10 things in tech you need to know today
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- President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out at Laurene Powell Jobs after a report in The Atlantic alleged that he referred to US soldiers who died in World War I as "losers" and "suckers." Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has owned a majority stake in The Atlantic since 2017 through her company Emerson Collective.
- The Pentagon upheld its $10 billion JEDI contract with Microsoft on Friday, months after Amazon challenged the decision in court, accusing Trump of improperly interfering in the process. The Pentagon announced Friday that "Microsoft's proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government."
- The White House is considering blacklisting a China-based chip maker in the US. A Defense Department official said that it may blacklist Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), forcing US companies to get a special license before shipping to the company.
- Facebook took down multiple pages for right-wing group Patriot Prayer and the group's founder, Joey Gibson. One of the members of Patriot Prayer was shot and killed during a protest in Portland, Oregon, last Saturday.
- Google is building its own town near its Silicon Valley headquarters, complete with parks, restaurants, and affordable housing. The new campus, called Middlefield Park, would span a 40-acre site and include public amenities like parks and sports field, retail space, restaurants, and affordable housing.
- There's an internal battle at tech companies such as Facebook, where parents are perceived to be getting more benefits and support and the expense of employees without children, according to the New York Times. Facebook offered 10 weeks of paid leave to parents who had to care for children during the pandemic.
- Amazon deleted 20,000 reviews from its platform after a Financial Times investigation found that users were profiting from posting positive reviews. The number one reviewer in the UK posted reviews of £15,000 worth of products.
- Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, in a video Friday targeted TikTok, which is less than two weeks away from facing a ban in the US under his father's executive order. In a video posted to Triller, a video-sharing app that has expressed interested in purchasing TikTok, Trump Jr. claimed TikTok could be "turning on your kid's video, listening in, turning on their mic at any random time not just when they're using the app."
- Facebook said it would take down videos of President Trump telling voters they should vote twice: once by mail, and once in the polling station. A Facebook spokesperson told Axios the video "violates our policies prohibiting voter fraud," but if users post it with context explaining that the information about voting twice is false, the video can stay up.
- Business Insider spoke to 12 founders and investors who raised rounds worth a collective $185 million remotely for their tips on wooing new backers. They emphasized the importance of maintaining key relationships with people who can introduce you to potential investors, as well as being better-prepared to answer questions remotely.
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