While industrial robots may get more of the attention, the real acceleration in workplace automation will come via software.
Why it matters: Robotic process automation (RPA) allows companies to program computer software to emulate the actions of a human worker online. That potentially opens up a much larger portion of the economy to automation at a moment when the pandemic has already forced businesses to go remote.
Refraction AI, a robot delivery startup in Ann Arbor, Mich., was having trouble gaining traction before the pandemic — and now, it's racing to capitalize on our stay-at-home mentality.
Why it matters: In the midst of the pain and suffering from a crisis, there's often room for innovation by forward-looking entrepreneurs with good timing.
A bipartisan group of House Judiciary lawmakers is demanding Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testify before them following a Wall Street Journal report detailing his company's use of third-party sellers' data to develop competing in-house products.
Why it matters: Amazon has been a lifeline for many people during the coronavirus pandemic, but the company remains the target of multiple antitrust probes — and has invited fresh scrutiny with revelations like those chronicled in the Journal.
Amazon announced Thursday as part of its Q1 2020 earnings that it’s planning to spend the $4 billion it would expect in profit next quarter on worker safety and resources because of the coronavirus pandemic — then its stock dropped 5% in after-hours trading.
Why it matters: If you’ve been wondering for the last six to eight weeks why some publicly traded companies seem to be resisting strong measures to curb the virus spread, this a big reason.
New data from companies and analysts is indicating that smartphone sales are starting to take a hit as we predicted might be the case earlier this week.
Why it matters: Smartphones have been the growth engine of consumer electronics for more than a decade. Sales were already slowing before the coronavirus, but the industry now appears headed for a significant dip.
Investors were hoping to come away from this week's earnings reports with a better sense of how tech companies were faring amid the coronavirus pandemic, but they ended up with some dollops of sobering news on a heap of continuing uncertainty.
The big picture: Tech may be the sector best poised to ride out the economic disruptions caused by the illness, but it won't be immune from the pain, and even some of its revenue gains will be dented by a higher cost of doing business.
Why it matters: The federal government, long in need of tech expertise, is even more so amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pahlka, meanwhile, has been leading a separate volunteer effort to help state and local governments get tech help during the crisis.
The sudden wave of tens of millions of unemployment claims has overwhelmed state agencies hobbled by outdated tech and understaffed offices.
Why it matters: The federal coronavirus aid package expanded unemployment benefits for laid-off workers as the pandemic roiled the labor market, but an unprepared system has boxed out people in need — and artificially depressed the unemployment count, economists say.
