Technology

Under GOP Plan Tech Companies Would Receive Big Tax Breaks

5:13pm December 01, 2017

by Aarti Shahani

Republicans say their tax proposal will get companies to bring their overseas profits back to the U.S. They say it will lead to more hiring and higher wages. Big tech companies like Microsoft and Apple stand to be the largest beneficiaries of these corporate tax changes But already they have plenty of cash available for new investment. So critics say they'll use the tax breaks instead to benefit investors not workers.

Warning signs adorn the fence surrounding the compound housing the Hornsdale Power Reserve, featuring the world's largest lithium ion battery made by Tesla, during the official launch near Jamestown, Australia, on Friday.

World News

World's Largest Battery Is Turned On In Australia As Tesla Ties Into Power Grid

11:17am December 01, 2017

by Bill Chappell

"This is history in the making," South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said of the battery, which sits next to a wind farm. It was tapped early to support the power grid during a heat wave.

National

Experts Say Facebook's Latest Attempt To Stop Fake News Isn't Foolproof

4:36pm November 30, 2017

by Ryan Lucas

Facebook says it has an edge in fighting back against influence campaigns like the one Russia waged against the U.S. in 2016. The company says it requires users' real names, but an NPR reporter tested it and signed up for an account under a fake name in about 1 minute. Experts say that feature is not a silver bullet.

Queue Listen Now

Employees work on automobile parts at a production line at the BMW factory in Shenyang, China, on Nov. 22. Twelve percent of workers in China could need to switch jobs by 2030, researchers say.

Economy

Automation Could Displace 800 Million Workers Worldwide By 2030, Study Says

2:49pm November 30, 2017

by James Doubek

But in the long term, new technology could create more jobs than it eliminates, a new report says. It says governments and businesses have to prioritize retraining workers for the new economy.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

'Chaos' Is At The Heart Of The Trump Camp's Defense. But It Can Cut Both Ways

10:58am November 30, 2017

by Philip Ewing

Campaign aides and administration officials have said the 2016 campaign was so frantic that things happened almost too fast to consider. Does that strengthen their case in the Russia investigations?

President Trump's Twitter account was down for about 11 minutes early this month.

Politics & Government

Man Who Deactivated Trump's Twitter Account: 'I Didn't Break Any Rules'

9:50am November 30, 2017

by Scott Neuman

TechCrunch has tracked down the former Twitter employee who claims to be responsible for the famous 11-minute outage. He's a 20-something from Germany who says it was all just a mistake.

American Airlines is offering its pilots 150 percent of their hourly pay to work during the holidays, after a glitch allowed too many pilots to take vacation at the same time.

Oops: American Airlines Accidentally Let Too Many Pilots Take Off The Holidays

7:32pm November 29, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

The pilots union says 15,000 flights at the end of the year don't have anyone to fly them, because of a glitch in the system pilots use to bid for time off.

A woman checks her cellphone as she waits in line to enter the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear arguments in Carpenter v. United States about the government's access to cellphone data.

Politics & Government

Justices May Impose New Limits On Government Access To Cellphone Data

7:17pm November 29, 2017

by Nina Totenberg

In arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, a majority of justices raised concerns about privacy in the modern digital age.

An Amazon Echo, circa 2015, perched on a table beside a lamp. Not pictured: the actual Amazon Echo referenced in the case against James Bates.

National

Arkansas Prosecutors Drop Murder Case That Hinged On Evidence From Amazon Echo

6:20pm November 29, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

The government had charged James Bates with murder and sought recordings made by his personal assistant device. But the evidence ultimately was deemed to support more than one reasonable explanation.

Supreme Court Considers Cellphones And Digital Privacy

5:19am November 29, 2017

by Nina Totenberg

A Supreme Court case, a big one for cellphone users, examines whether police must obtain a warrant in order to get historical cell-site location information from cellphone providers.