• The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon.com Inc.’s proposed $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot Corp., according to a securities filing from the Roomba creator, which said the agency had requested documents from both companies regarding the deal’s rationale. The FTC has also launched inquiries into Amazon’s $3.9 billion deal to acquire 1Life Healthcare Inc. and into the Amazon Prime membership program. (The Wall Street Journal)  
• FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan told the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee that future consent decrees would be stricter regarding a company’s compliance compared to a 2011 deal with Twitter Inc., saying that there “has been a problem with companies treating FTC orders as suggestions.” Her statement comes after Twitter’s former head of security and whistleblower Peter Zatko said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the agency was “letting companies grade their own homework.” (Bloomberg)
• Twitter’s lawyers are set to question Elon Musk under oath next week as part of the company’s lawsuit to force the Tesla Inc. CEO to honor his $44 billion deal to acquire the platform, according to a filing from Delaware’s Court of Chancery. His deposition will take place Sept. 26-27 and could stretch to Sept. 28. (Reuters)

Worth keeping an eye on today (all times local):

• Starting at 8:45 a.m. Fast Company’s Innovation Festival, featuring a panel discussion at 2:30 p.m. with Amazon Labor Union President Christian Smalls, titled “Employees Strike Back: A Look at the New Worker Moment.”
• 10 a.m. Washington Post Live event: “Administration and industry leaders on the challenges of meeting America’s broadband needs,” featuring Andy Berke, special representative for broadband at the Department of Commerce, and Michael Powell, president and CEO of NCTA — The Internet & Television Association.

Self-driving cars make 76% of Americans feel less safe on the road

Policygenius

US needs to reform efforts to stop enemy spies, report says

Nomaan Merchant, The Associated Press

A new Senate study warns that U.S. spy agencies’ efforts to stop China and other adversaries from stealing secrets are hampered by miscommunication and a lack of money and staff at the office intended to coordinate those efforts.

Amazon’s annual product launch marathon is happening September 28th

Tom Warren, The Verge

Amazon is holding an event next week to announce new devices, features, and services. The fully virtual event will kick off at 9AM PT / 12PM ET on September 28th and is expected to include the usual deluge of Amazon devices announcements just in time for fall. 

GOP megadonor Peter Thiel to host fundraiser for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters

Brian Schwartz, CNBC

Republican megadonor Peter Thiel is hosting a fundraiser at his Los Angeles home next week for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters after GOP officials asked the tech mogul for more money heading into the final stretch of the November midterm elections.

Salesforce Enters the Carbon-Credit Business

Dieter Holger, The Wall Street Journal

Business-software provider Salesforce Inc. is launching a marketplace for carbon credits that it says will tackle transparency and quality issues in the fast-growing field.

Meta: We’re not-so-big tech now

Ashley Gold, Axios

As Meta shapes its antitrust defense, it has begun pointing out its plummeting stock price as a sign that competition is alive and well in its market.

‘Ring Nation’ Is a Terrible Idea That’s Unstoppable Because Amazon Owns Everything

Jordan Pearson, Motherboard

On Tuesday, 40 civil rights groups published an open letter calling on MGM Television executives to cancel the studio’s upcoming reality show Ring Nation, which will feature former NSA employee and comedian Wanda Sykes presenting humorous surveillance footage captured from Ring doorbell cameras.

This US political site has started using AI to illustrate its articles

James Vincent, The Verge

The Bulwark, a US political news and analysis site, has quietly started using AI to help illustrate its articles. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a publication use machine learning art generators in this way, but it is, to this reporter’s knowledge, the first time said publication has not made a whole song and dance about it — which is significant news.

Chipmaker Nvidia launches new system for autonomous driving

Jane Lanhee Lee and Joseph White, Reuters

Chip giant Nvidia Corp on Tuesday unveiled its new computing platform called DRIVE Thor that would centralize autonomous and assisted driving as well as other digital functions including in-car entertainment.

U.S. agency adds China Unicom, Pacific Networks to national security threat list

David Shepardson, Reuters

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) named Chinese telecom companies Pacific Networks Corp, its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC and China Unicom (Americas) as threats to U.S. national security, the regulator said Tuesday.

Comcast promises huge boost to cable upload speeds by end of 2023

Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica

Comcast announced today that it has tested “the final technical component necessary to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds” and said it’s on track to deliver multi-gigabit download and upload speeds to at least some cable customers “before the end of 2023.” The test using Broadcom equipment delivered download speeds of 6Gbps and uploads of 4Gbps, Comcast said.

U.S. Treasury says some satellite internet equipment can be exported to Iran

Kanishka Singh and Daphne Psaledakis

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday some satellite internet equipment can be exported to Iran, suggesting that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk may not need a license to provide the firm’s Starlink satellite broadband service in the country.

Judge cuts $7 billion Charter Spectrum verdict for family of a murdered customer to $1 billion

Richard Lawler, The Verge

A judge slashed a $7 billion ruling down to closer to $1.15 billion in the case of an 83-year-old woman who was stabbed to death by a Charter technician in 2019. Dallas County Court Judge Juan Renteria did not specify why he reduced the amount in his decision (pdf). 

President’s science and tech advisors recommend Commerce Department launch $500M fund for semiconductor startups

Dave Nyczepir, FedScoop

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recommended the National Semiconductor Technology Center create a $500 million investment fund for startups by the end of 2023, in a report released Tuesday.

Nvidia unveils new gaming chip with AI features, taps TSMC for manufacturing

Stephen Nellis, Reuters

Nvidia Corp on Tuesday announced new flagship chips for video gamers that use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance graphics, saying it has tapped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to make the processors.

Hacker steals $160 million from crypto trading firm Wintermute

Corin Faife, The Verge

In the latest eye-watering crypto heist, Wintermute, a market-making firm, has been hacked for $160 million, according to its CEO. Early Tuesday morning, CEO Evgeny Gaevoy posted on Twitter that the company was experiencing an ongoing hack that had drained the funds from its decentralized finance (DeFi) operations.

American Airlines Says Data Breach Affected Small Number of Customers

Alison Sider, The Wall Street Journal

Hackers gained access to personal data for a “very small number” of American Airlines Group Inc. customers and employees through a phishing scam that affected some employee email accounts, the airline said Tuesday.

YouTube Takes On TikTok by Plugging Advertising Into Shorts Videos

Mark Bergen, Bloomberg

YouTube is fighting back against TikTok using the video giant’s key advantage: money. On Tuesday, YouTube announced plans to share advertising sales with creators of Shorts, its bite-sized video feature. 

Twitter expands recommendations push with new tests

Katie Paul, Reuters

Twitter is expanding how it recommends posts from accounts that users do not follow, the social media company announced on Tuesday.

Telegram Has a Serious Doxing Problem

Peter Guest, Wired

Burmese influencer Han Nyein Oo rose to prominence in 2020, posting memes and gossip about Burmese celebrities on Facebook to an audience that grew to several hundred thousand people in Myanmar by early 2021. Then, after the country’s military seized power that February, he lurched rightwards, becoming a full-blooded supporter of the junta, which has killed more than 1,500 people and arrested thousands more in bloody crackdowns.

The YouTube Channel Streaming Alex Jones’s Trial Disabled The Chat Because Of Threats To Sandy Hook Victims’ Families

Laura June, BuzzFeed News

Today is the fifth day of the trial in Waterbury, Connecticut, to determine how much Alex Jones will have to pay in damages to the families of eight victims (and one FBI agent) of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

Twitter is facing an exodus of hundreds of workers since Elon Musk pitched them on his vision for the company three months ago

Kali Hays and Hugh Langley, Insider Premium

Two months after Elon Musk declared his intent to acquire Twitter in a $44 billion deal, the billionaire spoke directly with workers at Twitter. Nothing he said seemed to reassure workers, and since then, waves of Twitter employees have left the company.

This ‘draft’ aims to turn tech workers into climate warriors

Michelle Ma, Protocol

The climate revolution is here. It just needs recruits.

Why a good climate plan can be a recruiting tactic

Lisa Martine Jenkins, Protocol

Having a good climate plan and following through on it could help tech companies attract top talent. Roughly 43% of tech workers say a company’s environmental impact is a “very important” factor when considering a new job, according to data from Morning Consult published on Tuesday.

The Pentagon’s alleged secret social media operations demand a reckoning

Editorial Board, The Washington Post

The U.S. military has apparently adopted a new national security strategy: internet trolling. The Post reports that the Pentagon will conduct a sweeping review of its policies regarding clandestine information warfare, after Facebook and Twitter removed fake accounts suspected of being run by the Defense Department.