May 15, 2018

Amazon "disappointed" with Seattle homelessness tax

A part of Amazon's Seattle headquarters under construction in 2015. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Amazon is "disappointed" by Seattle's decision to impose a per-worker tax on large companies to help pay toward the city’s homelessness and affordable housing crises — with Amazon Vice President Drew Herdener saying that the decision "forces [the company] to question our growth here," per Recode.

“We are disappointed by today’s City Council decision to introduce a tax on jobs. While we have resumed construction planning for [Amazon's Seattle campus expansion] Block 18, we remain very apprehensive about the future created by the council’s hostile approach and rhetoric toward larger businesses, which forces us to question our growth here.”
— Amazon VP Drew Herdener

Go deeper: The nationwide beauty contest to score Amazon's HQ2.

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The polarized pandemic election

A Trump supporter protests Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order, during a May 15 rally outside the Capitol in Harrisburg. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images

President Trump is going all-in on pushing for a rapid, robust return to normal life, creating a visual, visceral contrast with Joe Biden and other Democrats who are more reticent to rip the masks off.

The state of play: Business friends have been urging Trump from the beginning to keep the lockdowns short. He's listening more and more.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow58 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Tech's long hot summer of antitrust

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Google, Facebook and other tech giants face a summer of regulatory grilling as long-running investigations into potential anticompetitive practices likely come to a head.

The big picture: Probes into the power of Big Tech launched by federal and state authorities are turning a year old, and observers expect action in the form of formal lawsuits and potentially damning reports — even as the companies have become a lifeline for Americans during the pandemic lockdown.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow1 hour ago - Technology

Palantir CEO hits Silicon Valley "monoculture," may leave California

Palantir is "getting close" to a decision on whether to move the company out of California, CEO Alex Karp said in an interview for "Axios on HBO."

The state of play: "We haven't picked a place yet, but it's going to be closer to the East Coast than the West Coast. ... If I had to guess, I would guess something like Colorado."

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow2 hours ago - Economy & Business