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| Today's tech briefing: - Meta resolves outage affecting Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
- Bitcoin surges to record high before falling.
- Former Twitter executives sue for $128M in severance.
- Apple's iPhone sales in China fall 24%.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Meta says it has resolved a worldwide outage on Tuesday affecting Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Threads. More than 500,000 Facebook users reported outages, along with 77,000 Instagram users and 12,000 Messenger users, according to Downdetector. More: - The outages began around 10 a.m. ET and were resolved within about two hours.
- Meta blamed a "technical issue," without elaborating further.
- Facebook users said they were logged out of their accounts, while Instagram users reported feed loading issues.
- Some users turned to X, formerly Twitter, to report the outage and share jokes.
- Meta also faced "major disruptions" across its Meta Admin Center, Facebook login, WhatsApp Business API, and Marketing API.
Zoom out: - Meta experienced another major outage in 2021, causing six hours of downtime for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. That was caused by "configuration changes on backbone routers."
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| 2 | | Bitcoin reached a new record high of $69,202 on Tuesday, driven by investment in U.S. crypto ETFs and its upcoming "halving" event. The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly topped its peak of $68,999.99 set in November 2021 before falling roughly 6% amid major selling on crypto exchanges. As of early Tuesday afternoon ET, Bitcoin was trading at around $65,000. 
More: - Bitcoin plummeted in 2022 following the collapses of major crypto firms, hitting $16,000 when FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
- After ending last year near $40,000, Bitcoin has surged around 60% in 2024, surpassing growth in global stocks.
- This year's rally is partly driven by the SEC's approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January, allowing investors to enter the Bitcoin market without directly buying the cryptocurrency.
Zoom out: - Bitcoin's "halving" event in April will likely push up its price even higher, according to analysts.
- The reward miners receive for minting new Bitcoins will halve from 6.25 to 3.125. The event occurs every four years until all 21 million Bitcoins are mined, maintaining scarcity and guarding against inflation.
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| 3 | | Four former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, sued Elon Musk and X Corp., claiming they are owed over $128M in unpaid severance. The complaint, filed in a San Francisco federal court, accuses Musk of personally retaliating against the executives and refusing to honor contractual obligations following his $44B purchase of Twitter, now X, in late 2022. More: - The plaintiffs are Agrawal, former Twitter CFO Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and ex-general counsel Sean Edgett, all of whom were fired shortly after the takeover.
- The executives claim Musk fired them without cause, inventing reasons and using employees of his various companies to justify the firings.
- The suit claims they are owed a year's salary and stock options under a severance plan; with Agrawal, Segal, Gadde, and Edgett seeking over $57M, $44M, $20M, and $6M, respectively.
- An X spokesperson declined to comment. Musk, who has not replied to media inquiries, appeared to make his first public comment on the case by posting a tears of joy emoji on X.
Zoom out: - The complaint claims Musk and X have refused to pay other ex-employees and firms as part of a "broader pattern."
- Companies, including software and service providers, have filed more than 25 vendor nonpayment lawsuits since the acquisition.
- X also faces two proposed class actions seeking at least $500M in severance for laid-off workers, along with a third complaint from six ex-senior managers.
- X has denied wrongdoing in the cases.
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| 4 | | Apple's iPhone sales in China fell 24% in early 2024 amid tough competition from local brands like Huawei, reports Counterpoint Research. Overall, China's smartphone sales dropped 7% year-over-year in the first six weeks of 2024. 
What the numbers show: While Apple phone sales plunged, Huawei's unit sales surged by 64% year-over-year, with its spinoff Honor also seeing a 2% increase. In the same six-week period, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi saw their smartphone sales fall by 29%, 15%, and 7% respectively. What it means: Huawei's comeback with its Mate 60 5G smartphone, along with "aggressive pricing" from Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, have led to Apple's sales dip, according to Counterpoint Research. The market research firm also blamed "abnormally high" iPhone sales in January 2023 stemming from China production problems in the months before. What's next: While a "great device," the iPhone 15 didn't have any major upgrades, so consumers may "feel fine about holding on to the older-generation iPhones for now," said Mengmeng Zhang, a senior analyst at Counterpoint. The agency predicts that overall growth in China's smartphone market will stay in the red this quarter amid reduced spending and several new product launches. | | | |
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| 5 | | Tropic Haze, maker of the Yuzu Switch emulator, agreed to a $2.4M settlement with Nintendo following a lawsuit claiming large-scale piracy. As a result of the settlement, Yuzu's development and distribution will shut down. More: - Yuzu, a free open-source emulator, lets users play copyrighted Switch games like "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" on Windows, Linux, and Android.
- Nintendo sued developer Tropic Haze last week, arguing that Yuzu illegally bypasses encryption for the Switch console, supporting piracy "on a colossal scale."
- A joint court filing today reveals Tropic Haze has agreed to pay Nintendo $2.4M and make concessions.
- Tropic agreed to permanently end all Yuzu-related activities, including development, distribution, promotion, and any action violating Nintendo's copyrights.
- It will also transfer the yuzu-emu.org domain to Nintendo, along with deleting all copies of Yuzu and related circumvention tools.
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| 6 | The California Public Utilities Commission has approved Waymo to expand its robotaxi service to parts of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula. Waymo One, its commercial ride-sharing service, can now start charging fares for driverless passenger rides in designated areas. More: - Waymo has already been testing its cars with backup safety drivers in the areas.
- Waymo is now permitted to offer its paid services on freeways, within San Francisco and its outskirts up to Sunnyvale, and in certain areas of Los Angeles County.
- The expansion comes despite opposition from some officials in San Mateo County and Los Angeles, who wanted more local control over robotaxi operations.
Zoom out: - California recently revoked the license of self-driving rival Cruise following an accident involving a pedestrian in San Francisco.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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