The TSA found an average of 85 firearms a week at airport security checkpoints in 2019, a record-setting 4,432 guns for the year, of which nearly 90% were loaded, the agency revealed on Wednesday.
The big picture: This uptick in airline passengers bringing loaded guns in carry-on bags, which violates TSA rules, is part of a growing trend. The agency has steadily found more firearms every year since 2009, when only 976 were discovered.
Microsoft vowed Thursday to be "carbon negative" by 2030 and announced new plans to fund emerging technologies and methods that pull CO2 directly from the atmosphere.
Why it matters: Those plans and other climate efforts Microsoft rolled out are perhaps the strongest among Big Tech companies.
There is an escalating dispute between President Trump and Tim Cook over whether Apple should unlock iPhones used by "killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements." Dan digs in with New York Times tech reporter Jack Nicas.
According to an Amazon-commissioned survey out Thursday, small businesses see revenue growth from selling on the platform and don't rely on Amazon alone for their online sales.
Why it matters: The survey results offer a touch of counter-programming for Amazon as it girds itself for criticism of its market power at a House antitrust subcommittee hearing Friday. That session features a small business that has publicly complained about the online retail giant's tactics.
With a new $1 billion investment, Amazon is doubling down on its India bet.
The big picture: India has the world's fastest growing e-commerce market, and retail giants from America and China are battling each other as well as homegrown Indian rivals to dominate it.
Grindr, OkCupid, Tinder, Qibla Finder and MyDays X are among 10 apps feeding user data — such as ethnicity, location, gender and age — to digital ad companies, nonprofit Norwegian Consumer Council found in a report released on Tuesday.
Why it matters: These dating, prayer guidance and menstrual cycle or fertility tracking apps collect information from some of the most intimate parts of users' lives. The council argues that sharing this data violates a European data protection law that went into effect last year.
Apple confirmed to Axios it has purchased Xnor.ai, a Seattle-based startup that specializes in putting artificial intelligence on devices rather than via centralized servers.
Why it matters: Doing AI work on devices is a key trend, especially for Apple, as it makes it easier to offer privacy protections. Apple, for example, does all of its automated tagging and categorization of photos on its devices.
With 2019 in the books, it's time to look at how the various tech giants fared in the competition to pile up patents.
What's new: When including various subsidiaries, Seattle-based Sqoop found that Samsung edged out perennial top patent-getter IBM for utility patent applications and grants, as well as design patents. LG and Canon also were in the top five.
Coord, a curb-management company, is offering its services at no charge to up to three cities that are trying to better manage — and monetize — curb space that is in constant demand.
Why it matters: Ride-hailing, e-commerce delivery trucks, on-demand food delivery, e-scooters, bikes and pedestrians — not to mention personal vehicles looking for street parking — are all competing for a limited amount of curb space, making that narrow stretch of the road congested, chaotic and even dangerous.
President Trump attacked Apple on Tuesday, recommending the technology company unlock the iPhones used by "killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements."
What he's saying: "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues,” a Trump tweet read. "They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!"
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