June 7, 2022

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Good morning! Elon Musk really does not want to buy Twitter, at least if his constant harping on spam bots is any indication. Will that exit strategy work? Also: While everyone is waiting for Apple to reveal its next big device, at WWDC it's all about what wasn’t said. Happy Tuesday! Let’s get down to business.
Elon Musk doesn’t want to own a company with a spam bot problem. And now, he’s claiming that he has the right to call his Twitter takeover quits because the company won’t give him the information he wants on the issue, according to a new SEC filing. But can Musk actually make this case?
Musk claims Twitter denied him information about the platform’s spam bots, which would violate the terms of the merger agreement.
But will this argument actually get him out of the deal? The short answer is no, according to finance and securities law experts.
Musk could be setting himself up for a legal battle. He might be doing so to try to lower the price of the deal, according to Adam Pritchard, a securities law professor at University of Michigan’s law school.
At the end of the day, Musk can send a letter threatening the deal. But he entered into an agreement, and it says what it says. Musk is going to great lengths to wiggle out of the acquisition (or at least make it cheaper), but it’s clear that there’s no simple exit strategy. Twitter now has 30 days to give Musk the data he wants about bots. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
—Sarah Roach (email | twitter)Apple didn’t use its annual developers’ conference to show off a category-defining new device, but we were able to divine some tea leaves from the company’s WWDC keynote on Monday.
What Apple didn’t announce was almost more noteworthy than what it did. Eagle-eyed Apple watchers were looking for hints that the company’s long-rumored mixed-reality headset is incoming, which would put it in direct competition with Meta and its efforts to own the metaverse.
Apple is still very much a computer company. The overhauled MacBook Air with M2 chip was one of the buzziest announcements from WWDC, and while the new laptop looks damn good, what’s inside is also key for the company’s future products.
But Apple is also a services company. The company revealed its “buy now, pay later” service, called Apple Pay Later, at WWDC. Financial services have been a key focus for Apple this year.
The iPhone is not Apple’s future. Services are one important piece. And the hardware that ends up replacing its breadwinning device still remains to be seen — but we’re inching closer.
Project Shield protects news and human rights organizations, government entities, and more from Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.These digital attacks are used by bad actors and cyber criminals to censor information by taking websites offline.
Bill Gates thinks technology is needed to help fight lots of challenges ahead:
IBM is buying Randori, a Boston-based offensive security startup, for an undisclosed amount.
Bitly is a new member of the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership. Other partners include Apple, Google and Meta.
Katie Biber is Paradigm’s new chief legal officer. Biber last worked in the same role at Brex.
Guy Rosen is Meta’s new CISO. Rosen’s been the company’s head of site integrity.
Liz Coddington is joining Peloton as CFO. Coddington is a former Amazon and Netflix exec.The crypto industry will finally get federal oversight under new legislation. The bill would put the CFTC, not the SEC, in charge of regulating crypto.
A big win for the USB-C! Apple will need to move away from the Lightning port in Europe after lawmakers decided that mobile phones, tablets and cameras must have a common charging port by 2024.
Nine Axon AI ethics board members leftafter the company said it would build Taser drones to prevent school shootings.
A big four-day workweek push is underway in the U.K. Over 3,000 workers across companies are taking part in a shortened workweek pilot for the next half-year.
The SEC is investigating Binance over the 2017 offering of its BNB token. The agency is examining whether the token’s offering constituted a security sale, which would have needed to be registered with the SEC.
Citigroup is on a tech hiring spree. It's hiring over 4,000 tech staff to help digitize its institutional clients.
Joe Biden is giving Southeast Asian solar suppliers a break on new tariffs. The move would allow domestic suppliers to ramp up solar panel production.
Epic Games’ PC store is distributing its first blockchain title later this year. The game, a Western-themed battle royale called Grit, will be released in partnership with publisher Gala Games.
Is getting out of bed the toughest part of your day? For one TikTok user, the only way to wake up is to get shocked by a $150 bracelet. If you’re not into that, you could also try an alarm clock that literally runs away from you to force you out of bed, or one that pressures you to wake up by projecting the time on the wall. Washington Post writer Tatum Hunter reviewed the best alarms for heavy sleepers. Good luck, if you start using one of them.
Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) is a team that investigates threat actors and combats cyber crime to help keep everyone safe online, including high-risk users, by increasing protections based on attacker techniques and through regular updates to the security community.
Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to sourcecode@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.