Good morning, everybody. Perhaps we spoke too soon with yesterday’s edition. Let’s get you up to speed.
1. Nice of you to join in, Binance
Amid a U.S. Commodity Future Trading Commission lawsuit against Binance, the largest cryptocurrency trader in the world, founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has stepped down and pled guilty to money laundering. In the case, Binance was charged with three counts, including money laundering and U.S. sanction violations. CZ remains the owner of the company, and the U.S. government is expected to announce a $US4 billion settlement soon.
2. Spotify shakes things up
As reported by 9to5Mac, Spotify has changed its rules for paying out artists, and the music streaming platform will no longer pay out royalties for songs with below 1,000 streams per year. Spotify is also increasing the minimum length for audio labelled as functional noise (such as white noise recordings) to be eligible for royalties. The company said that these efforts are to combat artificial streaming numbers and oversized payouts for smaller, broken-up recordings in playlists.
3. Google wages war on adblockers
Amid Google’s attempts to quell adblockers on YouTube, the company has announced that it will limit ad blocker functionality in its Chrome browser come June 2024. As reported by Ars Technica, Google’s new Manifest V3 extension platform is expected to release at this time, with the new platform expected to limit extension functionality, and in turn cut down on how effective adblockers can be.
4. Ford downsizes EV battery plan
As reported by Tech Crunch, Ford is tapping the brakes just a little on its EV battery factory plan, announcing that it will downsize its planned Michigan facility, which was expected to make lithium-phosphate batteries licenced from Chinese company CATL. This comes after Ford announced that it would be slowing its investment of $US12 billion into electric vehicles. “While we remain bullish on our long-term strategy for electric vehicles, we are re-timing and resizing some investments,” the company said in a statement according to Tech Crunch.
5. CSIRO’s Aus-India startup fund
Wrapping things up today with news from home, and as reported by InnovationAus, CSIRO has revealed details about its new accelerator program for late-stage startups operating in Australia and India. The program is cofounded with India’s flagship innovation program, with the intention of supporting cross-border expansion, with $19 million dedicated to the program over its lifetime. The first group of startups will kick off in 2024, and it will run until mid-2026. Up to $75,000 is on the table for individual startups, along with travel opportunities for employees, but startups will need to offer products that reduce waste, reduce inputs with digital or data-driven solutions, or offer advanced material design.
BONUS ITEM: Oh.
Have a nice day.