Apple plans to build a new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, adding thousands of jobs, while also setting up new large offices in Seattle, San Diego and the Los Angeles area.
Big picture: Apple said in January that it would look for a new area to set up shop outside of California and Texas. For now, though, the company is doing most of its growing in those two states, while also adding and expanding smaller offices elsewhere.
Details:
Bottom line: Apple is more than fulfilling its pledge to create jobs and expand domestic operations, even if the details have shifted a bit from the January plan. The company has added 6,000 U.S. jobs this year and is on track to reach the goal it set out in January of adding 20,000 domestic jobs by 2023.
Tax breaks: Apple is getting some incentives for the Austin expansion in the form of a $25 million grant from the state of Texas and what's likely to be tens of millions of dollars in local property tax abatements. However, that's a tiny fraction of what Amazon sought and got for its HQ2 moves in Virginia and New York. And Apple will still be providing fresh property tax revenue to the county.
History lesson: Apple has been in Austin since 1992, when it had fewer than 100 jobs there. Currently, with 6,200 jobs, it's Apple's largest center of employment outside of the Cupertino, Calif. headquarters. With the planned expansion, Apple is on track to be Austin's largest private employer.
Our thought bubble: For all the talk of how the smartphone market has peaked and Apple iPhone sales are hurting, the company is expanding at a pace that suggests it expects to keep growing.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai spent most of his three hours of testimony before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday dealing with allegations of conservative bias, though he also got pushed on the company's policies on privacy and China.
During an interview with Axios following his interrogation, Pichai discussed his thoughts on whether Google might need to be broken up, pointing to the level of antitrust competition from large global companies and well-funded startups.
Scrutiny of Google: Pichai said he expects tougher scrutiny of his company and other tech giants is "here to stay."
Basic research: He noted that companies like Google are needed at a time when the U.S. government is investing less in basic research, just as fields like AI and quantum computing are taking off.
Search in China: Pichai echoed his comments before Congress, saying that "right now, we have no plans to launch search in China, but we always feel compelled to explore."
In basketball, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry thrives when he gets a nice big screen. Off the court, he is pitching a very small screen.
The big picture: Curry is an investor, advisor and pitchman for the Palm, a 3-inch Android smartphone sold by Verizon as a complement to the bigger devices most people carry. Asked what attracted him to the notion of a smaller smartphone, Curry said it allows him to be connected, while not being distracted.
"You're not missing anything, but you're not consumed by that big old screen," Curry said late Monday, following the Warriors 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was also the night where Curry handed out Palm devices to each of his teammates.
History lesson: The Palm brand has kicked around quite a bit since its days adorning the original personal digital assistant. It powered several lines of smartphones, landing at HP, which then sold the brand again.
