10 things in tech you need to know today

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10 things in tech you need to know today

Mark Zuckerberg

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A UK parliamentary report called Facebook "digital gangsters."

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Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday.

  1. A second former Cambridge Analytica employee has reportedly been subpoenaed by Robert Mueller's investigation. A representative for Brittany Kaiser, a former business development director for Cambridge Analytica, told The Guardian that Kaiser has been subpoenaed by Mueller and will offer her full cooperation to his investigation.
  2. The UK parliamentary committee investigating fake news called Facebook "digital gangsters" in its final report. The DCMS committee also accused CEO Mark Zuckerberg of contempt of parliament after he failed to show up to give evidence to the committee.
  3. Facebook moderators are in revolt over "inhumane" working conditions that they say erodes their "sense of humanity." In an open letter to Facebook employees, moderators from Austin, Texas complained about draconian working conditions that are eroding trust in the company.
  4. Elon Musk says SpaceX is developing a "bleeding" heavy-metal rocket ship, and making it work may be 100 times as hard as NASA's most difficult Mars mission. The craft will apparently "bleed" liquid during landing to cool off the spaceship and prevent it from burning up.
  5. Uber's business slowed dramatically in the fourth quarter as it gears up for an IPO. Uber's loss dropped to $370 million last year from $4.5 billion in 2017, the company reported Friday.
  6. The UK has reportedly concluded it can mitigate security risks associated with the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks. Huawei, along with another Chinese network equipment company ZTE, has been accused by the United States of working at the behest of the Chinese government.
  7. Apple reportedly bought a startup that specializes in helping companies build voice apps. Apple has acquired Pullstring, a startup that helps customers publish voice apps, according to Axios.
  8. Facebook reportedly demonstrated "informal interest" in buying the company that made HQ Trivia but backed off after reports of 'creepy' behavior from its late co-founder. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook's interest in the company waned after Recode published an article describing allegations of inappropriate behavior by Intermedia Labs co-founder Colin Kroll during his time working for Twitter.
  9. People in the video game industry are rallying around the 800 employees laid off by Activision Blizzard. Activision Blizzard laid off about 800 employees on the same day the company announced record revenue record during 2018.
  10. Australia's major political parties have been hacked months out from a federal election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the Liberal Party, Labor and the Nationals' IT networks were hacked by "a sophisticated state actor."

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