Axios

Roblox now has 1,000 users who have made at least $30,000 annually creating virtual games and experiences on the platform, the company tells Axios.

Why it matters: That figure, which may be inspiring to some and sobering to others, is a mark of how many people are earning a significant wage by creating content for the multibillion-dollar digital platform.

Developing new military technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, will be necessary to prevent a war with China or other adversaries, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said at an Axios event Friday.

Why it matters: With the war on terror ramping down and competition with China increasing, Kelly said it's time for the U.S. to adapt its military technology to address threats in the western Pacific, specifically China.

Only 52% of Black tech employees say they trust that their employers value inclusion and diversity, according to a new survey by /dev/color, a non-profit focused on Black technologists.

• 85% say they'd switch to another employer "that valued me as a Black employee more authentically."

Two of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges laid out their respective big-picture visions for how their ecosystem should be regulated on Thursday. The differences between them are stark.

Why it matters: One of the exchanges, Coinbase, is a big and centralized American company, subject to all U.S. rules and regulations and listed on the Nasdaq. The other, FTX, is a younger, nimbler decentralized exchange of no fixed abode, willing and able to conduct most of its activity outside the reach of U.S. regulators.

Carmakers keep testing the limit of what people will pay for an automobile packed with luxury, high-tech features. Consider the $110,000 Jeep Grand Wagoneer I drove recently.

This is the largest, fanciest Jeep ever, with a spectacular interior bathed in dark walnut and supple leather that's outfitted with every tech gizmo you could want.

• It's hard to imagine off-roading in this luxury yacht — though it has a 10-inch ground clearance and can ford two feet of water.
• But that's not the point: this SUV is about exploring the reaches of American opulence.

The big picture: The Stellantis-owned brand known for its iconic and rugged Jeep Wrangler has already mined the low end of the SUV market with the Cherokee, Compass and Renegade. So now it's pushing the other end of the spectrum, taking on premium full-size SUVs like the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.

Details: The stately, upright Grand Wagoneer is massive and hard to maneuver — though the 360-degree, bird's-eye camera helps — yet it's still surprisingly refined and comfortable on the highway.

• It's powered by a 6.4-liter V-8 engine which gets an EPA-rated 13/18 mpg city/highway.
• It comes in five trim levels, ranging from about $90,000 to $110,000. (A slightly less grand model — the similarly sized Jeep Wagoneer — starts around $69,000.)

There are screens everywhere — including a 10-inch front passenger screen that has a special privacy filter to prevent distraction for the driver.

• Second-row passengers have a 10-inch touchscreen between the captain's chairs, and individual screens mounted on the seatbacks in front of them.

Are we there yet? The Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer are the first in the industry to come with Amazon Fire TV for Auto, which lets passengers stream content from Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, among others.

• When you sync the system to an existing Amazon account, you can even pause programming in your home and resume watching in the car.
• A fun feature lets kids track the trip's progress, and the time to destination, just as airline passengers can.
• There's also a rear-seat monitoring system that lets drivers see passengers seated behind them on a video feed.

There are some surprises too, like an optional cooler in the front center console or a touchpad-controlled safe to stow valuables under the split front armrest.

The bottom line: You have to wonder if it's worth spending $110,000 on a Jeep, but if you've got the money, the Grand Wagoneer won't leave you asking for anything more.

The outcry over Congress' latest proposal to regulate tech companies' algorithms shows how difficult it is for lawmakers and platforms alike to deal with online content moderation.

Why it matters: The new bill is backed by the leadership of a powerful committee with jurisdiction over the issue, giving it more momentum than some previous legislative attempts to revamp online platforms' legal protections.

A company called PORTL sells a 7-foot-tall booth into which you can beam a 3-D image of yourself anywhere in the world.

Why it matters: In the age of COVID-19, it's valuable to have a way to project someone realistically from Point A to Point B. The technology, while still a bit expensive and cumbersome, can make anything from classroom learning to celebrity appearances and business meetings more vivid and compelling.

Beat 'em up "Aeon Must Die!"'s release on Thursday stirred up controversy around accusations from former employees that the game was created under toxic work conditions and ultimately stolen from its creators.

Driving the news: Former Limestone Games developers, now working under a new studio called Mishura Games, published a lengthy statement calling on Limestone and publisher Focus Entertainment to "complete their legal responsibilities."

Sony is offering customers the chance to buy a PlayStation 5 directly from them for the holidays.

The details: The offer is invite-only, with selections being made based on “previous interests and PlayStation activities." You'll need to register with Sony first.

"Squid Game" is Netflix's biggest series launch ever with more than 111 million views, but the show has taken root beyond the streaming platform in spaces like TikTok and the gaming industry.

Why it matters: The battle royale-style show's influence in video games seems to spread more every week.

LinkedIn on Thursday said it will sunset the localized version of its app in China and will instead launch a new job boards app called "InJobs" later this year.

Why it matters: In a statement, the company said it's making these changes because it's facing "a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China."

The leader of a powerful House committee is taking aim at websites' liability shield in a new bill that would remove protections if recommended content leads to real-world harm.

The big picture: The bill is the latest attempt to tweak tech's shield after mounting frustrations from both Democrats and Republicans about Facebook, YouTube and Twitter's content moderation practices.

Facebook is announcing a new machine learning project that aims to teach AI how to understand and interact with the world through a first-person perspective.

Why it matters: Most computer vision is trained on images and videos taken from a third-person perspective, but to build AI assistants and robots that can work with us in the real world, researchers will need to compile data sets built on what is known as egocentric perception.

Technology can be a big seller in new cars, but it turns out that many digital features go unused — assuming owners even know their car has them.

Why it matters: High-tech features are driving up vehicle prices. But if consumers don't use them — or are frustrated because the stuff doesn't work properly — then both automakers and car buyers are wasting their money.

Driving the news: For more than 1 in 3 advanced technologies, most owners didn't even use the feature during the first three months of ownership, a J.D. Power tech study found.

• Usually, owners say it's because they don't need the feature, but sometimes it's because they don't know about it or find it difficult to use.

BMW's gesture control technology is a great example. It's supposed to let you wiggle a finger or wave your hand to perform tasks like adjusting the radio volume or answering a call — as opposed to touching a screen or button.

• But the tech had the lowest overall satisfaction score in J.D. Power's annual U.S. Tech Experience Index for the second year in a row, with owners reporting 41 problems — meaning complaints — per 100 vehicles.
• My thought bubble: I drove a BMW X6 last year that had gesture control as part of a $2,300 Premium package. I concur with BMW owners. It was easier to just use the buttons.

Other built-in technologies often go unused, despite big investments by automakers to add them. Some examples:

Digital marketplace: General Motors was the first to equip millions of cars with an in-car commerce platform called Marketplace that lets you order food, make restaurant and hotel reservations, and find gas stations from your dashboard.

• But 61% of owners say they've never used their car's digital marketplace, and 51% said they don't need it.

Driver/passenger communications: Honda, Hyundai and Toyota are among carmakers that let drivers talk more easily with rear-seat occupants via a microphone or camera.

• 52% say they've never used the system, and 40% say they don't need it. (Who needs a mic when you can just turn around and yell at your kids?)

Between the lines: Consumers are more likely to use emerging technology if the car dealer does a good job of demonstrating how it works, J.D. Power found.

• But a lot of car salespeople aren't fully trained to explain all the features of the cars they sell — and often buyers don't ask, aren't interested, or can't take it all in.
• Some dealers encourage buyers to schedule a follow-up visit to the dealership for a refresher.
• When a buyer does get a lesson from their dealer about how to use an advanced feature, they use it more, the study found.
• Examples of these features include "safe exit assist technology" — which warns parked drivers to wait for traffic before opening the door — and trailer assistance technology, which helps drivers maneuver a boat or RV, for example.
• Yes, but: Owners are more than twice as likely to learn about such technology from an outside source (71%) than from a dealer (30%), the study found.

What car owners love: cameras, cameras and more cameras.

• The top-rated technologies all provide an extra set of eyes: backup cameras with trajectory guidance, rear-view mirror cameras that enhance visibility, and 360-degree ground view cameras.
• Electric vehicle owners also love one-pedal driving technology — which allows a driver to lift their foot off the accelerator to slow or stop without having to brake.

The bottom line: In-car technology has to be simple to use — and well-explained to the driver ahead of time — or it's not worth the money.

A whopping 87% of U.S. teenagers have iPhones, per a new survey of 10,000 young people from investment bank Piper Sandler.

Why it matters: The economy is going mobile as the next generation of consumers shops for clothes, watches TV and meets romantic partners almost exclusively on their phones.

Amazon must decide whether to go it alone in the fight against a bill meant to deter online sales of counterfeit and stolen goods, after its e-commerce peers Etsy and eBay threw their support behind updated House legislation set for a Thursday hearing.

Between the lines: The fierce and unanimous opposition from online marketplaces has splintered, potentially easing the path forward for the latest legislation.

Code hosting company GitLab will begin trading Thursday morning on the Nasdaq after raising about $800 million at a valuation of about $11 billion in an initial public offering.

Why it matters: This is a milestone that GitLab's older and arguably better known rival, GitHub, didn’t get to experience. GitHub, instead, sold to Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) unveiled a bill Thursday banning companies like Amazon and Google from favoring their own services.

Why it matters: The Senate legislation, which is similar to a bipartisan House bill, shows Republicans and Democrats in both chambers are eager to pass new regulations on the country's biggest technology companies.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on Monday responded to growing frustrations among employees about the company's handling of anti-transgender comments made by comedian Dave Chappelle in his most recent Netflix special "The Closer."

Yes, but: His justification has only intensified frustrations, sources told Axios on Wednesday.