Strategic Partnerships

• Social media platforms vowed to rein in extremism. Buffalo puts them to the test -In the wake of Saturday's mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, Big Tech platforms scrambled to stop the spread of a video of the attack filmed by the suspect and a document allegedly also produced by him where he outlines his beliefs.
  
• With deal in doubt, Elon Musk and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal debate bots on Twitter -Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Elon Musk are engaged in a debate over an issue Musk has made central to his proposed purchase of the platform ? spam.
  
• Tech platforms have struggled to address live shootings. New legislation could make it impossible -Tech platforms have struggled for years to stamp out videos of real-time massacres, such as those depicting the Christchurch shootings of 2019 and now a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, which police say was a racially motivated hate crime. But a new state law shows how the tech industry could soon be pressured to do less, not more, in how it polices even ultra-violent content.
  
• Watch a space startup spin a projectile into the sky at more than 1,000 miles per hour -SpinLaunch, an ambitious startup that hopes to spin, rather than launch, satellites into orbit, released dizzying footage of a test flight that the company conducted out of New Mexico.
  
• Buffalo massacre puts spotlight on hate-filled website -On Saturday afternoon, an anonymous user on the online forum 4chan wrote, "just 20 mins ago I just witnessed a mass shooting at a tops supermarket live on twitch with like 20 other viewers."
  
• SpaceX on pace to shatter US launch records. Again -SpaceX has been on a tear in 2022, notching 18 rocket launches and two astronaut splashdowns in just the first 130 days of the year ? an unprecedented pace for the company and the commercial launch industry.
  
• Dissection by TikTok: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard trial posts are making accidental influencers out of some, targets out of others -TikTok posts about actor Johnny Depp's defamation trial against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, have turned a stay-at-home mom based in Scotland into an accidental influencer. Or, perhaps more aptly, a DeppTok influencer.
  
• Tech groups ask Supreme Court to put Texas social media censorship law on hold -Two prominent lobbying groups representing the tech industry's biggest companies are asking the US Supreme Court to step in and block a Texas law that lets the state's residents sue large social media platforms for alleged censorship, two days after a federal appeals court allowed the law to take effect.
  
• Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter is on hold -Elon Musk said he is putting his bid to acquire Twitter on hold, weeks after agreeing to take the company private in a $44 billion deal.
  
• If Elon Musk restores Trump's Twitter account, it could pave the way for other platforms to do the same -In the days following the January 6 Capitol riot, Twitter became the first major social media platform to permanently suspend then-President Donald Trump for violating its rules against inciting violence. It was a huge step and one that instantly put pressure on other big platforms to take action.
  
• Texas has declared open season on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with censorship law -Texas residents can now sue Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for allegedly censoring their content after a federal appeals court sided Wednesday with the state's law restricting how social media sites can moderate their platforms.
  
• Google announces new smartphones, a watch and tablet at its I/O developer conference -Google on Wednesday unveiled an expanded lineup of hardware products in the latest sign it remains committed to moving beyond its core advertising business and competing with the likes of Apple.
  
• Airbnb unveils new way to book longer stays ahead of summer travel season -Airbnb on Wednesday announced new ways to search for and book homes on the platform in response to the rise of remote work and the number of customers choosing longer stays.
  
• Twitter announces partial hiring freeze and senior exec exits -Twitter is halting hiring and parting ways with two senior leaders as it awaits a pending acquisition by Elon Musk.
  
• -Lia Medeiros, co-lead of the EHT Gravitational Physics Working Group, talks to CNN about capturing the first image of the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
  
• Federal appeals court restores Texas's social media censorship law -A federal appeals court will allow Texas's new social media law to take effect after striking down a preliminary injunction by a lower court, according to a judicial order in the case.
  
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• These researchers came up with a solution for one of VR's biggest issues: tracking your legs -If you're a newcomer to virtual reality, you'll notice something odd about your appearance: Depending on the app, you may look down to see you're represented by an avatar that's just a floating torso or nothing but a pair of hands.
  
• Boeing clashes with key supplier ahead of Starliner spacecraft launch -Boeing Co. is feuding with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a key supplier for its Starliner spacecraft, as the U.S. aerospace giant races to test launch the uncrewed astronaut capsule and mend its reputation in the space sector, people familiar with the matter said.
  
• EA Sports will end its video game partnership with FIFA -Electronic Arts and its subsidiary EA Sports will end a three-decade partnership with FIFA ? global soccer's governing body ? the gaming company announced on Tuesday. Starting next year, the hugely popular FIFA video game franchise will be known as "EA SPORTS FC."