10 things in tech you need to know today

Cheers, it's Friday. Amazon Prime memberships are officially getting more expensive, and an artist put an $11.7 million gold cube in NYC's Central Park (spoiler: it has something to do with crypto).

Let's get started.

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1. It's official: Amazon Prime is about to get more expensive. The e-commerce giant announced yesterday that its membership will be increasing by $20 per year.

• The cost of Prime will jump from $119 to $139 annually, or from $12.99 to $14.99 for those who pay monthly.
• This will mark the third price increase in Prime's history. When it launched in 2005, Amazon charged $79 a year in the US for the service, and has since raised the cost to $99 in 2014 and to $119 in 2018.
• The price increase will come into effect for existing Prime members after March 25 on the date their membership renews. New members will see the higher price beginning Feb. 18.
• Amazon pointed to rising costs and added perks as the reasons behind the price increase.

Everything you need to know about the price hike.

In other news:

2. Mark Zuckerberg told employees they're up against an "unprecedented level of competition" from TikTok. After Meta posted brutal fourth-quarter earnings and reported its first-ever drop in users, Zuckerberg encouraged employees to focus on Instagram Reels, its TikTok clone. Here's what else he told employees.

3. Carbon-accounting and -offsetting startups are red-hot right now. As companies rush to reduce, track, and offset their carbon emissions, a flood of new carbon-accounting startups has begun vying for their attention. We asked VCs which startups are poised to take off, and they gave us a list of the 17 hottest climate-tech companies.

4. Tesla is recalling up to 817,000 more cars. Just days after announcing a recall of 54,000 vehicles, the company is recalling cars over problems with their seat belt alerts. The recall affects all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as well as some Model S and Model X cars. Get the full rundown here.

5. The great venture-capital resignation is underway. In recent months, investors have called it quits, opting instead to strike out on their own to raise new funds — including Katie Haun, an influential crypto investor who departed Andreessen Horowitz. Why they're heading for the exits.

6. Google is working to salvage Stadia, its failing game service. The company has shifted the focus of its Stadia division largely to securing deals with partners like Peloton, Capcom, and Bungie — and is pitching the tech to them under a new name: Google Stream. Inside the fight to save Stadia.

7. A woman started a TikTok to teach people about Excel — and grew it into a seven-figure business. At the start of the pandemic, Kat Norton created an account teaching Excel functions, and has since garnered hundreds of thousands of followers and earned up to six figures in a single day. She explains how she turned her side hustle into a full-time job.

8. Spotify's CEO said the streamer needs Joe Rogan to achieve its "bold ambitions." According to leaked audio obtained by The Verge, CEO Daniel Ek defended the company's decision to continue airing Rogan's controversial podcast in a 15-minute speech to staffers. This is what he told employees.

9. A Black woman's guide to venture-capital fundraising. Insider tracked 40 Black women who raised at least $1 million in venture funds last year, and asked how they navigated the tricky landscape. From pitching investors to building a support network, here's their advice on how to raise millions.

10. An artist put an $11.7 million gold cube in Central Park. Why? The same reason anyone does anything in 2022: to promote his NFTs and a new cryptocurrency. Check out the 410-pound, knee-high cube.

The latest people moves in tech:

• Google has lost two ethical AI researchers to a research institute founded by ousted colleague Timnit Gebru.
• Better's chief operating officer and head of capital markets both left after CEO Vishal Garg returned.
• CNN President Jeff Zucker quit after failing to disclose a "consensual relationship" with a colleague.
• Pinterest's global head of revenue and ad sales just left the platform.
• SoftBank lost chief operating officer Marcelo Claure. More exec walkouts could follow.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.