The White House-backed bipartisan infrastructure bill now moving toward Senate approval divvies up $65 billion in broadband funding in ways that largely please the big cable and telecom companies, Axios' Margaret Harding McGill reports.

The big picture: President Biden's spending blueprints and talking points stoked alarm in the industry over the prospect of price regulation or government-backed networks, but the legislation that's moving forward is much more to its liking.

Driving the news: The bipartisan infrastructure bill would devote funding to both broadband deployment and adoption.

The deployment side includes:

• $42.45 billion in grants to states to be used for broadband projects with speeds of at least 100/20 mbps, to be first spent in locations without high-speed internet.
• $2 billion each to support a rural broadband construction program called ReConnect run by USDA and to the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program from NTIA.
• $1 billion in grants to build so-called "middle mile" infrastructure to connect local providers to the larger internet access point.

On the adoption side:

• $14.2 billion to provide a $30-a-month voucher to low-income Americans to pay for internet service, replacing the current $50-a-month Emergency Broadband Benefit program, but increasing the number of Americans who will be eligible and giving consumers more choice on how to spend the benefit.
• Requiring that providers who receive money from the state grants offer a low-cost plan, although the bill does not specify a price.
• $2.75 billion for digital inclusion grants, such as projects to improve digital literacy or online skills for seniors.

Why telecom likes it: The bill doesn't include measures that President Biden championed as part of his early infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan.

• The bill will prioritize funding broadband in areas that lack high-speed service, so existing providers will largely avoid the threat of a government-backed competitor, and the money will be available to a larger pool of providers than just those who offer fiber service.
• While municipal broadband projects could still receive funding, those networks will not be prioritized when the money is allocated, as Biden's plan originally proposed, and the bill will not eliminate state laws that restrict municipal broadband projects.

What they're saying: "We are encouraged that the bipartisan infrastructure deal directly addresses two critical elements of reaching universal connectivity — dedicating funding first and foremost to those regions without any broadband service, and providing financial assistance to help low-income Americans subscribe to this critical service," cable trade group NCTA spokesman Brian Dietz said in a statement.

• Consumer groups also praised the $14 billion affordability program, as well as measures directing the Federal Communications Commission to require broadband providers to disclose service information as part of a "broadband nutrition label" and collect more pricing data.

The other side: A White House official highlighted the new subsidy program, measures on price transparency and a proposal requiring the FCC to develop rules against digital "redlining" — discrimination based on factors like income level or race.

• "I think we're going to be able to look back on this and say that we helped drive down prices for folks, helped increase the quality of internet service that millions of people could get, and that we ended up connecting millions of new people to the internet, because we made it affordable for them," the official told Axios. "So I think it's a win."

Salesforce is the latest tech giant to venture into video streaming with the launch of a new service aimed at business professionals called Salesforce+, the company's chief marketing officer Sarah Franklin tells Axios' Sara Fischer.

Details: Salesforce+, which will debut globally during Salesforce's annual mega-conference Dreamforce in September, is a free service that will feature original programming from Salesforce and eventually, content created by its clients.

• The content will be available on-demand 24/7, but it will also feature live event programming, starting with Dreamforce.
• The company has hired around 50 editorial leads to help launch the service, including script writers and broadcast producers, and plans to fill many more editorial roles.

Salesforce has built its own in-house studio, Salesforce Studios, to film and product the content.

• Franklin says the hope is that the content will help people refine their skills, while also creating an emotional connection to Salesforce, driving users to "want to use our products and want to engage more with us."

Salesforce has produced six original series that will debut at launch.

Be smart: There's clearly a market for professional development content.

• MasterClass, for example, has more than tripled its valuation over the last year, thanks to a huge shift in online learning during the pandemic.
• But because Salesforce+ serves as a marketing vehicle, it may not be able to tap into that zeitgeist.

Google and YouTube are introducing new safety protections for users under 18, according to company blog posts Tuesday, Margaret reports.

Why it matters: Google joins Facebook-owned Instagram in changing privacy and advertising policies for younger users as regulators across the globe scrutinize how Big Tech affects children.

Google changes in the coming months include:

• A new policy allowing anyone under 18, or their parent or guardian, to request removal of their images from Google Images search results.
• Blocking ad targeting based on the age, gender or interests of people under 18.
• Users under 18 will not have the ability to turn on location history (which is off by default).

Meanwhile, YouTube changes include:

• Removing "overly commercial" videos from YouTube Kids, which YouTube says could be content focused solely on product packaging or "directly encourages" kids to spend money.
• Adjusting the default upload setting to the most private option for users between 13 and 17.

Flashback: Google agreed to pay a $170 million fine in 2019 to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that YouTube violated children's privacy provisions.

Once known for its assortment of desktops, laptops and PC components, Tokyo's Akihabara district still caters to the geek lifestyle, but answers a broader array of needs, Axios' Ina Fried writes from Tokyo.

The big picture: The Akihabara neighborhood has expanded to meet more than just the tech needs of young people, offering an array of shops focused on video games, anime and other heavily male pursuits.

How it happened: I didn't even intend to visit Akihabara on my one day in Tokyo. I had spent the morning making sure to get gifts for all the people who had carried the load while I was playing sports reporter and photographer for three weeks.

Having done that, I traveled from Shibuya to Harajuku to visit the Meiji-jingu Shrine and then on to Roppongi to visit Tokyo City View, a 52nd floor observatory.

• In the gift store, I was introduced to the work of Kouichi Miyajima, a Japanese artist who makes Nano Nano, small characters and sculptures out of capacitors, chips and other electrical components.

In the summary of the work, Miyajima made reference to Akihabara — and, since I still had to go somewhere for dinner, I decided to take the subway the 12 stops it takes to get there from Roppongi.

I found plenty of stores selling computers, cameras and video games.

• But in addition to the tech shops were an array of anime shops, restaurants featuring women in maids' costumes and sex shops.
• Pro tip: Sometimes "family department store" refers to a shop with lots of products to help facilitate the process of creating a family.

The bottom line: You can still get a PC in Akihabara, along with plenty of things that aren't so PC.

ICYMI

• Apple has shut down several informal compensation surveys posted by employees internally, saying that they break company rules. (The Verge)
• Amazon is offering warehouse workers cash prizes and vacations as part of a lottery they can enter if they've been vaccinated. (Bloomberg)
• New iPhones due this fall are likely to boast only modest new camera and video features. (Bloomberg)

Speaking of Nano Nano, I couldn't help but purchase a pair of the electronic creatures. They were all adorable, but I went with the ones in the rainbow wire outfit, seen above.