Axios

The technology industry has long advocated for access and expansion of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and has been vocal about its disdain for President Trump's moves to curb them.

The big picture: Denial rates for H-1B visas for tech companies have gone up significantly during Trump's first term, according to government data compiled by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

California is on fire right now, and Silicon Valley is among the affected areas. But tech hasn't done too much work to help prevent or fight these sorts of blazes, as most companies prefer to build products for consumers or businesses, not governments.

Axios Re:Cap speaks to one of the exceptions: GoTenna CEO Daniela Perdomo, whose company makes a product that helps wildfire fighters communicate via cell phones even if there isn't available cellular service. We ask what could be doing more of, and why it isn't.

Gateway is making a return, of sorts, to the PC market. The once iconic brand is being used on a new line of computers and tablets that went on sale this week at Walmart.

Between the lines: While Acer owns the name, after buying the computer maker in 2007, another company has licensed the brand for the new computers. An entity known as GPU Company will handle product management, marketing, sales and customer support for the devices.

All Facebook employees will be able to take extra paid time off to help staff polls on Election Day and participate in any trainings ahead of time, company executives tell Axios.

Why it matters: The effort comes amid poll worker shortages, with many older people who would typically do the job planning to stay home because of COVID-19.

Leading U.S. tech platforms are going out of their way to reveal how their businesses, policies and algorithms work ahead of November in a bid to avoid blame for election-related trouble.

Why it matters: Until recently, tech companies found it useful to be opaque about their policies and technology — stopping bad actors from gaming their systems and competitors from copying their best features. But all that happened anyway, and now the firms' need to recapture trust is making transparency look like a better bet.