Jan 19, 2019 - Technology

Big Tech infighting — again

Erica Pandey, author of @Work

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

As we've chronicled before, Big Tech is at war with itself. Now, Microsoft is pitted against Amazon on their home turf.

Driving the news: Microsoft announced that it would commit $500 million to building affordable housing in Seattle. In doing so, it showed up its neighbor Amazon, which fought publicly and bitterly with the city of Seattle over a per-employee "homelessness tax." Microsoft has grabbed all the kudos in Seattle, even though Amazon is involved in a slew of charities itself.

The infighting is even more pronounced in Silicon Valley, where Salesforce is battling Twitter, while Apple is going after Facebook and Google.

  • During the last election cycle, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey bickered over San Francisco's homelessness problem, with Benioff supporting a "homelessness tax" on tech companies, and Dorsey opposing it.
  • And Apple CEO Tim Cook is charging forward against Facebook and Google — and calling for privacy regulation. Apple won the "2018 award for pouring salt in wounds of competitors," NYU's Scott Galloway says.

Go deeper: How the "big tech" colossus is splitting

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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 2 hours ago - World

Pandemic plunges U.K. into "largest recession on record"

The scene near the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England in the City of London, England. Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

The United Kingdom slumped into recession as its gross domestic product GDP shrank 20.4% compared with the first three months of the year, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) confirmed Wednesday.

Why it matters: Per an ONS statement, "It is clear that the U.K. is in the largest recession on record." The U.K. has faired worse than any other major European economy from coronavirus lockdowns, Bloomberg notes. And finance minister Rishi Sunak warns the situation is likely to worsen.

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Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Health

World coronavirus updates

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

The United Kingdom slumped into recession on Wednesday, as its gross domestic product GDP shrank 20.4% compared with the first three months of the year.

By the numbers: Over 741,400 people have died of the novel coronavirus globally and more than 20.2 million have tested positive, per Johns Hopkins. Almost 12.6 million have recovered from the virus.

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Axios
Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 20,294,091 — Total deaths: 741,420— Total recoveries: 12,591,454 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 5,141,207 — Total deaths: 164,537 — Total recoveries: 1,714,960 — Total tests: 63,252,257 — Map.
  3. States: Georgia reports 137 coronavirus deaths, setting new daily record — Florida reports another daily record for deaths.
  4. Health care: Trump administration buys 100 million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine.
  5. Business: Moderna reveals it may not hold patent rights for vaccine.
  6. Sports: Big Ten scraps fall football season.
  7. World: Anthony Fauci "seriously" doubts Russia's coronavirus vaccine is safe
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