Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted Wednesday a photo at an Istanbul memorial to murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi amid allegations that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) played a part in hacking the tech mogul's phone.
The big picture: Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, had his phone hacked by an account apparently owned by MBS in 2018. UN investigators believe that MBS, who the CIA has concluded ordered Khashoggi's death, may have been seeking to "influence, if not silence, [the Post's] reporting on Saudi Arabia."
Front, a San Francisco-based maker of email collaboration software, raised $59 million in Series C funding led by a group of top executives from enterprise software companies Atlassian, Qualtrics and Zoom.
Why it matters: It's not common for individuals to lead such a large round, but Front thinks that it will gain insights from executives who have had success in changing the way people work.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' phone was hacked in 2018 after he received a WhatsApp message from an account apparently owned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), UN investigators said in a statement Wednesday.
What they're saying: The UN is calling for an “immediate investigation” by the United States and other countries into the hacking of Bezos' phone, which experts said may have been part of "an effort to influence, if not silence, The Washington Post's reporting on Saudi Arabia."
European countries are caught in the middle of dueling pressure campaigns from the U.S. and China over whether to let equipment made by Chinese manufacturer Huawei into their 5G networks.
Why it matters: It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" choice that could leave Europe alienating a major trading partner either way.
Cruise unveiled a six-passenger, electric, driverless vehicle in San Francisco Tuesday night, heralding it as the start of a new era of low-cost, shared transportation that will save the average household $5,000 a year.
Why it matters: With no steering wheel, pedals or gasoline engine, the boxy Cruise Origin, co-developed with Honda, represents "the transportation system you’d build, if you could start from scratch," according to Cruise CEO Dan Ammann, a former president of General Motors.
Netflix's stock was down slightly in after-hours trading on Tuesday after it missed investor expectations for domestic user growth, a sign that increased competition from Disney and Apple may be impacting its growth in North America.
Yes, but: The company still posted strong overall subscriber growth, beating analyst estimates by over 1 million subscribers internationally. It also surpassed expectations for revenue and earnings per share, an impressive feat for a company that is facing massive debt.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel says his company has managed to avoid heavy criticism over speech issues by clearly dividing private, largely unregulated communications from heavily moderated public broadcasts.
Why it matters: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have all struggled in recent years over where to draw the line on permitted speech.
It's not just Google — Amazon, IBM and Microsoft have also struck deals with hospitals across the country to gain access to patient data, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: It reveals just how expansive the relationship between tech companies and hospitals has become — and lawmakers have taken notice.
Huawei chief Ren Zhengfei said Tuesday that his company is prepared for any further U.S. "attacks," but he believes the world can avoid splitting into two separate technology systems.
Why it matters: The U.S. and China are locked in a fierce battle, with trade restrictions already limiting Huawei's ability to sell phones around the world.
