Amazon's growth is plateauing as the company adjusts to a new economic environment.
Catch up quick: Net sales rose to $121.2 billion in the second quarter, or by 7% — the same pace as the first three months of the year, the company reported on Thursday.
Apple on Thursday reported quarterly results that were slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations despite having to grapple with both supply chain and production challenges.
Why it matters: Apple's report comes as many of its tech peers reported weaker results, including semiconductor bellwether Intel, whose results and outlook disappointed analysts and investors.
The House of Representatives voted 243-187 Thursday to pass a $280 billion package for the domestic chip-making industry and scientific research, sending the long-awaited legislation to President Biden's desk.
Why it matters: The bill, approved by the Senate on Wednesday, is meant to boost the manufacturing of essential computer chips on U.S. soil to prevent future supply chain crises and bolster competition with China.
Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc. has added two ad tech execs to its staff and reshuffled its executive team to prioritize monetization and growth, according to a source familiar with the changes and an internal memo obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Snap shares spiraled last week after the company said revenue growth would meaningfully slow in the months ahead.
Ashraf Ismail, former top developer on Assassin’s Creed games for Ubisoft before his dismissal from the company in mid-2020, was hired last year to help lead development on a game at Tencent, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The new role amounts to a second chance for a developer whose fall from Ubisoft amid allegations of abusing his power was part of the MeToo reckoning in the game industry two years ago.
Meta on Tuesday began telling its news partners in the U.S. that the company no longer plans to pay publishers for their content to run on Facebook's News Tab, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: As the company moves forward with sweeping changes to the Facebook experience, news has become less of a priority.
Facebook parent Meta plans to partner with an outside group to survey the race of Instagram customers in hopes of better understanding who is using its services, officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The company says it wants to make sure that its products and AI systems operate fairly across racial lines, but feels it can't do that without better knowing its customers. By working with a third party it aims to both protect privacy and ensure customers are more comfortable sharing their information.
After a decade of unprecedented growth, Meta has finally hit a wall.
Driving the news: The tech giant told investors Wednesday that it's planning to cut costs, slow investments and reduce head count as it braces for what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called a "downturn" that has already begun to wreak havoc on its business.
Meta, the parent company to Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, reported its first ever year-over-year quarterly revenue decline since going public in 2012.
Why it matters: The results raise the question whether Meta's strongest growth period is behind it. Earlier this year, the Facebook app lost roughly 1 million daily active users — its first ever year-over-year user drop.
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Meta in an attempt to prevent the company from buying Within Unlimited, a virtual reality fitness company.
Driving the news: The FTC says Meta, Facebook's parent company, should not be allowed to acquire Within and its associated fitness app, Supernatural, because Meta is "already a key player at each level of the virtual reality sector," per a release.
The Senate voted 64-33 Wednesday to approve a $280 billion package meant to spur U.S. chip manufacturing, a major victory for the Biden administration and chip-makers.
Why it matters: The bill aims to reverse a long-term decline in domestic manufacturing of the computer chips that go into cars, computers, appliances and a range of other everyday items, after the pandemic exposed the fragility of the international supply chain.
TikTok on Wednesday said it plans to enable some researchers to easily access anonymized public data on the platform later this year.
Why it matters: Researchers have put pressure on tech platforms to give them access to public user data so that they can better track societal trends, such as political polarization and misinformation.
Vox Media is laying off 39 people, less than 2% of its total staff of more than 2000, in an effort to get ahead of economic uncertainty, according to a source familiar with the cuts and a memo obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Vox Media is the latest in a long string of firms taking measures to prepare for a potential economic downturn.
Shares in Spotify spiked nearly 7% Wednesday morning after the streaming audio giant said it beat Wall Street's expectations on revenue, earnings and user growth.
Why it matters: Several media and tech firms attributed slowed growth last quarter to macroeconomic headwinds. CEO Daniel Ek told Axios he remains "paranoid" about a potential recession but said, "so far, we're not seeing much of it at all."
A Senate vote Tuesday teed up the latest version of Congress' effort to fund domestic chip manufacturing for final approval Wednesday morning and likely, though not certain, House passage by the weekend.
Yes, but: Congress has been deadlocked on this issue for over a year now, and has only reached this point after intense lobbying and by prioritizing the chips bill over many other proposals — including virtually all of those that involve the tech world.
There’s no instruction manual for working video games into family life. But if you’re a parent, you don't have a choice, Axios Gaming author Stephen Totilo writes.
Why it matters: Games can be fun hang-out spaces, digital canvases for creativity — and safe spaces for learning how to win, lose or chip away at a goal that might be hours, days or weeks away.
