REUTERS/Jason Lee
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Tuesday.
- China enacted a sweeping new law that bars people from posting negative content online, and it could be used to suppress coronavirus news. The new law, which took effect Sunday, bans "dissemination of rumors" and anything "destroying national unity."
- Facebook is pulling out of SXSW due to coronavirus fears. It's the latest company to pull out of the SXSW tech and culture festival due to fears around the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Two Amazon employees in Italy have contracted the coronavirus. The affected employees are based in Milan, Italy, and are now in quarantine.
- Apple will pay up to $500 million to end a lawsuit claiming it intentionally slowed down iPhones. The company faced intense backlash in 2017 after admitting the updates slowed down phones, and has faced fines previously over the same issue.
- China is reportedly making people download an Alibaba-backed app that decides whether they'll be quarantined for coronavirus. The app represents an unprecedented use of consumer smartphone technology in a public health crisis - and privacy advocates are worried.
- Google, Coinbase, and Twitter are all telling some employees to work from home this week amid the spread of coronavirus. Google isn't the only tech company to test such a policy, as Silicon Valley begins to adapt its practices around the coronavirus outbreak.
- Self-driving tech developer Waymo announced its first-ever outside funding with $2.25 billion - and its CEO said spinning off from Alphabet is 'certainly a possibility'. The round was led by investors Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Company, the company said.
- Elon Musk is vowing to support Twitter boss Jack Dorsey against the activist hedge fund trying to oust him. Musk voiced his support for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who is under attack from activist investor Elliott Management - and so did Twitter employees.
- Another VP has fled Uber amid a spate of high-level departures. Matthew Mengerink is the latest in a string of vice presidents to leave the ride-hailing giant after the heads of New Mobility and Uber Eats departed in recent months.
- Google scientists built an adorable four-legged robot that taught itself to walk without human help. The little robot learned to walk in just 1.5 hours - eat your heart out, Bambi.
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