10 things in tech you need to know today

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10 things in tech you need to know today
Tim CookApple

Hello! Quick programming note: There will be no newsletter this Thursday or Friday as we take a break for Thanksgiving. We'll be back in inboxes on Monday.

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Apologies for the slight delay this morning — we had a technical issue. But now, let's get started.


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1. Apple is suing a company that makes iPhone-hacking software. The tech giant is also notifying a "small number of users" it thinks may have been targeted by its tech, known as Pegasus.

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  • The iPhone-maker has filed a lawsuit against spyware firm NSO Group and its parent company Q Cyber Technologies.
  • Apple claims the Israeli companies market products that have been used to target and harm Apple customers.
  • Earlier this month, the US Commerce Department blacklisted NSO Group for what it described as "malicious cyber activities."
  • Pegasus is alleged to have been deployed by governments against dissidents, journalists, and diplomats, the Guardian previously reported.

Here are the full details of Apple's legal suit, which has been filed in the US District Court of North Carolina.

10 things in tech you need to know today
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2. At least 600 Google employees — less than 0.5% of its workforce — reportedly drafted a manifesto opposing the company's vaccine mandate. CNBC reported that Google requires all employees to be vaccinated by December 3, but some have opposed the move. Read more on that here.

3. Nick Clegg joined Facebook in 2018, but he has been quickly welcomed into Mark Zuckerberg's inner circle. The former UK deputy prime minister has become a key decision-maker at the recently-rebranded Meta. We charted his rise to prominence at the tech giant here.

4. Elon Musk just sold another batch of Tesla shares worth around $1.05 billion. The Tesla CEO exercised options to buy 2.15 million shares before selling around 934,091, Reuters reported, citing US securities filings. Details of Musk's selloff are here.

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5. Documents reveal how Anduril, a startup backed by Peter Thiel, is using AI to build an army of data labelers to build a virtual border wall for the Biden administration. The labelers, signed to NDAs, determine whether objects flagged by surveillance towers are people or animals. Read more about Anduril's $250 million contract with Customs and Border Protection.

6. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is raising funds to build its own version of real estate marketplace Zillow. The tech firm is in talks with investors around developing a similar offering to Zillow for the Chinese market, Bloomberg reported. Here's more on Xingfuli, the latest app ByteDance is hoping to push.

7. Target is poaching engineers from Amazon to help it "leapfrog" Amazon Go technology. The retailer wants to make sure it doesn't fall behind Amazon, which has started to rollout its own cashierless stores. Read more on how Target plans to fight back.

8. The Biden administration paid almost $1 million in legal fees to end a court battle over Trump's WeChat ban. President Trump issued an executive order last year that banned WeChat. Here's how the legal saga came to an end.

9. Apple told the SEC it doesn't silence employees regarding workplace harassment or discrimination, but new whistleblower documents show that isn't true. The document points out that the tech giant will go to lengths to silence its former employees. Details of the nondisclosure agreement can be found here.

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10. Andy Jassy was reportedly surprised when Jeff Bezos asked him to be his successor. The new Amazon chief executive said he wasn't "clamoring" for the role and said that he loved his previous role at AWS, according to Vanity Fair. More on Amazon's new boss here.


Curated by Michael Cogley in London. Tips or comments? Tweet @michaelcogley or email mcogley@insider.com.

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