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Travis Kalanick is not coming back as CEO of Uber. That’s according to board member Garrett Camp, who sent an email to employees yesterday, addressing recent reports that Kalanick was “Steve Jobs-ing it” and attempting a comeback; the Uber board is said to have narrowed down its search for a replacement to four people. [Johana Bhuiyan / Recode]
Google has fired the employee who wrote a sexist memo that flared into a viral controversy. In a memo to staff, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the author had violated the company’s Code of Conduct. Inequality in job representation is hardly just Google’s problem — here’s a comparative look at diversity at seven major tech companies, according to their most recent reports. [Kara Swisher / Recode]
Uber investor Benchmark pushed back on speculation that it’s looking to divest from the $70 billion ride-hailing company. In a series of tweets, Benchmark said it remained “long” on Uber. But that doesn’t mean it won’t still try to sell some shares. The tweets appeared to be a negotiating tactic directed to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who pulled back from buying into Uber following its exec turmoil. Now he says he’s still interested in Uber — or Lyft. [Theodore Schleifer / Recode]
CNN isn’t for sale. That was made clear by the AT&T exec who will run Time Warner after the acquisition. Media observers knew this was likely the case, but Trump’s open taunting of CNN led to White House officials considering scuttling the deal altogether. AT&T says it won’t tamper with CNN’s editorial independence. [Kim Masters / THR]
A massive wave of internet newcomers is using video and voice instead of typing searches and emails. Called “the next billion” by the tech industry, they are coming online for the first time thanks to low-end smartphones, and tech companies like Google are rethinking their products for these new users. [Eric Bellman / The Wall Street Journal]
Traditional carmakers like Ford and GM have regained some of their advantage when it comes to self-driving partnerships. Startups like Uber and Lyft have come around to the idea that building a car is, well, hard. [Johana Bhuiyan / Recode]
Top stories from Recode
Remember when the iPad was going to be the key to the media business?
Most of us got that one very wrong. Worked out well for Mark Zuckerberg, though.
Netflix is hedging against Marvel by acquiring comics publisher Millarworld.
The deal gives Netflix more content if and when its Disney deal runs out.
FX will let you watch its shows without commercials — if you pay an extra $6 a month. AMC is trying (nearly) the same thing. Both of them are working with Comcast.
One Snap metric to watch: How much money is generated by each of its users.
Snap’s revenue per user will be key if the company wants to paint a pretty picture for Wall Street when it presents Q2 results on Thursday.
We’re in the early stages of a visual revolution in journalism.
It’s more than a pivot to video — it’s an evolution of text.
This is cool
Selfie-made women
Artist Cindy Sherman could be called the godmother of selfies — the photographer built her career on self-portraits, exploring gender and identity by casting herself as characters in fictional movies. Perhaps inevitably, Sherman has joined Instagram, where she’s still posting selfies, but distorted and manipulated ones. Another recent Instagram “it girl” is 93-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt — many may know her as Anderson Cooper’s mom, but she is a world-famous heiress, author, fashion designer and artist in her own right. [Johnny Simon / Quartz]
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
