10 things in tech you need to know today
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- Apple's security chief was indicted. Thomas Moyer was accused of offering 200 iPads worth an estimated $70,000 to local law-enforcement officials in exchange for concealed-carry weapons permits.
- Amazon is surveilling employee union efforts. The e-commerce behemoth is reportedly using union-busting Pinkerton spies to track warehouse workers and labor movements at the company.
- Facebook plans to woo Biden. The social media company plans to roll out new vaccine and climate change features in a bid to curry favour with President-elect Joe Biden.
- Uber and Lyft won a major federal contract. The ride hailing giants have been awarded a contract worth up to $810 million to offer their services to public agencies and their more than 4 million employees.
- Alibaba's CEO praised China's new tech regulations. Daniel Zhang said that China's new regulations to prevent the formation of internet monopolies are "timely and necessary."
- Snapchat launched a TikTok-like tab. The app's new Spotlight tab is a curated feed of "entertaining" posts submitted by users, a little like TikTok's "For You" page.
- Intel shuttered an ambitious AR/VR project. The company quietly shut down Intel Studios, a 10,000-square-foot volumetric capture stage in Los Angeles, last month, per Protocol.
- Twitter will show tweet warnings. The social media giant will warn users if they try and like a tweet appended with a warning label.
- Andreessen Horowitz closed two new mega funds. The venture capital giant has raised a $3.2 million growth fund and a $1.3 billion early-stage fund to manage a total of $16.5 billion in assets.
- Travis Kalanick's NYC penthouse was used for a party. The former Uber CEO's $37 million NYC penthouse was reportedly the site of a large gathering in September where no one was wearing a mask.