Okta Says It’s Buying Security Rival Auth0 For $6.5 Billion

Okta, whose cloud software allows office workers to access all of their apps through a secure online service, said on Wednesday that it’s spending $6.5 billion to acquire rival Auth0. CNBC reports: Okta’s shares plunged about 13% in extended trading after the announcement. The all-stock deal equals about 21% of Okta’s market cap as of Wednesday’s close. Okta said it expects…

Bill Gates Prefers ‘More Open Nature’ of Android, Regrets Microsoft’s Missing Phone Market

Bill Gates “prefers the more open nature of the Android ecosystem, as it’s more ‘flexible’ about how software interfaces with the OS,” reports PC Magazine, citing remarks Gates made on Clubhouse to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin: “I actually use an Android phone,” Gates told Sorkin. “Because I want to keep track of everything, I’ll often play around with iPhones, but the…

After a Boeing 777 Rained Failed-Engine Debris on Neighborhood Below, More Planes Grounded

After a twin-engine, wide-bodied Boeing 777 took off from a Denver airport — carrying 231 passengers and 10 crew members — its right engine failed. It began dropping debris on several neighborhoods below, CNBC reports. America’s Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement saying it was “aware of reports of debris in the vicinity of the airplane’s flight path,” CNBC adds, noting…

Bill Gates Questions Societal Value of ‘GameStop’ Mania, Argues It’d Be ‘Good to Get Rid of’ Bitcoin

The price of bitcoin — now over $57,000 — has nearly doubled in the last 7 weeks. Even Elon Musk tweeted that its price seems high — though one analyst tells Bloomberg that Tesla has already made a profit of nearly $1 billion from its recent Bitcoin investment, more than it earned selling electric cars in all of 2020. Yet speaking…

Bill Gates Says We Need More Entrepreneurs Like Elon Musk To Take on Climate Change

Bill Gates said the world needs more entrepreneurs like Elon Musk to take on climate change. In an interview with CNBC, he said: I think what Elon’s done with Tesla is fantastic. It’s, you know, probably the biggest single contribution to showing us that electric cars are part of how we solve climate change. We need a lot of Elon Musks,…

Biden To Order Review of US Reliance on Overseas Supply Chains For Semiconductors, Rare Earths

President Joe Biden will direct his administration to conduct a review of key U.S. supply chains including semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, medical supplies and rare earth metals. From a report: The assessment, which will be led by members of both Biden’s economic and national security teams, will analyze the “resiliency and capacity of the American manufacturing supply chains and defense industrial base…

Why Some Amazon Delivery Drivers Hate Its Safety Monitoring App

Amazon is using AI cameras to monitor drivers of its delivery vans for safety issues — but also a second driver safety app on their phones. Though it’s named Mentor, Mashable reports that “it doesn’t seem to be helping…” CNBC talked to drivers who said the app mostly invades their privacy or miscalculates dangerous driving behavior. One driver said even though…

Amazon Uses An App Called Mentor To Track and Discipline Delivery Drivers

Amazon has for years been using an app called “Mentor” to monitor and track delivery drivers’ behavior on the road. “The app, which Amazon bills as a tool to improve driver safety, generates a score each day that measures employees’ driving performance,” reports CNBC. From the report: Just like the AI-equipped cameras rolling out to contracted delivery companies, Mentor is framed…

Disney Says It Now Has 94.9 Million Disney+ Subscribers

Disney announced Thursday that its streaming platform surpassed 94.9 million subscribers, beating its four-year goal in 14 months. CNBC reports: Disney+ exceeded the company’s initial subscriber goal of 60 million to 90 million by 2024 back in November, forcing it to reforecast. The company now expects Disney+ will have 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024. Christine McCarthy, the company’s…

Twitter Has Studied Using Bitcoin, CFO Says

Twitter’s finance chief said the social-media company has thought about how it might pay employees or vendors using the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin. From a report: Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, in speaking Wednesday with Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said the company continues to review potential uses of the digital currency. “We’ve done a lot of the upfront thinking…