*By Jacqueline Corba*
Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai wasted no time Tuesday addressing one of the most vexing issues facing the tech giant.
"It came to my attention we had a major bug in one of our core products," Pichai said Tuesday. "It turns out we got the cheese wrong in our burger emoji."
Determined to be as transparent as possible at a time when tech companies are coming under increasing scrutiny for opaque terms of service agreements and data privacy concerns, Pichai owned up to another gaffe that surprised ー and may have tickled ー the crowd at Google's annual developers conference.
The beer emoji, often used alongside the burger emoji, appeared to defy the laws of gravity.
"I don't even want to tell you the explanation the team gave me as to why the foam was floating above the beer," Pichai said. "But we restored the natural laws of physics."
To be fair, given the breaches of data security, mounting concerns over the role of technology in our lives, and the ways Silicon Valley firms treat their employees and customers, these emoji mishaps hardly rate. But it provided a light-hearted way for Pichai to kick off his keynote speech at Google's I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif.
And emojis really matter to consumers, said Jeremy Burge, Emojipedia's chief emoji officer.
"Companies in the last year or so have figured out people love emojis," Burge said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-leads-developer-conference-with-emoji-controversy).
Next-generation gaming ecosystem Joystick recently raised $8 million in a seed round and is in the process of raising a $110 million Series A funding round. Gaming ecosystems are a relatively new type of platform in the Web3 space, allowing users to maximize their play-to-earn gaming opportunities, exchange crypto-currencies, and sell their digital assets. Joystick says its platform is flipping the current model on its head by giving players the opportunity to keep 100% of the revenue they earn. Robin Defay, co-founder and CEO of Joystick, and Michael Le, co-founder of Joystick and TikTok content creator, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The dating app Bumble has sponsored bills and pushed lawmakers to criminalize the online practice of sending unsolicited nudes or “cyberflashing." Payton Iheme, Bumble's head of public policy for the Americas, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the app was going after the harassing behavior beyond its own platform. "Now, while we went to work internally in the company, and we created something called private detector to automatically blur those images so the user can decide if they want to see them, there's nothing for the rest of the internet," she said. "And so that's why we went to work with these laws."
The founder and president of Cyborg Mobile Kobie Hatcher has been on a strong trajectory to disrupt his industry with a program called The New Technologists. It's not only meant to address the diversity gap within large tech companies but also help pave the way to transform the lives of young BIPOC students. He joined Cheddar News to talk about how he's working to make a difference with the lack of diversity in tech. “There's truly no lack of talent out there. It's just identifying them and letting them know that, hey, I've been in the tech sector for over 20 years. I see you. I know what you can bring, bring it, we need it," Hatcher said.
Constituent service platform Indigov recently raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. Indigov bills itself as a constituent relationship management tool that helps elected officials improve the way they organize, respond to, and engage those they serve. The startup's services are being used by federal, state, and local governments across the country, including the U.S. House of Representatives. Alex Kouts, founder & CEO of Indigov, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The 2022 NBA playoffs are intensifying as four teams vie for an NBA finals berth. Tonight, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors can book their finals ticket with a win over the Dallas Mavericks, while Miami will be feeling the 'heat' tomorrow night, facing elimination against the Boston Celtics.
And with the growing popularity of sports betting, the NBA playoffs offers a potential money-making opportunity for fans. Trysta Krick, host of BetMGM Tonight, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
