10 Things in Tech: Titan sub debris, tough questions at Microsoft, and kei trucks
Hello again, readers. Nathan Rennolds, an associate editor in London, here.
Debris found near the Titanic was yesterday confirmed to be from the missing Titan submersible, suggesting it likely suffered a catastrophic implosion during its descent to the wreck.
The US Navy said that a top-secret acoustic detection system that it uses to identify enemy subs had first detected the fate of the Titan soon after it lost contact with its surface vessel.
Now, let's get to today's tech.
1. Microsoft's cloud boss faces tough questions about pay and low morale, leaked messages show. Microsoft employees blasted the company's decision to pause pay raises and cut bonuses and stock awards ahead of a cloud meeting.
- Questions submitted by employees for a meeting with cloud boss Scott Guthrie suggested he'd told the previous meeting that no changes would come to raises and that the company would allocate additional money to cover travel and team morale.
- CEO Satya Nadella notified employees that the company was halting raises and cutting budget for bonuses and stock awards, while chief people officer Kathleen Hogan told managers to give fewer employees "exceptional rewards."
- Microsoft's employees aired their grievances about the announcement on an internal message board. One wrote: "Why do they think it's appropriate to screw over their employees like this?"
In other news:
2. Twitter hasn't paid Oracle in months. That's despite Larry Ellison, one of Elon Musk's best friends, being an investor. More on the story here.
3. EA's "FIFA" video games are losing the lucrative branding — here's how it will cope. The soccer series is a big revenue driver, but the next game won't have that branding. CMO David Tinson revealed how he plans to keep the game alive. The full story.
4. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son thinks his firm will "rule the world." Son told the company's annual shareholder meeting he believed his firm will be a winner in the AI race thanks to its investments. Read more.
5. "I was laid off from Lyft and it left me shocked but relieved." Ziwei Li lost her job at Lyft in November, but said she felt relief, adding that everyone should have a backup plan due to the current economic situation. More here.
6. Salesforce's chief people officer offended some employees during a Pride event. The company edited his comments out of a recording and deleted a related Slack thread. Get the full story.
7. Tesla's most important moments. From its founders to bringing EVs mainstream, here are the key moments in the EV company's history. Find them all here.
8. The CEO of Ancestry details six things that are hard to admit as a working mother. In a deeply personal essay, Deb Liu shares the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a full-time working parent and writes that no matter what, the world will still judge moms. Here are five other things they don't tell you about motherhood.
Odds and ends:
9. Kei trucks are winning over Americans. The tiny Japanese trucks are about 11 feet long and are typically limited to 25 miles an hour. They're a common sight on smaller Japanese roads, but now Americans are buying the compact, versatile, and cheap vehicles. Find out more.
10. Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg. The former Twitter CEO said that he'd be up for a cage fight against the Meta founder, but it might not be the best idea. Zuckerberg is training in MMA and winning jiu-jitsu competitions, so it might be time for Musk to back out before it's too late. Read more.
Today's team: Nathan Rennolds and Jack Sommers in London