Technology

Karyn Johnson-Dorsey completed her last trip as a delivery worker for Shipt, Target Corp.'s grocery delivery app, on June 8.She’d spent time at Petco texting pictures of litter boxes to a customer whose cat had just had surgery. All in all, the drive to the store, gathering pet supplies and checking out took 53 minutes. It took Johnson-Dorsey 15 minutes more to drop off the … [Read more...] about Target-owned Shipt sparks worker protest with pay change

Back in 2016, the giant cable company Charter Communications made several promises required by federal regulators as conditions for the approval of a merger deal that would make Charter even more gargantuan.Are you shocked that, now that the merger has long been completed, Charter is asking the Federal Communications Commission to rescind some of those conditions? Me neither. … [Read more...] about Column: Spectrum, like other big companies, seeks to abandon its merger promises

With Tesla crossing a key financial milestone and enjoying a dizzying climb in the value of its stock, the company is treating itself to a splurge: a new factory. After months of speculation and unconfirmed reports, Chief Executive Elon Musk previewed plans to build a plant in Austin, Texas, during a conference call to discuss Tesla’s second-quarter earnings Wednesday. The news … [Read more...] about Tesla, posting a crucial profit, unveils Austin factory plan

Video games, at their most basic, allow us to partake in activities that we often can’t experience in our real lives. We can jump inside green pipes and toss fireballs in “Super Mario Bros.” In the just-released “Ghost of Tsushima” we can wield a sword and pretend we’re in an Akira Kurosawa film. And in the mobile vignette of a game “Four Months Earlier” we can go for a … [Read more...] about Better than social distancing? In this game you take a virtual walk in Griffith Park

For years, as major tech companies shared regular reports on the diversity of their workforces, Snap Inc. kept that data secret.Earlier this summer, Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel cited the regular drumbeat of unchanging diversity numbers as a reason to keep his own company’s information private. When asked about the practice at an all-employee meeting in June, Spiegel … [Read more...] about Here’s how Snap’s diversity stacks up against Silicon Valley

The information-age cold war with China heated up a few degrees Friday. The battlefield du jour: TikTok, the goofy, wildly popular mobile phone app.Generation Z loves TikTok. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo calls it a national security threat. And now the White House has indicated it will seek to block TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, from operating the app in … [Read more...] about Promising a TikTok ban, Trump escalates tech war with China

Despite winning a standoff with local health officials over reopening his factory, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is sticking with his threat to move company headquarters to another state.“There’s no question that our headquarters will remain in California for the short term,” he said in a recent interview with Automotive News. “Long term, we’ll have to wait and see.”He didn’t … [Read more...] about Elon Musk says Tesla headquarters could still move out of California

In its latest move to take gig economy companies to task, California is suing Uber and Lyft for alleged wage theft. The state says the companies have “willfully” misclassified drivers as independent contractors instead of employees, depriving them of basic worker protections and wages. The lawsuits, brought by California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower, seek to “stop the … [Read more...] about California labor commissioner sues Uber and Lyft, alleging wage theft

Prince Harry wants social media companies to “redesign themselves” in pursuit of a digital landscape that’s less divided, less hate-filled, and healthier and happier for all involved. Especially for children. In a new piece written for Fast Company, the Duke of Sussex said he and his wife, Meghan, started working in July to communicate with executives at various tech companies. … [Read more...] about Prince Harry likens social media to lead poisoning, calling it harmful to children

President Trump’s two executive orders targeting Chinese companies went public just after 6 p.m. Pacific on Thursday.The first went after TikTok, to no one’s surprise. The video app had been the subject of intensifying rhetoric from the Trump administration for weeks. The order declared that all U.S. entities would be banned from doing business with parent company ByteDance … [Read more...] about Trump banned TikTok and WeChat. Are video games next?