Twin lawsuits for Facebook. The social media giant was hit with twin antitrust lawsuits by the Federal Trade Commission last Wednesday. The lawsuits allege that the company is suppressing its competition through monopolistic business practices. Attorneys general from 46 states are calling for the company to be broken up, if necessary. The latest legal action could potentially require the company to divest from assets like WhatsApp and Instagram.
Facebook is the second global tech star to be taken to court by U.S. and state government officials this year over antitrust concerns. In October, the Department of Justice and 11 states filed a lawsuit against Google. [CNN]
Big Wall Street debuts for DoorDash and Airbnb. Stock in DoorDash soared 85 percent above its IPO price in its debut last Wednesday. DoorDash opened at $182 per share, valuing the company at around $70 billion. The company had originally priced its stock at $102 per share and finished the day at $190. Airbnb ended the day up more 112 percent in its debut on Thursday. The company had originally priced its stock at $68 per share and finished the day at $144.71, giving the company a valuation of nearly $86.5 billion. [CNN] [CNBC]
Facebook makes affordable housing push. Facebook is creating a $150 million fund to build homes for low-income families in California. Last year, the company announced that it would match Google in its commitment to invest $1 billion over the next decade to help fund 20,000 new homes in the Golden State. On Tuesday the fund will begin accepting applications. Eligible projects must reserve housing for tenants making less than 30 percent of the area median income. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Dorsey donates $15 million. In another charitable move from a Bay Area tech giant, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donated $15 million to help fund universal basic income projects across the United States. The donation to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income is his second in support of the initiative, and will help cities send checks to 1,500 low-income families. The move comes as poverty rates across the country continue to rise amid economic turmoil brought on by the pandemic. [Axios]
Aurora Innovation acquires Uber. Uber’s Advanced Technology Group is joining the Aurora team in an acquisition both companies announced last week. Following the acquisition, Aurora is planning to deliver its product in autonomous trucking and eventually move into passenger mobility. Aurora is currently hiring for several positions available in research and development, sales and marketing and administration. [Built In SF]
Career Karma Lands $10M. The career navigation platform aims to connect job seekers with a myriad of online coding bootcamps and tech education opportunities. Career Karma’s directory features 450 bootcamps and 7,000 trade schools, colleges, and universities to pick from, according to the company. The Series A led by Initialized Capital will be used to help the company expand the size of its team. The company is now hiring for several open positions. [Built In SF]
Tech Avengers assemble! Google, Dell, Intel and a handful of other major tech companies in the cloud computing industry are joining forces to tackle new security issues in the era of remote work. Founding members of the Modern Computing Alliance also include RingCentral, Slack and Zoom. The alliance will focus on developing new standards and technologies to improve four key areas: performance; security and identity; remote work, productivity, and collaboration; and health care. [The Verge]
