Apple has scheduled a March 27 event in Chicago to talk about new products for the education market. "Join us to hear creative new ideas for teachers and students," reads the invite sent to reporters.
Why it matters: Schools have been key to Apple since its earliest days, both for the size of the market as well as its influence on what technology people use later in life.
Google says after analyzing 89% of its workforce's compensation (not including certain roles and top executives) for 2017, it has spent $270,000 to eliminate pay discrepancies for 228 employees.
Why it matters: Google has been under fire for allegedly underpaying women and people of color. Last year, the Department of Labor sought to obtain additional employee pay data after an audit found evidence of systemic gender-based pay discrepancies. Female former employees are suing the company with similar allegations, though Google has denied all claims.
The video audience for Amazon Prime, Amazon's subscription service, is roughly 26 million people, according to documents obtained by Reuters. It's top video shows drew more than 5 million viewers, per the files.
Why it matters: It's the first time any numbers around Amazon's media audience have been reported. The Seattle-based tech giant has been building a robust video business, spending upwards of $7 billion dollars on original content to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu. The numbers show that their efforts are paying off.
Global shipper DHL announced plans for Parcel Metro, a new service to help speed local deliveries, in part through the use of crowdsourced shipping options.
Why it matters: It comes as e-commerce shipments continue to grow, but online retailers face increased pressure from Amazon and others to offer same-day delivery.
Artificial intelligence researchers have tried unsuccessfully for decades to give machines the common sense needed to converse with humans and seamlessly navigate our always-changing world. Last month, Paul Allen announced he is investing another $125 million into his Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) in a renewed effort to solve one of the field's grand challenges.
Axios spoke with Yejin Choi, an AI researcher from the University of Washington and AI2 who studies how machines process and generate language. She talked about how they're defining common sense, their approach to the problem and how it's connected to bias.
Snap fell 4% on Thursday after singer Rihanna blasted Snapchat for running an ad mocking her and former boyfriend, Chris Brown, reports Business Insider. The ad asked users if they'd "rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown." Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna in 2009 after the two got into an argument in a car.
Snapchat pulled the ad and released a statement to BBC: "The advert was reviewed and approved in error, as it violates our advertising guidelines. We immediately removed the ad last weekend, once we became aware. We are sorry this happened."
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is meeting with President Trump today at the White House. Ahead of that meeting, he told Politico's Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman that he'll try to impress upon Trump how crucial foreign aid is to the U.S.'s longevity.
"I’ll take his framework … and I’ll explain that even within that narrow framework where you don’t take into account things like saving lives in Africa and the pure humanitarian benefit, even without that, this is money well spent."
The company best known for making Post-It notes and Scotch Tape sees its next big opportunity in driverless cars. 3M CEO Inge Thulin told Axios in a recent interview that "automotive electrification" is a $6 billion market that will be a "big, big deal for us."
Why it matters: The chip and sensor makers that allow driverless cars to "see" often get most of the attention. But 3M is trying to leverage its history of making license plates, pavement marking, and traffic signs to be a major player in the autonomous vehicle market.
