10 things in tech you need to know today

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1. Apple’s hardware chief is taking on a mystery new project. Dan Riccio will be replaced as SVP of hardware by John Ternus, who has been with Apple for 20 years, and the announcement comes amid rumors that Apple is working on an electric vehicle.
2. Twitter launched a crowdsourced fact-checker. The pilot Birdwatch program is designed to allow users to help stop the spread of misinformation on the platform.
3. Google employees’ unionization efforts are spreading. Employees around the world have formed a new international union alliance called Alpha Global.
4. TikTok rival Kuaishou aims to raise $5.4 billion. Chinese livestreaming and short video app Kuaishou is aiming to raise the amount in an initial public offering (IPO).
5. Google faces 2 antitrust cases. The European Commission asked advertising firms to comment on Google’s data gathering and adtech practices. 
6. Traders on Reddit have driven GameStop’s share price up and lost shorts billions. Users on r/WallStreetBets have blown up the stock, despite it being written off by analysts.
7. Google will turn its sites into vaccination centers. It announced Monday that “buildings, parking lots, and open spaces” in the US would be available.
8. Elon Musk hit out at Waymo’s CEO. After Waymo’s boss said Tesla was not a viable competitor in autonomous vehicles, Musk called the company out on Twitter, saying, “Tesla has better AI hardware and software than Waymo.”
9. Exclusive: Andreessen Horowitz is not the only VC firm building its own in-house ‘media machine.’ Tech journalists have a long history of joining VC firms as investors, including TechCrunch’s M.G. Siegler at Google Ventures and Om Malik at True Ventures.
10. Exclusive: One Silicon Valley VC is warning of a fintech bubble. Some sub-sectors of fintech may get left behind and it’s a bubble waiting to pop, according to Thomvest Ventures managing director Don Butler.