Morning Consult Tech: Twitter Whistleblower to Testify at Senate Hearing Today
 

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Essential tech industry news & intel to start your day.
September 13, 2022
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Today’s Top News

  • Former Twitter Inc. security chief Peiter Zatko is set to testify today before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his allegations that the company has severe lapses in security. Zatko’s testimony comes as Twitter shareholders face a deadline today to vote on Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion acquisition of the company, with sources telling Reuters that a majority of shareholders have voted to approve the deal. (Reuters)
  • Alphabet Inc.’s Google is facing up to 25 billion euros ($25.4 billion) in damage claims from publishers over its digital advertising practices in two lawsuits to be filed in British and Dutch courts in the coming weeks. Google said that the pending lawsuits are “speculative and opportunistic.” (Reuters)
  • Google has pursued bids from manufacturers in India to make between 500,000 and 1 million Pixel smartphones, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions, as the company seeks to move some consumer electronics production out of China due to its COVID-19 lockdowns that have impacted supply chains. (The Information)
  • Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay New Jersey $100 million in back taxes after the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development found that the company and subsidiary Raiser owed four years of back taxes because they classified drivers as contractors rather than employees. Despite the settlement, an Uber spokesperson said that its drivers in New Jersey and nationwide are still considered independent contractors. (The New York Times)

 

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

 

Chart Review

 
 

What Else You Need to Know

General
 

Google closes $5.4B Mandiant acquisition

Paul Sawers, TechCrunch

Google has announced that its proposed $5.4 billion bid to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant is now complete.

 

SEC charges VMware with misleading investors by obscuring financial performance

Kanishka Singh, Reuters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday it has charged cloud computing company VMware Inc. with misleading investors by obscuring its financial performance.

 

Oracle Sales Top Expectations as Cloud Businesses Thrive

Denny Jacob, The Wall Street Journal

Oracle Corp. sales topped expectations in the latest quarter, as its cloud businesses and integration of Cerner Corp. lifted results despite concerns about a slowdown among technology companies in response to economic uncertainty.

 

Extreme California heat knocks key Twitter data center offline

Donie O’Sullivan et al., CNN

Extreme heat in California has left Twitter without one of its key data centers, and a company executive warned in an internal memo obtained by CNN that another outage elsewhere could result in the service going dark for some of its users.

 

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Says Booster Rocket Failed During Uncrewed Mission

Micah Maidenberg, The Wall Street Journal

A rocket operated by Blue Origin LLC failed during a planned uncrewed space flight, ending the mission prematurely, the Jeff Bezos-backed space company said.

 

Former NSA Chief Keith Alexander Accused of Pump-and-Dump Investment Scheme

Lee Fang, The Intercept

Retired Gen. Keith Alexander, a highly connected former intelligence agency official who once oversaw mass surveillance programs, is the latest high-profile executive to be accused of taking advantage of the “meme stock” craze to defraud ordinary investors.

 

Bill Nelson: Everybody Poo-Pooed SpaceX. Look at Them Now

Ed Browne, Newsweek

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has commended SpaceX on its rise within the space industry after years of being “poo-pooed” by critics. “I think the private space industry is extremely beneficial,” he told Newsweek. “Just look at what SpaceX has already accomplished.”

 

This Man Is Trying to Put Mirrors in Space to Generate Solar Power at Night

Thobey Campion, Motherboard

Ben Nowack and Tons of Mirrors is solving solar energy’s nighttime problem.

 
Antitrust and Competition
 

Smaller tech companies urge vote on antitrust bill

Rebecca Klar, The Hill

Smaller tech companies that offer more privacy options than the dominant giants on Tuesday sent a letter urging Congress to pass a key antitrust bill. 

 

EU urged to reject ‘weak’ Amazon offer to end antitrust probe

Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch

A series of commitments offered by Amazon in the EU, where regulators are investigating competition concerns linked to its use of third party data, has been dubbed “weak, vague and full of loopholes” in a critical submission signed by a dozen civil society and digital rights groups, non-governmental organizations and trade unions.

 

Amazon’s compliance with new laws ‘a work in progress’, says top EU official

Dave Lee, Financial Times

Regulator opens Silicon Valley office to enforce sweeping legislation and improve tech sector co-operation. 

 

Meta Seeks Out Secrets From Over 100 Companies to Win Antitrust Suit

Leah Nylen and Alex Barinka, Bloomberg

To defend itself against the federal government, Meta Platforms Inc. says it needs its rivals to divulge some of their most closely held secrets.

 

Report: Losing tech race with China could cost U.S. trillions

Ina Fried, Axios

The United States could miss out on trillions of dollars in economic growth if it fails to confront the growing technology threat posed by China, according to a new report from the Eric Schmidt-led Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP).

 

Amazon charges ahead with acquisitions, daring FTC to act

Ashley Gold, Axios

Amazon is going on another acquisition shopping spree in the shadow cast by Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan’s high-profile critique of the company’s size and power.

 
Artificial Intelligence/Automation
 

Meta moves PyTorch to Linux Foundation

Ina Fried, Axios

Facebook parent Meta is shifting its PyTorch AI tools, which are already available under open source license, to an outside governance model overseen by a new independent board under the auspices of the Linux Foundation.

 

Cruise to launch robotaxi services in Austin, Phoenix before end of 2022

Rebecca Bellan, TechCrunch

GM’s self-driving technology unit Cruise will launch commercial robotaxi services in Austin, Texas and Phoenix — two hot spots for autonomous vehicle development — “in the next 90 days and before the end of 2022,” Cruise CEO and co-founder Kyle Vogt said Monday.

 

Tesla’s Autopilot Heads to Trial

Malathi Nayak, Bloomberg Businessweek

The EV maker is facing litigation over a fatal crash that will decide whether its marketing overstates the capabilities of automated driving systems.

 

Artist Uses AI Surveillance Cameras to Identify Influencers Posing for Instagram

Samantha Cole, Motherboard

Dries Depoorter’s “The Follower” project combines AI, open access cameras, and influencers to show behind the scenes of viral shots—without them knowing.

 
Telecom, Wireless and Internet Access
 

Google spins out secret hi-speed telecom project called Aalyria, and keeps stake in startup

Jennifer Elias, CNBC

Inside Google, a team of techies has been working behind the scenes on software for high-speed communications networks that extend from land to space.

 

CWA eyes launch of a nationwide fiber apprenticeship program

Diana Goovaerts, Fierce Telecom

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union is pouring $5.8 million in federal funding into a revamped fiber apprenticeship program in California in hopes that a pilot in the state will provide a model that can be replicated across the country. The move is part of the union’s effort to further organize the telecom workforce at a critical moment for the industry.

 
Mobile Technology
 

Micron breaks ground on $15 billion U.S. chip plant, says more to come soon

Jane Lanhee Lee, Reuters

Micron Technology Inc., the biggest U.S. memory chip company, on Monday will break ground for a $15 billion factory in Boise, Idaho, and its chief executive told Reuters an announcement of another new U.S. plant will be coming soon.

 

Taiwan’s GlobalWafers sees Nov groundbreaking for $5 bln Texas plant

Sarah Wu, Reuters

Taiwan’s GlobalWafers Co. Ltd. expects to start construction in November of its new $5 billion plant in Texas, the company’s chairwoman and CEO said on Tuesday.

 

Investors, analysts question Biden’s plan to limit U.S. investments in Chinese tech

Suzanne Smalley, CyberScoop

Reports of the White House efforts are already stirring concern in the business community, particularly since the precise contours of the proposed regulation remain largely unknown.

 

US struggles to mobilise its East Asian ‘Chip 4’ alliance

Christian Davies et al., Financial Times

Internal tensions and concerns over China undermine proposed grouping with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

 
Cybersecurity and Privacy
 

CISA seeks public comment on upcoming major cyber incident reporting regulations

Nihal Krishan, CyberScoop

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday issued a request for public input on proposed regulations that are expected to shake up how the private sector and public agencies respond to major cyberattacks.

 

New attack can unlock and start a Tesla Model Y in seconds, say researchers

Kim Zetter, The Verge

The sophisticated relay attack requires two thieves working together — one near the owner and one near the car.

 

A Cyber Workforce Strategy is Coming From the White House, Along with an Implementation Body to Make Sure it Works

Natalie Alms, Nextgov

National Cyber Director Chris Inglis’ team is working on a plan to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals and push broader awareness and education about cybersecurity. 

 
Social Media and Content Moderation
 

U.N. investigator says Facebook provided vast amount of Myanmar war crimes information

Reuters

The head of a U.N. team of investigators on Myanmar said on Monday that Facebook has handed over millions of items that could support allegations of war crimes and genocide.

 

Instagram Stumbles in Push to Mimic TikTok, Internal Documents Show

Salvador Rodriguez et al., The Wall Street Journal

Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is betting the social-media giant’s near-term future on Instagram Reels, the short-video feature he is touting as the company’s answer to TikTok. The company’s internal research shows that Meta has a lot of catching up to do.

 

From block to blue ticks: How China became big business for Twitter

Fanny Potkin et al., Reuters

Even as China bars 1.4 billion citizens from Twitter, its local authorities are splurging on global advertising on the site, helping make the country the platform’s fastest-growing overseas ad market and one of its largest non-U.S. revenue sources.

 
Tech Workforce
 

Amazon’s workplace safety chief to leave next month, internal memo says

Annie Palmer, CNBC

Amazon’s top executive overseeing workplace health and safety is leaving the company next month, CNBC has learned.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

It’s time to fund America’s investments in the future

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) et al., The Hill

The U.S. finds itself in a challenging moment along many dimensions. Political divisions, high prices, supply chain woes, and economic challenges from foreign competitors like China dominate our headlines. Fortunately, despite the pressures for myopic focus on the present, Congress and President Biden recently made a much-needed commitment to our nation’s ability to compete with successful passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. 

 

US Chip Curbs Will Highlight Cracks in China’s AI Strategy

Tim Culpan, Bloomberg

Tighter restrictions on US semiconductor and equipment sales are set to test China’s artificial intelligence superpowers as Washington removes a key plank of next-generation technological development.

 
Morning Consult