Technology
What is Bluesky? Everything you need to know about competitor X.
Is the grass greener on the opposite side? We’re unsure, however the sky is definitely bluer. It’s been almost two years since Elon Musk bought Twitter, now X, prompting people to arrange shop on alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (which has since gone out of business) and Spill have been floated as potential successors, but few of them apart from Meta’s Threads have achieved the expansion rates that Bluesky has achieved.
After almost a 12 months of existence as an invitation-only service, Bluesky opened to everyone in February 2024 and gained almost 800,000 latest users in in the future. As of October 2024, Bluesky has over 10 million users thanks to an influx of users following the X ban in Brazil and one other influx of users following the updated X rules, which helped the app rise to the highest 5 hottest apps within the US App Store. While the numbers are promising, the network has a number of catching up to do to compete Threads’ 175 million users a 12 months after its launch.
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a decentralized social networking application developed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed in parallel with Twitter. The social network has a Twitter-like user interface with a collection of algorithms, federated design, and community-specific moderation.
Bluesky uses a built-in open source framework, AT protocolmeaning those outside the corporate have transparency into the way it is built and what is being developed.
Dorsey introduced Project Bluesky in 2019, when he was still CEO of Twitter. He said on the time that Twitter would fund “a small independent team of up to five open source architects, engineers and designers” to construct a decentralized standard for social media, with the initial goal of Twitter adopting it itself. standard. . But that was before Elon Musk bought the platform, so Bluesky is completely separate from Twitter.
As of May 2024, Dorsey not serves on Bluesky’s board of directors. Bluesky is now an independent public profit corporation led by CEO Jay Graber.
How to use Bluesky?
Once registered, users can create a handle, which is able to then be represented as @username.bsky.social, in addition to a display name, which can be more visible in daring text. If you’re so inclined, you can replace the domain name you have already got along with your username – for instance, on Bluesky I’m often called @amanda.omg.lol.
The app itself works similarly to regular Twitter, where you can click the plus button to create a 256-character post that also can include photos. The posts themselves might be replied to, retweeted, liked, and might be reported via the three-dot menu, shared via the iOS share sheet with other apps, or copied as text.
You can search and follow other people, then view their updates in your “Home” timeline. Previously, Bluesky shared popular posts within the “What’s Hot” feed. This feed has since been replaced by an algorithmic and personalized ‘Discover’ feed, with greater than just popular content.
For latest users, Bluesky has introduced a “Starter Pack” feature that creates a curated list of individuals and custom channels that you can follow to immediately find interesting content.
User profiles include the identical features you’d expect: profile photo, background, bio, details, and the number of individuals they follow. Profile feeds are divided into two sections like Twitter: posts and posts and replies.
There’s also a “Discover” tab at the underside of the app’s navigation, which offers more suggestions for “who to follow” and a live feed of recently released Bluesky updates.
Who’s on Bluesky?
In early July 2023, when Instagram Threads launched, Bluesky downloads on iOS and Android exceeded a million. Prominent figures corresponding to Neil Gaiman, Drill AND Chelsea Manning they emigrated to Bluesky. It is also home to news organizations corresponding to Bloomberg, Washington Post. AND Engadget. As of August 2024, Bluesky now also allows heads of state to register and join the platform for the primary time.
Does Bluesky work the identical as X?
In some ways, yes. Until recently, Bluesky did not have DMs like X, but this has since been implemented. However, chats on Bluesky are currently limited to individual messages relatively than group messages. Bluesky also said it is inquisitive about implementing something similar to X’s Community Notes feature. Additionally, X doesn’t use a decentralized protocol like ActivityPub or ON.
In October 2024, Elon Musk announced that the X blocking feature will work in a different way than before. The latest blocking feature allows blocked users to view your posts and profile, but doesn’t allow them to interact along with your posts. Some users consider this update poses a security risk, leading to a rise in Bluesky sign-ups because the blocking feature is more traditional.
While Bluesky initially began as a project convened by Jack Dorsey in 2019 when he was Twitter’s CEO, the social media app has been an independent company since its inception in 2021.
Is Bluesky free?
Yes, and it is now open to the general public.
How does Bluesky generate profits?
Bluesky’s goal is to find one other way to maintain its network beyond promoting and paid services in order that it may possibly remain free for end users. On July 5, 2023, Bluesky announced additional seed round funding and a paid service that gives custom domains to end-users who wish to have a singular domain as a handle on the service. Bluesky also stressed that it doesn’t want to “require the sale of user data for advertising purposes” to monetize your platform.
Is Bluesky decentralized?
Yes. The Bluesky team develops the decentralized AT protocol on which Bluesky is built. In the beta phase, users can only join the bsky.social network, but Bluesky plans to create a federation, which suggests infinite, individually managed communities could exist on the open source network. So, if a non-Bluesky developer creates their very own latest social app using the AT protocol, Bluesky users will find a way to switch to the brand new app and transfer it to their existing followers, support, and data.
“You will always have the freedom to choose (and exit), rather than being swayed by the whims of private companies or black box algorithms. Wherever you go, your friends and relationships will be there too.” explained within the Bluesky blog post.
Is Bluesky secure?
In October 2023, Bluesky email verification added as part of a bigger effort to improve account security and online authentication. The addition of this service is a very important step forward in making Bluesky more competitive with larger networks like X which have more robust security controls. In December 2023, Bluesky gave users the chance to opt out of this alteration share your posts on a public network after users’ response.
Can Bluesky be customized?
Yes. In May 2023, Bluesky released custom algorithms that it calls “custom feeds.” Custom feeds allow users to subscribe to many various algorithms that present various kinds of posts that the user might want to see. You can pin custom channels, which is able to appear at the highest of your timeline as different tabs to pick from. Channels that you pin or save are positioned within the “My Channels” menu within the sidebar of the app.
In March 2024, the corporate announced “AT Protocol Subsidies”, a brand new program that can award small grants to developers to support development and customization. One recipient, SkyFeed, is a custom tool that enables anyone to construct their very own feeds using a graphical user interface.
Is Bluesky available on iOS and Android?
Yes. Bluesky rolled forward Android users on April 20 and was initially made available to iOS users in late February. Users can access Bluesky on the Internet Here.
How does Bluesky take care of disinformation?
Following the October 2023 update, the app will now warn users about misleading links by flagging them. If the links shared in users’ posts don’t match their text, the app will display a “possibly misleading” warning to the user that the link could also be taking them to a site they don’t desire to go to.
Has Bluesky had any controversy?
Since its initial launch, Bluesky has struggled with moderation issues. The app is accused of failing to protect marginalized users and moderating racist content. Next controversy over an app that allowed racial slurs in account names, frustrated users initiated a “posting warning” that resulted in them refusing to engage with the platform until it introduced barriers to flagging slurs and other offensive terms in usernames.
What moderation features does Bluesky have?
In a December 2023 post from the Bluesky Safety account, a big batch was announced moderation updates.
Bluesky is rolling out “more advanced, automated tools” designed to flag content that violates its Community Guidelines, which is able to then be reviewed by the app’s moderation team.
Bluesky has launched moderation features similar to those in X, including user lists and moderation lists, the latter of which might be used to mute or block multiple users without delay. The app is also working on a feature that enables users to limit who can reply to posts.
Some Bluesky users proceed to favor the flexibility to make their accounts private – a feature they needed more of after Bluesky announced it could launch the service public network interface.
In March 2024 the corporate introduced Ozon to the marketa tool that enables users to create and run their very own, independent moderation services that they make available to users “unprecedented control” on their experiences on social media.
What is the difference between Bluesky and Mastodon?
Although Bluesky’s architecture is similar to Mastodon, many users have found Bluesky to be more intuitive, whereas Mastodon can seem inaccessible: selecting which instance to join looks as if an unimaginable task on Mastodon, and long-time users are very defensive about adhering to established publishing norms. which may make joining the conversation intimidating. To stay competitive, Mastodon recently simplified the registration process by making mastodon.social the default server for brand new users.
However, launch federation will make it work more like Mastodon, as users will find a way to select which servers they need to join and transfer their accounts as they need.
Who owns Bluesky?
Although Jack Dorsey was the founding father of Bluesky, he is not involved in the corporate’s ongoing development and not serves on the corporate’s board of directors. Bluesky’s CEO is Jay Graber, who previously worked as a software engineer for the cryptocurrency Zcash after which founded an event planning site called Happening.
Technology
Wiz acquires Dazz for $450 million to expand cybersecurity platform
Wizardone of the talked about names within the cybersecurity world, is making a major acquisition to expand its reach of cloud security products, especially amongst developers. This is buying Dazzlespecialist in solving security problems and risk management. Sources say the deal is valued at $450 million, which incorporates money and stock.
This is a leap within the startup’s latest round of funding. In July, we reported that Dazz had raised $50 million at a post-money valuation of just below $400 million.
Remediation and posture management – two areas of focus for Dazz – are key services within the cybersecurity market that Wiz hasn’t sorted in addition to it wanted.
“Dazz is a leader in this market, with the best talent and the best customers, which fits perfectly into the company culture,” Assaf Rappaport, CEO of Wiz, said in an interview.
Remediation, which refers to helping you understand and resolve vulnerabilities, shapes how an enterprise actually handles the various vulnerability alerts it could receive from the network. Posture management is a more preventive product: it allows a company to higher understand the scale, shape and performance of its network from a perspective, allowing it to construct higher security services around it.
Dazz will proceed to operate as a separate entity while it’s integrated into the larger Wiz stack. Wiz has made a reputation for itself as a “one-stop shop,” and Rappaport said the integrated offering will proceed to be a core a part of it.
He believes this contrasts with what number of other SaaS corporations are built. In the safety industry, there are, Rappaport said, “a lot of Frankenstein mashups where companies prioritize revenue over building a single technology stack that actually works as a platform.” It could be assumed that integration is much more necessary in cybersecurity than in other areas of enterprise IT.
Wiz and Dazz already had an in depth relationship before this deal. Merat Bahat — the CEO who co-founded Dazz with Tomer Schwartz and Yuval Ofir (CTO and VP of R&D, respectively) — worked closely with Assaf Rappaport at Microsoft, which acquired his previous startup Adallom.
After Rappaport left to found Wiz together with his former Adallom co-founders, CTO Ami Luttwak, VP of Product Yinon Costica and VP of R&D Roy Reznik, Bahat was one in all the primary investors. Similarly, when Bahat founded Dazz, Assaf was a small investor in it.
The connection goes deeper than work colleagues. Bahat and Rappaport are also close friends, and she or he was the second family of Mickey, Rappaport’s beloved dog, referred to as Chief Dog Officer Wiz (together with LinkedIn profile). Once the deal was done, the 2 faced two very sad events: each Bahat and Mika’s mother died.
“We hope for a new chapter of positivity,” Bahat said. The cycle of life does indeed proceed.
Rumors of this takeover began to appear earlier this month; Rappaport confirmed that they then began talking seriously.
But that is not the one M&A conversation Wiz has gotten involved in. Earlier this 12 months, Google tried to buy Wiz itself for $23 billion to construct a major cybersecurity business. Wiz walked away from the deal, which might have been the biggest in Google’s history, partly because Rappaport believed Wiz could turn into a fair larger company by itself terms. And that is what this agreement goals to do.
This acquisition is a test for Wiz, which earlier this 12 months filled its coffers with $1 billion solely for M&A purposes (it has raised almost $2 billion in total, and we hear the subsequent round will close in just a few weeks). . Other offers included purchasing Gem security for $350 million, but Dazz is its largest acquisition ever.
More mergers and acquisitions could also be coming. “We believe next year will be an acquisition year for us,” Rappaport said.
In an interview with TC, Luttwak said that one in all Wiz’s priorities now’s to create more tools for developers that have in mind what they need to do their jobs.
Enterprises have made significant investments in cloud services to speed up operations and make their IT more agile, but this shift has include a significantly modified security profile for these organizations: network and data architectures are more complex and attack surfaces are larger, creating opportunities for malicious hackers to find ways to to hack into these systems. Artificial intelligence makes all of this far more difficult when it comes to malicious attackers. (It’s also a chance: the brand new generation of tools for our defense relies on artificial intelligence.)
Wiz’s unique selling point is its all-in-one approach. Drawing data from AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and other cloud environments, Wiz scans applications, data and network processes for security risk aspects and provides its users with a series of detailed views to understand where these threats occur, offering over a dozen products covering the areas, corresponding to code security, container environment security, and provide chain security, in addition to quite a few partner integrations for those working with other vendors (or to enable features that Wiz doesn’t offer directly).
Indeed, Wiz offered some extent of repair to help prioritize and fix problems, but as Luttwak said, the Dazz product is solely higher.
“We now have a platform that actually provides a 360-degree view of risk across infrastructure and applications,” he said. “Dazz is a leader in attack surface management, the ability to collect vulnerability signals from the application layer across the entire stack and build the most incredible context that allows you to trace the situation back to engineers to help with remediation.”
For Dazz’s part, once I interviewed Bahat in July 2024, when Dazz raised $50 million at a $350 million valuation, she extolled the virtues of constructing strong solutions and this week said the third quarter was “amazing.”
“But market dynamics are what trigger these types of transactions,” she said. She confirmed that Dazz had also received takeover offers from other corporations. “If you think about the customers and joint customers that we have with Wiz, it makes sense for them to have it on one platform.”
And a few of Dazz’s competitors are still going it alone: Cyera, like Dazz, an authority in attack surface management, just yesterday announced a rise of $300 million at a valuation of $5 billion (which confirms our information). But what’s going to he do with this money? Make acquisitions, after all.
Wiz says it currently has annual recurring revenue of $500 million (it has a goal of $1 billion ARR next 12 months) and has greater than 45% of its Fortune 100 customers. Dazz said ARR is within the tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars and currently growing 500% on a customer base of roughly 100 organizations.
Technology
Department of Justice: Google must sell Chrome to end its monopoly
The U.S. Department of Justice argued Wednesday that Google should sell its Chrome browser as part of a countermeasure to break the corporate’s illegal monopoly on online search, according to a filing with the Justice Department. United States District Court for the District of Columbia. If the answer proposed by the Department of Justice is approved, Google won’t have the option to re-enter the search marketplace for five years.
Ultimately, it’ll be District Court Judge Amit Mehta who will determine what the ultimate punishment for Google might be. This decision could fundamentally change one of the most important firms on the planet and alter the structure of the Internet as we understand it. This phase of the method is anticipated to begin sometime in 2025.
In August, Judge Mehta ruled that Google constituted an illegal monopoly since it abused its power within the search industry. The judge also questioned Google’s control over various web gateways and the corporate’s payments to third parties to maintain its status because the default search engine.
The Department of Justice’s latest filing says Google’s ownership of Android and Chrome, that are key distribution channels for its search business, poses a “significant challenge” to remediation to ensure a competitive search market.
The Justice Department has proposed other remedies to address the search engine giant’s monopoly, including Google spinning off its Android mobile operating system. The filing indicated that Google and other partners may oppose the spin-off and suggested stringent countermeasures, including ending the use of Android to the detriment of search engine competitors. The Department of Justice has suggested that if Google doesn’t impose restrictions on Android, it must be forced to sell it.
Prosecutors also argued that the corporate must be barred from stepping into exclusionary third-party agreements with browser or phone firms, resembling Google’s agreement with Apple to be the default search engine on all Apple products.
The Justice Department also argued that Google should license its search data, together with ad click data, to competitors.
Additionally, the Department of Justice also set conditions prohibiting Google from re-entering the browser market five years after the spin-off of Chrome. Additionally, it also proposed that after the sale of Chrome, Google mustn’t acquire or own any competing ad text search engine, query-based AI product, or ad technology. Moreover, the document identifies provisions that allow publishers to opt out of Google using their data to train artificial intelligence models.
If the court accepts these measures, Google will face a serious setback as a competitor to OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic in AI technology.
Google’s answer
In response, Google said the Department of Justice’s latest filing constitutes a “radical interventionist program” that may harm U.S. residents and the country’s technological prowess on the planet.
“The Department of Justice’s wildly overblown proposal goes far beyond the Court’s decision. “It would destroy the entire range of Google products – even beyond search – that people love and find useful in their everyday lives,” said Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer Kent Walker. blog post.
Walker made additional arguments that the proposal would threaten user security and privacy, degrade the standard of the Chrome and Android browsers, and harm services resembling Mozilla Firefox, which depends upon Google’s search engine.
He added that if the proposal is adopted, it could make it tougher for people to access Google search. Moreover, it could hurt the corporate’s prospects within the AI race.
“The Justice Department’s approach would lead to unprecedented government overreach that would harm American consumers, developers and small businesses and threaten America’s global economic and technological leadership at precisely the moment when it is needed most,” he said.
The company is to submit a response to the above request next month.
Wednesday’s filing confirms earlier reports that prosecutors were considering getting Google to spin off Chrome, which controls about 61% of the U.S. browser market. According to to the StatCounter web traffic service.
Technology
Snowflake acquires data management company Datavolo
Cloud giant Snowflake has agreed to take over Datavoloa company managing the data pipeline, for an undisclosed amount.
Snowflake announced the deal on Wednesday after the market bell closed, while reporting its third-quarter 2025 earnings. The purchase has not yet closed and is subject to customary closing conditions, Snowflake noted wa release.
Joseph Witt and Luke Roquet, who met while working together at Hortonworks, founded Datavolo in 2023. Witt was previously a vp at Cloudera, and Roquet was Cloudera’s chief marketing officer and, before that, director of business development at AWS.
Datavolo uses Apache NiFi, an open source data processing project developed by the NSA, to power a platform to automate data flow between disparate enterprise data sources. Data “processors” extract, cleanse, transform and enrich data, including for generative use of artificial intelligence.
With Datavolo having raised $21 million in enterprise capital from investors including Citi Ventures and General Catalyst prior to the acquisition, Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy envisions creating more comprehensive data pipelines for Snowflake customers. For example, he says Datavolo can enable users to interchange single-use data connectors with flexible pipelines that allow them to maneuver data from cloud and on-premises sources to Snowflake’s data cloud.
“By bringing Datavolo to Snowflake, we are increasing the amount of data captured by Snowflake over the lifecycle, providing our customers with both simplicity and cost savings, without sacrificing data extensibility,” Ramaswamy said in a press release. “We are thrilled to have the Datavolo team join Snowflake as we accelerate the best platform for enterprise data – unstructured and structured, batch and streaming – and committed to the success of the open source community.”
Witt says Snowflake will support and help manage the Apache NiFi project after the acquisition closes. “Data engineering at scale can be extremely expensive and complex, and our goal has always been to simplify our customers’ experiences so they can realize value faster,” he added within the press release. “By joining forces with Snowflake, we can deliver the massive scale and radical simplicity of the Snowflake platform to our customers, ultimately unlocking data engineering for more users.”
Thanks partly to artificial intelligence, demand for data management technologies has increased. Fortune’s business insights estimates that the worldwide enterprise data management market could possibly be price $224.87 billion by 2032.
However, data management has been a challenge for enterprises long before the substitute intelligence boom. According to in a 2022 survey by Great Hopetions, a data quality platform, 91% of organizations said data quality issues impact their performance.
Against this backdrop, it isn’t surprising that firms like Datavolo are gaining prominence.
Today was a giant day for Snowflake who reported better-than-expected earnings sent the company’s shares up 19%. In addition to the acquisition of Snowflake, the company announced a multi-year partnership with Anthropic to integrate the startup’s AI models into Snowflake’s Cortex AI, Snowflake Intelligence and Cortex Analyst products.
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