quote. I think Google's reputation is basically irreparable in the academic community at this point, at least in the medium term, said Luke Stark, an assistant professor at Western University

in Ontario, Canada, who studies the social and ethical impacts of artificial intelligence. Stark recently turned down a $60,000 unrestricted research grant from Google in protest over Gebrus ousting. He is reportedly the first academic to ever reject the generous and highly competitive funding. Stark isn't the only academic to protest Google over its handling of the ethical AI team, though. Since Gebr's departure, two groups focused on increasing diversity in the field, Black and A.I. And queer in AI have said they will reject any funding from Google. Two academics invited to speak at a Google Run workshop boycotted it in protest. A popular AI ethics research conference, fact suspended Google's sponsorship. And at least four Google employees, including an engineering

director and an AI research scientist, have left the company and cited Gebrus firing as a reason for their resignations. Of course, these departures represent a handful of people out of a large group. Others are staying for now because they still believe things can change. One Google employee working in the broader research department but not on the ethical AI team said that they and their colleagues strongly disapproved of how leadership forced out Gebrou. but they feel that it's their responsibility to stay and continue doing meaningful work. Quote, Google is so powerful and has so much opportunity. It's working on so much cutting-edge AI research.

It feels irresponsible for no one who cares about ethics to be here, end quote. In the span of only a few months, the team, which has been referred to as a group of friendly misfits due to its status quo challenging research, lost two more leaders after Gabby's departure. In February, Google fired Meg Mitchell, a researcher who, founded the Ethical AI team and co-led it with Gebrou. And in April, Mitchell's former manager, top AI scientist Sammy Benjillo, who previously managed Gebru and said he was, quote, stunned by what happened to her, resigned. Benjiot, who did not work for the ethical AI team directly, but oversaw its work as the leader of the larger Google Brain Research Division will lead a new

AI research team at Apple. In mid-February, Google appointed Marian Croke, a former VP of Engineering to be the head of its new responsible AI department, which the AI ethics team is a part of. But several sources told Recode that she is too high level to be involved in day-to-day operations of the team. This has left the ethical AI unit running itself in an ad hoc fashion and turning to its former managers who no longer work at the company for informal guidance and research advice. Researchers on the team have invented their own structure. They rotate the responsibilities of running weekly staff meetings, for example, and they've self-designated two researchers to keep other teams at Google updated on what they're working on, which was a key part of Mitchell's job.

Because Google employs more than 130,000 people around the world, it can be difficult for researchers like the AI ethics team to know if their work would actually get implemented in products, end quote. By the way, something else that comes up right at the beginning of last night's Twitter space that is published over at Spacecast. A bunch of you got in touch this week to chastise me about my comment. about that Windows laptop I bought. Perhaps I went overboard in blaming the Windows or OEM ecosystem for what was essentially, I'll admit, just too cheap hardware. I cheaped out. I realized that. But a lot of you said that I'm usually so balanced when it comes to one company or one ecosystem or the other that you were surprised. I was so harsh in passing judgment. To which my response is, yeah, but when I actually own a product that disappoints me personally, I can point

that out, right? It's not like I'm saying all of Windows is crap, although if that's kind of what I said the other day, I apologize. I'm just saying that I got one Dell machine that turned out to be a lemon, and I was angry about it. But also, as you'll hear, if you listen to the Spacecast episode, for how many years on the show have I literally dragged Apple extensively for the fact that their laptops have been straight up garbage and unbuyable for me? What from keyboard? that don't function, to needless touch bars, to lack of ports to, you know, just generally sacrificing actual utility on an altar of thin and light. I've been very, very vocal about the fact that I've refused to buy an Apple laptop for years now because they were so unusable

for me, and that's why I'm so excited. We're hopefully weeks away from finally Apple releasing the MacBook Pro I've been waiting for since 2016. So all I'm saying is, in the case of laptops that I, Brian, want to use, I've always been pretty consistent about my preferences. I don't hate Windows. I don't hate Apple. I'm disappointed in them equally when they disappoint me personally. Anyway, go listen to me, try to explain that over at the Spacecast episode. I just want a laptop I can use again. Is that so wrong? I'm tired of clinging to this 2016 MacBook Pro for Dear Life. Talk to you tomorrow.