Axios

U.S. regulators at the Federal Trade Commission have met to discuss punishing Facebook over its privacy practices with a record-breaking fine that could exceed $22.5 million, the Washington Post’s Tony Room and Elizabeth Dwoskin report.

Why it matters: This would be the first major punishment against Facebook in the U.S. since its Cambridge Analytica scandal, Axios' David McCabe notes. It indicates the investigation, which began last year, has reached a later stage where the agency’s principals are considering possible actions. The devil will be in the details, which the Post says aren’t final yet.

Traditional SUVs and sports cars were the stars at this week's preview of Detroit auto show, but behind the scenes, some auto industry executives openly fretted about an uncertain future, including big questions about whether society is ready for self-driving cars.

The big picture: Autonomous vehicles are supposed to make the roads safer and improve access to transportation for all. To prepare for their arrival, automakers are placing huge bets to transform their businesses, with massive implications for jobs and consumers.

In his new book, due out next month, Facebook investor Roger McNamee reiterates his claims that the social network is bad for society while also offering fresh details on his efforts to bring regulatory attention to the company.

Why it matters: McNamee’s status as a one-time adviser to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has made him one of the company’s most prominent critics. But Facebook is pushing back: "The reality is Roger McNamee hasn’t been involved with Facebook for a decade," said a spokesperson.

A new breed of intelligent video surveillance is being installed in schools around the country — tech that follows people around campus and detects unusual behaviors.

Why it matters: This new phase in campus surveillance responds to high-profile school shootings like the one in Parkland, Florida, last February. School administrators are now reaching for security tech that keeps a constant, increasingly sophisticated eye on halls and classrooms. One drawback: a major blow to student privacy.

Netflix stock was down roughly 4% in after-hours trading Thursday after the company posted quarterly results that missed investor expectations on revenue, though it beat earnings expectations.

Yes, but: Most importantly to Wall Street, Netflix beat expectations for user growth, growing its total paid subscriber base to nearly 140 million worldwide.

Dan talks about D.C.'s growing antipathy toward big tech with Dean Garfield, who is stepping down as CEO of the IT Industry Council in order to lead global policy for Netflix. How did we get here, and what comes next?

Niantic, the mobile AR game-maker behind Pokémon Go, raised $245 million in Series C funding at a post-money valuation of nearly $4 billion.

Why it matters: Because this comes ahead of Niantic's anticipated release of a Harry Potter-themed game, further blurring the value line between tech and legacy brand content.

Facebook said Thursday that it has removed hundreds of pages and accounts that pretended to be real news sites from places in Eastern Europe, but were actually operated employees from Russian state-owned news company Sputnik.

Why it matters: The effort potentially shows a new tactic being used by Russia to weaponize misinformation — using its state-run media arm to create fake posts that look like they come from real newsrooms in vulnerable countries.

Apple CEO Tim Cook writes for TIME: "In 2019, it’s time to stand up for the right to privacy — yours, mine, all of ours."

What he's saying: "This problem is solvable — it isn’t too big, too challenging or too late," Cook writes. "Innovation, breakthrough ideas and great features can go hand in hand with user privacy — and they must. Realizing technology’s potential depends on it."

Pick up a glass of water, then lift a fork: Without thinking, you chose the best way to grasp each object. Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a robot that makes the same calculation, choosing on the fly whether to grab an object with pincers or lift it with a suction cup.

Why it matters: Reliable robot grabbers are the just-out-of-reach holy grail for e-commerce outfits like Amazon and Walmart, who still rely mainly on human hands for the job. Smart picker-uppers would clear a serious bottleneck in shipping and could change the nature of warehouses entirely.

Microsoft is pledging $500 million to the Seattle region to address affordable housing issues, the New York Times reported and Microsoft confirmed in a blog post.

Why it matters: This kind of move from such an industry powerhouse will spur debate over what kind of responsibilities fall on companies to find "solutions for those who have not benefited from the industry's fortunes," per the Times. A report from December said the Seattle region needs 156,000 more affordable housing units and will need 84,000 more by 2040 if growth continues.

U.S. authorities are investigating Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, for the alleged theft of the tech behind a T-Mobile robot called “Tappy,” reports WSJ.

“I had heard from the company last year that they bought something from Huawei and were surprised to see their own code in it. This is consistent with Huawei’s past practice, dating back more than a decade ... Stealing IP is part of their DNA.”

The backdrop: T-Mobile first accused Huawei of thievery in 2014, when the American company had hired the Chinese one to supply phones for its network.