Silicon Beach Report Oct. 26: Saudis to Invest $1B in Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit

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Saudis to invest $1 billion in Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit, Snapchat avoids fake news with human editors, and Tinder and other dating apps vulnerable to hacking.

Saudis to Invest $1B in Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia said Thursday it had reached a non-binding memorandum of understanding to invest $1 billion in space tourism company Virgin Galactic, its Spaceship Co. manufacturing subsidiary, and satellite launch service Virgin Orbit, with an option to invest $480 million more in the companies at a later date, the Business Journal reports. The investment will be spent to support Virgin Galactic’s human spaceflight plans and Virgin Orbit’s manufacturing of a low-cost small-satellite launch system and commercial supersonic aircraft.

Snapchat Avoids Fake News with Human Editors

Snap hasn’t figured out how to be a profitable advertising business, but it’s proving to be a much more competent media company than either Facebook or Google, Bloomberg reports. For example, Snapchat has found no evidence of political ad buys by anyone in Russia and the app appears to have no fake news at all, due largely to its use of human editors.

Tinder and Other Dating Apps Vulnerable to Hacking

Security researchers have uncovered numerous exploits in popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble and OK Cupid, Gizmodo reports. Using exploits ranging from simple to complex, researchers at the Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab say they could access users’ location data, their real names and login info, their message history, and which profiles they had viewed.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.

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