The indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with the Presidential election has intensified the pressure put on Facebook, which uncovered about three-thousand Russian-linked ads on its platforms before and after November 2016. Cheddar Senior Reporter, Alex Heath, breaks down the the latest developments.
Facebook's Vice President for ads, Rob Goldman, tweeted about Russia's disinformation effort. President Trump then cited him. Facebook did not intend for Goldman’s tweets to be quoted by Trump. They thought the tweets would only be seen by a contextually-aware audience of techies and media types who follow Goldman.
Heath believes that the tweeting from Goldman and other execs is part of a carefully orchestrated PR campaign by Facebook to make itself appear more transparent and relate-able through engaged spokespeople on Twitter.
Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX, shared details Thursday of his Boring Co.'s plans to help alleviate Los Angeles's notorious traffic problem. He said an underground tunnel would shuttle "pods" of up to 16 people at a time at speeds of 150 miles an hour for just $1 per ride. But the plan faces resistance from some residents who want a full environmental review.
The online learning platform had its Nasdaq debut Thursday, when the stock opened at $20, or 33 percent above its IPO price. Enthusiasm for the online education platform is driven by a rapidly increasing skills gap in the job market, which Pluralsight aims to narrow, says the company's CEO Aaron Skonnard.
After all Senate Democrats voted in favor of keeping the internet open and fair, the party is using this opportunity to paint itself as a champion of the consumer going into the midterm elections later this year, says Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.
Google's video streaming platform is jumping into the music space with personalized playlists, a new, dedicated app and desktop player, and song downloads.
The affordable TV streaming service is testing out new features that will "make TV a much more social experience," says CEO Andrew McCollum.
Senators voted Wednesday to override the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules, keeping the internet free and open...for now. The resolution now heads to the House, where it is still 57 votes short of passing.
The Democrat from Rhode Island said doing away with the internet regulations would give large service providers too much power over the content that people see. The Senate on Wednesday voted to reinstate the Obama-era legislation, sending the bill to House, where it's expected to be shot down.
The social media company is using A.I. to make content on its site more accessible and connect people with disabilities to helpful communities.
"We are working on making it possible for essentially anybody to connect with anybody," says Matt King, an engineer at Facebook who lost his sight in college. He is also a three-time Paralympian and a record-breaking tandem cyclist.
Facebook's accessibility efforts are part of a wider commitment from tech companies, including Microsoft and Apple, to make their products easier to use.
A planned summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump is in jeopardy. In a statement this morning, North Korea's foreign minister said the country has no interest in a "one-sided discussion" on its nuclear program. On Tuesday, North Korea also canceled planned talks with South Korea.
Starting today, Amazon Prime members will receive exclusive discounts at Whole Foods. Customers will now get 10% off hundreds of sale items in stores and will also get access to rotating weekly specials. The perks are only available in Florida as of today but will be rolled out nationwide starting this summer.
Chris Carter and James Peisker, co-founders of Porter Road, join us to talk about their expansion into the digital landscape. Porter Road is a whole animal butcher shop based in Nashville, but the founders recently decided to take their business online.
Rather than making the difficult decision to delete offensive tweets, the social media platform is tweaking its algorithm to suppress negative tweets based on how often the account has been flagged or muted by other users. Digiday's Kerry Flynn says the move plays into the company's strategy to promote "healthy" conversations.
