Business
Google, Alibaba Spar Over Timeline for ‘Quantum Supremacy’
Google’s quantum computing researchers have been planning a party—but new results from a competing team at China’s Alibaba may have postponed it. The China-America corporate rivalry on an obscure frontier of physics illustrates a growing contest between nations and companies hoping to create a new form of improbably powerful computer. In March, Google unveiled a …
What Happened to Internet.org, Facebook’s Grand Plan to Wire the World?
In August 2013, Mark Zuckerberg tapped out a 10-page white paper on his iPhone and shared it on Facebook. It was intended as a call to action for the tech industry: Facebook was going to help get people online. Everyone should be entitled to free basic internet service, Zuckerberg argued. Data was, like food or …
This Is Ajit Pai, Nemesis of Net Neutrality
In March, Ajit Pai, the 45-year-old chair of the Federal Communications Commission, took to the internet—a community he joyfully inhabits and grudgingly regulates—to pay tribute to his favorite movie. “It’s not just, like, my opinion, man: 20 years ago today, #TheBigLebowski—the greatest film in the history of cinema—was released,” Pai wrote on Twitter. “Decades on, …
Tech Addiction and the Business of Mindfulness
I’m totally fine with this. The women sitting cross-legged on the floor around me are passing around a wooden box and dropping their phones inside. It’s coming my way, and I’ve been instructed to jot down my feelings about parting with my phone. I’m totally fine with this, I write, which is a lie. Nevertheless, …
Facebook Just Tapped the Next Mark Zuckerberg
Earlier this week, Facebook announced a grand reshuffle of its leadership. First reported by Recode, the new structure includes teams for the company’s apps, new platforms and infrastructure, and central product services. Most of the people moving into new roles have been with the company for close to a decade or longer, and many have …
House Democrats Release 3,500 Russia-Linked Facebook Ads
On Thursday, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee published more than 3,500 Facebook and Instagram ads linked to the Russian propaganda group Internet Research Agency, making it the largest trove of these ads the public has seen to date. Since last fall, when Facebook disclosed it had sold political ads to Russian actors in the …
What’s the Deal With Facebook and the Blockchain?
On Tuesday Facebook reorganized the duties of its product executives, in the process creating an unusual new division: David Marcus, formerly head of Facebook’s Messenger app, will now lead a team of fewer than a dozen people dedicated to blockchain technology, according to Recode. He’ll be joined by notable executives including Kevin Weil, former VP …
Chinese-American Elites Lament a Brewing Trade War
It’s not easy to promote closer US-China ties these days. The countries are moving toward a trade war; a US delegation left Beijing Friday reporting little progress on resolving disputes. US executives accuse China of stealing their intellectual property. The US government is imposing ever tighter restrictions on Chinese telecommunications firms. That made an uncomfortable …
Amazon Tussles With Seattle as It Seeks a Second Home
Last month four Seattle city councilmembers proposed a new corporate tax that aims to build more affordable housing and expand services for the homeless. In response, Amazon announced this week that it will halt construction on a new building and consider subleasing to others a second building, pending the council’s vote on the proposal. Together, …
Your Instagram #Dogs and #Cats Are Training Facebook’s AI
Using a social network like Facebook is a two-way street, part-shrouded in shadow. The benefits of sharing banter and photos with friends and family—for free—are obvious and immediate. So are the financial rewards for Facebook; but you don’t get to see all of the company’s uses for your data. An artificial intelligence experiment of unprecedented …
