10 things in tech: Google, FB mandate vax - Robinhood IPO - AWS exec exit
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1. Big tech giants like Google and Facebook will require employees to get vaccinated. The companies have become the latest to mandate vaccinations in order to return to the office. It comes after an attendee at an Uber board meeting had COVID-19 and went on to infect other employees. Here's what you need to know.
2. Apple warns the chip shortage is finally coming for iPhones. On an earnings call, Tim Cook said the supply constraints that have wreaked havoc on computers, cars, and other industries are finally going to reach iPhone production. What that might mean for iPhone sales.
3. Silicon Valley elites have picked up a new hobby: hydrofoiling. The sport - think of it as a mix of surfing and hoverboarding - has stolen the hearts of Big Tech bosses, including Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page. Get the details on the sport (and see a photo of Zuck hydrofoiling while carrying a US flag).
4. Trading app Robinhood is scheduled to start trading today. From the deal the company offered to investors who saved it from the meme-stock debacle, to the legal and regulatory risks it still faces, here's a rundown of what you should know ahead of its much-anticipated trading debut.
5. Facebook warns its growth is about to "decelerate significantly." The company predicted growing pains in the coming months following a pandemic-driven boom that landed it expectation-shattering second-quarter earnings. Get the full story here.
6. Tesla drivers in Elon Musk's tunnel taxis are told not to talk about him during rides. The Boring Company gives drivers a script of what they can - and can't - say to passengers, TechCrunch reports. Take a look at some of the rules they're expected to follow.
7. Mark Zuckerberg's security costs more than the combined price of keeping 10 other top execs safe. Last year, Facebook spent more than $23.4 million for personal security for Zuckerberg and his family. Meanwhile, the total cost for 10 other tech execs was $23.3 million. More on the price of Zuck's safety.
8. A 20-person firm just beat Elon Musk in getting the OK to test brain-chip implants in humans. Synchron has beat Musk's Neuralink to human trials of the chip, which could serve as a possible aid for paralyzed people. Learn more about the small biotech company.
9. Eleven important execs left Amazon Web Services in 2021. Those who left the cloud giant this year include executives in business apps, databases, and IT services - but four new power players have joined in the past few months. Take a look at the exiting power players.
10. Your Apple laptop is probably repaired at a facility that workers say is a "sweatshop." Apple contracts out many of its laptop repairs to CSAT Solutions, a company where low-wage workers say they toil in oppressive heat, and have reported waiting in long lines to use toilets smeared with feces. Here's what you need to know about the company that repairs your Macbook.
Compiled by Jordan Erb. Tips/comments? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @JordanParkerErb.
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