Marketplace Tech®

DNA and genetic testing are big business. But there are real questions about privacy and about what happens to your genetic information after you get tested. Recently, the DNA testing company 23andMe partnered with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to develop personalized drugs and research treatment for diseases like lupus and Parkinson's. Jen King is director of consumer privacy at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. King told Marketplace Tech's Molly Wood that, surprisingly, most people who take DNA tests don't think the data is all that personal. (10/16/18)

Silicon Valley loves a charismatic founder story. But there's a difference between vision and leadership and … narcissism. And new research shows that narcissistic CEOs are bad for business. Jennifer Chatman, a professor of management at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business who has researched the tech industry, found that narcissistic CEOs tend to pay themselves more and pay their executives less. They get involved in more lawsuits because they take more risks than they need to. And they tend to hire people more because of their loyalty than their skills or judgment. Molly Wood asks Chatman if the myth of the genius founder means a lot more narcissists in tech. (10/15/18)

In just the last week, Facebook and Google have both announced new smart speakers with video screens. And Amazon is heck-bent on putting Alexa in everything. On the one hand, people seem to want these doohickeys. Research firm Canalys says global smart speaker sales grew 187 percent in the second quarter of this year. On the other hand, an always-on, always-connected listening device in the home really freaks some folks out. Let's dig into this in Quality Assurance, the segment where we take a deeper look at a big tech story. Molly talks with Tom Merritt, host of the podcast Daily Tech News Show. He says, before you decide whether to worry about smart speakers, you should know what you're worried about. (10/12/18)

The whole multitrillion dollar promise of 5G and its millions of jobs and new businesses is just a pipe dream without infrastructure. Unlike 4G, which can be delivered through a relatively small number of tall towers, 5G wireless service relies on lots and lots of small receivers placed fairly close together. And installing all those little 5G cells is turning into a big fight. (10/11/18)

The next generation of wireless technology, 5G, could be a huge deal. The speed and the number of devices that can be connected could spawn new businesses we haven't even thought of yet. Last year chipmaker Qualcomm and tech research firm IHS Technology put out a report that said 5G could enable $12 trillion in economic output across the world by 2035 and add some 22 million jobs. The report compared 5G to electricity. Compare that to 4G, which, just in the U.S., contributed about half a trillion dollars to the economy in 2016. And even a whiff  of that potential is why there's a race to get to 5G first between companies and even countries. Molly talks with Scott Tong, Marketplace reporter and former China correspondent. He says the U.S. won the race to 4G, and China doesn't want that to happen again. (10/10/18)