In the latest in what seems to be a string of challenges the company has to grapple with, Robinhood's crypto division has been slapped with a $30 million fine by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It's the first crypto-focused enforcement action by the regulator, which has issued the multimillion dollar penalty against Robinhood for what it says are violations against the state's anti-money laundering and cybersecurity regulations. In its announcement, the Financial Services Department said it found significant deficiencies in the company's compliance programs following a supervisory examination.

Apparently, there weren't enough people working in Robinhood's money laundering compliance program. The company also failed to transition from a manual monitoring system, which is no longer sufficient now that it's much larger than when it started. In addition, the department found that policies within Robinhood's cybersecurity program aren't in full compliance with official cybersecurity and virtual currency regulations. 

The New York regulator also mentioned that Robinhood improperly certified compliance with the Department's Transaction Monitoring Regulation and Cybersecurity Regulation. Since it wasn't fully compliant with the state's cybersecurity rules, Robinhood violated the law by claiming compliance. Finally, the regulator said Robinhood failed to adhere to consumer protection requirements by not maintaining a separate phone number (and displaying it on its website) specifically for consumer complaints. 

Superintendent of Financial Services, Adrienne A. Harris, said in a statement:

"As its business grew, Robinhood Crypto failed to invest the proper resources and attention to develop and maintain a culture of compliance—a failure that resulted in significant violations of the Department’s anti-money laundering and cybersecurity regulations. All virtual currency companies licensed in New York State are subject to the same anti-money laundering, consumer protection, and cybersecurity regulations as traditional financial services companies. DFS will continue to investigate and take action when any licensee violates the law or the Department’s regulations, which are critical to protecting consumers and ensuring the safety and soundness of the institutions."

Aside from having to pay $30 million, Robinhood must retain an independent consultant who will evaluate if it has taken the appropriate actions to address its violations and deficiencies under the settlement.

Robinhood also recently announced that it's laying off 23 percent of its workforce due to record inflation and the cryptocurrency crash. It's the company's second round of job cuts this year and will affect employees across divisions. That revelation came after Robinhood published its earnings for the second quarter of 2022, wherein it posted a net loss of $295 million and announced a decrease of 1.9 million in monthly active users. 

It's the end of an era at the company formerly known as Facebook. Sheryl Sandberg has officially stepped down as Chief Operating Officer on August 1st, as revealed by a SEC filing noticed by TechCrunch. In the filing, Meta said Javier Olivan is now the company's COO and that Sandberg will only remain an employe until September 30th. After that and going forward, Sandberg will serve as a member of Meta's Board and will receive compensation as a non-employee director. 

Sandberg first announced that she was leaving her role as COO of Meta after 14 years in early June. Mark Zuckerberg revealed at the time that Olivan will take on the COO role, but that his responsibilities will be different from Sandberg's. Olivan will have a "more traditional COO role where [he] will be focused internally and operationally, building on his strong track record of making our execution more efficient and rigorous," the company CEO said. 

As The Wall Street Journal noted in a piece about Sandberg back in June, she joined Facebook in 2008 and led the business side of the company, allowing Zuckerberg to focus on engineering work. In more recent years, she became the face of the social network when it comes to leading public response to controversies, such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Before Sandberg announced her departure, The Journal reported that the Meta COO used company resources to help kill negative reporting about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who she was dating at the time. In mid-June, the publication also reported that Meta’s lawyers are investigating Sandberg's use of the company's resources and employees for her foundation and to promote her book Option B. 

Sandberg is leaving the company just as it has started preparing for "serious times." In a meeting with employees, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta is experiencing "one of the worst downturns [it has seen] in recent history." As a result, Meta had to slash its target number for new engineers this year. In addition, company leadership reportedly told managers to identify poor performers and to "move to exit" them if they can't get back on track. 

Amazon is giving some Prime members access to another perk they can take advantage of if they'd like to buy from a store nearby but can't be bothered to put on outside clothes. The e-commerce giant has announced that Prime subscribers in more than 10 metro areas in the US will now be able to shop from select local brick-and-mortar stores through Amazon and then have the items delivered to their home on the same day. At the moment participating retailers include apparel brands PacSun, Superdry and Diesel, as well as popular vitamin retailer GNC. 

To order from the participating retail stores, customers can browse their curated selections on the Amazon app or website and then choose same-day delivery upon checkout. Amazon will forward the order to the customer's local store to be fulfilled by associates. An Amazon delivery partner will then pick up the order from the retail location and deliver it to the customer. Delivery is free for purchases above $25, but will set customers back $3 for orders below that amount. That said, buyers can also choose to buy and pay online but pick up their orders in person, which sounds like a great option if they just don't want to browse in-store and line up to pay. 

As TechCrunch notes, this is the e-commerce giant's latest move to keep up with rival services that offer same-day deliveries, such as Instacart. It also ensures it's not falling behind competitors in any way: Walmart, for instance launched a same-day delivery service for local retailers last year. The new Prime perk is now available in a handful of US cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Seattle and Washington D.C. Amazon says it will expand it to more cities, as well as introduce new retailers into the service, including Sur La Table and 100% Pure, in the coming months. 

This is your chance to get an Apple Watch Series 7 if you've been looking to grab one at a discount. The 41mm version of the smartwatch with green aluminum case and the clover sport band is currently on sale for $280 on Amazon. That's $119 less than its retail price and is just a dollar more than what the device sold for on Prime Day. The Watch Series 7's screen is larger than its predecessors', and Apple even used a refractive edge to make it seem like the display curves along the sides of the case. By doing that, tech giant made the screen appear roomier, which makes a huge difference for a device that generally comes with a smaller display.

To take advantage of the larger real estate, Apple shipped the Series 7 with a larger user interface that has larger fonts and a stretched-out keyboard that's much easier to type on. As we mentioned in our review, it's easier to hit the right keys in this model, as well as to read the time and measurements, such as your heart rate, than in the older ones. The tech giant also rolled out watch faces with more information to make use of the watch's bigger screen. 

While the watch's display is its largest upgrade, it also charges faster than previous models. It got to 100 percent in an hour during our tests, whereas the Apple Watch SE only got to about 60 percent. Apple promises the same battery life as previous models, as well, but the Series 7 lasted longer during our tests. Although the only option that's available for $280 is the green Series 7, you can also get the red and the blue watches at a discount. Either color option will set you back $330 when their discounts are applied at checkout.

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Uber has launched a couple of features designed to improve the experience of and increase transparency for drivers. A few months ago, the ride-hailing giant started piloting a feature called "Upfront Fares" in a handful of cities. Now it's expanding its availability and rolling it out to most of the US over the coming months. When they get access to the features, drivers will see how much they'll earn and where they're going for a trip on the request screen before they accept the booking. 

According to the Help page explaining how Upfront Fares work, Uber calculates the amount it shows using several factors, "including base fares, estimated trip length and duration, pickup distance and surge pricing." Uber will also show drivers the cross streets closest to the pick up and drop-off points to help them make a decision. In addition, Uber will also expand the availability of "Trip Radar," a feature that shows drivers a list of possible trips nearby, along with Upfront Fares. They'll still get individual trip requests, but now they can pick another booking that might suit them better. 

Uber is positioning these new features as a way to support its drivers, but as Axios notes, the impact they may have on customers remains unclear. They could end up being misused and lead to the increase of rider and trip discrimination if drivers look at them as tools to avoid specific neighborhoods. That said, the features could also prevent canceled trips, because they allow drivers to make a conscious decision when accepting trips.

The company has also launched a new Uber Pro debit card that will enable drivers to earn cashbacks for getting gas at select stations. Back in March, Uber added a fuel surcharge to rides and deliveries, as well, to help drivers keep up with skyrocketing gas prices.

GM doesn't want people buying some of its newer and most sought-after models, such as the GMC Hummer EV, to quickly sell them for a profit. The automaker is implementing several aggressive measures meant to discourage the practice, even if it ends up losing the company some customers. In a letter obtained by Corvette Blogger, Steve Carlisle, GM President for North America, told the GM Dealership team that the company is "limiting the transferability of certain warranties" if the vehicle being resold was purchased within the past 12 months. Further, GM will ban the seller from "placing future sold orders or reservations for certain high demand models (as identified by GM)."

Carlisle said the models affected by this new rule are the GMC Hummer EVs (SUT and SUV), the 23MY Cadillac Escalade-V and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. GM has been struggling to keep up with the demand for its electric Hummer vehicles, and the company said it's because it was developed from scratch and was built on top of its new Ultium EV platform. According to a Wall Street Journal report earlier this month, GM has only been producing up to a dozen electric Hummers a day. A spokesperson told the publication that the company's output will increase sharply in the second half of the year, but the automaker has over 70,000 reservations for the vehicle, and some people may run out of patience and just purchase from a reseller. 

"When vehicles are quickly resold, particularly by unauthorized dealers or other resellers that do not adhere to GM's standards, the customer experience suffers and GM's brands are damaged," Carlisle said, explaining the reason behind the automaker's decision. "These changes are being implemented to ensure an exemplary customer experience, to ensure our brands remain strong, and to help prioritize ownership by brand enthusiasts and loyal customers."

In addition to these particular measures, GM also recently announced that it's giving $5,000 in reward points to customers who keep their eighth-generation Corvette Z06 sports car for a year.

With stories of hackers selling personal information in bulk on forums becoming more common, it can be stressful to send your device for repair. Yes, you could wipe your phone, but then you have to go through the hassle of restoring it afterward. Now, Samsung has introduced a solution for that issue in the form of a new function called "Repair Mode." 

According to a Korean announcement first spotted by SamMobile, you can activate the new mode under "Battery and Device Care" in Settings. Samsung didn't explain the technology behind the feature, but when activated, it will hide your personal information, photos, messages and linked accounts. Only the device's pre-installed apps will be visible to the technician. To regain access to your data, you simply have to disable Repair Mode and use pattern or fingerprint recognition to authenticate your identity. 

Seeing as Samsung has yet to announce the feature outside Korea, it's most likely safe to say that it's only available in the company's home country at the moment. Further, it's only available on the Galaxy S21 series phones for now. However, the company says it will roll out Repair Mode to other models — and hopefully to other regions — in the future. 

Kenya's National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), a government agency that aims to eradicate ethnic or racial discrimination among the country's 45 tribes, has given Facebook seven days to tackle hate speech related to next month's election on its platform. If the social media fails to do so, it faces suspension in the country. The agency's warning comes shortly after international NGO Global Witness and legal non-profit Foxglove released a report detailing how Facebook approved ads written to instigate ethnic violence in both English and Swahili.

The organizations joined forces to conduct a study testing Facebook's ability to detect hate speech and calls for ethnic-based violence ahead of the Kenyan elections. As Global Witness explained in its report, the country's politics are polarized and ethnically driven — after the 2007 elections, for instance, 1,300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands more had to flee their homes. A lot more people use social media today compared to 2007, and over 20 percent of the Kenyan population is on Facebook, where hate speech and misinformation are major issues.

The groups decided not to publish the exact ads they submitted for the test because they were highly offensive, but they used real-life examples of hate speech commonly used in Kenya. They include comparisons of specific tribal groups to animals and calls for their members' rape, slaughter and beheading. "Much to our surprise and concern," Global Witness reported, "all hate speech examples in both [English and Swahili] were approved." The NCIC said the NGOs' report corroborates its own findings. 

After the organizations asked Facebook for a comment regarding what it had discovered and hence made it aware of the study, Meta published a post that details how it is preparing for Kenya's election. In it, the company said it has built a more advanced content detection technology and has hired dedicated teams of Swahili speakers to help it "remove harmful content quickly and at scale." To see if Facebook truly has implemented changes that has improved its detection system, the organizations resubmitted its test ads. They were approved yet again. 

In a statement sent to both Global Witness and Gizmodo, Meta said it has taken "extensive steps" to "catch hate speech and inflammatory content in Kenya" and that the company is "intensifying these efforts ahead of the election." It also said, however, that there will be instances where it misses things " as both machines and people make mistakes."

Global Witness said its study's findings follow a similar pattern it previously uncovered in Myanmar, where Facebook played a role in enabling calls for ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims. It also follows a similar pattern the organization unearthed in Ethiopia wherein bad actors used the Facebook to incite violence. The organizations and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen are now calling on Facebook to implement the "Break the Glass” package of emergency measures it took after the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. They's also asking the social network to suspend paid digital advertisements in Kenya until the end of the elections on August 9th. 

Samsung vowed to make foldable phones mainstream last year, and so far, more and more people have been embracing the form factor. In fact, the tech giant previously said that more people switched brands for the Galaxy Flip 3 than for its flagship devices. The company is set to unveil its next foldable phones in just a few days, but those who want to know what to expect can get a look at the upcoming phones through what seems to be marketing photos leaked by Evan Blass. He posted images of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 in different colors and posed in different angles on 91Mobiles.

Based on the renders, the Z Flip 4 will be available in purple, blue, black and gold. Meanwhile, the Z Fold 4 will be available in black, dark gray and what seems to be beige. On the surface, they look pretty much identical to the current generation of foldables, and there's no glaringly obvious difference in design. We'll likely find out the subtle differences between them after Samsung officially launches the devices. 

As The Verge notes, the images don't exactly show whether the Fold 4 has its predecessor's under-display selfie camera and whether it will finally have a slot for the S Pen. Since the Fold 3 supports input from Samsung's S Pen, there were speculations that the next version will have a slot for the stylus. However, the most recent reports say that it may not have one after all. 

We won't know for sure until Samsung launches the devices. The good news is that we won't have long to wait: Its next Unpacked event is scheduled to take place on August 10th. For now, you can check out the Fold 4's and Flip 4's leaked renders below:

Samsung/Evan Blass/91Mobiles

Samsung/Evan Blass/91Mobiles

On March 23rd, hackers broke into Axie Infinity's Ronin network to steal Ethereum and USDC stablecoins that were then worth over $600 million. In response to the massive theft, Axie developer Sky Mavis disabled token withdrawal — but apparently not before its CEO moved $3 million worth of Axie's main token, AXS, into Binance. According to Bloomberg, company CEO and co-founder Trung Nguyen made the large transfer mere hours before Sky Mavis disclosed on March 29th that the "play to earn" game was hacked. 

It was YouTube user Asobs who first identified the transaction and who shared his documentation with Bloomberg. The news organization then worked with associate professors of mathematics at Winthrop University to confirm his findings. Asobs analyzed the transaction details and connected it to a wallet controlled by Nguyen based on previous transactions, such as the initial distribution of tokens for the game during its early years. 

When asked, company spokesperson Kalie Moore has confirmed the transaction to Bloomberg. Moore said Nguyen made the transfer to shore up the company's finances and ensure it could provide liquidity to its users. Nguyen apparently had to do so on the down-low so that people tracking official Axie wallets wouldn't be able to front-run the news and cash out before the rest of the players even find out what's going on.

Moore said:

"At the time, we (Sky Mavis) understood that our position and options would be better the more AXS we had on Binance. This would give us the flexibility to pursue different options for securing the loans/capital require. The Founding Team chose to transfer it from this wallet to ensure that short-sellers, who track official Axie wallets, would not be able to front-run the news."

Nguyen posted a Twitter thread after Bloomberg's report went up and said that his team had been in contact with Binance after the hack was discovered to "ensure user funds would be restored as soon as possible." The executive added: "This discussion included the fact that Sky Mavis would provide liquidity while we worked on a full backing of the bridge." He also called speculations of insider trading as "baseless and false."

In Axie Infinity, people can earn cryptocurrency by playing the game and completing tasks, such as winning Arena battles and breeding Axie monsters, which are non-fungible tokens. The attack on its Ronin network is now known as one of the biggest in crypto history. According to previous reporting by The Block, bad actors gained entry into its system by sending a spyware-filled PDF to one employee who thought he was getting a job offer with higher pay from another firm. Turns out the company didn't exist, and the offer, according to the US government, came from North Korean hacker group Lazarus.

Sky Mavis has secured $150 million in funding to help reimburse users since then, and Nguyen said all players' funds are now backed 1:1. The value of Ethereum dropped considerably since March, however, so players will not get the money they could've gotten if they had cashed out months ago. As for the game itself, it opened back up in late June with a new system to flag "large, suspicious withdrawals" and a new land-staking feature that enables players to earn passive income.