10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

1. US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has sounded the alarm about the rise of facial recognition. "This is some real-life 'Black Mirror' stuff that we're seeing here," Ocasio-Cortez said during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
2. Indian business owners are furious about Amazon's $1 billion expansion into their country. The e-commerce giant's CEO Jeff Bezos is visiting the country but has been labelled an "economic terrorist" by small business owners.
3. Chinese tech giant Huawei is offering UK and Irish developers $26 million to build apps for its phones. Huawei is trying to lure developers to build apps for its flagship phones, after it was placed on a US trade blacklist in 2019 and cut off from Google's services on Android.
4. A bipartisan group of US Senators is proposing a $1 billion bill to help stop Huawei's 5G plans. The proposed act would commit funds to subsidize US companies which are developing 5G wireless capabilities.
5. Apple has acquired Xnor.ai a Seattle-based startup which focuses on edge-based AI tools, according to GeekWire. The company was spun out of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen's AI startup incubator A12 and is being bought for around $200 million.
6. Jack Dorsey says Twitter will 'probably never' add an edit button. Dorsey made the revelation during a video Q&A with Wired, arguing that an edit button could be used to mislead people.
7. Chinese ride-hailing startup Dida Chuxing is seeking $300 million in new funds and is considering an IPO, according to Bloomberg. The move comes amid greater competition for its larger rival, Didi Chuxing.
8. The blackout on mobile internet and social media in the Indian-administered state of Kashmir remains in place despite an ease on restrictions. The BBC reports some broadband connection was returned to the region following a blackout imposed in August amid escalating tensions.
9. Microsoft has launched its new Edge browser based on Google's Chromium open source project. VentureBeat reports the new browser is said to be twice as fast as older versions and can be downloaded on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Mac OS.
10. Mozilla is laying off around 70 members of staff following a slow rollout of the company's revenue-boosting products. In an internal memo seen by TechCrunch, Mozilla chairwoman and interim CEO Mitchell Baker mentioned a lack of revenue generation as central to the decision.

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