| Greetings and welcome to Inside Tech! Here are the latest headlines for today: - Leaked data showed Google's top salaries in engineering, sales, and more.
- The FTC has now paused its in-house trial against Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.
- Apple warned that changes to a U.K. surveillance law could result in the shutdown of FaceTime and iMessage.
- Amazon is investing $120M in an internet satellite processing facility.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The news: In 2022, Google ranked among the highest-paying tech companies, with a median total compensation of $279,802, according to leaked internal data obtained by Business Insider. What the numbers show: Google's software engineers had the highest pay, raking in a maximum base salary of $718,000. Other top positions in engineering, business, and sales also commanded six-figure base salaries, and employees' earnings got a boost from equity options and bonuses. For software engineers, the max equity they could get in 2022 was $1.5M. What brands should care: Compared to other tech giants, Google's median base pay last year was below Meta ($296,320) but above Netflix ($218,400) and Salesforce ($199,130), as per data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal and collected by MyLogIQ. Overall, the median worker's compensation at 278 companies in the S&P 500 was higher in 2022 than the previous year, with about 100 companies reporting a 10% or more increase. 
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| 2 | | The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has halted its in-house trial against Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard, opening the door for potential settlement talks. The companies can now attempt to convince the agency's commissioners to accept a settlement or drop their opposition to the deal. More: - To challenge the mega-deal, the FTC has pursued two approaches:
- In the first case, the FTC is appealing a federal court ruling in favor of the deal. A district court recently denied its request for a preliminary injunction, and an appeals court also declined to block the deal, marking a win for Microsoft.
- The second approach was the in-house administrative trial, which the agency paused on Thursday. That case was scheduled to go to trial on August 2.
- Although the FTC typically dismisses the administrative case if it loses in federal court, the watchdog has the option to restart its in-house case even if the merger is completed
Zoom out: - Meanwhile, Microsoft and Activision have extended their merger agreement to October 18 to negotiate with U.K. competition regulators, who initially blocked the deal but are now giving Microsoft a second chance to propose remedies.
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| 3 | | Apple has warned that changes to a U.K. surveillance law could impact iPhone users' privacy, leading to a shutdown of FaceTime and iMessage. The company's concerns revolve around an update to the U.K. Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The law change would require messaging services to get government approval for their security features before they're released. More: - Under the new proposals, the British Home Office could also force companies to disable features without public disclosure.
- The planned changes have raised concerns about mandated backdoors to end-to-end encryption.
- Though end-to-end encryption would not be directly criminalized, the new rules would demand companies to enable scanning for child sexual abuse material.
- Apple said it opposes the changes and would have no choice but to withdraw FaceTime and iMessage from the U.K.
- Other tech giants, including WhatsApp, Signal, and Wikipedia, have also expressed concerns over the potential harm to user privacy and security.
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| 4 | | Amazon is investing $120M in a satellite processing facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for Project Kuiper, its network of internet satellites. Amazon plans to deploy 3,236 Kuiper satellites on rockets from Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. More: - Amazon plans to begin satellite production at a Washington plant later this year.
- The satellites will then be transported to the new Florida facility, where they will be installed into their respective rockets. Amazon aims to start launching the satellites into orbit next year.
- It began construction of the facility in January and aims to finish it by late 2024.
- The company plans to ship its first batch of satellites to the area in the second half of 2025.
Zoom out: - The Kuiper internet network, a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink, aims to provide fast and affordable broadband to underserved communities worldwide.
- To comply with federal regulations, half of the Kuiper constellation must be launched by 2026.
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| 5 | | Samsung's next product launch event takes place next Wednesday, July 26. During the Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung is expected to reveal its latest foldable smartphones, along with new smartwatches and tablets. More: - Samsung is expected to announce its thinner Galaxy Fold 5 and Galaxy Flip 5.
- The Flip features a 6.7-inch 120Hz internal display, while the Fold boasts a 6.2-inch 120Hz outer display, alongside a 7.6-inch internal panel.
- The phones are expected to use the same customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and sport a new hinge design, allowing them to fold without a gap.
- Samsung has yet to announce the prices or release dates.
- In addition, Samsung is set to reveal its Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Tab S9 range of tablets at the event.
- Unpacked will stream live on Samsung's website and its YouTube channel.
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| 6 | Google is currently testing an AI tool named "Genesis" that can produce news content, as reported by The New York Times. The tool was demonstrated to high-ranking executives from major media outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal. More: - According to The Times, Google is positioning the tool as a "responsible" technology that could act as a virtual assistant for journalists, streamlining certain tasks and freeing up their time.
- The AI tool is designed to assist with headline creation and enhance writing styles, the company said.
- However, some media executives expressed concerns about the tool disregarding the effort required to create accurate and well-crafted news stories.
- While some newsrooms have already integrated AI-generated content, there has been a backlash against some publications for publishing error-prone AI-generated stories.
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- A study by Stanford and Berkeley researchers found that OpenAI's GPT language models performed worse in some areas in June compared to March.
- Telegram's new Stories feature, allowing users to share time-limited videos and photos, has now gone live for paid subscribers.
- Tesla's recent earnings report has shown that the company did not buy or sell any Bitcoin in Q2. The value of the BTC holdings of the company remained the same as the last two previous quarters at $184M.
- A movie based on the "Borderlands" video game franchise is set to release in theaters on Aug. 9, 2024. Directed by Eli Roth, the film stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Arian Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black.
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Term of the Day Earned media: Earned media describes the publicity and awareness that a company receives for free as a result of positive word-of-mouth or recommendations. Question of the Week Do you think it's ever acceptable to bring politics into the workplace? Join the conversation |
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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