Silicon Valley Tech News Roundup – October 1st
The FTC and 17 states file antitrust charges against Amazon – 9/26
On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorney generals from 17 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit was filed in the federal court in Seattle. It is accusing Amazon of using its “monopoly power” to inflate prices, undermining the competition by unlawfully excluding rivals, and lowering the quality for shoppers.
According to the FTC, Amazon “unlawfully maintains” its power by using “anti-discounting measures” that deter sellers and online retailers from offering lower prices than Amazon. It results in higher prices across the internet. Likewise, the company requires retailers to use its expensive fulfillment services so to obtain Prime badges for products. It means it is more costly to do business on the platform. Also, the company forces retailers to pay steep advertising fees. The retailers have no choice but “to rely on Amazon to stay in business.”
Lina Khan (the Chair of the FTC) said in the briefing: “The upshot here is that Amazon is a monopolist, and it’s exploiting its monopolies in ways that leave shoppers and sellers paying more for worse service… In a competitive world, a monopoly hiking prices and degrading service would create an opening for rivals and potential rivals to come in, draw business, grow and compete, but Amazon’s unlawful monopolistic strategy has closed off that possibility, and the public is paying directly as a result.”
David Zapolsky (general counsel for Amazon) stated the lawsuit is “wrong on the facts and law, and we look forward to making that case in court.”
Fei-Fei Li named Time 100 Most Influential People in AI – 9/7
Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) and Professor (by courtesy) of Operations, Information & Technology was named Time 100 Most Influential People in AI. She was central to the creation and launch of our Harnessing AI for Breakthrough Innovation and Strategic Impact program.
Hollywood writers’ strike has ended – 9/28
On Wednesday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ended its strike after almost five months. The strike began on May 2nd. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) started its own strike on July 13th. It is the longest strike to affect Hollywood in decades.
The WGA said the union leaders “voted unanimously to lift the restraining order and end the strike.” The main sticking points included low pay, streaming residuals, mini writers’ rooms, and the use of AI in the industry.
Earlier in the weeks, the WGA said it reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). No details about the deal were released.
11,500 members of the WGA will now vote on whether they approve the deal. SAG-AFTRA remains on strike. Kevin Klowden (an economist from the Milken Institute) estimated the strike cost the economy around $5 billion.
EEOC sues Tesla for racial harassment of Black workers – 9/28
On Thursday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Tesla for racially harassing the company’s Black workers. The lawsuit claims Tesla violated “federal law by tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and by subjecting some of these workers to retaliation for opposing the harassment.”
According to the lawsuit, the company’s non-Black workers who committed the offenses “bandied slurs and epithets openly” on the work floor and in high-traffic work areas. Managers and supervisors witnessed the behavior but failed to intercede. The Black workers reported the behavior to the human resources department, that failed to address it.
A civil rights agency in California sued Tesla for similar charges, and a financial finding from the company revealed the EEOC issued a case finding against the company. Tesla engaged in the mandatory conciliation process with the agency, but it was unsuccessful, resulting in a lawsuit.
Study reveals children get upwards of 4,500 notifications a day – 9/29
On Friday, Common Sense Media and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan released a report revealing children get upwards of 4,500 daily notifications.
Researchers tracked cell phone data of 11 to 17-year-olds in the United States for a week. Each day, the children use phones for an average of four and a half hours. The study calls cell phones “a constant companion.” On average, children pick up their phones 51 times a day (with data points from 2 to 498 pickups per day). Likewise, on average, children get 237 pings in 24 hours.
TikTok is the most popular app in the researched study group. 50% of teenagers used TikTok, with an average use of one hour and 52 minutes. Meanwhile, Facebook is far less popular among the group. Less than 20% of the study’s participants used the platform during the week. The study states: “Because notifications are so numerous and occur day and night, they require management by young users… Snapchat and Discord ranked highest in the number of notifications sent to participants in a typical day, with some participants receiving hundreds of messages from these platforms.”
