10 Things in Tech: Theranos ex-COO in court
Seasonal affective disorder sufferers, rejoice! The Senate just voted to make daylight saving time permanent.
Anyways, onto today's tech news. Former Theranos president Sunny Balwani's trial starts today, and Tesla has been quietly raising the price on its cheapest model.
Let's dive in.
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1. Sunny Balwani's trial starts today. Balwani, the former president and COO of shuttered blood-testing startup Theranos and founder Elizabeth Holmes' ex-boyfriend, is finally getting his day in court. But, Adam Lashinsky writes, he's pretty much screwed.
- Holmes was found guilty of four fraud-related charges in January. She was found not guilty on four more counts, and the jury failed to reach a verdict on three others. Now, Balwani is facing the same 12 counts as Holmes.
- Lashinsky predicts that Balwani's trial will likely follow a similar script as his codefendant's — but that the former president lacks two defenses Holmes relied on: charm and cluelessness.
- The two are now the subjects of a Hulu limited series, "The Dropout." With Holmes played by Amanda Seyfried and Balwani portrayed by Naveen Andrews, the series chronicles the meteoric rise and fall of Theranos and Holmes herself. You can watch the trailer here.
What to expect from Balwani's trial.
In other news:
2. The price of Tesla's cheapest car has increased by $10,000 over the past year. The Model 3 now starts at $46,990, up from $36,990 about a year ago. Tesla drastically overhauled the pricing for its entire lineup this week, raising prices by up to $12,500. More on Tesla's price increases.
3. Some Googlers are pushing back on the company's return-to-office policy. Employees raised concerns about the company's hybrid work plan during an all-hands meeting last month. Some said the policy was applied inconsistently across teams, with some workers banned from remote work and others getting special treatment. Here's what employees are saying.
4. Amazon's acquisition of MGM was approved in the EU. The European Commission determined the $8.45 billion deal — which would expand Amazon Prime's streaming selection to include big-name titles like James Bond — wouldn't harm competition. Now, Amazon's last regulatory roadblock is the Federal Trade Commission. Here's a look at what that means.
5. We outlined tech giants' highest-paying cloud certifications. Demand for cloud skills is growing exponentially — and so are the salaries for those jobs. Having a certification from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google Cloud, or other tech giants could help you earn more than $100,000. Check them out (and what it takes to earn them) here.
6. Politicians and warlords are responding to Elon Musk's challenge to fight Vladimir Putin. After Musk invited Russia's leader to "single combat" to decide Ukraine's fate, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russia's space chief chimed in to side with Putin. See their latest beef here.
7. Shopify is diving headfirst into the world of NFTs, Web3, AR, and more. The e-commerce company is growing its dedicated blockchain team and exploring more uses for augmented and virtual reality, signaling an interest in how the tech can be used to help merchants. How Shopify is defying metaverse critics.
8. Mark Zuckerberg just expanded on his vision for the metaverse. While speaking at the South by Southwest Festival in Texas, the Facebook founder and CEO said a more functional metaverse is still "a few years off," and said NFTs are coming to Instagram.
Odds and ends:
9. We outlined a few ways we could actually use NFTs (that don't involve cartoon apes). NFTs don't have to be limited to multimillion-dollar pieces of art. Instead, we could ultimately use them for concert or sports tickets, or as passports. Here are four ways we could use NFTs in the real world.
10. These are Netflix's 13 biggest TV shows of all time. "Inventing Anna," a new limited series from Shonda Rhimes, has quickly become one of the streaming service's most popular shows. From "The Witcher" to "Stranger Things," see what other Netflix shows made the list.
What we're watching today:
- The Federal Open Market Committee is making its decision on interest rates today.
- Forbes is hosting a virtual Digital Assets & Web3 Summit today.
- The House Commerce subcommittee is holding a hearing on "5G and Beyond: Exploring the Next Wireless Frontier."
- The Brookings Institution is hosting a discussion on democracy and technology.
- Foxconn is reporting earnings today. Keep up with earnings here.
Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.