In what CEO Brian Chesky calls "the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade," the home rental company introduced a sitewide makeover Wednesday that makes it easier to find offbeat and niche properties.
Why it matters: As travel companies gear up for the summer rush — which will be intensified this year by pent-up post-COVID demand — Airbnb is trying to differentiate itself and give consumers fresh options.
A new report on the future of travel envisions that biometrics could eliminate airport security hassles, making the days of removing your shoes and belt before you board obsolete.
Why it matters: Flying was a far more pleasant experience before today's onerous passenger screenings became necessary. If facial recognition and other technology can handle security checks invisibly, airports can one day become enjoyable social and retail hubs.
There’s no better proof of Twitter’s impact on public conversation and markets than one tweet moving billions of dollars in market cap across three different companies in a matter of minutes.
Driving the news: Elon Musk’s tweet that his pending Twitter takeover deal was “temporarily on hold” sent Wall Street on a wild ride Friday. Investors were already beginning to grow skeptical of Musk’s bid, but the possibility that he could walk sent Twitter’s shares tumbling more than 20% before the market opened.
Two tech industry groups filed an emergency application Friday night asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that allowed Texas' controversial social media law to take effect.
Why it matters: The law allows users to sue a social media company if they are blocked from posting or have their posts removed. Civil liberties experts and tech advocates have said it would force companies to let problematic speech such as hate and misinformation stay up on their platforms.
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.
