Walmart considers edge computing service. With around 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart, the retail giant is doubling-down on its supercenters as a recipe for success in the e-commerce era. The added warehouse and shipping capacity could allow more companies to easily sell their wares on Walmart.com.
A new kind of data hub. The company is also looking at adding to the supercenters “edge computing” capacity, in which data is processed physically close to where it is being collected. Spread out among retail locations the system could be rented out for autonomous vehicles and other systems that may use the technology to process large amounts of data quickly, people familiar with the company’s plans, tell the Wall Street Journal's Sarah Nassauer.
5G too. "Walmart executives have met with large telecom companies to discuss allowing the firms to install 5G antennas on the roofs of stores for a fee or to provide access to faster network connections, said a person familiar with the talks."
China tightens online grip. The Chinese government’s control over online content is likely to tighten through a set of new rules that defines what is bad or illegal content, and what content is encouraged, highlighting the role algorithms play in recommending content for users. The rules, released by the Cyberspace Administration of China and set to go into effect in March, target producers of online content, including individuals and operators of apps and other platforms. (WSJ)
Making Facebook and Google care. A 90-year-old legal concept known as “Duty of Care” is being reimagined by the British government as the cornerstone of laws aimed at forcing big tech companies to police their content better, writes WSJ’s Parmy Olson. Under a new proposal, regulators would have the power to require companies to protect users from online harms, such as pornography, extremist content and cyber bullying.
Bad choices. Products labeled “Amazon Choice” on the online retail giant include some the regulators have raised safety concerns about, that make false claims, or whose listings appear to have been manipulated, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Amazon has attached the endorsement to a sexual-enhancement drink regulators say contain Viagra and cellphone chargers with fake Apple Inc. certifications, among other products, the Journal's investigation found.
France fines Google over blocked ads. France’s competition authority fined the company roughly $167 million for unfairly suspending advertisers that placed allegedly deceptive ads, The Wall Street Journal reported. French authorities said the search-engine giant abused its market dominance by blocking the ads in a random and unpredictable fashion. (WSJ)
Twitter, Facebook remove accounts. Twitter says it identified and removed roughly 6,000 accounts linked to Saudi government efforts to promote its geopolitical interests, the Associated Press reports. Separately, Facebook announced that it banned hundreds of accounts and pages
It says were connected to groups in Georgia and Vietnam, some of which used profile photos generated by artificial intelligence.
Ride-sharing firms take taxi stand. Uber and Lyft are marshaling forces to battle against a California law set to take effect next month that toughens rules for classifying workers as independent contractors, a key component of the ride-sharing firms’ business model, the Wall Street Journal reports. Unlike contractors, employees are entitled to benefits, including minimum wage and paid sick days.
Feds defend T-Mobile-Sprint deal. The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission criticized a lawsuit by state attorneys general that seeks to block the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, saying efforts to derail the merger will undo consumer benefits secured by the federal government’s review and approval of the deal, such as improved service in rural America. (WSJ)
Big payday for Alphabet chief. Sundar Pichai, the search-giant’s newly installed chief executive, is set to receive $240 million in performance-based stock awards over the next three years, on top of an annual salary of $2 million, according to a regulatory filing. As the company’s new CEO starting in 2020, Mr. Pichai replaces Larry Page, whose take-home pay was $1. (Reuters)
Spaceship didn’t know which way to go-oh. Engineers abruptly cancelled a planned rendezvous between Boeing’s unmanned Starliner capsule and the international space station, after a software glitch sent the spacecraft off course and stranded in the wrong orbit. The closely-watched test was meant to chart a course for routine trips to the space station by NASA crews. (WSJ)
IAC to buy Care.com. The nation’s largest online marketplace for babysitters agreed to a sale to IAC/InterActive for about $500 million in cash. Care.com faced scrutiny for providing limited vetting of its caregivers, after a Wall Street Journal investigation showed the service largely left the task up to customers. (WSJ)
TikTok seeks new home. In its efforts to shake off its Chinese image, Video-app maker Bytedance Inc. is look outside of China for a global headquarters for TikTok, its hit app. Singapore is one city being considered, people familiar with the company said. (WSJ)
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