A potential deal between Chinese tech giant Huawei and U.S. cell phone giant AT&T appears to have fallen apart at the 11th hour, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: Huawei is already a major player in smartphones globally, but has struggled to crack the U.S. market
The addictive power of the technology that dominates every aspect of daily life is getting more and more attention from people who may have enough influence to do something about it.
Why it matters: Criticism of technology's impact on society is not new, but smartphones and social media are becoming even more pervasive, particularly for children and teenagers. Now a larger number of mainstream voices from former execs to investors are raising pointed questions about the impact of iPhones and Facebook on the mental health of the people who use them.
Facebook has struck a deal with music publisher Sony, allowing users to upload and share music and content from artists signed with the company, according to multiple reports.
Why it matters: It's the second major licensing deal the company has inked in just a few weeks — a growing sign of improving relations between the music industry and tech giants. Facebook rival YouTube has also been striking similar deals with major music labels.
James Damore, a former Google engineer who was fired for his infamous memo about diversity last year, has filed a lawsuit against the search giant for allegedly discriminating against conservative white men. He's joined by another former Google engineer, David Gudeman, who spent three years at the company.
Why it matters: Just a few months ago, three female former Google engineers (recently joined by another female former employee) filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging gender-based pay discrimination. Last summer, the Department of Labor probed the company after it found evidence, during an audit, of pay discrimination resulting in lower wages for women.
Facebook will be sunsetting "M," its text-based and human-assisted virtual assistant it debuted in 2015, according to The Verge. The contract workers who took care of users' requests will be offered other jobs at the company, and automated aspects of the service will live on with the Messenger app.
The big picture: In the last couple of years, Facebook has really pushed to take its Messenger app to the next level with chat bots and experiments like M, but adoption has been slow. M was only ever available to about 2,000 people in California, according to The Verge. Overall, it seems like Facebook concluded it wasn't as efficient or appealing as it had hoped.
Amazon Alexa will soon be available on Windows PCs, creating a new challenge for Microsoft's built-in digital assistant, Cortana, reports GeekWire.
Why it matters: Digital assistants are being integrated into a wide range of devices, from your smartphones and TVs to your toasters and refrigerators. Amazon's move to take on Microsoft's power in the PC market would give it another edge in its quest to be the dominant digital assistant.
While the biggest tech breakthroughs probably won't show up at the Consumer Electronics Show kicking off today in Las Vegas, it’s a good place to see where the industry as a whole is placing its bets.
The big trend: The integration of voice assistants into all kinds of consumer electronics gear, from your TV to your fridge.
Jana Partners LLC, an activist hedge fund, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, a pension fund, have written a letter to Apple asking the tech giant to address the issue of teens and children overusing iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reports. The catch? Both are investors in Apple and together control $2 billion worth of shares.
The big picture: Big Tech companies, once the darlings of Silicon Valley, are facing a reckoning in Washington and around the country, with the most recent backlash against Apple spurring from the discovery that company was slowing down some older iPhones.
