Saturday's technology stories

Uber's nightmarish week, in 8 headlines
Former employee Susan Fowler Rigetti published a blog post on February 19 about sexual harassment she allegedly faced at Uber. Things haven't gotten much better since for the ride-sharing startup.
Here's a rundown of the events and headlines Uber has faced in the past week:

Uber's head of product and growth resigns
Ed Baker, Uber's head of product and growth, is leaving the company, as Recode first reported and Axios has confirmed.
"I have always wanted to apply my experience in technology and growth to the public sector. And now seems like the right moment to get involved," Baker wrote in an email to his team, according to Recode. Marketplace head Daniel Graf will become acting head of product and growth, with Peter Deng and Aaron Schildkrout helping as leaders of rider and driver products, respectively.
Questionable behavior at Uber: Baker's resignation comes at a time of turmoil for the company, which recently kicked off an internal investigation after a former employee alleged sexual harassment and discrimination in a blog post. Baker himself reportedly was "making out" with another employee during a company offsite in Miami three years ago ago, according to an anonymous tip sent to board member Arianna Huffington, which Recode also obtained. Huffington is part of the team leading the investigation. Uber declined to comment on this situation.
On Monday, Uber asked its newly hired VP of engineering, Amit Singhal, to resign after it found out he had been accused of sexual harassment while at his previous job at Google in late 2015.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Baker's Miami encounter took place three weeks ago instead of three years ago.

Another former Uber engineer alleges sexism at the company
Uber's toxic work culture may not be limited to its male bosses. Keala Lusk, a former Uber software engineer says in a blog post that her female manager treated her unfairly and even commented on the way she dresses.
Unlike all of the other Uber stories I have read, I wasn't dealing with some white guy in power. This is a woman, just like me. Like all of the other stories, nothing changed even after multiple meetings with my manager and HR. It was simply brushed aside and swept under the carpet of collective Uber suffering.
Lusk joined Uber in April of 2016, according to her LinkedIn profile, and it's unclear when she left the company.
Her blog post comes less than two weeks after another former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler Rigetti, wrote of her own experiences, including allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. Uber has since enlisted former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to lead an investigation into the claims as well as Uber's overall work culture.
Update: "We take any and all allegations of this nature very seriously and have forwarded this to Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran to include in their investigation," an Uber spokesperson told Axios.

Amazon's Alexa is learning how to speed dial
Recode reports today that Amazon is working on Alexa-powered devices that use the popular digital assistant to make phone calls and serve as an intercom system, citing people familiar with the company's plans.
Key context: As Recode points out, Amazon's Echo products have been among the most talked about consumer tech products in the past year, but neither Amazon nor rivals Apple or Google have cracked the code on how to make voice apps a daily habit. Making Alexa a better communicator could help Amazon be even more ingrained into consumers' everyday lives.
Why it matters: Amazon is on the quest to make Alexa and Echo the center of how consumers live, shop and work. The company has stiff competition from Google and Apple, who are also putting tremendous resources into owning the connected home via voice-activated digital assistants.

Famous car hacker leaves Uber after short tenure
Charlie Miller, one of the two hackers who made headlines by hacking cars like a Jeep, is leaving Uber after a year and a half, he announced on Twitter on Friday. He plans to reveal his next move next week, he also said.
Miller and fellow car hacker Chris Valasek joined Uber in August 2015 as part of the company's newly established Advanced Technology Center in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. The division focuses on technology areas such as mapping, safety, and self-driving cars. Prior to Uber, Miller spent three years at Twitter.




