10 things in tech you need to know today

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Monday. Sign up here to get this email in your inbox every morning.

1. TikTok’s US ban was temporarily blocked by a US judge in a blow to the Trump administration. The specifics of the order remained sealed by the judge and will be reviewed on Monday to determine if they will be made public.
2. An anonymous Facebook executive said conservatives’ success on the platform is due to having content that is “always more engaging,” according to a Politico report. Politico reported that the executive, who identifies as a “center-left progressive” said the right’s focus on “nation, protection, the other, anger, fear” has always been an effective tactic, pointing to the 1930s.
3. Google parent Alphabet settled a shareholder lawsuit that accused the company of mishandling sexual harassment claims. The settlement eliminates forced arbitration for employees, and limits the use of non-disclosure agreements, and the firm has also agreed to spend $310 million on corporate diversity programs over the next decade.
4. Amazon-backed food delivery firm Deliveroo is holding early discussions about an IPO, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Business Insider. Deliveroo was last officially valued at $2 billion, and saw a boom in business during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers choose to order food to their homes.
5. Amazon faces growing union pressure in Europe, as labor activist warehouse workers swapped tactics over the weekend on forcing change at the retail giant. The meeting comes after French unions successfully forced Amazon to suspend its operations in France this summer.
6. Apple temporarily scrapped its controversial 30% App Store fee for Facebook’s new online events feature. Apple is letting Facebook temporarily process payments for its online events feature, meaning event hosts won’t be subject to Apple’s fee.
7. Facebook is launching its “oversight board” in October, a pseudo-independent group that can review — and overrule — the company’s decisions on difficult content moderation cases. Julie Owono, an inaugural board member, told Business Insider she hopes the board can help resolve “significant questions” about Facebook’s policies and help it focus on areas of the world it has neglected.
8. TikTok executives was grilled by lawmakers in the UK and Australia over its Chinese roots, partly thanks to President Trump’s campaign against the app. TikTok’s security chief, Roland Cloutier, told Australian senators that the app does not share code with its domestic Chinese sister app, Douyin.
9. Elon Musk voiced his discontent on Twitter that OpenAI — the AI research firm he helped found — is exclusively licensing its famous natural-language software GPT-3 to Microsoft. “This does seem like the opposite of open. OpenAI is essentially captured by Microsoft,” Musk tweeted.
10. Amazon’s new flying home drone has prompted horrified responses about the potential for increased Big Tech surveillance. UK-based privacy advocacy group Big Brother Watch described the drone as “arguably Amazon’s most chilling surveillance product yet.”

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