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Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a "significant breakthrough" (Monica Nickelsburg/GeekWire)
Microsoft President Brad Smith calls Washington state's facial recognition law that regulates how public agencies use the tech a “significant breakthrough” — Microsoft President Brad Smith took a break from responding to the COVID-19 outbreak Tuesday to praise Washington state's landmark facial recognition regulations.
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General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M "endurance fund" (Steven Bertoni/Forbes)
General Catalyst says it's raised $2.3B for a $600M early-stage fund, a $1B growth fund for companies with $10M+ in annual revenue, and a $700M “endurance fund” — Despite rollercoaster markets, historic unemployment claims, and an expanding national shutdown …
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Rockstar Games will donate 5% of GTA Online and Red Dead Online revenue to fight coronavirus
Rockstar Games said it will donate 5% of revenue for GTA Online and Red Dead Online to fight the coronavirus over the next month.Read More
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Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences (Mary Jo Foley/ZDNet)
Sources: Microsoft plans to make most public and some internal events digital-only through first half of 2021, including Ignite, Build, and Inspire conferences — Microsoft is moving to make most of its external (and some internal) events digital-only for its FY'21 in light of impacts of the coronavirus.
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Nokia 7.2 gets Android 10 update
Today HMD Global has announced the start of the rollout of the Android 10 update for the Nokia 7.2. This phone was released last September, running Android 9 Pie. Although it, like most other Nokias, is part of the Android One program, which in theory should ensure quick Android OS upgrades, obviously that's not working out as it should. Android 10 has already been out for more than six months at this point, and countless other handsets that aren't part of Android One have been updated to this version. Anyway, let's call it "better late than never". HMD's rollouts have apparently...
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Can 'Carbon Smart' Farming Play a Key Role in the Climate Fight? - Yale Environment 360
Can 'Carbon Smart' Farming Play a Key Role in the Climate Fight? Yale Environment 360
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US Defense Secretary says its not time to evacuate aircraft carrier dealing with coronavirus — even after its commander pleaded for urgent help
- Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US Navy was not yet "at that point" where it ought to evacuate crew members of an aircraft carrier reportedly with a growing number of coronavirus cases.
- On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the commander of an aircraft carrier wrote a four-page letter warning that the "spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating."
- Esper, who claimed he had "not had a chance to read that letter ... in detail," said that none of the sailors were "seriously ill."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the United States Navy was not yet "at that point" where it ought to evacuate crew members of an aircraft carrier reportedly coping with over a hundred cases of the novel coronavirus.
"We are moving a lot of supplies and assistance ... out of the carrier in Guam," Esper said during an interview with "CBS Evening News" on Tuesday, referring to the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its crew of over 4,000 US service members.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the commander of the ship, US Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, wrote a four-page letter to the Department of the Navy warning that the "spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating."
Capt. Crozier urged that he needed a "political solution" and that the Navy needed to take "immediate and decisive action" amid the dozens of service members who were diagnosed with the coronavirus. One senior officer aboard the ship said between 150 to 200 sailors had tested positive, according to The Chronicle.
"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," Crozier reportedly wrote. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors."
Crozier requested quarantine rooms in Guam, where the ship is currently stationed, in addition to relocating the majority of its crew members and isolating them for two weeks. The commander emphasized that he understood the extraordinary ask, but that by not doing so would pose "an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care."
Esper, who claimed he had "not had a chance to read that letter ... in detail," reiterated to CBS News that none of the sailors were "seriously ill."
"At this point in time, we are trying to make sure that we contain the virus, that we deploy testing kits, and we get a good assessment of how much of the crew is infected," Esper said. "And then, of course, taking other measures to ensure that we can get the carrier up and ready again to continue its mission."
Esper added that he was "going to rely on the Navy chain of command ... to assess the situation."
As of Tuesday, the Defense Department reported that 1,259 employees had contracted the coronavirus. Four of them have died, including an officer in the New Jersey Army National Guard.
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Oracle tells employees it donated a COVID-19 'therapeutic learning system' that can help speed up the development of a treatment to the US government (ORCL)
- Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz told employees Tuesday that the tech giant has set up cloud tools to help the US government find a COVID-19 cure faster, according to a copy of an internal memo seen by Business Insider.
- Oracle has created applications to help scientists run clinical trials on possible cures, including antimalarial drugs endorsed by President Donald Trump but which health professionals say need more definitive tests.
- The company also created a tool, called "therapeutic learning system, accessible in the US and other countries, which the US government, state agencies and other countries could use for gathering real-time data on the effectiveness of specific treatments.
- The tool would essentially serve as a global crowdsourcing system for evaluating the different treatments and remedies being tried by physicians and individuals throughout the world, according to a source familiar with the situation.
- Ellison and Catz are among Trump's top supporters in the tech industry, with the former recently hosting a fundraising dinner for the president's re-election campaign.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
Oracle told its employees Tuesday that it has set up a cloud system that would help the US government find a cure for COVID-19 faster, according to a copy of an internal memo seen by Business Insider.
Oracle also said in the memo that it set up and donated to the US government a "therapeutic learning system" which would allow doctors and patients to "record responses to promising COVID-19 drug therapies." This would make it possible to collect "real-world data" from the US and other countries on the effectiveness of specific COVID-19 treatments.
"We are proud to use our resources and talent to make a difference," Ellison and Catz said in the memo. "We will win this war!" The memo was signed "Larry and Safra."
The "therapeutic learning system" would essentially serve as a global crowdsourcing tool for evaluating the different treatments and remedies being tried by physicians and individuals throughout the world, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The data, which will be anonymized, will be accessible for free to the Department of Health and Human Services and the health agencies of states and other countries. It is not intended to replace clinical trials, but would offer more insights into the treatments being tried worldwide, the source said.
The memo specifically cites efforts in helping clinicians assess the possibility of using antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 treatment. President Donald Trump has been criticized for publicly endorsing malaria drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. However, leading medical professionals, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administration's key infectious-disease expert, said clinical tests were needed to make sure the substances are safe and effective.
Ellison and Catz are among Trump's top supporters in the tech industry. Catz had served as a member of his transition team after the 2016 election. Ellison recently held a fundraising dinner for Trump, which sparked a protest by some Oracle employees.
Cloud tools
Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Safra Catz also told employees that the tech giant has deployed cloud applications to the US government to help evaluate proposed drugs for the pandemic.
Oracle is the leading provider of enterprise technology, including sophisticated database systems used to store and manage information of some of the biggest corporations and government agencies. These technologies could be critical in performing expedited clinical tests rapidly with high degrees of accuracy.
The cloud tools "will gather data necessary to enable health professionals to answer a few questions: What drugs, at what dosages when administered, are effective in treating or preventing the COVID-19 virus?"
Scientists and health professionals will be able to use its cloud tools to run clinical trials to test seven COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. The clinical trials involve 250 institutional sites in 17 countries, the Oracle executives said.
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Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
Facebook expands its Community Help hub globally to allow people to request or offer help during the pandemic, first in US, Canada, UK, France, and Australia — Facebook first launched its Community Help feature in 2017, to give users a way to offer assistance, search for and receive help in the wake of a crisis.
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Google, Facebook offer paid leave to parents amid coronavirus school closures
The Silicon Valley giants have often led the field in employee benefits—but the new policy doesn't extend to contract workers
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UAE lifts ban on Google Hangouts Meet, Cisco Webex and other VoIP services
The global COVID-19 crisis has pretty much reverberated in every aspect of life around the world in one way or another. One thing most companies and governments have really started to re-evaluate and kick into full throttle is remote working. A new decision in the United Arab Emirates comes as a great example. Officials there have decided to lift bans on Google Hangouts Meet, Cisco Webex, Avaya Spaces, BlueJeans and Slack. All services previously officially unreachable from within the country. The connection between these is clear and this decision comes hot on the heels of another...
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Vericool raises $19.1 million for its plant-based packaging replacement for plastic coolers
Vericool, a Livermore, Calif.-based startup that’s replacing plastic coolers and packaging with plant-based products, has raised $19.1 million in a new round of financing.
The company’s stated goal is to replace traditional packaging materials like polystyrene with plant-based insulating packaging materials.
Its technology uses 100% recycled paper fibers and other plant-based materials, according to the company, and are curbside recyclable and compostable.
Investors in the round include Radicle Impact Partners, The Ecosystem Integrity Fund, ID8 Investments and AiiM Partners, according to a statement.
“We’re pleased to support Vericool because of the company’s track record of innovation, high-performance products, well-established patent portfolio and focus on environmental resilience. We are inspired by the company’s social justice commitment to address recidivism and provide workplace opportunity to formerly incarcerated individuals,” said Dan Skaff, managing partner of Radicle Impact Partners and Vericool’s new lead director.
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A former Facebook diversity consultant is suing the company for $100 million, accusing it of discrimination (FB)
- A former diversity consultant for Facebook is suing the company for $100 million.
- Anastasia Boone Talton alleges she experienced discrimination based on race and disability at the company, as well as harassment.
- The lawsuit, seen by Business Insider, alleges she was excluded from events and meetings after raising concerns internally.
- Boone Talton was also allegedly told she was not a "cultural fit" after asking for accommodation for her medical issues.
- Facebook employees have previously spoken out about allegations of discrimination at the company.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
A former diversity consultant for Facebook is suing the social networking giant, alleging she was the victim of discrimination based on race and disability as well as harassment.
On March 17, lawyers for Anastasia Boone Talton filed a complaint against Facebook with California's Superior Court of San Mateo, asserting that the recruiter faced illegal behaviour while working for Facebook, court documents seen by Business Insider show.
In a video posted to Facebook, her lawyer Tiega Varlack said that Facebook "merely paid lip-service to its stated goal of diversifying its employees," and that "when Boone Talton complained to management she was shunned" and excluded from meetings and social activities with colleagues.
While the complaint does not provide a specific amount in damages, Varlack says in the video that the lawsuit is seeking $100 million in damages.
The lawsuit has the potential to be a fresh headache for Facebook, which has reeled from successive scandals over the past several years. Like much of the tech industry, Facebook's workforce is not particularly diverse, and though it has made efforts to rectify this in recent years it has also been accused of discrimination by other former employees.
A Facebook spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Boone Talton left the consulting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers in 2018 to join Facebook as a senior talent acquisition consultant focusing on diversity and inclusion, and "immediately began experiencing discrimination," the complaint alleges. She reported the issues to HR, the complaint continues, but "nothing changed" and she was subsequently "denied opportunities for career growth and was stifled from completing her job. When she complained management just laughed it off ... [she began to] "suffer mentally and physically from the poisonous atmosphere perpetuated by her employer."
It adds: "There were many other micro and macro aggressive behaviours and she felt that she was targeted by a concerted effort to unfairly terminate her."
Facebook also discriminated against her on the grounds of an unspecified disability, the lawsuit alleges, by refusing to accommodate her requests to help her. "[She] notified [Facebook] on multiple occasions that she was experiencing medical complications," it reads. "Instead of engaging ... to determine how the Company could best accommodate [her], Defendant harassed [her] and told her she was not a 'cultural fit for Facebook,' and provided her zero support from HR and team members."
Boone Talton also filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in late January 2020, the complaint said.
In November 2019, a group of Facebook employees wrote a memo saying they experience ongoing racism and discrimination at the company. "Facebook still has a black people problem. And a problem with individual contributors who are not white," the document read. "On the inside, we are sad. Angry. Oppressed. Depressed. And treated every day through the micro and macro aggressions as if we do not belong here."
It came a year after the publication of a widely read 2,500-word memo by former employee Mark Luckie, who described his own experiences of discrimination at the company. "Facebook's disenfranchisement of black people on the platform mirrors the marginalization of its black employees," he wrote.
Do you work at Facebook? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). Use a non-work device to reach out. We can keep sources anonymous. PR pitches by standard email only, please.
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More Americans could die from coronavirus than those killed in battle during Civil War, White House projection shows
- President Donald Trump and his leading health advisers dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic offered some grim statistics for Americans in the weeks ahead.
- Statistical models showed that roughly 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die from the disease — even if Americans observed the strict social distancing guidelines.
- The forecasted figures are an alarming when put in context with other pandemics and wars.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump and his leading health advisers dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic offered some grim statistics for Americans in the weeks ahead.
Statistical models showed that roughly 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die from the disease — even if Americans observed the strict social distancing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Trump's coronavirus team.
Trump shifted his tone on Tuesday to reflect the new statistics. He previously described the novel coronavirus as seasonal influenza: "This is a flu. This is like a flu," Trump said in late February.
"I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead," Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday. "We're going to go through a very tough two weeks."
Earlier worst-case scenario estimates predicted around 200,000 to 1.7 million deaths and between 160 million and 214 million infections in the US. As of Tuesday evening, there were over 184,343 cases and 3,796 deaths in the US.
"We really believe we can do a lot better than that," Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator said during the briefing, adding that it was imperative for people to continue observing health guidelines despite a potential improvement in the near-term.
Birx stressed that there was "no magic bullet, there's no magic vaccine or therapy" and that the proliferation of the disease depended on human behavior.
The forecasted 100,000 and 240,000 deaths is an alarming number when put into context with other pandemics and wars.
Here are some other CDC statistics on deaths in the US:
- Accidental: 169,936
- Alzheimer's disease: 121,404
- Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672
Pandemics:
- Spanish Flu in 1918-20: 675,000
- H2N2 in 1957-58: 116,000
US death resulting in direct battle:
- Civil War: 215,000
- World War II: 291,557
- World War I: 53,402
- Vietnam: 47,434
- Korea: 33,739
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Sensor Tower: Mobile game publishers continue to reach $1M at high rates
Sensor Tower reports that many mobile game publishers are hitting the $1M earnings milestone in 2021 -- though not as many as in 2016. Rea...
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Sensor Tower reports that many mobile game publishers are hitting the $1M earnings milestone in 2021 -- though not as many as in 2016. Rea...
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