Tech giant Unity may be a gaming company by heritage, but its overall goal these days is to popularize 3D graphics in every walk of life, Marc Whitten, one of the company’s senior vice presidents, tells Axios.
Why it matters: Unity is already one of the leading creators of tools for making games, and is positioned, through key acquisitions, to make its tech more relevant to the rest of the world.
Driving the news: The mercurial Musk at 5:44am ET tweeted: "Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users."
YouTube creators who have switched to producing content about the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have found a massive audience, accruing millions of views on their videos, according to NBC News.
The big picture: The trial between the two stars in Fairfax, Va. has attracted immense attention on social media, where many have sided with Depp.
For cryptocurrency, 2021 was a very exciting year. For Coinbase, the best known cryptocurrency company that's publicly traded, it was so-so. Strangely, Coinbase seemed unable to capitalize on frothiness in the very financial market it was built to serve.
Why it matters: There's an old investor adage: in a gold rush, the guy selling shovels gets rich even if there's no gold. Coinbase should be a shovel company, but somehow it hasn't been.
The police in San Francisco see camera-laden autonomous vehicles as potential witnesses in their criminal investigations, setting off alarm bells for privacy advocates, VICE reports.
Why it matters: As Axios has reported, self-driving cars capture and store huge databases of images so that they can train their algorithms and become better drivers. What that means is that bystanders are often captured in the footage, raising privacy concerns.
The likely demise of Roe v. Wade is putting a new spotlight on privacy rights and personal data. But even as some big tech companies are beginning to try to limit how much data their existing products collect, the industry keeps rolling out new waves of devices and services that scoop up even more personal info.
Why it matters: Any trove of data will sooner or later end up at the other end of a request, or order, to be shared with law enforcement. The newest generation of gear, including autonomous vehicles and always-on cameras, could provide the state with a persistent and omnipresent method of surveillance.
Elon Musk tweeted Friday morning that his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is "temporarily on hold" as he seeks more details on the platform's new estimate that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of users.
Why it matters: Musk provided few details, but the tweet from his official account will ignite havoc in the tech and financial worlds. Twitter shares extended their fall in pre-market trading.
Virtual meetings have become so commonplace for Marvel Studios that some editors and directors never meet in person during production.
Driving the news: "Moon Knight" director Mohamed Diab told Axios after the Marvel show's finale that he never met one of the show's editors in person even though production for the show lasted three years.
The Terra blockchain was halted for almost two hours today amid widespread turmoil in the cryptocurrency market, with investors challenging the presumed 1-to-1 pegs that underpin stablecoins.
Driving the news: The blockchain runs the algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD, alongside its partner Luna, the governance token. Both coins have crashed in a dramatic fashion in the last few days, while another called Tether has also come under pressure.
Four congressional Democrats sent a formal request to the CEOs of YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook's parent company Thursday to archive any content of alleged Russian war crimes.
Why it matters: Social media users have posted graphic images and videos throughout Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The content could be valuable to investigators, who have said they will seek to hold perpetrators accountable.
A stablecoincalled TerraUSD (UST) imploded this week, causing billions of dollars in losses and raising the question of why any cryptocurrency — or even a government-issued fiat currency, for that matter — would ever want to have its value pegged to some other currency.
Why it matters: Nowadays, most currencies float freely against each other. Historically, however, that's something of an anomaly. Indeed, as recently as 1971, even the U.S. was part of the Bretton Woods system that pegged all currencies to a gold standard.
Twitter is pausing most hiring and backfills, except for business critical roles, a spokesperson on Thursday confirmed to Axios. It's also pulling back on non-labor costs "to ensure we are being responsible and efficient."
Why it matters: The decisions were made by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, a source told Axios. They come as Twitter faces a complicated takeover bid from billionaire Elon Musk.
Lawmakers could consider a slate of antitrust legislation in Congress ahead of the 2022 midterms. But conversations with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) at an Axios event Thursday signaled disagreement even among Democrats on the impact of those bills.
Workers at gaming giant Nintendo of America say the company’s reliance on temporary workers is exploitative and that efforts to bring about change have been stymied by fear of reprisal.
Driving the news: Current and former Nintendo contractors have been speaking up over the past three weeks, since Axios first reported a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board against Nintendo and a contracting firm.
Coinbase on Wednesday for the first time detailed what would happen to user assets were the company to go bankrupt, a disclosure that helped drive Coinbase’s share price to new lows.
Behind the scenes: Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas tells Axios that the disclosure was prompted by new SEC guidance, not because of any solvency concerns at Coinbase.
The big picture: Nearly a year into her tenure, FTC chair Lina Khan now has a chance to move through her agenda after the confirmation of privacy expert Alvaro Bedoya on Wednesday secured a Democratic majority on the commission.
Microsoft-owed Bethesda Games is delaying two huge games that were expected to be marquee releases this fall.
Driving the news: Vampire-hunting adventure Redfall and sci-fi role-playing game Starfield will miss their 2022 release windows, sliding to the first half of 2023.
Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan has a chance to work her way down her Big Tech to-do list, nearly a year into her tenure, now that she has a Democratic majority in hand.
Driving the news: The Senate voted 51-50 Wednesday afternoon — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie — to confirm privacy expert Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC.
Internet-based food delivery services have the potential to transform the lives of people who live in "food deserts" — but only if broadband becomes more widely available there, according to a new Brookings Institution report.
Why it matters: Access to healthy food is closely tied to economic security and public health. And while lots of low-income neighborhoods don't have great local supermarkets, they do have access to the four most prominent food delivery platforms: AmazonFresh/Whole Foods, Instacart, Uber Eats and Walmart.
Google announced Wednesday that it is making use of a more inclusive data model as part of its effort to make its services work equally well across a wide range of human skin tones.
Why it matters: Google is the front door to the internet, and every step it takes toward more equitable products affects billions of people.
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