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Author : zebethcontrol

Four years after being acquired by Microsoft, GitHub keeps doing its thing • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in acquisition, Enterprise, GitHub, Microsoft, Thomas DohmkeNo Comments on Four years after being acquired by Microsoft, GitHub keeps doing its thing • ZebethMedia

It’s been four years to the day since Microsoft closed its acquisition of GitHub, which at the time was mostly a code repository. Today’s GitHub looks quite a bit different, now that it added CI/CD tools with GitHub Actions and Codespaces as an online editor and compute platform, as well as various security tools and more. But according to GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke, who took over from Nat Friedman a year ago, Microsoft has very much allowed GitHub to do what it does best. “We kept GitHub GitHub and it remains this independent entity within Microsoft similar to LinkedIn,” he told me. “I think we did a fantastic job with doing this and kept GitHub in its original form. You don’t see more Microsoft in GitHub.com than you saw four years ago and that has helped us to continue to grow and we’re very excited where this is going.” He noted that GitHub has continued to receive the same support from Microsoft’s leadership team, including CEO Satya Nadella, over the years. “Microsoft has not forgotten why we did the deal in the first place and what the important pillars of the deal are. The first and foremost principle is to put developers first. And that is what we do every day,” Dohmke said. But, he also acknowledged that Microsoft is a big company and that people sometimes have their own ideas of what the Microsoft/GitHub relationship should be like. So far, though, it seems like the leadership on both sides has been able to keep those ideas at bay. Dohmke noted that GitHub has obviously benefited from Microsoft’s sales prowess, which helped it land a number of big accounts. That surely also helped the company get to the $1 billion annual recurrent revenue it announced yesterday. Dohmke said that he believes GitHub would’ve likely reached this milestone as an independent company, too. “I’m generally an optimistic person,” he said. “So any company can get there if they just stay focused on their mission. The biggest challenge that companies have once they get to a certain size is focus.” Today’s GitHub is obviously in a different position than the GitHub of four years ago. Its product portfolio, for one, has expanded quite a bit with projects like CodeSpaces and, most recently, Copilot. “I think I will have achieved my mission as CEO if we generate happy developers — happy developers who enjoy doing their job and that don’t see security, compliance and accessibility as a burden but as part of what makes them happy and what gets them to perform in their life,” Dohmke said. And projects like this are clearly a part of that. “I think, what we’re doing here is we’re disrupting ourselves with AI, with Copilot and with Codespaces, he added. “Those are all new investments that are away from the traditional GitHub — the old-school GitHub that had repos and issues and wikis — and keep pushing the boundary of what we believe is possible.” But, he also stressed, this isn’t just about big announcements and flashy events, but also focusing on the little fixes and features that may be just as important to keep developers happy. “I think that’s our superpower: that we can balance the tiny bits with big wins and the big disruptions to our own business.”

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Elon Musk is at Twitter HQ • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Elon Musk, Social, TwitterNo Comments on Elon Musk is at Twitter HQ • ZebethMedia

Shortly after changing his bio to “Chief Twit,” Elon Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. “Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in!” he wrote. The video depicted him walking into the office holding a sink, referencing a years-old, stale meme, as is par for the course with him. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Musk plans to lay off 75% of Twitter’s staff if he takes over. So, it’s a bold gesture to walk in with a kitchen sink when you’re likely going to axe 5,600 jobs. Why is Musk at Twitter HQ? Per instructions from Judge Kathaleen McCormick, who is presiding over the Twitter v. Musk case, the billionaire entrepreneur has until this Friday to close his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. Musk previously had tried to back out of the deal, stating that Twitter had lied about the amount of bots on the platform. If Musk’s presence at Twitter HQ is any indication, it looks like he’s getting close to making this thing final. Musk reportedly spoke with bankers on Friday as part of the final steps before getting the cash. These banks are said to be providing $13 billion in debt financing to help with the deal. According to Bloomberg, Twitter’s head of people and chief marketing officer Leslie Berland sent a memo to staff saying that Musk will address staff directly on Friday, the deadline for the deal to close. Musk was dead set on getting out of this deal, so why the sudden change of heart? A few weeks before court proceedings were to begin, the court published a trove of Musk’s texts about the deal, uncovered through the discovery process. In the messages, his certainty about the deal waned as economic conditions worsened around the world. Another twist came when Judge McCormick approved Twitter’s request to review texts from Musk’s inner circle related to a mysterious anonymous email that Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro received on May 6. In the email, which was sent through ProtonMail, the sender identified themself only as a former Twitter executive and asked Musk’s team to follow up on a different platform. So, Musk could be going through with the deal because he’s hiding something — or, he could have just realized he was definitely not going to win at trial. Perhaps the rising stock price of Twitter helped seal the deal, too. Right now, the stock is trading at about $53 per share, the highest it has been all year. Then again, this whole deal has been a complete fiasco since the moment Musk announced his intent to buy the platform in April, so let’s not count our chickens until the SEC filing has hatched. If you work at Twitter and have inside information, or want to anonymously share your reaction to Musk’s potential takeover, DM me on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, at 929 593 0227.   

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Amazon resumes donations to some 2020 election deniers, just in time for midterms • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Amazon, Commerce, Government & PolicyNo Comments on Amazon resumes donations to some 2020 election deniers, just in time for midterms • ZebethMedia

Amazon has quietly mothballed its pledge to stop supporting politicians who refused to certify the 2020 election. The company, like many, said it would suspend donations to those who participated in “the unacceptable attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process.” 21 months later, however, it has changed its tune — just in time for midterms. Amazon donated a total of $17,500 last month to nine Representatives who fell under its previous ban, as reported by Judd Legum, who has held the feet of many such companies with adjustable scruples to the fire. A list of those who said they would do one thing, then did another, can be found here; CNN has a more comprehensive, but less up-to-date list of companies and their claims. Among the tech companies (according to Legum’s list) that donated to Elector certification objectors or PACs supporting them after saying they wouldn’t are AT&T (~$600,000), Intel ($98,000), Oracle ($55,000) and Verizon ($183,000). Amazon’s contribution may seem rather small compared to theirs, but of course they’re probably just getting started. The funny thing about this is their explanation, from a statement: … [The suspension] was not intended to be permanent. It’s been more than 21 months since that suspension and, like a number of companies, we’ve resumed giving to some members. As any child could point out to them, it isn’t much of a punishment for them to withhold funds from politicians “indefinitely” only to provide them just in time for the midterms. That’s where the money 21 months ago would have gone anyway. Certainly most of the democracy underminers Amazon previously deplored still receive no money from the company that we know of, and although we must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we can’t just let this about-face go totally unquestioned. After all, the ones the company did decide to boost haven’t vocally recanted their positions. Amazon did not explain whether or how it reached out to the 147 Republican lawmakers it temporarily banned. Were the (apparently confidential) answers of these nine Reps the only ones that showed sufficient remorse? One would think the reversal of such a strongly argued position would merit some kind of real explanation. I asked Amazon why these members in particular received clemency but the company did not provide a relevant response, only rephrasing part of its statement that it gives to politicians that “agree” with them. I invited more detailed comment. One can imagine reevaluating these suspensions after a midterm election — after all, that’s the perfect way for any politician to publicly show their support for the democratic process. If, after that, Amazon and others said they were resuming or reevaluating donations, it might invite some grumbling but ultimately it’s a rational approach.

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Ford, VW-backed Argo AI is shutting down • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Argo AI, autonomous vehicles, Ford, TransportationNo Comments on Ford, VW-backed Argo AI is shutting down • ZebethMedia

Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle startup that burst on the scene in 2017 stacked with a $1 billion investment, is shutting down — its parts being absorbed into its two main backers: Ford and VW, according to people familiar with the matter. During an all-hands meeting Wednesday, Argo AI employees were told that some people would receive offers from the two automakers, according to multiple sources who asked to not be named. It was unclear how many would be hired into Ford or VW and which companies will get Argo’s technology. Employees were told they would receive a severance package that includes insurance, a transaction bonus and termination pay. Several people told ZebethMedia that it was a generous package and that the founders of the company spoke directly to its more than 2,000 workforce. ZebethMedia will update this story with official comment. Argo was founded in 2016 by Bryan Salesky and Pete Rander. The company came out of stealth in February 2017 when Ford announced it would invest $1 billion over five years into Argo. Since then, the company has raised more than $2.6 billion, primarily from Ford and VW, in a pursuit to develop, test and eventually commercialize its automated driving system. The initial Ford investment came at a particularly hype-y time for the nascent autonomous vehicle industry. Startups, many founded by early pioneers of Google’s self-driving project, were landing eye-popping venture capital deals. A string of acquisitions followed: GM bought Cruise for $1 billion in 2016; Delphi, which is now Aptiv, acquired nuTonomy for $450 million; and Amazon bought Zoox. The promises around commercializing AV technology have proven more difficult than expected. A wave of consolidation washed over the industry with companies folding, being absorbed into other companies, including Apple, and others turning to SPACs in hopes of gaining the capital it needs to continue its mission. Argo seemed to be gaining ground in the past year.  The company’s self-driving Ford Fusion vehicles, and now Ford Escape Hybrids, were frequently seen testing on public roads in Austin, Detroit, Miami, Palo Alto and Pittsburgh, where it is headquartered. In the EU, Argo was using the all-electric Volkswagen ID Buzz for its testing programs in Hamburg and Munich. Argo also has several pilot programs underway in Austin, Miami and Pittsburgh with Lyft, Walmart and 412 Food Rescue. And just last month the company revealed an ecosystem of products and services designed to support commercial delivery and robotaxi operations. The products — a list that includes fleet management software, data analytics, high-definition mapping and cloud-based communication tools — stretches far beyond the self-driving system that allows a vehicle to navigate city streets without a human driver behind the wheel. Argo appeared to be telling the world it was open for business. This story is developing …

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Elon Musk’s Twitter deal has to close by Friday or the trial is back on • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Elon Musk, Social, TwitterNo Comments on Elon Musk’s Twitter deal has to close by Friday or the trial is back on • ZebethMedia

Elon Musk’s on-again off-again plan to buy Twitter is on track to culminate in the billionaire taking control of the company this week. Musk is expected to close the deal by Friday, October 28, putting him officially in charge of one of the most prominent social networks in the world. Musk reportedly informed bankers of his plans to adhere to an October 28 deadline in a call on Monday. A collection of banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America is footing his purchase with $13 billion in debt, which they plan to hold onto, at least in the short term. Twitter’s stock traded around $53 on Wednesday, barely shy of the $54.20 a share Musk offered for the company earlier this year. Musk’s agreement with the banks helping him finance the deal isn’t the only thing holding him to a deadline. The more pressing matter here is that the Delaware Chancery Court judge overseeing the litigation between Musk and Twitter set a deadline for this Friday if Musk intends to avoid his day in court. Failing to seal the deal by the date would mean that Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick could initiate a November trial. Twitter issued this statement about today’s news: We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share. — Twitter Investor Relations (@TwitterIR) October 4, 2022 Twitter sued the erratic SpaceX and Tesla CEO over the summer to force him to buy the company. The two sides traded arguments and documents in court filings in the subsequent months, while Musk doubled down on his insistence that he had the right to walk away from the deal. Musk’s legal team grasped at straws, including making some misleading and generally confusing claims about Twitter’s user number measurements, muddying the waters further. In the mean time, the legal fight surfaced a trove of private messages between Musk, his financial advisors and other close contacts who he talked to about the deal. In early October Musk did another 180, agreeing to buy the company — if he could kill the trial scheduled for October 17. After another round of back-and-forth court filings and furious letter writing, Judge McCormick agreed to hold off on the trial if Musk gathered his financing and finished the acquisition by October 28. Musk also signaled his plans to finish the deal this week, changing his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” and his location to Twitter HQ.

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Sigstore launches free software signing and verification service for open source projects • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Enterprise, kubecon detroit 2022, open source, sigstore, software security, supply chainNo Comments on Sigstore launches free software signing and verification service for open source projects • ZebethMedia

Software supply chain quickly became a hot topic in the last few years, especially as the number of high-profile attacks increased and the White House got involved. Sigstore, an open source project supported by the likes of Google, GitHub, Chainguard and RedHat, has become somewhat of a standard for signing, verifying and protecting software projects — and the dependencies they use — to make sure that the software you install and run on your machines hasn’t been manipulated. These days, after all, there aren’t many software projects that don’t rely on at least one — and usually multiple — open-source libraries, which themselves probably rely on other libraries, too. And with many of these projects maintained by volunteers, they make for an easy target for hackers. Today, at SigstoreCon, a co-located event at the CNCF’s KubeCon/CloudNativeCon conference in Detroit, the Sigstore community announced the general availability of its free software signing service for open source projects. Sigstore is already one of the fasted adopted open source projects ever, with more than 4 million signatures logged so far. Both the Kubernetes and Python communities use it to sign their releases. And npm, the popular JavaScript package manager, is currently in the process of integrating Sigstore to ensure the provenance of its packages. Image Credits: Sigstore “Sigstore has rapidly become the standard for signing, verifying, and protecting software, so it’s great to announce the general availability to remove one last barrier for more widespread adoption during a time when software supply chain security is more important than ever,” said Priya Wadhwa, a member of the Sigstore Technical Steering Committee and software engineer at Chainguard. “It is our hope that this next phase of Sigstore will empower the rest of the open source software ecosystem to gain increased confidence in adopting this technology and benefit from its reliable and stable experience.” The Sigstore community promises a 99.5% uptime and pager support — more than most free projects can offer. Sigstore, it’s worth noting, is a nonprofit project that is funded under the Open Source Security Foundation. Sigstore itself consists of a number of projects for signing containers, saving that information in an immutable ledger and, of course, creating those certificates in the first place.

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New Paris-based VC Satgana completes the first close of its €30M fund to back ClimateTech startups • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Climate, Venture, venture capitalNo Comments on New Paris-based VC Satgana completes the first close of its €30M fund to back ClimateTech startups • ZebethMedia

While ClimateTech may be all the rage right now – and for good reasons – new VC Paris-based firm Satgana (which means “a good company” in Sanskrit) is hoping its take on the subject will gain traction. It’s now completed the first closing of a target €30m fund to back startups in areas such as food and agriculture, energy, mobility, buildings/industry, plus, more generally, carbon removal and circular economies. The fund will invest up to €500,000 at the pre-seed and seed stages across Europe and Africa, bringing to bear its team which comprises operational and strategic experience. It also plans to apply a ‘diversity and inclusion’ lens pre and post-investment. 
 So far, the fund has already invested in three ClimateTech startups, with two others to be announced soon, it says. These are: 
● Orbio Earth, a German startup building a platform to for energy providers to monitor and reduce methane emissions using satellite data ● Mazi Mobility, a Kenyan startup building a network of electric motorbikes and a battery swapping infrastructure in East Africa; ● Yeasty, a French startup building an alternative protein leveraging beer yeast with a circular model. Satgana says it has counts 30+ LPs in its first closing, including Thibaud Hug de Larauze (Co-Founder & CEO of impact unicorn Back Market), Josef Bovet (CEO of Tiller Systems), Fabrice de Gaudemar (CEO of Qotto and ex-Executive Board of Eurazeo), Elsa Hermal (Co-Founder of Epicery) and the Family Office Cullom Capital. Romain Diaz, General Partner, said in a statement: “The climate and ecological crisis is the defining issue of our time. As a gigantic challenge ahead of us, it is also a massive business opportunity as we need to reinvent all the sectors of our economies to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement.” Satgana’s Venture partner will be Patrícia Silva (based out of Lisbon), who is also Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director of the Carbon Removal Centre. Investment analyst will be Anil Maguru. Advisors include Lubomila J. (Plan A & Co-Founder Greentech Alliance) and James Crowley (Former Co-founder & CTO of FundApps).

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How can early-stage startups improve their chances of getting H-1Bs? • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in Column, Dear Sophie, EC Column, EC DEI, Government & Policy, H-1B visa, Sophie Alcorn, Startups, Verified ExpertsNo Comments on How can early-stage startups improve their chances of getting H-1Bs? • ZebethMedia

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Dear Sophie: How can I launch a startup while on OPT? Dear Sophie: How can I protect my H-1B and green card if I am laid off? Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. “Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.” ZebethMedia+ members receive access to weekly “Dear Sophie” columns; use promo code ALCORN to purchase a one- or two-year subscription for 50% off. Dear Sophie, We have a stealth early-stage biotech startup. Do we qualify to petition a co-founder on STEM OPT for an H-1B in the lottery? Is it worth it or are there better alternatives? — Budding Biotech Dear Budding, It’s absolutely possible for an early-stage biotech (or tech) startup in stealth mode to successfully petition a founder or founding engineer for an H-1B in the lottery or even an H-1B transfer. Here’s how, starting with some background on how the H-1B lottery works for startups. In recent years, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has leveled the playing field for startups entering an employee or prospective employee in the H-1B lottery by creating an electronic lottery registration system. Because the demand for H-1B visas far outstrips the annual supply of 85,000 (20,000 of which are reserved for individuals with a master’s or higher degree), USCIS uses the random lottery process to select companies that are eligible to petition for specific beneficiaries. Before 2020, companies had to submit to USCIS a completed, paper-based H-1B petition package for every employee and prospective employee they wanted to enter in the annual lottery. USCIS adjudicated the H-1B applications that were picked in the lottery and literally mailed the unselected paper applications back to the lawyers. The time, energy and legal costs for submitting an H-1B application made participating in the lottery under this system quite onerous, particularly for startups, because you had to commit to paying for a full H-1B before you knew if your candidate had a chance. Image Credits: Joanna Buniak / Sophie Alcorn (opens in a new window) That all changed in 2020, when USCIS instituted an electronic registration process for the lottery. Now, sponsoring companies only need to pay a $10 fee to register an employee or prospective employee in the lottery, which significantly reduced the barrier to entry for all companies, including startups. That means that you can enter as many candidates you would like to sponsor in good faith into the lottery. If people quit after they are selected and before you file, you don’t have to follow through with a full H-1B. If your budget doesn’t allow for you to currently sponsor your entire international remote team but you still want to give everybody a chance, you can do that. Can early-stage biotech startups get H-1Bs? Yes, most definitely! The biggest issues facing early-stage startups when getting an H-1B visa for their founder or co-founders are:

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At last! Blaseball is coming back for Fall Ball • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on Posted in blaseball, Gaming, the game bandNo Comments on At last! Blaseball is coming back for Fall Ball • ZebethMedia

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: the best thing on the internet (sort of hyperbole, but not really) is soon to return to a web browser and/or mobile app near you! An absurdist Baseball simulator with an explosively creative fan base, Blaseball has been on hiatus for over a year. The team behind Blaseball, The Game Band, told ZebethMedia last month that they have been completely overhauling the game, which they initially launched as a bare bones pandemic project in summer 2020. Now, we finally have some concrete news: Blaseball will return for what it’s calling “Fall Ball” this Friday, October 28th at 3 PM ET. “Moments Ago… the universe ended. A god is dead. A Black Hole swallowed the League. Play was Stopped,” the website landing page reads. “Now… a New Beginning. Officials gather. Challengers orbit. Will you help Them? Can our heroes escape the gravity of their situation?” This is all probably confusing if you have not played Blaseball before. After its initial moment of virality, Blaseball’s developers have been hard at work thinking about how to make the game more accessible, since the concept of “absurdist horror baseball web simulator” is not exactly the most intuitive. Now, it’s the perfect time to get way too emotionally invested in the fate of chaotic baseball-esque gameplay. “We were like five or six people when we first started making Blaseball,” said Sam Rosenthal, founder and creative director of The Game Band. “Talk about unsustainable. We made this as a quick and dirty prototype that blew up.” Now, with $3 million in seed funding and an expanded team of 25 people, the team behind Blaseball is well refreshed a long seventh-inning stretch. “We felt like if we don’t take a step back and and make this a lot better, Blaseball is going to continue on its current trajectory, which can be really exciting for its existing fan base but it will never get outside of that, and we don’t want that to be the case,” Rosenthal. “We’ve redone everything essentially, from the core simulation that powers the game to the entire user interface of Blaseball. It is built in a way that allows us to be as fast as we were previously, but now on three different platforms, since the mobile app is coming out on iOS and Android.” If you’re a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, weird internet fandoms, or — yes — baseball, then why not give Blaseball a whirl? But first, check out our deep dive into the team behind Blaseball, and how they’re turning a viral hit into a sustainable game.

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