Building robots is hard, but building a robotics company seems nearly impossible.
The latest in a spate of robotics companies to fold is Anki, the 9-year-old company that built cute robot companions and AI-powered toy race cars. It had raised more than $200 million in venture capital from top Silicon Valley firms and said last year it was nearing $100 million in revenue.
Apple reported quarterly sales and earnings on Tuesday that slightly topped analysts' expectations, with its outlook for the current quarter also ahead of estimates.
Why it matters: Last quarter, Apple issued a rare warning that the company would fall short of expectations amid lower iPhone demand.
Netflix announced the details of 7 films and shows that will spotlight issues such as race, class, democracy and civil rights, to be released in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground as a part of a multi-year deal.
Background: The Obamas signed the deal with Netflix in May 2018. They are not focused on producing political work that could inflame tensions with the right, per the New York Times.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a major redesign for the world's largest social network, including both its mobile apps and website, to emphasize interactions in private Facebook Groups.
Why it matters: Facebook wants to redefine its services to provide not just the "digital town square" but also to serve as "digital living rooms," and Zuckerberg's sweeping plans involve an effort to regain the trust of users in the wake of 2 years of controversy and scandal.
As of last fall, Anki seemed to be winning where other companies had fallen short: Making a go of a consumer robot that was more fun but less powerful than a smartphone.
Driving the news: In the end, though, the maker of Cozmo and Vector suffered the same fate as the others, announcing Monday it was shutting down and laying off its entire staff despite having raised more than $200 million in funding.
In an attempt to drive interest and research into autonomous vehicles, the Drone Racing League and Lockheed Martin have partnered up to create the AlphaPilot competition.
How it works: 430 teams, each armed with an autonomous drone, are currently participating in qualifying rounds. Nine make the Artificial Intelligence Robotic Racing Circuit finals, where the winners will go home with $1 million. If a team's A.I. drone can also beat a human pilot head-to-head, they get an extra $250,000.
Facebook continues to make mountains of money, serve more users than ever before, and plan bold new moves.
Why it matters: That's all after the company's two-year cascade of controversy, criticism by lawmakers, and negative coverage over privacy lapses, allegations of bias, failures to rein in hate speech, charges of monopolistic behavior, and fears of Facebook-fueled digital addiction.
Vodafone denied a Bloomberg report on Tuesday that stated it had found "backdoors" hidden in Huawei equipment supplied to its Italian business dating back years, per BBC.
What they're saying: Vodafone said the "backdoors" in the report were actually a common industry protocol: "The 'backdoor' that Bloomberg refers to is Telnet, which is a protocol that is commonly used by many vendors in the industry for performing diagnostic functions. It would not have been accessible from the internet."
Amazon appears to be lowballing rivals in a classic squeeze to take over yet another industry: freight.
Why it matters: With its track record of upending nearly every business it enters, Amazon has the potential to decimate UPS and FedEx as it moves into shipping. Its tactic is a modern example of putting competition through a Rockefeller-style "good sweating."
After a year of profitability, Twitter sees a way to keep its business focused on growth. The company announced over a dozen new content deals Monday focused on quality programming tailored to the needs of existing, hyper-engaged communities on Twitter, rather than the widest corners of the internet.
Why it matters: The company hopes that more high-quality video programming, created exclusively for Twitter with trusted media partners, will lure advertisers who are looking for more brand-safe destinations on social media platforms to run video ads.
Anki, a heavily funded consumer robotics startup is shutting down and laying off its entire staff after failing to raise additional capital, Recode reported on Monday.
Amazon will open the first building in its new northern Virginia headquarters complex this fall, with new employees moving into a temporary space in June, the company said Monday.
Why it matters: Amazon vice president of workforce development Ardine Williams said in a blog post that it's "on pace to create 400 new jobs this year" and has started to hire for the office. Some in the region are nervous that the expected influx of tech workers associated with the Virginia project will displace current residents, especially low-income people. Similar concerns sunk a planned headquarters expansion in New York.
Apple insists that a crackdown on apps designed to help parents manage their kids' screen time is about security and privacy rather than an effort to stamp out competition.
Driving the news: The iPhone maker's defense follows a New York Times report that 11 of the top 17 parental control apps in the Apple App Store had been removed or restricted in the past year.
Spotify announced Monday in its Q1 earnings release that it reached 100 million paid subscribers worldwide, the most of any streaming music base.
Why it matters: Spotify’s emphasis on global reach in India, bundling with Hulu and acquisitions of podcast companies Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Parcast put it far ahead of Apple Music, which recorded 50 million subscribers worldwide. Apple Music's subscriber base still leads the U.S. with 28 million versus Spotify's 26 million, per the Wall Street Journal.
A two-year study of Uber drivers in Washington, D.C. found that Uber's payment system is so difficult to understand that 100% of participants had trouble figuring out how much they were actually earning.
Details: One female driver even calculated that she was making less than $5 an hour after expenses.
