Below is some tech news that is important to know.
- According to Financial Times, the Trump administration is being persuaded by the Google executives to let them continue doing business with Huawei because last month US companies were banned to work with Huawei by the Department of Commerce. In response, Google suspended its right to use the Google version of Andriod.
- Lakestar is an early backer of Airbnb and Spotify. It is reported that there is a mismatch between the huge fund size and Lakestar’s investing strategy to date. Lakestar has been trying to raise the largest ever venture capital fund of 800 million dollars. However, there are six sources that reveal that the company has struggled to motivate LPs on board.
- The details of the new Xbox game console has been revealed by Microsoft. Right now it is code-named as “Project Scarlett.” It will arrive by the end of 2020 with better load times and extra processing power.
- One of the main organizers of the Google Walkout, Claire Stapleton, has left the company stating the reason that she has to bear backlash for her organizing efforts. Stapleton alleged that Google retaliated against her after the Google Walkout. For instance, she had been demoted and lost half of her reports. She hired a lawyer to carry out internal investigation resulting in the restoration of her role but the environment continued to be hostile.
- YouTube is a Google-owned streaming-video platform. It took a controversial decision last week and Google is facing backlash from LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco. YouTube invokes free-speech concerns in a decision not to punish a YouTube channel which is maintained by Steven Crowder, a conservative commentator having about 4 million subscribers. Members of LGBTQ+ communities petitioned San Francisco Pride to exclude Google but the board of San Francisco Pride has not decided whether to allow Google to participate.
- Facebook is another US company that has cut ties with the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Now Huawei phones will not have Facebook apps like Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp preinstalled. Trump administration put Huawei on a trade blacklist last month. US companies will have to take permission to start doing any business with Huawei. Users of new Huawei phones can install Facebook-owned apps from Google Play store but once Huawei’s temporary license is up then new Huawei phones will not have the Play store as Google is cutting Huawei off from the Android operating system.
- Self-driving car startup, Drive.AI will be bought by the tech giant Apple in an attempt to bring more engineers with experience in autonomous vehicle technology to the iPhone maker, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple won’t be using any intellectual property from the start-up.
- Trump’s acting budget chief Russell Vought is asking for a 2-year delay in restrictions against Huawei Technologies Co Ltd products, as per a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and nine members of Congress. The proposed changes would also require more public forums for suppliers to raise concerns about issues created by the restrictions.
- Boston Dynamics’ Spot robotic dog is launching a lifelike robot dog which is finally going on sale in a matter of months. A series of videos have been published by the company showing how precisely the machine can carry out mundane everyday tasks, like opening a door or loading a dishwasher, etc. The company has not shared extra details about the robotic pup such as how much the robot will cost or how it’s intended to be used.
- The Washington Post and The Guardian cannot be accessed from the Chinese internet now. Bloomberg, The New York Times, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal are some of the other outlets that have been blocked. China has increased censorship in the weeks surrounding the Tiananmen Massacre that occurred on June 4, 1989.
