ZTE research institute in Tianjin Binhai New Area. Photo: Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images.
Apple and Amazon's battle with Bloomberg Businessweek over its report of Chinese spies infiltrating their supply chains has captivated the industry in the last couple of days. But here's what else happened in tech news this week.
Catch up quick: A federal judge says China's ZTE violated probation; Honda will invest $2.75 billion in Cruise; Twitter outlined election integrity efforts and new rules; and Tribune Publishing Co. ditched the Tronc name after just two years.
U.S. judge says China's ZTE violated probation (Reuters)
Why it matters: Chinese company ZTE has had a rough last several months, including a near death after a U.S. ban for violating national security sanctions. President Trump lifted ZTE sanctions in June and replaced them with a fine, but the Senate introduced a bill in September to reinstate sanctions. Now, it's back in hot water after a U.S. judge ruled that ZTE violated the probation and extended it two more years, until 2022.
Honda to invest $2.75 billion in GM's Cruise (Axios)
Why it matters: The race to put self-driving cars on the roads continues, and GM's Cruise unit has promised to roll out a self-driving service in 2019. The companies' partnership will include building a brand new self-driving vehicle together, building on Honda's experience using interior space-efficient vehicles and their existing partnership on electric and fuel cell technology. For Honda, this can be a way to stay in the race as a smaller automaker by smarting deploying its resources.
Twitter outlines election integrity efforts and new rules (Twitter blog post)
Why it matters: Social media services like Twitter were targets of abuse in the 2016 U.S. elections, so the company is hoping to be better prepared this time around. So far, Twitter says it has removed about 50 accounts pretending to be members of various state Republican parties.
Tribune Publishing Co. ditches Tronc name after just two years (Bloomberg)
Why it matters: The media company's attempt to run full-force into the digital era with a new name mostly sparked countless jokes, and not much else. Tronc will revert back to its 150-year-old name, the Tribune Publishing Company, by Oct. 9.