Axios

Twitter on Tuesday confirmed that while it will transfer about a dozen official administrative accounts to the Biden administration, it will not transfer over the followers associated with those accounts.

Why it matters: The move is a departure from the precedent set in 2017, when Twitter transferred millions of followers from official Twitter handles used by the Obama administration to the Trump administration. The change spurred public criticism from the Biden's digital director on Twitter.

The Department of Homeland Security is set to issue an advisory to U.S. businesses, warning them of data security risks associated with using communications equipment and services from China-linked companies.

The big picture: The advisory comes as the Trump administration makes a final push on China, highlighting the administration's emphasis on the risks posed by the close relationship between some Chinese companies and the Chinese government.

U.S. securities regulators on Tuesday sued cryptocurrency giant Ripple, and both its CEO and executive chairman, for allegedly selling over $1.3 billion in unregistered securities. Ripple on Monday had publicly disclosed that the lawsuit was to be filed imminently, and said it does not believe its tokens needed to be registered.

Why it matters: XRP, the cryptocurrency created by Ripple in 2012, has the crypto industry's third-largest market cap at around $22 billion, behind only Bitcoin and Ether.

Racial biases in technology and artificial intelligence can amplify discrimination in the housing market for people of color, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance Lisa Rice said at an Axios Event aired Tuesday.

Why it matters: AI is playing a larger role in housing decisions like tenant selections and loan approvals. The tech holds the potential to aid people of color and others who have historically faced discrimination on this front — but only with proper care for both algorithms and training data, Axios' chief technology correspondent Ina Fried wrote earlier this year.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a China-based Zoom executive with disrupting video meetings hosted by users outside China that commemorated the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The complaint reveals the now-terminated employee was sending the private data of some U.S.-based users directly to the Ministry of State Security (MSS), China's main civilian spy agency.

Why it matters: Researchers and U.S. government officials have warned that the Chinese government might require China-based employees of U.S. companies to hand over private company data to Beijing. The DOJ's charges indicate those fears are valid.

Mike Smith, former COO and president at Stitch Fix, and Nikhil Basu Trivedi, previously a partner at Shasta Ventures, are raising $150 million for a new venture capital fund named Footwork, multiple sources tell Axios. 

Backstory: The pair has known each other for several years since both serving on the board of Imperfect Foods. 

Video games have long provided players with a chance to escape reality, but in 2020, they took on much larger roles, serving as exercise companions and social gathering places — filling urgent needs in this coronavirus-altered year.

Why it matters: 2020's transformations will likely outlast the pandemic. While some people who boosted their video game use this year will scale back, others will keep gaming in a central place in their lives.

Facebook next year plans to roll out mobile support for security tokens for users who want to take extra measures protect their accounts, the company's head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher tells Axios.

Driving the news: Facebook will also expand its Facebook Protect security program to more types of accounts next year. The program will be made available to vulnerable users like journalists, human rights defenders and celebrities, and also to users in countries with upcoming major elections.  

Spotify's enormous investment in the podcast space over the past two years has left the streamer poised to become a leader in audio advertising.

Why it matters: Having watched how companies like Facebook and Google built up the digital ad ecosystem, Spotify's Jay Richman, who heads the company's ads business and platform, says the streamer is determined not to focus on scale over quality.

Hackers who infiltrated government networks in the SolarWinds cyberattack compromised "dozens of email accounts" in the Treasury, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Monday.

Why it matters: The monthslong cyberattack impacted a range of companies and government agencies and has prompted outrage in Washington D.C. as officials try to get to the bottom of what happened. The Treasury has not yet been able to ascertain what information, if any, was stolen, per Wyden.

Crypto company Ripple announced on Monday that it's expecting a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its sale of XRP, the cryptocurrency it created.

Why it matters: If filed, it would be the highest-profile lawsuit of its kind. The SEC has sued a number of cryptocurrency companies in recent years over what it has deemed illegal sales of securities.

Smartphone users choose Google as their search engine because they prefer it, not because Google's deals with phone makers set it as a default, the search giant said in its first formal response to the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit charging monopolistic abuses.

The big picture: The response offers Google's point-by-point rebuttal of the government's charges and asks the court to dismiss the suit, with the government reimbursing the company for its legal costs. The presiding judge has said a trial likely won't start until 2023.