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This week saw two huge tech funding rounds for Airbnb and Instacart, Google held its Next\u00a0event in San Francisco to outline its cloud strategy moving forward and we got a glimpse at Tesla\u2019s Kauai solar installation. These are the top stories from this week.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0<\/strong>WikiLeaks strikes again. The org\u00a0released\u00a0a huge set of more than 8,000 documents called Vault 7, claiming to detail\u00a0the CIA\u2019s efforts to hack popular consumer devices like iPhones, Android phones and Samsung smart TVs<\/a>.\u00a0Apple pushed back and said many of the iOS exploits in the WikiLeaks dump have already been patched<\/a> and it is working to address any new vulnerabilities. Google also dismissed the documents<\/a>, saying most of the vulnerabilities were outdated. Here\u2019s a more thorough list of the definitions leaked.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Airbnb closed a massive $1 billion round at a $31 billion valuation<\/a>, and sources say the vacation marketplace turned profitable in the second half of 2016 and will be profitable in 2017 on an EBITDA basis. Looks like\u00a0a 2017 IPO was a pipe dream.\u00a0The SEC form filed names\u00a0Alfred Lin of Sequoia and Jeff Jordan of Andreessen Horowitz as investors, and when the first tranche of this round closed, it was reported that Google Capital and TCV<\/a> were leading the round.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0<\/strong>On-demand grocery delivery startup Instacart raised $400 million in a new round of financing\u00a0at a valuation of $3.4 billion<\/a>.\u00a0Over the past year, Instacart has weathered a number of controversies after raising prices for consumers and cutting rates for its workers. Previously, the startup had raised around $260 million at a reported $2 billion valuation.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Google held its Next conference in San Francisco<\/a>, during which it made a slew of announcements relating to its cloud platform. Google is\u00a0acquiring data science community Kaggle<\/a> for an undisclosed amount, and\u00a0is splitting Hangouts into Chat and Meet<\/a>. Overall, the company opened up about its enterprise cloud strategy<\/a>, and Google is working hard to position itself as a more open alternative to cloud market leaders like AWS.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0<\/strong>We got a glimpse into Tesla\u2019s solar installation in Kauai, Hawaii<\/a>, and its proof that the company\u2019s acquisition of SolarCity is necessary. Tesla\u2019s grand vision is to make solar and renewable energy a practical option everywhere, not just where the sun shines brightest. This is what the future of Tesla looks like.<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Facebook is trying to slowly strangle Snapchat<\/a>. Facebook globally launched its Messenger Day platform<\/a>, a\u00a0feature that lets Messenger\u2019s 1 billion users share decorated photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Alongside WhatsApp Status, Instagram Stories and now Facebook Stories, Messenger Day could use convenience to compete with Snap for user growth.<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0<\/strong>Tinder has been operating a members-only secret version of the app called Tinder Select<\/a>. The version is meant to serve elite users, including celebrities, CEOs and supermodels. It appears Tinder invited these people to the platform, and these users have the ability to nominate others.<\/p>\n