10 Things in Tech: Airbnb's Montana smackdown, Microsoft whining, Salesforce worrying, and Reddit rage

Happy Mondays. I'm Insider's global tech editor Alistair Barr, and I've been missing people a lot lately.

A family emergency earlier in June took me away from the newsroom for many days. When I returned, I realized what I'd missed. The list is long but here's a sample:

• Kali Hays holding Elon Musk's Twitter to account, and covering the social media industry with passion and wit. I love calling up Kali for a fun chat about what she's learned and how we can tell readers what she knows with certainty.
• Eugene Kim uncovering the inner workings of Amazon. Yes, he has amazing e-commerce and cloud contacts, but he goes that extra 1,000 miles to gather internal documents that give his stories an unshakeable foundation of verified facts.
• Ashley Stewart getting inside Microsoft and other software giants. It's easy to blog announcements, but what's really happening? I love to hear what Ashley digs up and how she works tirelessly to check everything is true.
• Meghan Morris and Rob Price investigating the troubling activities of industry power players. They instinctively know how to tap sources, documents, and other resources to get the facts nailed down.

These independent journalists are paid to find and check facts. They have no ax to grind. No sale to complete. No fund to raise. No votes to win. Without this, we're left with PR reps spinning news, tech bloggers kissing up to Apple, industry newsletters shilling product, and social media influencers regurgitating rumors with no filter.

The media industry has cut 17,436 jobs so far in 2023, the highest year-to-date on record. Maybe one day you'll miss journalists, too.

OK, let's get into it.

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1. Airbnb Montana smackdown: Life in the town of Bozeman is harder thanks to short-term rentals. Bozeman has become a popular Instagram-ready gateway to the Mountain West. That sparked a boom in Airbnb and Vrbo properties in the town, causing rents and property prices to surge.

• Some residents told Insider that they've lost neighbors and that the cost of living has risen to unsustainable levels. Others welcome the economic boost from more tourists and investment in the area.
• A group called Bozeman Tenants United is trying to ban whole-home rentals, like those on Airbnb and Vrbo, with an exception for renting out individual rooms.
• My colleague Dan Latu talked with four Bozeman-area residents about their experiences with the short-term rental boom, how it's impacted their homes and livelihoods, and what they see as a path forward.

Check in to the full story here.

In other news:

2. Microsoft whining. Employees of the world's largest software company are not content with juicy tech salaries, living near beautiful Seattle, and not paying state income tax in Washington. Instead, some of them are upset with their compensation and Microsoft's leadership. Read about their frustrations here.

3. Salesforce staff are a bit worried. The cloud software provider recently polled employees and found they feel generally good about the company's ethics. They are concerned about retaining talented colleagues, their future at Salesforce, and how leadership decisions adhere to the company's core values. Get the details here.

4. Mixing work and love. Social media influencers in relationships often have to work together. Here's how famous TikTok couples and other creators navigate dating and content creation. One talent agent won't work with certain couples. Find out who here.

5. More bad news for startups. Many are already struggling to raise money. Now, Congress is debating who should be allowed to invest in startups. One bill would have investors take a test to become accredited. The testing times are explained here.

6. Is the AI hype cycle peaking? A lot of money flowed out of AI-related tech stocks this week. That could be a sign the recent ChatGPT-inspired market jump is running out of steam. "Black Swan" author Nassim Taleb just warned about this. When SoftBank says it's all-in, that's often a bad sign, too. Check out the data here.

7. Reddit rage. The popular online forum is returning to normal after a sitewide blackout to protest changes to its API pricing policy. But there's still "simmering rage," especially among the site's moderators. Log on to see the aftermath.

8. Bowties not hoodies. Silicon Valley titans attended the White House late last week to dine with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. That country recently passed China as the most populous nation. And it has yet to ban big US tech platforms, unlike China. So, tech execs dressed up for the occasion. See who was there, and who wasn't.

Odds and ends:

9. The ultimate fight? UFC President Dana White would love to host a fight between Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Elon's mom is trying to stop it.

10. Fresh CMOs. Submit your nomination for Insider's 5th annual list recognizing first-time and newly named top marketers at consumer brands. Here's the form to fill out.

What we're watching today:

• The Collision tech conference starts today in Toronto and runs through June 29. Speakers include AWS CEO Adam Selipsky, AI godfather Geoff Hinton, and tech review legend Marques Brownlee.
• If you want to learn more about generative AI, head over to the Databricks Data & AI Summit at San Francisco's Moscone Center. It starts June 26.
• Snowflake kicks off its own conference on Monday, too. This one is in Las Vegas.

Curated by Alistair Barr in Silicon Valley. (Feedback or tips? Email abarr@insider.com or tweet @alistairmbarr) Edited by Lisa Ryan in New York and Jack Sommers (tweet @jack_sommers) in London.