Anne Wojcicki Reclaims 23andMe in $305M Deal #1827



Anne Wojcicki, founder of 23andMe, has successfully repurchased the genetic testing firm out of bankruptcy through her non-profit TTAM for $305 million, surpassing a prior winning bid from Regeneron. The deal, which excludes the company’s liabilities, may ease public concerns over genetic data transfers, given Wojcicki’s continued leadership. The acquisition still requires court approval, while lawsuits related to a 2023 data breach remain unresolved. The company’s shares have surged on recovery hopes.

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WhatsApp Introduces Ads In Its App



When Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2024, the messaging app had a clear focus. No ads, no games, and no gimmicks, The New York Times reported.

For years, that is what WhatsApp’s two billion users — many of them in Brazil, India, and other countries around the world — got. They chatted with friends and family unencumbered by advertising and other features found on social media. 

On Monday, WhatsApp said it would start showing ads inside its app for the first time. The promotions will appear only in an era of the app called Updates, which is used by around 1.5 billion people a day. WhatsApp will collect some data on users to target the ads, such as location and the devices default language, but it will not touch the contents of messages or whom users speak with. The company added that it has no plans to place ads in chats and personal messages.

“Thinking through the lens of privacy was incredibly important for how we though about bringing in these features to market,” said Nikila Srinivasan, a vice president of product management at WhatsApp. “Your personal message, calls and statuses, they will remain end-to-end encrypted.

CNBC reported: It WhatsApp, marking a major change for an app whose founders shunned advertising.

Meta announced Monday that businesses will now be ablate run so-called status ads on WhatsApp that prompt users to interact with the advertisers via the app’s messaging features. The ads will only be shown to users within WhatsApp’s “Updates” tab to separate the promotions from people’s personal conversations. Additionally, Meta will begin monitoring WhatsApp’s Channels feature through search ads and subscriptions.

The debut of ads on the messaging app represents a significant step in Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plants make WhatsApp “the next chapter” in his company’s history, as he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in 2022. The move to monetize WhatsApp also comes amid Meta’s high-profile antitrust case with the Federal Trade Commission over the company’s blockbuster acquisitions of the messaging app and Instagram.

BBC reported: WhatsApp is launching three new ad features in a global roll-out across the messaging app.

The Meta-owned platform says that new ads will not be shown in the same place as people’s private chats, nor will the contents of their messages – which are encrypted – be used to decide which ads to display.

WhatsApp will instead use the country, city and language of the user, as well as how they interact with other ads and which channels they follow, to drive suggested content.

But people who have chosen to link their WhatsApp account to Facebook or Instagram will see more personalized ads.


High Five for OnePlus with Ecosystem Refresh



OnePlus LogoNot content to rest on the success of the Pad 3, OnePlus has announced five new devices for launch on 8th July with a combo of phones, earbuds, watches and tablets. Yes, another tablet is coming too.

Starting in the smartphone department, the Nord 5 and Nord CE 5 will refresh OnePlus’ mid-range devices The Nord 5 will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 Mobile Platform and it comes with the same Cryo-Velocity VC cooling inside the OnePlus 13, so that should keep the gamers happy. When it comes to the Nord CE 5, I’m liking the back cover’s stone-flow effect.

And if gamers want to hear the in-game sound effects perfectly sync’d with the action, then the new Buds 4 earphones will be a perfect match. When put into “Game Mode”, the Buds 4 offers 47ms ultra-low latency audio. The earphones will be offered in both Storm Gray and Zen Green.

Next up is a smaller 43 mm version of the OnePlus Watch 3 in stainless steel. Packing all the same features as its big sibling, this will appeal to fans who find the current 47 mm model a bit too big. Zooming in on the picture, the case appears somewhat rounder that the current model too.

Finally, there’s a yet another new tablet coming. This time it’s the OnePlus Pad Lite, an affordable entertainment and productivity hub which will be available in Aero Blue in Europe. I’m assuming that this is the successor to the Pad Go and the unique central camera returns….

If you can’t wait to get your hands on the products, there are a number of pop-ups planned in a European tour of 7 countries.

  • Helsinki (Finland) on 8th July
  • London (UK) on 10th July
  • Copenhagen (Denmark) on 11th July
  • Antwerp (Belgium) on 12th July
  • Paris (France) on 12th July
  • Warsaw (Poland) on 12th July
  • Madrid (Spain) on 16th July

As is their style, OnePlus will be trickling out more information on its socials over the next few weeks.


The US SEC Rescinds 14 Rules The Agency Proposed Under The Biden Administration



The SEC has withdrawn over a dozen rules the agency proposed under Joe Biden, including two crypto-related rules targeting DeFi and digital asset custody CoinTelegraph reported.

The SEC said on Thursday that it was “withdrawing certain notices of proposed rulemaking” that were issued between March 2022 and November 2023 under former Chair Gary Gensler.

The agency added that it “does not intend to issue final rules with respect to these proposals,” and new rules will be proposed should it change its stance in future regulatory action. 

It’s President Donald Trump’s latest regulatory rollback, which has promised sweeping deregulation of crypto and traditional markets.

“Down goes 3b16, qualified custodian, and all the other unfinished Gensler rule proposals,” Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal posted to X.

Among the 14 rules withdrawn by the SEC was Rule 3b-16, which would have expanded the definition of “exchange” to include decentralized finance protocols and tightened crypto custody standards for investment advisers.

The amendment defined certain terms used in the definition of “exchange” to include “systems that offer the use of non-fire trading interest and communication protocols to bring together buyers and sellers of securities.”

Coinpedia reported: Donald Trump’s return to power is already sending shockwaves through the crypto industry – but this time, in a good way.

After promising pro-crypto reforms during his campaign, Trump has now followed through. His administration has officially rolledback at least 14 controversial crypto rules introduced under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler — signaling what many believe is the start of a new deregulatory era for crypto in the U.S.

In a major move aligning with President Trump’s pro-crypto and deregulator agenda, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), now led by crypto-friendly Chair Paul S. Atkins, has withdrawn multiple rules that were considered harmful to digital asset innovation.

Most of these policies, introduced between March 2022 and November 2023 during Gensler’s tenure, were seen as overreaching and restrictive.

The previous Biden Administration maintained a conservative and skeptical stance toward crypto. Gensler’s SEC took an aggressive regulatory approach that many in the industry labeled as hostile — targeting DeFi platforms, custodians, crypto derivatives, and more. 

Inside Bitcoins reported: The US Senate has scheduled its final vote for the GENIUS Act for June 17 as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scraps a series of crypto rules that were proposed under the Biden administration.

The official website for the Senate Democrats revealed the scheduled date in a notice yesterday. The exact time for the vote will be decided later by the Majority Leader in consultation with the Democratic Leader, the notice added.


Ahead Of Protests, Waymo Scales Back Robotaxi Service Nationwide



Waymo will temporarily limit robotaxi service in all of its nationwide markets, the company said Friday, as US cities prepare for a wave of protests of federal immigration policies and law enforcement and military crackdowns on demonstrators. The Alphabet subsidiary will stop service in Los Angeles altogether, Wired reported.

Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp confirmed the service pause and adjustments but declined to comment further. There is no indication how long the service changes will last.

The adjustments will affect service in San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia, and Phoenix, Arizona. On Friday afternoon, some San Francisco riders saw in-app messages showing that all of the company’s robot axis were busy, and so unable to pick up rides.

The move comes a week after protesters set fire to five autonomous taxis operating by the company in downtown Los Angeles. Images of the fires went viral on social media, and became a flashpoint in discussions about protestor violence and the role tech plays in citizen surveillance.

PCMag reported: After several Waymo robot taxis were set ablaze during the anti-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Los Angeles, the company is now limiting its robotaxi service in locations across the US ahead of nationwide “no kings” protest planned for Saturday, June 14.

The move will impact operations in San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix, Wired reported. Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, will also pause operations altogether in Los Angeles, after it suspended operations in the downtown area earlier this week. Waymo didn’t say how long the service interruptions are set to last.

The Los Angeles Times reported that at least six Waymo vehicles were damaged last weekend; at least three were set on fire. 

From a business point of view, the move shouldn’t be surprising. Each Waymo-branded robotaxi is estimated to cost north of $100,000. However, this isn’t the first time Waymo has seen its vehicles become victims of civil unrest. In February 2024, a driverless Waymo vehicle was set on fire in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A few months later, a man was charged with allegedly slashing the tires of 17 Waymo vehicles in San Francisco.

Texas Public Radio reported: People in San Antonio planned a demonstration on Saturday to condemn President Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., which is meant in part to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

The parade in Washington – the first such procession since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 — will include military vehicles and aircraft and is purported to cost $45 million.

Despite the presence of National Guard troops that Gov. Greg Abbott deployed to Alamo City, organizers of the “No Kings” protest said they expect the event to be peaceful.

Alex Svehla, lead organizer with the group 50501, which is sponsoring the event, said he expects it to go smoothly: “We’re gonna have more peacekeepers than we’ve ever had before. We’ve had the support of San Antonio PD, so we’re confident that it will go off without any problems.”


Meta Announces A $14.39 Investment In Scale AI and Hires CEO Alexandr Wang To Oversee Its Efforts



Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang told employees in a memo on Thursday that he’s leaving for Meta, confirming reports from earlier in the week about his departure and a large investment from the social networking company, CNBC reported.

Meta is pumping $.14 billion into Scale AI as part of the deal, and will have a 49% stake in the artificial intelligence startup, but will not have any voting power, a Scale AI spokesperson said.

“As you’ve probably gathered from recent news, opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang wrote in the memo that he shared on X. “In this instance, that cost is my departure. It has been the absolute greatest pleasure of my life to serve as your CEO.”

Scale AI is promoting Jason Droege, the chief strategy officer, to the CEO role. Droege was previously a venture partner at Benchmark and an Uber vice president.

The Verge reported: Meta is paying $14.3 billion to acquire 49 percent of Scale AI and hire its CEO Alexandr Wang to revamp its troubled AI efforts.

As part of the deal, Wang will report directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and remain on Scale’s board of directors, both companies announced on Thursday. Sources say Wang will lead a new AI lab at Meta tasked with building “superintelligence.” Meta spokesperson Ashley Zandy says the company “will share more about this effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks.”

Zuckerberg has been actively recruiting a new team of researchers from rival forms to join Wang’s team, according to people familiar with the matter and other press reports. The Meta founder has reached out to potential recruits directly — usually via a cold email or WhatsApp message — and lured some of them away from companies like Google with seven-and eight-figure compensation packages.

This year, Scale signed a deal with the Department of Defense for a first-of-its-kind AI agent program for US military planning. Since then, it has expanded its business with other governments, recently inking a five-year deal to provide AI tools to Qatar. The company’s work with governments in Asia and Europe could result in a sizable portion of its overall sales.

TechCrunch reported: Data-labeling company Scale AI confirmed on Friday that it has received a “significant” investment from Meta that values the startup at $29 billion. The startup also said its co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang is stepping down from his role to join Meta and help the bigger company with its AI work.

Reports indicate that Meta invested about $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the startup, which produces and labels data that’s used to train the large language models that underpin a significant portion of generative AI development.

Meta confirmed the investment. “Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI. As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexander Wang will join Meta to work on our super intelligence efforts. We will share more about this effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks,” a spokesperson for Meta told TechCrunch.

 


NASA Shuts Down Influencer’s False Astronaut Claim #1826



NASA firmly debunked claims by influencer Laysa Peixoto, who portrayed herself as a career astronaut selected for lunar and Mars missions. Clarifying that Peixoto had no official affiliation, NASA explained she participated only in a student workshop. Additional claims of university credentials were also proven false, intensifying the controversy.

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