Some new faces have entered the Elon Musk v. Twitter standoff. The social media company just subpoenaed a bunch of people in Musk's orbit, bringing investors like Chamath Palihapitiya and Marc Andreessen into its ongoing legal battle against the Tesla CEO.
I'm your host, Jordan Parker Erb. Welcome to the party.
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1. Twitter is dragging Elon Musk's friends into its legal battle. The social media company issued a slew of subpoenas to some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, including billionaire investors Chamath Palihapitiya and Marc Andreessen.
- The Washington Post was the first to report on the subpoenas, which could require the men to testify in court when the five-day trial starts in October.
- Twitter's looking for any communication between Musk and his associates related to bots or spam, and anything with regards to Musk's appearance at the All-In Summit in May, where he appeared to backtrack on his plans to buy Twitter.
- Other subpoenaed parties include David Sacks, an entrepreneur that helped Musk found PayPal, and investors Keith Rabois and Joe Lonsdale. Lonsdale called the requests a "giant harassing fishing expedition."
More on Twitter's flurry of subpoenas.
In other news:
2. The James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of the rare Cartwheel Galaxy. The image, released yesterday, shows a ring galaxy 500 million light-years away, revealing details that the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't. See more photos of the Cartwheel Galaxy.
3. Experts explain why Google's plan to reinvent online advertising keeps hitting roadblocks. Last week, Google confirmed it's delaying a plan to kill tracking cookies in Chrome by another year. Adtech insiders said the delays were driven by industry skepticism and regulatory intervention — and some think further setbacks are in store.
4. Robinhood is cutting about 23% of its workforce. The layoffs equate to about 800 employees. The cuts come just after Robinhood's crypto unit was hit with a $30 million fine by the New York State Department of Financial Services for failing to implement proper security and money-laundering prevention.
5. Data reveals the productivity startups most likely to survive a post-pandemic shakeout. Productivity-and-collaboration tools saw a huge boost from the pandemic. But as the rush to remote work settles, the market is gearing up for a shakeout that could mint some startups as winners and others as pandemic blips. These are eight startups that could make it.
6. Apple Pay could soon work on browsers other than Safari. As it stands, Apple Pay only works on Safari on iOS 15 and older. But MacRumors' Steve Moser found that in the iOS 16 beta 4, Apple Pay works with Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. Here's what that means.
7. Meta has been quietly testing a new livestreaming platform. The product, called Super, would allow users to host interactive livestreams, engage with fans, and earn revenue. Meanwhile, Facebook is shutting down its live shopping program and shifting its focus to Reels.
8. Solana wallets have been targeted in the latest multimillion dollar crypto hack. As per Bloomberg, four Solana wallet addresses drained approximately $8 million from victims, with more than 7,000 believed to be affected.
Odds and ends:
9. This McLaren lets you steer with your head and accelerate with your breath. The SAM Car, designed to help quadriplegic racer Sam Schmidt return to the track, is a modified McLaren 720S Spider — and is an amazing feat in helping people with disabilities. See what it's like to drive the SAM Car.
10. Amazon is sending out invites to buy the coveted PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X gaming consoles. The invitations include a special link that customers can use to buy the consoles, but they only have 72 hours to do so. We explain how to sign up for the invitation program.
What we're watching today:
- Robinhood, eBay, Nintendo, and others are reporting earnings. Keep up with earnings here.
- WorldFestival, a conference on emerging tech and innovation, takes place virtually starting today.
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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.