10 things in tech you need to know today

Happy Friday, readers. The defense has rested in Elizabeth Holmes' fraud trial, and we have an inside look at an attachment that turns the Tesla Cybertruck into an RV.

Let's get to it.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app – click here for iOS and here for Android.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

1. The Elizabeth Holmes trial: The defense tells two last-ditch whoppers. The defense in the Theranos founder's fraud trial rested Wednesday after she testified for seven days, the last of which she spent working to portray herself as a tech visionary — not a fraud.

• In the last line of questioning, focused on what she told investors and partners about the company's technology, Holmes said she was talking about what the company "could do a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now."
• In other words, she wasn't talking about what Theranos could actually do — she was painting a picture of what the company might yet do.
• If the jury believes her, she'll walk free later this month. If it doesn't, her spectacular rise and fall will land her in prison. Inside the last day of Holmes' testimony.

Closing arguments are scheduled for next week, starting on Dec. 16. Here's what you need to know.

2. Google promised employees an extra $1,600 cash bonus after delaying its return to office. With the emergence of the Omicron variant pushing Google's return to office plan past its original target of Jan. 10, 2022, the company has guaranteed a cash bonus later this month. What we know so far.

3. Better doubled severance pay for laid-off employees. According to an email viewed by Insider, the company is bumping severance from four weeks to 60 days, just as class-action lawyers mobilize to sue the startup for not giving notice of mass layoffs. More on the increased compensation.

4. In other Better news… One former employee is setting up a career fair for the hundreds of fired workers — and Microsoft and Robinhood are among the companies lining up to recruit them: "900 people on the market ... it's a dream."

5. WhatsApp just launched a cryptocurrency payments pilot. The pilot will let certain people in the US send and receive crypto using Novi, Meta's digital wallet, according to The Verge. This is what you need to know.

6. Facebook won't bring commerce to the metaverse until at least 2023. While Facebook parent Meta sees buying and selling physical and digital products as a "big part" of its metaverse vision, leaked documents show it considers metaverse commerce a distant opportunity. Everything we learned from the internal memo.

7. SpaceX launched a $214 million NASA satellite into orbit. The satellite was designed to examine some of the most fascinating objects in the cosmos, from black holes to dead stars. Here's what it'll be doing on its mission.

8. Amazon has two secret projects to mitigate the problems caused by the big cloud outage. Project Buckeye has been running for years but was lacking in executive backing, according to one insider. Read more about the secret projects here.

9. If you didn't reserve an electric F-150 Lightning already, you're in for a long wait. Ford stopped accepting reservations for the EV on Wednesday, and already has nearly 200,000 reservations — which could take years to fulfill. More on the wait for an electric F-150.

10. A $50,000 camper can turn the Tesla Cybertruck into a tiny home on wheels. An artificial intelligence and software company is making CyberLandrs, camper attachments for Tesla Cybertrucks — and even though the first trucks haven't even been delivered yet, it has hit $100 million in preorders. Check out the CyberLandr.

The latest people moves in tech:

• Venmo's former CFO joined online checkout startup Fast.
• A Meta VP quit after 11 years to join Goop investor Felix Capital.
• Facebook (now Meta) has seen 18 executive departures this year. Here are all the execs who have left.
• Three of Better's top execs resigned after mass layoffs.
• Stitch Fix's chief product officer is out.
• These are the seven most important execs who left Cisco in 2021 and 10 power players who joined.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.