Plus: Yandex NV, often called "the Russian Google," is selling its Russian operation for $5.2B
| For February 05, 2024 |  |
| Here are today's top tech stories: - 🏢 Meta's Oversight Board concludes that a viral manipulated Joe Biden video does not violate company rules.
- 👻 Snap plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, around 500 employees.
- ⚖️ Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee has been acquitted of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud charges.
- 💰 Russia's "Google" Yandex NV is selling its Russian operation for $5.2B.
- 🛴 DeliveryHero's share price dropped on Monday morning after the company released Q4 results.
- 📱 Pegasus spyware was used to track journalists and activists in Jordan.
Arbër
p/Arber | |
| 1 | | Meta's Oversight Board concluded that a manipulated video of U.S. President Joe Biden circulating online does not violate company policy. The board, however, said that Meta's media policy is "confusing" and proposed changes. More: - The video uses real footage but has been manipulated to show Biden inappropriately touching his granddaughter.
- According to the board, the video does not breach Meta's policies because it was not altered with AI and does not show Biden "saying words he did not say" or "doing something he did not do."
- The board urged Meta to apply labels that clearly show when videos have been altered.
- Meta said it is planning to update its policies "to respond to the evolution of new and increasingly realistic AI."
- Meta plans to respond to the board's findings within the next two months.
|     | |
| 2 | |  Snap plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce, around 500 employees. The company laid off 20% of its workforce in 2022.
More: - The latest layoffs will help Snap "reduce hierarchy and promote in-person collaboration," the company said.
- Some workers were terminated on Friday while others will be let go later this year.
- The layoffs will cost the company between $55M and $75M.
- Snap's shares fell 3% in early morning trading on Monday.
- After posting negative growth for two consecutive quarters, Snap said its revenue increased by 5% in the third quarter of 2023.
Zoom Out: - Approximately 24,000 tech workers have been laid off since the start of 2024.
| | | |
| 3 | | Samsung's Chairman Jay Y. Lee has been acquitted of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud charges. The prosecution had called for a five-year jail sentence for Lee. More: - Lee was accused of violating South Korea's Capital Markets Act in 2015, when Samsung was completing a merger valued at $8B.
- According to prosecutors, Lee, who was the vice-chair of Samsung Electronics at the time, inflated the stock price of Cheil Industries, Samsung's textile affiliate, and depreciated its construction subsidiary, Samsung C&T, thus giving him greater control of Samsung Electronics.
- In 2020, Lee was indicted for engaging in a $3.9B accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics, Samsung's biopharmaceutical unit, as part of the same case.
Zoom Out: - In a separate case, Lee was convicted of bribing former South Korean president Park Geun-hye.
- Lee, who went to jail for 18 months from 2017 to 2021, was granted a presidential pardon in 2022.
| | | |
| 4 | | Yandex NV, often called "the Russian Google," is selling its Russian operations for $5.2B to a consortium of Russian investors. Yandex NV co-founder Arkady Volozh, who moved to Israel in 2014, is a staunch critic of the Russian government. More: - The rift between Volozh and the Kremlin fueled speculation about a potential nationalization, but due to fears of a brain drain, the company remained private.
- Under the deal, the search engine is now under full control of Russian investors, including oil company Lukoil.
- The assets were sold at a discount to comply with Russian regulations governing the sale of companies by foreign investors, said Yandex NV, which is based in the Netherlands.
- The buyers will pay for the assets in Chinese Yuan in markets outside of Russia, according to the company.
| | | |
| 5 | | Delivery Hero's share price dropped by as much as 8% on Monday morning after the company shared its 2023 results. The company's share price has dived by as much as 20% after it announced plans to sell assets last week. More: - On Tuesday, Delivery Hero said it plans to sell its 4.5% stake in British food delivery firm Deliveroo for $97M, which it bought for $355M in 2021.
- Delivery Hero acquired its stake in Deliveroo during the COVID-19 pandemic, when delivery companies saw their valuation increase dramatically.
- Delivery Hero is one of the largest food delivery services globally, with more than 2.2 billion users.
Financial results: - Delivery Hero reported $11.3B in annual 2023 revenue, beating market estimates.
- Delivery Hero said its adjusted EBITDA exceeded $268M.
- Gross merchandise value ― the total value of the orders the company received ― grew 6.7% in the fourth quarter and 6.8% in the whole of 2023.
- Total sales increased by 15.7% in 2023, versus the previous year.
| | | |
| 6 | | The phones of approximately three dozen activists, lawyers, and journalists in Jordan were targeted with Pegasus spyware, according to security researchers. The attacks took place from 2019 to September 2023. More: - In some cases, the threat actors pretended to be journalists who sent the victims infected links during conversations via mobile applications.
- According to a report published by Access Now and the Citizen Lab, the victims were located in Jordan and had iPhone devices.
Zoom Out: - Pegasus is spyware software developed by Israel-based company NSO Group.
- It was initially developed to help security authorities track threat actors, but has been used by governments on political opponents.
- In July 2021, Le Monde reported that French President Emmanuel Macron and 14 French ministers may have been targeted by Moroccan officials using Pegasus.
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has authorized the country's intelligence agency to use Pegasus to target political rivals.
| | | |
| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Diversify your portfolio like institutional investors. Access high yield private credit deals with up to 20% APY.*
- The U.K. government has announced a £45M investment program to boost the development of quantum technology companies.
- The data of 155,000 users has been stolen from the database of ridesharing company HopSkipDrive.
- Los Angeles-based AgTech company ProducePay has raised a $38M Series D funding round led by Syngenta Group Ventures.
*This is sponsored content. | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | MAR
7 | | Portfolio Diversification - Learn from knowledgable experts on the latest trends in alternative investment assets like private equity, crypto, real estate, and the art market. | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
 | Writer | | Arbër is an Inside analyst who has previously incubated his startup at the largest incubator in Southeastern Europe. He has collaborated with multiple major publications and holds a business degree from XAMK University in Finland. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
| |
| |
