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Tech News
In an opinion piece for Entrepreneur, a BILL leader describes their first three months in a new leadership role, arguing against rushing in with a ready-made plan. They say credibility comes from spending early time listening to teams and customers, identifying real obstacles, and understanding the business before acting.
Paramount's 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' will return in March with guest appearances by actors Bill Nighy and Rosemarie DeWitt. Details about their roles have not yet been disclosed.
President Trump has voiced support for legislation that would force major credit-card networks to open up to more competition, a measure the banking industry has long resisted. Separately, Vice President Vance said the U.S. will suspend Microsoft and other companies from a green-card sponsorship program, and reports flagged a rising number of safety incidents involving rogue pilots.
A commentary piece recounts how Jeff Bezos, in his 1997 Amazon shareholder letter, pledged to prioritize long-term decisions over short-term Wall Street pressure. Despite Amazon's stock falling below $6 per share by late 2001 and media skepticism such as Barron's 1999 'Amazon.bomb' cover, Bezos continued investing in warehouses, software, and customer trust, re-attaching his original letter to every subsequent annual report.
Venmo introduced a feature called split-to-earn that gives credit cardholders additional cash back when they use the app to divide eligible purchases with friends. The reward applies on top of existing cash-back terms for qualifying transactions.
Psiphon, a Toronto-based anti-censorship VPN company spun out of Citizen Lab, says it will relocate out of Canada if Bill C-22 becomes law in its current form. The bill would require electronic service providers to secretly modify their systems to give police and CSIS surveillance capabilities. Psiphon, used by 20 million people monthly in countries like Iran and China, says complying would undermine the privacy protections central to its service.
Starting January 1, data center projects built on qualifying rural land tracts will become eligible for corporate tax incentives under an expanded federal opportunity zone program created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith said the changes could lower financial barriers for large, capital-intensive projects including hyperscale data centers. The opportunity zone program, first created during the first Trump administration, was broadened last year specifically to draw more investment into rural communities.
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1246, creating local penalties for autonomous vehicle companies whose cars block ambulances, fire trucks or other first responders for more than 30 minutes during emergencies. The law also requires operators to designate on-site 'local incident technicians' to assist with crashes or obstructions, and mandates that any remote human drivers assisting vehicles hold US driver's licenses and be based in the United States.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Plug and Play Solar Act (SB 868), sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, allowing renters and homeowners to use plug-in solar systems without a full interconnection agreement. The law caps output at 1,200 watts per home, requires registration and third-party safety certification, and mandates that systems not feed power back to the grid during outages.
Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle a May 2020 lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleging the company misclassified drivers as contractors instead of employees. Pending court approval, at least $237 million will go toward back pay for minimum wage and benefits owed to drivers who worked between April 2016 and December 2020. Uber, which was named in the same lawsuit, has not yet reached a settlement.
A newly passed bipartisan bill directs the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies for general circulation, following last year's halt in regular production. The legislation includes one provision permitting the continued minting of commemorative 1-cent coins, even though they won't be meant for everyday spending.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1246, requiring autonomous vehicle companies such as Tesla, Waymo and Zoox to provide local support when their robotaxis malfunction or interfere with emergency crews. Operators can face penalties if a vehicle blocks police or firefighters for more than 30 minutes, and the law sets new accountability rules for crashes, breakdowns or roadway obstructions.