A federal judge has scheduled a sentencing date of Sept. 26 for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was found guilty earlier this month on four of 11 criminal charges. Legal experts said Holmes likely faces several years in prison on the charges related to deceiving investors about the blood-testing startup. She is expected to appeal the verdict. More: - On Jan. 3, Holmes was convicted of investor fraud and conspiracy but was acquitted on a charge of conspiracy and three charges of defrauding patients.
- The jury had no verdict on an additional three charges related to defrauding investors.
- In a filing this week, prosecutors said they will voluntarily dismiss the three hung counts.
- Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine plus restitution for each of the four counts, though the prison sentence will likely be much shorter, experts say.
- The charges against Holmes stemmed from accusations that Theranos developed tests that could detect a number of diseases using only a single drop of blood.
THE NEW YORK TIMES | |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it plans to spend $40B to $44B to expand and upgrade production capacity for chips in 2022, a record high for the company. The investment boost represents a 32% to 47% increase from the record $30B it spent in 2021. More: - The Apple chipmaker previously announced plans to spend $100B to expand manufacturing capacity through 2023.
- The need for TSMC chips is being driven by strong demand in the automotive, high-performance computing, data center and other tech sectors amid the ongoing shortage, CEO C.C. Wei said during an earnings call this week.
- Last year, TSMC reported record revenue of $57B, up 18.5% from a year earlier. It reported a 16.4% jump in net profit in Q4 2021.
- Wei forecasts that revenue will increase at least 25% in 2022 compared to 2021. The company now projects annual average sales growth of 15% to 20% over the next few years.
Zoom-out: - TSMC is Asia's most valuable listed company and the world's largest contract chipmaker.
- Apple accounts for 25%+ of its revenue, followed by MediaTek, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Nvidia, Sony, Marvell, STM, and ADI, according to Bloomberg and Digitimes.
REUTERS | |
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Representatives from Google, Amazon, and other tech giants will discuss cybersecurity and open-source software threats during a meeting at the White House today. The talks come after White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called open-source software a "key national security concern" in a letter sent to tech executives in December. More: - In the letter, Sullivan cited last month's discovery of a security vulnerability in the Apache Log4j open-source software, which organizations use to log data in applications.
- Today's meeting will center on concerns about the growing frequency of attacks and how to improve the security of open-source software.
- IBM, Microsoft, and Meta will also be in attendance, along with representatives from the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Commerce Department.
- The host is Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology.
- Reports note the Biden administration has made cybersecurity a top priority following the 2020 SolarWinds breach and other major cyberattacks.
9TO5MAC | |
Apple provided details of its $30M settlement to current and former retail employees who were forced to undergo off-the-clock security checks of their bags. Employees will receive settlement checks in amounts based on how many shifts they worked between July 2009 and August 2015. More: - The company has released documents and information on its website for California employees who underwent bag checks.
- Roughly 12,000 employees in California are set to receive maximum payments of $1,200.
- A class of employees sued Apple in 2013, arguing that the security checks were "embarrassing and demeaning" and they should be paid for the time they spent waiting during the checks.
- In 2020, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that Apple should pay employees for that time.
- A settlement was reached last year and approved by a judge last month. A final approval hearing is scheduled for July.
- Apple has not conducted bag searches since 2015.
APPLE INSIDER | |
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Four healthcare companies have early access to Magic Leap's augmented reality headset ahead of its general release in mid-2022. The once-hyped AR company pivoted from consumers to businesses in 2020 following poor sales of its Magic Leap 1, which came out in 2018. More: - The companies using the new headset are vision-correction firm Heru, mixed-reality surgical software tool Brainlab, heart-mapping startup SentiAR, and neurotechnology business SyncThink.
- SyncThink, for example, wants to use the partnership to investigate vestibular disorders that cause dizziness, its chief clinical officer told The Verge.
- Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson said the second-generation headset will be “slightly” more expensive than its predecessor, which starts at $2,295.
Zoom-out: - Magic Leap was once a tech darling, having raised billions of dollars from leading firms like Google and Alibaba.
- At its peak in 2019, Magic Leap reached a $6.7B valuation before finding that the end-user market for AR glasses was largely absent.
- After layoffs were announced in 2020, the company secured a $375M lifeline from an undisclosed investor to stay afloat.
- In October, the company announced $500M in fresh funding. Johnson has said it would be open to the consumer market again if AR applications expand and the technology becomes smaller.
BLOOMBERG | |
Nuro introduced its third-generation driverless delivery vehicle, which has an external airbag to lower the risk of injuries from accidents. The flagship vehicle, also called Nuro, navigates roads using lidar, cameras, radar, and thermals, reaching top speeds of 45 mph. More: - The AV's compartments can fit 24 bags of groceries and carry a maximum of 500 pounds.
- The size is double the cargo volume of its second-gen vehicle, the R2, which launched two years ago.
- China's BYD North America will source the vehicle's hardware. The companies will produce the new vehicle at its facility in Lancaster, California, and Nuro's southern Nevada facility, set to open later this year.
- Nuro claims its fleet runs on 100% renewable electricity sourced from Texas wind farms.
- Kroger Co. has now signed a deal to use the new vehicle to deliver groceries in Houston. Nuro has piloted its tech with Kroger, Walmart, Chipotle, CVS, FedEx, and others.
THE ROBOT REPORT | |
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- Ford's market value surpassed $100B for the first time on Thursday. The company is expanding the production of EVs, including its all-electric F-150, as part of an ongoing turnaround.
- Microsoft confirmed that it has discontinued manufacturing of Xbox One consoles to focus on its production of Xbox Series X / S.
- Tesla removed the 2022 date for Cybertruck production from its website, suggesting that production for the EV is once again delayed.
- Sony's flagship Xperia 5 III smartphone is now available for sale in the U.S. for $1,000.
- German biotech company BioNTech and AI firm InstaDeep developed an AI-based "early warning system" to identify potentially dangerous coronavirus variants.
- Lucid Group is reportedly in discussions with Saudi Arabia to build an EV manufacturing facility in the country by 2026.
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| | Beth is an Inside Analyst and a former public policy/investigative reporter. She has covered AI, VR, technology, and e-commerce for Inside. When she's not busy writing, she's hiking in Arizona's desert, playing pickleball, or trying out new Mexican food recipes. | | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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