What’s CFIUS and what does it have to do with TikTok?

Aug 5, 2020
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States screens deals for national security risks.
As the future of TikTok in the United States is in limbo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement on removing untrusted Chinese apps makes it more confusing for Chinese technology companies operating in the U.S, like Lenovo.

4 things to know about the committee behind the Microsoft-TikTok deadline

Aug 4, 2020
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, has grown in influence over the years.
Trump has given the TikTok sale a deadline of Sept. 15.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

The latest on TikTok: Microsoft takeover talks, a potential U.S. ban and more

Aug 3, 2020
A leaked memo from ByteDance’s CEO to its staff says TikTok has no choice but to sell its U.S. operations.
The founders were concerned countries would try to meddle in the U.S., so they passed measures like the Emoluments Clause which prohibits office holders from taking gifts from foreign officials.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Tech companies reconsider facial recognition software

IBM says it will no longer sell or research facial recognition software, and Amazon announced a moratorium on police use of its software.
With IBM getting out of facial recognition technology altogether and Amazon pausing the use of its software by police departments, how will Microsoft act?
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

China's Googleless internet remains vibrant

Apr 8, 2019
Many U.S. tech firms are blocked, but there are homegrown equivalents inside the "Great Firewall."
The Google logo is reflected in windows of the company's China head office as the Chinese national flag flies in Beijing in 2010.
Li Xin/AFP/Getty Images

Some tech employees don't want their work used by the military

Feb 27, 2019
But some military plans are banking on private partnerships.
Microsoft's HoloLens.
Freek van den Bergh/AFP/Getty Images

Slack faces stiff competition on the road to public listing

Feb 5, 2019
Office communication services company Slack has applied with the SEC to list shares publicly.
Slack this week allowed the sending of invitations to other Slack users via their email addresses, which opened the door for abuse and harassment.
Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Big tech companies have an affordable housing problem

Jan 17, 2019
Microsoft is the latest tech giant to fund affordable housing projects in the white-hot real estate market where they are based. As part of a community building initiative in Seattle, Microsoft is pledging $475 million in low-interest loans to support housing construction projects over three years, with another $25 million marked for homelessness. There has […]

Microsoft claws its way back to the top. How did it do that?

Nov 28, 2018
We don’t really talk about Microsoft in the same breath as Apple, Amazon or Facebook these days. Maybe we should. Over the last couple of days, Microsoft has been taking turns with Apple as the world’s most valuable public company. The last time Microsoft held that position was 2003. Microsoft once dominated the tech world […]

3 innovations that started out as inclusive design solutions

You can thank inclusive design for typewriters, flexible straws and the technology behind iPhone screens.
A typewriter is displayed at Massilia Vintage international fashion and design fair in southeastern France, no September 26, 2015.
VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images