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- Emails released on Wednesday by the congressional subcommittee investigating antitrust in Big Tech gave an insight into how Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon headed off competitive threats. The emails revealed how Google bought YouTube; why Amazon bought Ring; why Steve Jobs cut off a developer; and why Facebook acquired Instagram.
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he couldn't guarantee Amazon's policy against using seller data to dictate its private-label business has never been violated. A Wall Street Journal investigation from April found that Amazon was using sales data to inform its own product categories.
- Republican lawmakers hijacked the historic antitrust hearing to air conspiracy theories and accuse tech companies of secretly working to undermine Trump. Lawmakers aired grievances and accused tech companies of plotting to censor right-wing views and undermine Trump's campaign.
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said social media is a "nuance-destruction machine" during the antitrust hearing. The comment was made in response to a question asked by Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican, who probed the four CEOs for their opinion on "cancel culture."
- Arizona is investigating whether Apple broke the law by deliberately slowing down old iPhones. In 2017, Apple acknowledged that it had throttled some older iPhones, arguing it did so to avoid unexpected shutdowns from power spikes.
- TikTok's CEO slammed Facebook for attacking the Chinese company and launching a 'copycat' product. TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer slammed Facebook for deeming its own success "patriotic" and painting the viral app as the "enemy."
- Snap releases diversity report for the first time in its history, shows Black and Latinx employees comprise 10.9% of staff. Since its 2011 founding, Snap has not released its diversity numbers publicly.
- A 10-year-old boy died on Tuesday afternoon in a bicycle accident with an Amazon delivery van, the company confirmed on Wednesday. The boy reportedly crashed into the back of the Amazon delivery van, the company said, while both were traveling downhill.
- An EU bank tweeted out the N-word after a hacker took over its account and other accounts, weeks after Twitter's giant hack. An individual who appears to be based in Australia and goes by the online moniker "Switch" appeared to claim responsibility for some of the hijackings, plus several other takeovers of other verified accounts.
- NASA has stowed a solar-powered helicopter in the belly of its Perseverance Mars rover, which is set to launch Thursday morning. The helicopter, called Ingenuity, is programmed to conduct the first controlled flights ever on another planet.
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