Coca-Cola is pulling all paid social media advertisements for 30 days, saying "there is no place for racism on social media," CEO James Quincey said in a statement on Friday.
Why it matters: Although Coca-Cola does not single out Facebook in its announcement, the company's decision to temporarily pull ads comes as Hershey's, Verizon, Unilever and other brands have joined a boycott of the social network over its content moderation policies.
Facebook will begin labelling posts that break its rules but are deemed "newsworthy" — for instance, because they come from public figures — CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday.
Why it matters: This is Facebook's attempt to thread the needle between allowing inflammatory posts from politicians and tamping down on problematic content.
Democrats in both houses of Congress said Thursday they are introducing a bill that would ban government use of facial recognition technology.
Why it matters: A handful of cities have banned government use in their jurisdictions, but there are no national laws governing how facial recognition can be used, and there's wide concern over how the tech today encodes racial and other kinds of biases.
Email remains the dominant form of digital communication, especially in business, but the experience has been frozen in time for a decade. Now, however, a new wave of efforts aims to disrupt it.
Why it matters: Many workers still spend hours a day in their inboxes. Anyone who can make that time more efficient and less painful should find a market.
Amazon is buying Zoox, a self-driving car startup, its biggest move yet into autonomous technology. Amazon is paying around $1.2 billion, according to a source familiar with the price.
Why it matters: While previous investments in electric truck manufacturer Rivian and self-driving tech company Aurora Innovation seemed focused on facilitating package delivery, Amazon made clear today it will help bring Zoox's ambitious robot-taxi plan to fruition.
Microsoft will permanently close most of its physical retail stores, but its London, New York City, Sydney and Redmond campus locations will remain open as Microsoft showrooms dubbed "experience centers," the company announced Friday.
Why it matters: Microsoft has yet to re-open any of its physical stores since it closed them all due to the coronavirus pandemic, even as states started easing restrictions, The Verge notes.
Amazon announced a deal to purchase self-driving vehicle technology provider Zoox for upwards of $1 billion.
Why it matters: While Apple, Google and others have invested in self-driving technology, Amazon is the one whose core business could benefit the most, given how much the company spends to deliver goods to consumers.
