10 things in tech you need to know today
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1. People are slamming Elon Musk after he tweeted asking for sketch ideas for his "SNL" appearance tomorrow night. Journalists, unions, and politicians gave him sarcastic suggestions - including that he should pay more taxes or donate his wealth. Despite the uproar, Pete Davidson defended Musk hosting this weekend's episode.
2. A 1997 article said Bill and Melinda Gates agreed he could spend one long weekend a year with his ex. The Time magazine article said he could spend the weekend at his ex-girlfriend's North Carolina beach cottage. More on that arrangement.
3. Understanding Elon Musk's multibillion-dollar compensation plan. Elon Musk is superrich (like, depending on the day, wealthiest-person-alive rich). But the exact details of his compensation plan are complicated. So we broke down how his elaborate pay agreement works.
4. Twitter now prompts users to check their tweets for "harmful or offensive" content before posting. The feature uses AI to detect harmful language in a tweet a user has composed, and can distinguish between offensive content, sarcasm, and "friendly banter." How the feature works.
5. Coinbase is closing its San Francisco HQ as it plans for a decentralized workplace. While the cryptocurrency-trading platform had first said it would just downgrade its HQ, Coinbase will now be shutting it down entirely in 2022. A look at the company's remote-first strategy.
6. Facebook pays lofty salaries to members of its "Supreme Court" that can overrule Zuckerberg. The tech giant pays members of its 20-person Oversight Board six-figure salaries, only for it to tell Facebook to solve its own problems. More on that here.
7. A bottle of red wine that aged for 14 months on the International Space Station is up for sale. Christie's auction house is selling an out-of-this-world bottle of Bordeaux from 2000 - and it could fetch up to $1 million. Here's the scoop on the space wine.
8. Jeff Bezos' former No. 2 said he'll email his old team at Amazon if he notices a "defect." Jeff Wilke, who oversaw Amazon's consumer business before stepping down earlier this year, said he'll still pay close attention to customer service - and will let his former team know if there's a problem.
9. VC firms are scrambling to get into crypto investing. In the wake of Andreessen Horowitz's plans to raise a $1 billion crypto fund, other venture capitalists are rushing to be a part of the action. Get the full rundown.
10. A key investor in Snowflake and UiPath is betting big on VAST Data. VAST Data, a hot startup that makes it cheaper and easier for companies to analyze their AI data, tripled its valuation in a year to $3.7 billion. Here's why investors are bullish on the startup.
Compiled by Jordan Erb. Tips/comments? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @JordanParkerErb.
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