You may have heard that presidential elections were held in the United States yesterday, with many implications for the tech world, particularly with social media as one of the battlefields in the struggle for results. Meanwhile, major electoral measures relevant to technology, such as California's Proposition 22, have also been passed. I'll do my best to cover everything in your Daily Crunch for November 4th 2020.
The Big Story: Social Media Tackles Electoral MisinformationHere's the good news: Election Day in the United States was largely free of disruptive cyberattacks.
The bad news? Well, we still don't have a winner in the presidential election, although Joe Biden is up 2% in the popular vote as I write this Wednesday afternoon, and he is barely leading in key battlefield states. The uncertainty has created a great opportunity for disinformation, particularly from President Donald Trump and others involved in his campaign who are trying to question the voting and vote counting process while prematurely claiming victory.
As my colleague Taylor Hatmaker put it, this is a "nightmare disinformation scenario", with the president and his campaign doing their best to "work the disinformation ecosystem he has cultivated for the past four years."
At least Facebook and Twitter are trying to stem the spread in several ways: Twitter added warning labels to numerous Trump and Trump campaign posts (Trump and his campaign members are not the only ones receiving warning labels right now, but to be clear: they are the ones spreading dangerous misinformation about the results - while the campaign is, to put it simply, not). Facebook also added posts to the top of both Facebook and Instagram noting that votes are still being counted.
The tech giantsApple, Microsoft and other tech stocks roar as presidential elections shrink to multiple states - At the close of trading today, the high-tech Nasdaq Composite rose 3.8%.
Zynga Reports Record Revenue and Strong User Growth, While Still Losing $ 122 million - The company expects further growth in the fourth quarter, with revenue up 55% to $ 570 million.
Startups, financing and venture capitalIntel has acquired Cnvrg.io, a platform to manage, build and automate machine learning: Intel continues to create startups to develop its machine learning and AI operations.
Aveine's Smart Wine Aerator is a huge upgrade for wine lovers and could create new ones as well - this gadget from a French startup offers variable, instant aeration, along with a connected app platform.
Hustle Fund, a pre-seed company, closes $ 30M for a new fund: The Hustle Fund was created by Elizabeth Yin and Eric Bahn, two former partners of 500 Startups.
Tips and analysis from Extra CrunchWill the SEC's new equity crowdfunding rules encourage more founders to pass the hat? - Companies can now raise $ 5 million through equity crowdfunding.
As tech stocks rally, bring IPOs - The Exchange has heard whispers that the late November / early December period may be active for new documents.
(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize startup information. You can sign up here.)
All the restCA's election measure that keeps gig workers as independent contractors is expected to go through - Uber, Lyft, Instacart, and DoorDash (California's leading proponents of Proposition 22) are making their way.
Cannabis legalization measures should pass in five states - Cannabis legalization was yesterday on five state votes and was at the table.
Massachusetts voters approve a right to repair measure, which gives them unprecedented access to their car data: according to the measure, once a person buys a vehicle, they own all of the data.
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