Axios recently published a National Security Council memo considering the possibility of a national 5G network. Since that report was published Sunday, the Trump administration responded saying it has no current plans to nationalize a 5G network, according to Recode. Axios Chief Technology Correspondent Ina Fried, and The Verge Reporter Chaim Gartenberg explain what a 5G network would look like.
Fried says this would be massive, and unprecedented. "Building a 5G network takes years, it takes lots of planning," said Fried. "The whole industry is moving towards 5G very slowly and methodically. So the idea of anyone just coming in and doing it, let alone the government would be a massively bid deal."
This could greatly impact business competition among telecommunication companies explains Gartenberg. "It would mean dramatically decreased competition in terms of cell phone bills," said Gartenberg. "We never really had anything like this."
On Monday FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted in opposition of this deal. Axios reports all five FCC commissioners are united against 5G nationalization.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is facing a lawsuit from Ohio's attorney general Dave Yost, who said the company misled the public about safety on the platform.
Bitcoin received its first update in four years called Taproot. Unlike the previous bitcoin update in 2017, Taproot has widespread support — in part because these changes involve fairly incremental improvements to the code. Christie Harkin, tech managing editor at CoinDesk, explained what the move could mean for the future of cryptocurrencies as a whole.
Snap has announced a licensing deal with Sony Music, giving its social media platform Snapchat access to the label's entire catalog. The deal now gives the company agreements with all of the major industry labels.
Kyndryl isn't wasting any time as an independent company. Just over a week after spinning off from IBM, the IT infrastructure services provider has announced its first global strategic partner in Microsoft. The two tech giants are coming together to form a new kind of power duo, creating multi-billion dollar revenue opportunities between the companies. Stephen Leonard, global alliances & partnerships leader for Kyndryl, told Cheddar more about the partnership and what it aims to achieve.
Bitcoin has successfully activated Taproot, the cryptocurrency's first major upgrade since 2017 and a highly anticipated change to the blockchain. Taproot will introduce what's known as Schnorr signatures, which will help transactions become more private, efficient and perhaps even less expensive. Robert Hackett, a cryptocurrency expert and journalist, breaks down the new upgrade and what it means for bitcoin users.
Jill is joined by Baker Machado to talk all things infrastructure: where will the money go and who’s in charge? Plus, Sesame Street has its first Asian-American muppet. And a trailer for the trailer for Spiderman. Huh?
