Facebook has hired Antonio Lucio, HP's global chief of marketing and communications and a former Visa and PepsiCo executive, as its new chief marketing officer, according to a Facebook post by chief product officer Chris Cox. Facebook's previous CMO, Gary Briggs, left the company in January.
Why it matters: Facebook has had a rough couple of years fighting off a number of controversies, including fake news, election meddling, and improper use of its users' data, so it can surely use the help from a seasoned marketing exec.
Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are giving Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey until the end of Friday to decide whether he will voluntarily testify in front of their committee on Sept. 5, according to a committee source.
Why it matters: Members of Congress have been critical of Twitter and other tech firms over the past week for not sending high-level executives to testify. They argue that this shows the tech companies aren't taking election manipulation and other controversies on their platforms seriously.
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Microsoft's business practices of selling software in Hungary earlier this decade, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: Aggressive sales tactics are common, but bribery schemes involving middlemen and kickbacks overseas are illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Microsoft is being investigated for these practices in Hungary, as it previously was in five other countries, according to the Journal. Microsoft told the Journal it had conducted its own internal investigation of the matter that led to the firing of four employees, and it was cooperating with authorities.
Google has uncovered a disinformation attack across several of its properties that it has connected to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the company said in a statement Thursday.
Why it matters: Facebook and Twitter announced earlier this week that they have uncovered coordinated disinformation campaigns linked to Iran, but this is the first time any tech firm has said it found a direct link between Iran state media and the attack.
"Do you know what happened at Zoox?" I got that question from nearly a dozen VCs last night, after it was reported that the self-driving unicorn's co-founder and CEO Tim Kentley-Klay had been fired.
The state of play: The inquiries were not only because Zoox raised $500 million just one month ago, but also because Kentley-Klay had gone on a subsequent Twitter rant about how his ouster was "Silicon Valley up to its worst tricks."
Facebook is pulling its Onavo Protect virtual private network (VPN) mobile app after Apple said it violated its data collection policies.
The context: Onavo offers customers a free VPN, which encrypts all communications between two devices, while giving Facebook insight into what apps and services customers use on their device. Bloomberg had warned in June that changes in Apple's policies could be aimed at Onavo.
After years of grudgingly handing over as much as 30% of their mobile revenue to Apple or Google, some app makers and digital service providers are exploring ways to cut out the middlemen.
Among the recent examples: Epic Games is distributing Fortnite for Android outside Google's Play Store. Netflix is testing the removal of the ability to subscribe from within its iOS apps. Spotify, which once offered a discount to iPhone customers who subscribe outside of the app, has discontinued the ability for new subscribers to pay via the app.
Plenty of tech companies are looking for ways to break into health care, but health care executives are focused squarely on just one tech company: Amazon.
The backdrop: Among the new technologies on the horizon, industry leaders have higher expectations for telemedicine than whiz-bang tools like artificial intelligence or blockchain.
NewsGuard Technologies, a new service that uses trained journalists to rate thousands of news and information sites, is launching its first product today: web extensions that let users view vetted, non-partisan trust ratings for news and information websites.
Why it matters: It's the first look at the services to be offered by NewsGuard, co-founded by journalist Steven Brill and former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz. The labels, which have been researched and assigned by journalists, are being placed on the most trafficked news and information websites in the U.S.
Tim Kentley-Klay, co-founder and CEO of the secretive self-driving car company Zoox, is no longer at the company, as The Information first reported and a source confirms to Axios. The company's board informed the company this morning of the decision.
Why it matters: Just last month, the company announced $500 million in new funding at a $3.2 billion post-money valuation to continue its ambitious project of building a fully-autonomous car.
Dan Rose, Facebook's vice president of partnerships and a key business executive who joined in 2006, will leave the company by February, he said in a Facebook post (first covered by Recode).
Why it matters: Rose is the second high-profile exec to announce his departure this summer from a company that very rarely sees anyone leave its top ranks. Rose says he wants to be closer to his family, which now lives in Hawaii. His post makes no mention of the company's tough year of controversies..
In a move toward humility, robot designers are increasingly shunning the Westworlddream of machines whose behavior is indistinguishable from people's, and opting for greater honesty about what's truly possible now.
Why it matters: When people assume a machine can do what a human does, they can be disappointed at best — and at worst get hurt. Visualizations, explanations and signals that show how robots are actually able to interact can better set expectations, and build the right amount of trust.
A dossier distributed by a private investigative firm alleges that a Pentagon aide corruptly promoted Amazon's bid for a giant Defense Department cloud-computing contract, Defense One reports.
Why it matters: The controversy underscores the high stakes as the Pentagon decides who will get its 10-year, $10 billion contract. Industry rivals tell Axios that Amazon's Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the favorite in the bidding process.
More than half (54%) of teens say they're worried that they're spending too much time with their devices, according to a new Pew Research Center report.
Why it matters: Americans, and young people in particular, are becoming more aware of the health, safety and productivity risks of being constantly connected. That's significant because more work, economy and lifestyle opportunities are moving online.
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