France held firm on its plans to resume collection of a national digital tax that hits technology giants including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.s Google and Facebook Inc., saying it wouldnt be swayed by threats of U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. plans to announce further details in the long-running battle with France over taxes on technology giants as soon as Friday. The tariff list to be released will be in the ballpark of $500 million to $700 million in goods, according to two people familiar with the matter. The items targeted could include levies on French wine, cheeses and handbags.

Frances response will be unchanged, the Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in Brussels. If there is no international solution by the end of 2020, we will, as we have always said, apply our national tax.While a U.S. announcement may come Friday, the U.S. may delay the implementation of the duties until France starts collecting its tax later this year, one of the people said.

Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, indicated such a move was imminent at an event Thursday, according to Politico.

Were going to announce that were going to be taking certain sanctions against France, suspending them like theyre suspending collection of the taxes right now, the Washington-based website reported Lighthizer as saying in a webcast hosted by Chatham House, a London-based policy institute. Le Maire said he would speak to Lighthizer by telephone later Friday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin early Thursday said that he and Lighthizer had completed an extensive review before the Friday deadline to make a determination within a year of a Section 301 investigation. As of early Thursday, the pair had not discussed the matter with the president for a final decision, Mnuchin said.

The U.S. withdrew last month from international talks over a digital-tax deal after failing to reach an agreement on developing a global levy, Lighthizer said last month during a Congressional hearing.

At the time, Treasury Department spokeswoman Monica Crowley said in a statement that the U.S. suggested a pause in the talks so that governments can focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and reopening their economies.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been trying to find agreement among almost 140 countries on a global tax overhaul to address how multinationals particularly big tech companies are taxed in the nations where they have users or consumers. An international deal would prevent dozens of countries implementing their own versions of levies.

Several European countries including Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Turkey and the U.K. have already announced plans for a digital services tax. Many others have discussed implementing one and India in April expanded such a levy that it uses.

We call on the U.S. to return to the OECD negotiations on taxing digital giants, Le Maire said. Sanctions are not a way of operating between countries that are friends, as the U.S. and France are.

With assistance from William Horobin

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U.S. tariff threat isn't swaying France on taxing tech giants - Accounting Today

Type Palestine on Google Maps and to your shock, you will not see it instead the users are being directed to Israel. Gripping netizens in a state of anxiety, the latest stint has been followed even by Apple maps which marked the end of Israeli annexation of Palestine by completely removing the later country off the world map. Also Read - Amitabh Bachchan Makes an Interesting Post From Hospital, Writes About People And Their Dangerous Behaviour

The change comes at the heels of Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu pledging to establish West Bank annexations. However, they have already triggered global criticism with many countries calling it human rights violation but the years-long Israel-Palestine conflict has only spiralled. Not losing any time to weaken the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahus coalition government have moved ahead with plans. Also Read - Twitter Hacked: Accounts of Barack Obama, Kanye West, Elon Musk Hacked to Promote Bitcoin Scam, Twitter Launches Probe

The silent move by the two tech giants has left netizens outraged who expressed the same on Twitter. While one wrote, Google and Apple maps have officially removed Palestine from the World Maps. Today Palestine was erased from the maps tomorrow Palestine will be erased from the world. PUT PALESTINE BACK ON THE MAP. #IStandWithPalestine #FreePalestine (sic), another tweeted, i love how Western twitter is silent about Palestine being removed from Google and Apple maps and replaced with Israel. Here is a thread of threads of what you have been missing out on regarding Palestine. RT please, the world is ignoring this (sic) Also Read - Reliance Set to Expand JioMart From Groceries to Fashion, Electronics, Healthcare With Google Investment of Rs 33,737 Crore

Google had been accused of the same in August 2016 but had ruled out that there had never been a Palestine label on Google Maps after which a petition to include the country had gained traction. However, the latest stint is much condemnable.

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BREAKING: American Tech Giants Google-Apple Remove Palestine From World Maps, Replace With Israel - India.com

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK IBM and Verizon are looking to boost ways to incoroprate next-generation wireless 5G technology to speed up business apllications at the so-call edge of networks.

The tech giants say they will collaborate to speed up and improve latency for all manner of devices such as Internet of Things apllications that can utilize 5G technology.

One target is to bring near real-time cognitive automation for the industrial environment, the companies said.

The industrial sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation as companies begin to return to full-scale operations, aided by new technology to help reduce costs and increase productivity, saidBob Lord, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Applications, Blockchain and Ecosystems for IBM in the announcement. Through this collaboration, we plan to build upon our longstanding relationship with Verizon to help industrial enterprises capitalize on joint solutions that are designed to be multicloud ready, secured and scalable, from the data center all the way out to the enterprise edge.

Verizon brings access to its 5G network and related capabilities to the partnership with IBM contributing its knowledge and services for IoT, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

This collaboration is all about enabling the future of industry in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, saidTami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business. Combining the high speed and low latency of Verizons 5G UWB Network and MEC capabilities with IBMs expertise in enterprise-grade AI and production automation can provide industrial innovation on a massive scale and can help companies increase automation, minimize waste, lower costs, and offer their own clients a better response time and customer experience.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Read more about the project online.

IBM employs several thousand people across North Carolina, is the owner of Raleigh-based Red Hat, and operates one of its largest corporate campuses in RTP.

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IBM, Verizon team up for 5G effort aiming to accelerate business solutions - WRAL Tech Wire

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) had posted a modest decline by late Thursday morning, down about 0.3% at 11:10 a.m. EDT. Economic news was mixed: Retail sales jumped 7.5% in June, beating expectations, but another 1.3 million Americans filed for state unemployment benefits last week. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a serious problem in many U.S. states, including Texas and Florida.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported results that beat analyst estimates and raised its full-year outlook, but that wasn't enough to prevent the stock from slumping. Shares of tech giants Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) were also lower as analysts updated their views on the stocks.

Image source: Getty Images.

Sales were down and profits plunged in Johnson & Johnson's second quarter, but the company's numbers came in ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue was $18.3 billion, down 10.8% year over year, but $610 million higher than analysts were expecting. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.67 were down 35%, but $0.16 better than the average analyst estimate.

The medical devices segment was the worst performer, with sales of $4.3 billion down nearly 34% from the prior-year period. The company blamed the deferral of medical procedures due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the weak results.

The consumer health segment suffered a 7% revenue decline to $3.3 billion, with weakness in skin health, beauty care, women's healthcare, and international baby care products partly offset by growth in over-the-counter medications and oral care products. The pharmaceutical segment saw 2.1% sales growth to $10.8 billion.

While Johnson & Johnson's sales are being hit hard by the pandemic, the company raised its full-year guidance. It now expects sales to be down between 0.8% and 2.6%, an improvement over previous guidance calling for a 2% to 5.5% decline. The company also boosted its outlook for adjusted EPS from a range of $7.50 to $7.90 to a range of $7.75 to $7.95.

Despite the estimate-beating numbers, shares of Johnson & Johnson were down about 0.4% in the morning. The stock is less than 6% below its 52-week high.

Shares of Apple and Cisco were down on Thursday as analysts staked out positions on both stocks. Apple had slumped around 1.6% by late morning, while Cisco was down roughly 2%.

Canaccord Genuity boosted its Apple price target from $310 to $444, a big jump premised upon the company's 5G and services opportunities. Canaccord expects the launch of 5G iPhones to help Apple's numbers in 2021, with a growing installed base driving sales of services and other devices. The analyst sees the services business growing faster than the company as a whole.

Analysts at JPMorgan were less optimistic on Cisco. The bank downgraded the networking hardware stock from overweight (a buy) to neutral, citing an uncertain economy and the possibility of a higher corporate tax rate following elections this year leading to a pullback in IT spending. Cisco's large enterprise and government customers are prone to pull back on spending when the economic outlook is cloudy, which can lead to a slump in revenue for the tech giant.

Apple stock carved out a new all-time high earlier this month, but shares have dipped a bit since then, down about 3.7% from the peak. Cisco stock has fallen further, sitting about 22% below its 52-week high.

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Dow Jones Slumps as Johnson & Johnson Boosts Outlook, Apple and Cisco Stocks Head Lower - Motley Fool

For the past 25 years, Bank of America has surveyed fund managers about how they are positioning their portfolios. When a consensus emerges, the banks pollsters say, investors generally profit by betting against it, according to todays DealBook newsletter.

In its latest survey, which polled investors managing around $600 billion in assets, nearly three-quarters of fund managers agreed that holding big U.S. tech stocks was the most crowded trade in the market. It was the surveys strongest ever consensus, leading the bank to dub buying tech stocks the longest long of all-time. For contrarians, thats a sign that its time to sell.

Tech giants dominance is a risk to long-term returns, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a new research note. The five largest stocks in the S&P 500 index Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft now account for 23 percent of its market cap. We believe further equity upside would require participation from a broader subset of the index, the analysts said.

And for what its worth, the Goldman analysts concluded that the S&P 500 will generate a 6 percent annual return over the next decade, versus nearly 14 percent over the past decade and 10 percent since 1960.

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Buying tech stocks is the most crowded trade in history. - The New York Times

When is IBM set to report their next set of results?

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is set to report their second quarter FY20 results next Monday, 20 July.

Heading into IBM's second quarter results release, analysts remain mixed on the tech giant, with the stock commanding a Hold rating on average, according to MarketWatch.

That view looks well reflected in the average analyst price target on IBM which currently stands at US$129.00 per share implying some upside potential from current price levels, also according to MarketWatch.

This comes after IBM delivered a middling set of results in the first quarter, as overall revenue, net income and earnings per share (EPS) all declined. Specifically, the company saw its Q1 revenue fall by 3.4% to US$17.6 billion, while operating (non-GAAP) diluted earnings per share and net income both came in 18% lower at US$1.84 per share and US$1.6 billion, respectively.

Mind you, while the Groups sales and earnings fell overall during the last quarter, IBMs cloud division proved resilient, posting strong growth in spite of the challenging operating environment, with total cloud revenue rising 19% to US$5.4 billion.

Red Hat which IBM acquired for US$34 billion in 2019 also continued to grow at a solid rate in Q1, with revenue rising 18%.

Following this robust showing in the first quarter, IBMs Cloud & Cognitive Software business segment will likely be closely watched by investors during the upcoming earnings release.

Our first-quarter performance in cloud is a reflection of the trust clients place in IBM's technology and expertise today, and positions us to continue building an enduring hybrid cloud platform for the future, said IBM's Chief Executive, Arvind Krishna.

While IBM continues to struggle with growth, the company maintained strong margins during the prior quarter a trend investors will likely be keen to see remain in tact as we head into the Q2. Here, IBM's gross profit margins for its Cloud & Cognitive Software business hit 75.4%, while its Global Technology Services gross margins reached 34.0%. Overall, gross profit margins remained steady in the first quarter at 45.1%.

Unsurprisingly, as part of the Q1, IBMs management withdrew its full-year guidance as a result of elevated levels of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Even so, it was flagged that the company would reassess this position based on the clarity of the macroeconomic recovery at the end of the second quarter.

Finally, while IBM has seen its share price trade well off the lows it recorded in March rising close to 30% in that period the stock's longer-term trend remains a negative one.

Indeed, in the last six months IBMs stock is down ~10% and in the last five years the tech stock is down close to 30%.

IBM last traded at US$123.00 per share.

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IBM Q2 earnings preview: can the tech giants cloud revenue keep growing? - IG Bank

On Friday, Amazon informed employees that buzzy app TikTok is a security risk and they needed to delete it immediately, only to row back on that message hours later, saying it was "sent in error."

The full story behind Amazon's perplexing about-face isn't yet clear. But it's reflective of a growing distrust in American political circles of Chinese-owned technology firms a distrust that America's homegrown tech giants are trying to harness to their own advantage to stave off the looming specter of regulation.

Over the past few years, public and political scrutiny of major US tech firms like Facebook, Google, and Amazon has steadily heightened, fed by a seemingly unending string of scandals and an increased recognition of the companies' extraordinary size and market power.

They now face varying calls for regulation from both the left and the right: from reform of Section 230, the law that underpins content moderation online, to calls for aggressive antitrust action that will tear the companies into their constituent parts.

This criticism has taken place against the backdrop of a nationalist Trump White House that is, rhetorically at least, aggressively challenging China. Big tech has been quick to leap on this in their defence. Take a speech from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about "free expression" in October 2019:

"This raises a larger question about the future of the global internet. China is building its own internet focused on very different values, and is now exporting their vision of the internet to other countries. Until recently, the internet in almost every country outside China has been defined by American platforms with strong free expression values. There's no guarantee these values will win out. A decade ago, almost all of the major internet platforms were American. Today, six of the top ten are Chinese.

"We're beginning to see this in social media. While our services, like WhatsApp, are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these protests are censored, even in the US.

"Is that the internet we want?"

Zuckerberg presents the contemporary internet as a modern-day clash of civilizations: A struggle between the enlightened, freedom-loving West and censorious China. And that's a warning to policy makers: Regulate us too much, and the Communists might win.

He's not wrong about China, of course: It's a totalitarian regime that stifles freedom of speech and locks people up in concentration camps by the hundreds of thousands.

Now, the targeting of TikTok indicates the argument is gaining ground, to the benefit of America's homegrown tech firms.

Trump, who has been railing against Chinese telecom giant Huawei for years, is now turning his ire on TikTok, with reports swirling that the White House plans to attempt to ban the app in the US over purported security concerns. After the Amazon news first broke (and before it recanted), Republican Senator Josh Hawley wrote that "now the whole federal government should follow suit" in banning it from their employees' phones.

And, although Amazon walked back its ban, at least one other big American company has banned TikTok for employees: Wells Fargo, as The Information reported on Friday afternoon.

Big tech companies benefit from this in an immediate way: If the US government bans foreign competitors, it means American tech companies, to state the obvious, have less competition.

But it also illustrates that arguments like Zuckerberg's are effective, and that even nominal critics of American tech firms like Hawley are still keen to see decisive action taken against outside companies that might encroach on their turf. That fear can be leveraged to try to ward off regulation that's overly onerous or damaging to the American technology companies' interests lest the Communists win.

Got a tip? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), orTwitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

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TikTok ban: Facebook, tech companies benefit from US ...

Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google said Monday they have paused their processing of requests for user data from Hong Kong law enforcement agencies, days after Beijings controversial new national security law came into force in the territory.

WhatsApp is pausing reviews pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human-rights due diligence and consultations with human-rights experts, a WhatsApp spokeswoman said.

Facebook, WhatsApps parent company, said that it had done the same, citing the companys belief in the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions.

Twitter also said in a statement that it had suspended such requests since last week. Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law, it said.

A Google spokesperson said that the firm had paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities and would continue to review the details of the new law.

Although Facebook, its products Whatsapp and Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Google generate ad revenue from China, they are all blocked in the country, where authorities shutter any online platform where they do not have ultimate control of content. They have, however, historically been openly accessible in Hong Kong, which has so far existed outside of mainlands Great Firewall.

But Hong Kong is facing a series of unknowns since the July 1 enactment of the new national security law, which has been met by unprecedented concerns about the future for freedom of speech in the financial hub.

The U.S. tech companies could end up in a clash with Beijing as China seeks to impose greater controls on Hong Kongs Internet space through this new legislation.

The new law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers in sweepingly broad terms. The rules give authorities the ability to investigate, prosecute and punish locals and foreigners alike for anything that seems to promote subversion or incite hatred of the Chinese regime.

It also states the officials may ask the publisher, platform, host or network service provider of any electronic messages that endanger national security to remove or restrict access to them. Failure to comply can lead to fines and a year in prison.

In a transparency report for July to December of last year, Facebook said that it had received 241 information requests on 257 users or accounts from Hong Kong authorities, and had provided some data in 46% of those cases.

Chat apps that have made a name for themselves offering greater levels of encryption and security have also chimed in on the matter. London-based Telegram was the first to state that it did not intent to process Hong Kong data requests.

Meanwhile, encrypted chat app Signal, popular with Chinese dissidents and Hong Kong protestors, owned it peers: Wed announce that were stopping too, but we never started turning over user data to the HK police. Also, we dont have user data to turn over.

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U.S. Tech Giants Pause Responses To Hong Kong Requests ...

US tech giants face a reckoning over how Hong Kong's security law will reshape their businesses, with their suspension of processing government requests for user data a stop-gap measure as they weigh options, people close to the industry say.

While Hong Kong is not a significant market for firms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, they have used it as a perch to reach deep-pocketed advertisers in mainland China, where many of their services are blocked.

But the companies are now in the cross hairs of a national security law that gives China authority to demand that they turn over user data or censor content seen to violate the law - even when posted from abroad.

"These companies have to totally reassess the liability of having a presence in Hong Kong," Charles Mok, a legislator who represents the technology industry in Hong Kong, told Reuters.

If they refuse to cooperate with government requests, he said, authorities "could go after them and take them to court and fine them, or imprison their principals in Hong Kong".

Facebook, Google and Twitter have suspended processing government requests for user data in Hong Kong, they said on Monday, following China's imposition of the new national security law on the semi-autonomous city.

Facebook, which started operating in Hong Kong in 2010, last year opened a big new office in the city.

It sells more than $5 billion a year worth of ad space to Chinese businesses and government agencies looking to promote messages abroad, Reuters reported in January. That makes China Facebook's biggest country for revenue after the United States.

The U.S. internet firms are no strangers to governments demands regarding content and user information, and generally say they are bound by local laws.

The companies have often used a technique known as "geo-blocking" to restrict content in a particular country without removing it altogether.

But the sweeping language of Hong Kong's new law could mean such measures won't be enough. Authorities will no longer need to get court orders before requesting assistance or information, analysts said.

Requests for data about overseas users would put the companies in an especially tough spot.

"It's a global law ... if they comply with national security law in Hong Kong then there is the problem that they may violate laws in other countries," said Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of Hong Kong's Information Technology Federation.

CONTENT QUESTION

While the U.S. social media services are blocked in mainland China, they have operated freely in Hong Kong.

Other U.S. internet platforms are also rich with content that is banned in mainland China and may now be judged illegal in Hong Kong.

U.S. video streaming site Netflix, for example, carries "Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower", a 2017 documentary on activist Joshua Wong whose books were removed from Hong Kong public libraries last week.

"Ten Years", a 2015 film that has been criticised by Chinese state media for portraying a dystopian future Hong Kong under Chinese Communist Party control, is also available on its platform.

Netflix declined to comment.

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facebook: US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong ...

Despite all those protests, internal and external, by tech workers against their employers' selling AI to the US military, the Pentagons Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) this week said the biggest names in IT are lining up to supply Uncle Sam.

Founded in 2018, the JAIC focuses on deploying machine-learning systems to support America's armed forces. It invests in all sorts of applications and platforms, from internal private clouds to drones.

Nand Mulchandani, who took over as acting director of the organization after Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan retired in June, told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday that the center has major contracts with all the major tech companies including Google.

The acting director singled out the search giant presumably to highlight what he saw as a bout of hypocrisy by Google, which made a big play about not helping Uncle Sam develop instruments of death yet still provides tech services on the down-low.

In 2018, CEO Sundar Pichai pulled Google out Project Maven a contract to provide the US military object-tracking AI to analyze drone surveillance footage after a revolt by Googlers. Soon after, the chief exec publicly declared Google wouldn't, among other things, "design or deploy ... technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm" nor "weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people."

Later that year, Pichai also withdrew the web corp's bid for the Pentagon's $10bn winner-takes-all Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract because it did not align with his company's values. An inability to gain the certification needed to offer cloud services to the military was also a little tiny roadblock, as was its fear of publicly losing out to Amazon or Microsoft. But in any case Google spun itself as a lofty pacifist and definitely not a digital arms manufacturer, and so it wasn't going to get involved in this sort of stuff again.

Mulchandani, however, painted a different picture: the JAICs bonds with massive tech corps were only getting stronger no matter the protests and promises from Silicon Valley techies and executives, he claimed. Some of these technology suppliers may be working directly with the government, and some through a network of subcontractors. Some giants, particularly Microsoft, are outwardly proud to serve the US military, technology-wise.

A study by Tech Inquiry, an investigative nonprofit led by an ex-Googler, revealed Google as well as Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Nvidia, Dell, HP, IBM, Twitter, Palantir, and others, supply the Department of Defense and the Feds with technology one way or another. For example, Google's G Suite is used by the Navy and FBI, we see.

Tech Inquiry's Jack Poulson noted: "On balance, Google's position became supporting the DoD's cloud and cybersecurity while avoiding direct contributions to weapons systems."

As for the JAIC, it takes an interest in things like the role of machine learning in warfighting operations, warfighter health, logistics, and information warfare. Mulchandani said that most of the organization's budget is funneled into warfighting operations. It is true that many of our products we work on now will go into weapon systems, he said.

But he was quick to insist none of those systems were autonomous: humans still give the final commands, we understand. In other words, the center isnt building killer robots or weapons that decide solely whether someone lives or dies. Its such an outer edge case," he said. "We are nowhere near that in a platforms, hardware, software, or algorithms perspective to even get near that.

Another controversial area that the JAIC said it wasnt involved in is facial recognition. Mulchandani acknowledged that other countries, such as China and Russia, are more ready to deploy this sort of tech compared to his operation. [Were] not behind, its just that we dont build [those systems]. We dont build surveillance and censorship technologies, he insisted.

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FYI: You do all know that America's tech giants, even ...

No matter where in the world you log in fromSilicon Valley, London, and beyondCOVID-19 has triggered a mass exodus from traditional office life. Now that the lucky among us have settled into remote work, many are left wondering if this massive, inadvertent work-from-home experiment will change work for good.

In the following charts, we feature data from a comprehensive survey conducted by UK-based startup network Founders Forum, in which hundreds of founders and their teams revealed their experiences of remote work and their plans for a post-pandemic future.

While the future remains a blank page, its clear that hundreds of startups have no plans to hit backspace on remote work.

Based primarily in the UK, almost half of the survey participants were founders, and nearly a quarter were managers below the C-suite.

Prior to pandemic-related lockdowns, 94% of those surveyed had worked from an external office. Despite their brick-and-mortar setup, more than 90% were able to accomplish the majority of their work remotely.

Gen X and Millennials made up most of the survey contingent, with nearly 80% of respondents with ages between 26-50, and 40% in the 31-40 age bracket.

From improved work-life balance and productivity levels to reduced formal teamwork, these entrepreneurs flagged some bold truths about whats working and whats not.

If history has taught us anything, its that world events have the potential to cause permanent mass change, like 9/11s lasting impact on airport security.

Although most survey respondents had plans to be back in the office within six months, those startups are rethinking their remote work policies as a direct result of COVID-19.

How might that play out in a post-pandemic world?

Based on the startup responses, a realistic post-pandemic work scenario could involve 3 to 5 days of remote work a week, with a couple dedicated in-office days for the entire team.

Upwards of 92% of respondents said they wanted the option to work from home in some capacity.

Its important to stay open to learning and experimenting with new ways of working. The current pandemic has only accelerated this process.Well see the other side of this crisis, and Im confident it will be brighter.

Evgeny Shadchnev, CEO, Makers Academy

Working from home hasnt slowed down these startupsin fact, it may have improved overall productivity in many cases.

More than half of the respondents were more productive from home, and 55% also reported working longer hours.

Blurred lines, however, raised some concerns.

From chores and rowdy children to extended hours, working from home often makes it difficult to compartmentalize. As a result, employers and employees may have to draw firmer lines between work and home in their remote policies, especially in the long term.

Although the benefits appear to outweigh the concerns, these issues pose important questions about our increasingly remote future.

To uncover some work-from-home easter eggs (Better for exercise. MUCH more pleasant environment), we grouped nearly 400 open-ended questions according to sentiment and revealed some interesting patterns.

From serendipitous encounters and beers with colleagues to more formal teamwork, an overwhelming number of the respondents missed the camaraderie of team interactions.

It was clear startups did not miss the hours spent commuting every day. During the pandemic, those hours have been replaced by family time, work, or other activities like cooking healthy meals and working out.

Remote working has been great for getting us through lockdownbut truly creative work needs the magic of face to face interaction, not endless Zoom calls. Without the serendipity and chemistry of real-world encounters, the world will be a far less creative place.

Rohan Silva, CEO, Second Home

This pandemic has delivered a new normal thats simultaneously challenging and revealing. For now, it looks like a new way of working is being coded into our collective software.

What becomes of the beloved open-office plan in a pandemic-prepped world remains to be seen, but if these startups are any indication, work-life may have changed for good.

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Infographic: How the Tech Giants Make Their Billions

Facebook and Twitter have confirmed they have suspended processing demands for user data from Hong Kong authorities following the introduction of a new Beijing-imposed national security law.

A spokesperson for Facebook told TechCrunch it will pause the processing of data demands until it can better understand the new national security law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts. The spokesperson added: We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions.

Facebook said its suspension will also apply to WhatsApp, which it owns.

News of the suspension was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Soon after, Twitter also confirmed it followed suit. Given the rapid pace at which the new National Security Law in China has been passed and that it was only published in its entirety for the first time last week, our teams are reviewing the law to assess its implications, particularly as some of the terms of the law are vague and without clear definition, said a Twitter spokesperson.

Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law, the spokesperson said.

Twitter said it suspended transfers of user data subject to Hong Kong demands immediately after the law went into effect.

Google, Microsoft, and Telegram also said Monday that it will no longer process data requests from Hong Kong authorities.

Tech giants have long seen Hong Kong as a friendly outpost in Asia as a semi-independent city nation state, albeit under the control of Beijing under its one country, two systems principles. Hong Kong has far greater freedoms from mainland China, where government surveillance and censorship are widespread.

But the new national security law, imposed unilaterally by the Chinese government on June 30, effectively undermines any protections Hong Kong nationals had. The law removes provisions for authorities to require a court order before it can demand data from internet companies, like Facebook and Twitter.

One industry leader, who chairs the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, said internet providers would have little choice but to comply with the new law.

The move is likely to put Silicon Valley tech giants and other companies that follow in their footsteps on notice with Beijing, which already has sweeping bans against some Western tech giants, including both Facebook and Twitter, on the mainland. WhatsApp is highly popular in Hong Kong, alongside Telegram and WeChat.

Updated with comment from Twitter, and later to include Microsoft and Google.

Excerpt from:

US tech giants halt Hong Kong police help TechCrunch

GENETICS

This Company Wants to Rewrite the Future of Genetic DiseaseMegan Molteni | WiredTessera has spent the past two years developing a new class of molecular manipulators capable of doing lots of things CRISPR can doand some that it cant, including precisely plugging in long stretches of DNA. Its not gene editing, says von Maltzahn. Its gene writing.

A Bird? A Plane? No, Its a Google Balloon Beaming the InternetAbdi Lahif Dahir | The New York TimesA fleet of high-altitude balloons started delivering internet service to Kenya on Tuesday, extending online access to tens of thousands of people in the first-ever commercial deployment of the technology.

Fading Light: The Story of Magic Leaps Lost Mixed Reality Magnum OpusAdi Robertson | The VergeInside the company, though, a few dozen developers were building what they describe as one of Magic Leaps most exciting projects. Its calledThe Last Light: an interactive story about a young woman dealing with the death of her grandmother, designed to show the storytelling potential of mixed reality. And crucially, its creators say its finishedbut they arent sure if anyone will ever see it.

Augmented Reality Heads-Up Displays for Cars Are Finally a Real ThingJonathan M. Gitlin | Ars TechnicaAs you can see, it fuses various sensor inputs from the vehicle like the forward-looking radar as well as optical sensors to alert or inform the driver. That information could be the distance to a car youre following, or markers delineating the edge of the road in low-light situations, or navigation help via directional arrows that work a bit like the optimal racing line overlay in games like Forza.

Astronomers Are Uncovering the Magnetic Soul of the UniverseNatalie Wolchover | WiredTwenty years ago, astronomers started to detect magnetism permeating entire galaxy clusters, including the space between one galaxy and the next. Last year, astronomers finally managed to examine a far sparser region of spacethe expanse between galaxy clusters. There, they discovered the largest magnetic field yet: 10 million light-years of magnetized space spanning the entire length of this filament of the cosmic web.

The Tech Giants Invisible HelpersShira Ovide | The New York Timesone of the underappreciated ways that todays technology superpowers like Google and Amazon stay superpowers is their mastery of all the boring stuff that makes the internet possible. This is the kind of advantage the tech superpowers have that is hard forgovernments to break apart or for rivals to compete with. The tech giants fingerprints, brain power and dollars are all over the invisible backbone of the global internet.

Facebook Weighs Banning Political Ads Before the 2020 ElectionJoe Berkowitz | Fast CompanyWhile the ban is only being discussed at this point, asBloombergpoints out, some within Facebook are concerned that an ad blackout may harm voter registration and motivation campaigns, or limit candidates non-ad messaging. However, pre-election blackouts on Facebook are not without precedent: theyre a fixture in other countries, including the U.K.Quote.

NASA Unveils New Rules to Protect the Moon and Mars From Earth GermsChelsea Gohd | Space.comIt is important, the NASA chief explained, that future missions leave behind a pristine environment so we have the ability to know that what we discover in the future was not something that was left there by us We have to make sure that we are inventorying every kind of biological substance and even nonbiological substanceorganics for example that could leave something behind on the moon that could be problematic for future research.

Its an Incredible Experiment: Banning Cars in Cities Stirs Controversyand Has Mixed ResultsNate Berg | Fast CompanyThe converted streets quickly become part of peoples lives, with families having outdoor meals, older residents meeting in the mornings for coffee, and even indoor chores such as folding laundry moving out into the social space. Some are even becoming permanent. One street, which is in front of a school, now prohibits car traffic. In another neighborhood, residents are planning a Living Street explicitly for the purpose of seeing how a permanent closure would affect the area.

Image credit: Kasper Rasmussen /Unsplash

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This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through July 11) - Singularity Hub

Research published by non-profit Tech Inquiry has revealed the extent of the relationship between Silicon Valley and US military and law enforcement, with Microsoft alone having 5,000 previously unreported subcontracts with law enforcement.

The contracts were found through open records requests filed by Tech Inquiry director and former Google researcher Dr Jack Poulson, who resigned following efforts to pressure the company to drop 'Project Dragonfly', which involved developing a heavily-censored version of its search engine for the Chinese market.

Around the same time, reports revealed that Google was building AI surveillance tools for Pentagon drones; a series of employee resignations forced Google to agree not to renew its contract. Employees have been involved in similar protests at Amazon and Microsoft over contracts with the military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both Amazon and Microsoft have resisted pressure to drop their contacts with ICE.

Tech Inquiry revealed in its report that the connections between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon run deeper than many people - including many rank-and-file employees - previously knew. The investigation showed that tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Dell, IBM, HP and Facebook have secured more than 5,000 agreements with US military and law enforcement agencies.

Tech Inquiry analysed more than 30 million government contracts signed or updated in the past five years. It found that the majority of agreements with consumer tech companies involved subcontracts, largely for services such as cloud computing, data processing and app support for which traditional military contractors may lack the capabilities.

These agreements can involve a network of subcontractors, making it difficult to see what services each company is providing.

In an interview with NBC, Poulson explained: Often the high-level contract description between tech companies and the military looks very vanilla and mundane. Only when you look at the details of the contract, which you can only get through [FOI] requests, do you see the workings of how the customisation from a tech company would actually be involved.

Microsoft alone has over 5,000 subcontracts with law enforcement agencies signed or updated since 2016. Amazon has more than 350 similar agreements, whileGoogle has more than 250.

Tech Inquiry wrote: Our analysis shows a diversity of contracting postures, not a systemic divide from Washington. Within a substantial list of namebrand tech companies, only Facebook, Apple and Twitter look to be staying out of major military and law enforcement contracts.

In a statement, a Google Cloud spokesperson said: We remain committed to partnering with the government on projects that are consistent with our terms of service, acceptable use policies and AI Principles.

A Department of Defense spokesperson told NBC News: We partner with organisations across [the department] from the services and components to combatant commands and defense agencies to rapidly prototype, deliver and scale advanced commercial solutions that save lives, inspire new operational concepts, increase efficiency and save taxpayer dollars.

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Silicon Valley giants have thousands of US military contracts - E&T Magazine

Over recent years, many people have decided to start their own business, and many have done so within the tech industry. In todays digital age, technology has become a pivotal part of our lives, and those providing tech goods and services can expect a high level of success. This is why starting a tech company can be so rewarding and exciting.

Of course, many tech companies have been started over the years, and some have become huge household names all around the world. Whats surprising is that many of these huge world dominators were once just basement tech startup companies, where the founders operated the business from a basement while they were building it up. You will be amazed at the companies that started life in a basement, and in this article, we will run through some of the top ones.

As this infographic below shows, there are lots of huge tech giants that started their life in a basement and have gone on to achieve global domination in the world of tech. So, lets take a look at some of the big players that went from basement to world domination:

Amazon

When it comes to global domination, Amazon has completely nailed it. This is a company that is known around the world and is now worth $1 trillion, making its founder Jeff Bezos avery wealthy man indeed. However, life wasnt always like this, and when Bezos started, he was working from a double garage. He then upgraded to a basement warehouse with a few employees, and the rest is history. This is one huge success story about a company that began life in a garage and a basement.

FreshBooks

When it comes to FreshBooks accounting software, there are huge numbers of individuals and businesses that rely on it. However, there was a time when the founder of this software was relegated to the basement at his parents house where he managed to bring in just $100 or so a month after two years. However, he stayed in that basement for more than three years and continue to drive his company forward. Today, invoices are paid to the tune of $8 billion a year by users of the software.

Virgin Group

With the wide range of goods and services available, Virgin is known the world over. Among its offerings are tech products such services including broadband and mobile phones. When Sir Richard Branson started out at 16, he was working from a basement and it wasnt even his own basement. Fast forward to the present time, and Virgin has become a world dominator and is valued at close to $5 billion.

There are various other huge tech companies that started out in a basement such as Qualtrics and Epic Games, to name but a couple. It goes to show that just because you start your tech company in a basement, it does not mean you cannot achieve huge success.

Tech and Other Successful Companies That Started in Parents Basements Created By: JES

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to ourTwitterorFacebook.

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Tech giants: From the basement to world domination - KnowTechie

Nailed It

TikTok: The short-video platform downloaded by hundreds of millions around the world announced it was pulling its app out of Hong Kong amid concerns about a new national security law imposed by Chinese rule regarding handing over user data. The move is notable because TikToks parent company is based in China. Its a win for personal privacy in an area of the world thats seeing that civil right quickly receding. Dave Lefort

U.S. tech giants: Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft were among the other notable companies announcing they would suspend compliance with Chinese government requests for user data in Hong Kong. Dave Lefort

Adidas: The athletic apparel company has vowed to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace and invest more in career-advancement opportunities for its Black employees. At least its acknowledging it needs to improve in this area. The question now is whether it stays true to its word. Jaclyn Jaeger

Facebook boycotters: As of July 9, over 1,000 businesses (listed here on this public Google doc) have put their money where their mouth is and stopped advertising on Facebook. The advertisers are united in putting principles over profits in calling for the social media behemoth to make a more concerted effort to remove racist material and hate speech from its platform. Dave Lefort

FedEx: When the package delivery company that owns the naming rights for the NFLs Washington Redskins Stadium joined the chorus pushing owner Dan Snyder to rename the team from the Native American epithet, the billionaire finally buckled, launching a review of the name. Other sports teams like the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, and Kansas City Chiefs would do well to follow the ethical lead of Quaker Oats (Aunt Jemima), Dreyers Grand Ice Cream (Eskimo Pie), and Mars (Uncle Ben) in reimagining the marketing of products with racist imagery and history. Its time. Aaron Nicodemus

EY: The Big Four firm is giving its employees the bonus of education. The auditing giant has partnered with Hult International Business School on an online free MBA program that will be available to all EY employees across the globe. DeAnn Orie

Wirecard: Already up to its ears in fraud allegations in Germany (to the tune of $2 billion), the payment company now reportedly finds itself under investigation in the United States for an alleged $100 million bank-fraud conspiracy connected to an online marijuana marketplace. Dave Lefort

Starbucks: The coffee chain banned employees from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel, saying it could amplify divisiveness. When an internal memo about it went public in June, people were outraged, and days later the company reversed the ban and declared it would provide 250,000 Starbucks-branded BLM shirts for employees. Thats great, but where do you really stand, Starbucks, when no one is looking? Aly McDevitt

Luckin Coffee: If you cant trust the China-based coffee retailer not to fabricate revenue, how can you believe the companys chairman when he insists a controversial shareholder vote to determine Luckins future was on the level? The results of that decisive vote have yet to be announced amid objections about how the votes were tallied. Unsurprisingly, theres been little transparency into the process. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice Dave Lefort

Instacart: The grocery delivery service has become quite successful during the pandemic, but reports say the company has not extended that success to its shoppers, or gig workers. DeAnn Orie

Deutsche Bank: We seriously question the sincerity of the banks CEO, even after the $150 million settlement with the NYDFS. When the CEO sends a letter to employees with just the briefest of remarks about being sorry for doing business with Jeffrey Epstein and then spends two pages talking to employees about getting back to business, thats a HUGE red flag that leadership puts ethics and integrity on the back burner. The bank will be in the news again for more unethical conduct in the future. We guarantee. Jaclyn Jaeger

Massachusetts General Brigham: The states largest network of hospitals isrewarding its frontline workers byfreezing pay for thousands andsuspending contributions to retirement plans after losing $800 million in revenue during the pandemic. Any employee earning $26.50 per hour or more will be impacted.What a nice way to say thank you to the caregivers and support staff whove puttheir lives on the line every day.Aly McDevitt

PPP loan program: The Treasury Department did the right thing by making public the recipients of larger PPP loans, but that doesnt come close to forgiving how much of a mess the program has been. Poorly worded parameters resulted in numerous public companies being able to take advantage of the funds for small businesses, some receiving loans of up to $10 million. It might anger many to see Kanye Wests clothing and sneaker brand Yeezy receive a loan between $2 million and $5 million when West is worth $1.3 billion (according to Forbes), but dont hate the playerhate the game. Kyle Brasseur

Elon Musk: In 2018, the SEC charged the Tesla CEO of exaggerating a claim of funding secured when he was attempting to take the firm private. To settle, Musk stepped down as chairman of the board. and he and the company were fined $20 million. Since Musk didnt want the firm to pay for his mistake, he bought $20 million worth of Tesla shares. This week, Teslas stock closed at $1,371 per share, making Musks initial investment more than $97 million a profit, even after his own fine, of more than $50 million. DeAnn Orie

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Kudos to TikTok, tech brethren; Starbucks & Luckin have us soured on coffee cos. - Compliance Week

Late on Friday, the Trump Administration had issued a statement saying that the United States would incline an additional 25 per cent tariff on French-borne consumer goods such as cosmetics, handbags alongside other imports, worth of roughly $1.3 billion as a part of its response to French digital tax on internet service providers which mostly included US-based tech Goliaths.

Nonetheless, the announcement had also added that an implementation of the move would be delayed as long as 180 days in order to deliver an opportunistic window to resolve the issue through in-person meets and discussions in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).

In point of fact, the latest move from the Trump Administration announced by the office of USTR (United State Trade Representative) comes over the heels of an earlier section 301 probe, which ruled earlier this year that the French digital taxation rule could be subject to discrimination against a number of US tech conglomerates such as Google, Apple Inc.

and Facebook Inc, while the decision had also mirrored a stubborn stance from France regarding its 3 per cent taxation on digital service providers.

Apart from the section 301 probe on French digital tax aimed at generating a greater revenue from the tech giants which usually profit enormously from the local market, but contribute very little to the public coffers, the United States had also initiated similar probe on ten countries including India, UK and Turkey, all of which had adopted digital taxations on US-based tech conglomerates.

Nonetheless, on last December, the USTR Robert Lighthizer had unveiled a list of $1.3 billion worth of French imports for the first time, which would be subject to 25 per cent added levies, unless the French Government sways away from its planned digital taxation on the US-based tech titans.

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US slaps French goods with 25% added duties, but delays effective date - Financial World

In this file photo taken on March 31, 2016 a woman works in the Hermes workshop in Hericourt, eastern France.

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images

The Trump administration on Friday announced plans to impose taxes on $1.3 billion in French imports hitting handbags and makeup but sparing cheese and wine in retaliation for Frances digital services tax on U.S. technology giants.

But the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the levies would be delayed for 180 days to provide time for negotiations.

The French tax is designed to prevent tech companies from dodging taxes by establishing their headquarters in low-tax European Union countries. It imposes a 3% annual levy on French revenue of digital companies with yearly global sales worth more than 750 million euros ($848 million) and French revenue exceeding 25 million euros.

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The U.S. said the tax unfairly targeted U.S. firms such as Amazon and Google. It also criticized the French tax for targeting companies revenue, not their profits, and for being retroactive.

Last year, the U.S. threatened to slap tariffs of up to 100% on $2.4 billion in French goods, including cheese and wine. But the list released Friday was smaller and dropped the cheese and wine.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been attempting to negotiate a compromise on digital taxes.

Retaliatory tariffs arent ideal but the French governments refusal to back down from its unilateral imposition of unfair and punitive taxes on U.S. companies leaves our government with no choice, Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and the committees top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said in a joint statement.

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U.S. targets $1.3-billion in French imports in retaliation for tax on tech giants - The Globe and Mail

The US and India have crossed swords on whether customs duty should be levied on Harley Davidson bikes, but the two countries are sailing in the same boat when it comes to banning the hugely popular Chinese app TikTok. Soon after the border clashes with China, in a retaliatory surgical strike India banned TikTok and58 other apps on nationalsecurity concerns.Its hurting both sides of the border. For TikTok, Indias 120 million users is a huge market, the largest, perhaps, after China. In India, the app was a form of self-expression in dance and quirky gigs especially formillions of rural youth.

The Indian government has different concerns. The Union ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the apps were banned as they were stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India, thereby comprising the sovereignty and integrity of India.The US administration, which has been blaming China for the spread of what Donald Trump calls the China virus, found a good point of alliance. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lost no time, and in an interview with Fox News,revealed that a ban on TikTok was something we are looking at. That he was serious about it was apparent when hecompared a ban on TikTok with the earlier bans imposed on Chinsese tech giantsHuawei and ZTE.

Chinese controls

Though TikTok denies it isinvolved in any snooping, and claims it stores user data in servers in the country oforigin, critics have pointed to its questionable privacypractices like a leaked moderation guidelines that discourage criticism of events like theTiananmen Square protests. The fear is, as voiced by Sarah Cook, an analyst of the right wing think tank Freedom First: The Chinese government has a history of gaining control over nodes in theinformation system.

However, the bigger concern cited is the symbiotic relationship between the Chinese state and Chinese companies, where the latter by law are required to share data with the government. The two specific laws that rope in Chinese companies are the 2017 National Intelligence Law and the 2014 Counter-Espionage Law. Article 7, for example, of the National Intelligence Law provides that any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work in accordancewith the law.

We are right to be concerned about possible data mining by Chinese companies that may fall into the hands of theChinese government. However, it is a practice that goes back centuries to the East India Company where private commercial operators collaborated with their governments to subdue and colonize indigenous people. What is repugnant though is US double-speak.After all its intelligenceagencies have been usingprivate commercial companies for decades to spy on, assassinate leaders and removeelected governments.

US double-speak

We have forgotten how the United Fruit Company in the 1950s and 60s became an arm of the US government in theCentral American countries of Guatemala, Costa Rica and Honduras. United Fruit not only became the largest single landowner in central America; it ran postal services, nurtured banana republics on behalf of the CIA, and deposedany regime that questionedUS domination.

Or, more recently during the continuing Middle East conflicts, where Leidos Holdings merged with another defense contractor Lockheed Martin to become a $50 billion private military powerhouse. The merged entitys 8,000 private operatives, worked closely with the US military command,doing everything from analyzing signals for the US National Security Agency (NSA) to hunting down suspected terrorist fighters forUS Special Forces.

Cyber snooping is not the prerogative of China and Huawei. Revelations by Edward Snowden, the former US defense contractor, leaked classified information on how the US and its allies were running numerous global surveillance programs. One of these was a government snooping programme called Prism which rode on the backs of nine US internet firms, and tapped into their servers to glean private information of millions of American citizens. Thecollaborating companiesincluded Facebook, Google,Microsoft and Yahoo.Or, even more recently, the company Cambridge Analytica became a tool of the Donald Trump election campaign. A whistleblower in the company, Christopher Wylie, exposed how Cambridge Analytica bought personal profiles of50 million or more Facebook users in the US from an independent researcher Aleksandr Kogan. The data was then used to soft-target a mass of potential Trump supporters.

The Chinese, Huawei and TikTok are not innocent. But let us not pretend any of the other governments are. Those who have the wherewithal snoop on their own citizens, their neighbours and their trade competitors. Thatsthe new normal. We haveadvanced from the ageof colonialism to digital imperialism. Technology has grown not to give us greater freedom, but to wipe out whatever individual privacy wethought we enjoyed.

Fight onIndia has bannedTikTok stating they werestealing and surreptitiously transmitting users data. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, too, in an interview revealed that a ban on TikTok was something we are looking at

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Tiktok and finding the real digital imperialists - The New Indian Express

In the less than two years since its worldwide release, TikTok has exploded into a social-media supernova. Originally a home for lip-synching and viral dance moves, it has since transformed into something of an everything-app for Generation Z, a place where many young users talk to their friends, meet new people, discuss politics, follow celebrities, create memes, and generally spend a not-insignificant portion of their waking hours.

With more than 2 billion downloads, it's also become the cornerstone of a growing online empire for its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, which has reportedly been valued at some $150 billion in recent secondary share sales. The future, in many ways, seems limitless.

But that wasn't why TikTok and ByteDance were in the headlines this week. Instead, it was because of the political roadblocks suddenly in their path.

The Chinese government's commitment to the startup scene in recent years has done wonders for many companies. But as those companies go global, their ties to the state come with complications. And that's one of 10 things you need to know from the past week:

TikTok, for its part, denies that it ever has or ever would hand over user data to the Chinese government. The company has also taken recent steps to emphasize its independence.

In May, the app creator plucked Kevin Mayer away from Disney, where he was head of streaming, to be its new CEO. This week, TikTok announced plans to pull out of Hong Kong after China strengthened its grip on the semi-autonomous region. And shortly thereafter, reports surfaced that ByteDance was considering moving TikTok's headquarters out of China to further distance it from the nation.

Like Huawei, Alibaba and other Chinese business giants that have emerged over the past decade, just what sort of influence the state may have over TikTok is difficult to discern. The intricacies of corporate law in the country seem to be murky to many Westerners, particularly legal laymen like yours truly. But despite TikTok's protestations, allegations of censorship and privacy violations have continued to surface.

China's startup scene has long been marked by an unconventional mix of business and politics. Government programs and government-backed investors helped fuel the country's boom, allowing upstarts to rapidly gain ground on established giants from the US and Europe. Now, as these names begin to become truly dominant from a global perspectivetake Huawei's place as a leader in 5Gthe connections between country and company are becoming more controversial, forcing other governments to make uncomfortable choices.

For businesses, the boon of government support can sometimes turn into a burden.

At the same time TikTok reckons with its ties to China, financial markets in the region are going nuts. In Shanghai, the SSE Composite Index is up nearly 19% since late May, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up more than 12% over the same span. Against that backdrop, another of the country's tech titans may be considering an IPO.

Ant, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, is planning a listing in Hong Kong that could occur this year and result in a valuation of more than $200 billion, according to Reuters, although the company denied the report. Valued at an estimated $150 billion in 2018, Ant joins ByteDance as arguably one of the two most valuable VC-backed companies in the world, according to PitchBook data.

Ant, which operates Alipay, has traditionally focused its operations in China. But the business has begun expanding rapidly in recent years, and in the process has encountered its own share of hostility. In 2018, for instance, the US blocked Ant from acquiring money-transfer specialist MoneyGram, citing national security concerns. Bloomberg's report last year that the Chinese government was sending officials to Alibaba and other companies in a bid "to exert greater influence" over the private sector likely didn't assuage such concerns.I'm not here to determine what degree of influence the Chinese government may or may not have over the country's growing generation of tech giants. In some ways, the reality probably doesn't matter as much as the perception. TikTok can hire as many American executives as it wants. It could move its headquarters to Wyoming. But as long as fears remain that data shared with TikTok or Ant is data shared with the Chinese state, the companies will continue to encounter obstacles on their path to global domination.

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10 big things: TikTok, on the clock - PitchBook News & Analysis