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Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) questions Intelligence Committee Minority Counsel Stephen Castor and Intelligence Committee Majority Counsel Daniel Goldman during House impeachment inquiry hearings before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill December 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Doug Mills | Pool | Getty Images

A California lawmaker who has opposed efforts to crack down on the tech industry is the leading contender to become the highest ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust.

Rep. Lou Correa, who represents a portion of Southern California, is being discussed as the likely successor to prior Ranking Member David Cicilline, D-R.I., according to four sources who spoke on background about private discussions. Cicilline previously announced he would leave Congress effective June 1.

If Correa ascends to the role, it would represent a stark reversal in attitude at the top of the subcommittee, which just a few years earlier led a massive investigation of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook that found each maintained monopoly power. Under Cicilline, the CEOs of each company faced hours of grilling before the panel. The Judiciary Committee also managed to pass a package of antitrust bills that aimed to rein in the power of the top players in the industry by preventing them from favoring their own products in their marketplaces or by prohibiting the ownership of two businesses that present a conflict of interest.

Things could still change, but Correa is well-positioned based on his seniority. Correa’s team has spoken with Judiciary staff about possible subcommittee priorities, according to a House staffer, and a vote could happen in the next couple of weeks.

A spokesperson for Correa declined to comment.

One senior Democratic aide described the prospect of Correa becoming ranking member as a “great windfall for the tech companies.” If he ascends to the top Democratic role, he would sit beside Chair Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who was chosen over previous ranking member of the panel Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo. Buck has been the top Republican champion of the tech antitrust bills.

While Cicilline and Buck championed bills that sought to crack down on what they saw as unfair practices by Big Tech companies and supported increased funding to antitrust enforcement agencies, Correa opposed the tech antitrust bills and voted against legislation that would raise money for the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division.

Democrats are in the minority in the House, so whoever fills the position won’t get to set the agenda for the subcommittee. But several sources who spoke with CNBC said Correa’s track record suggests tech antitrust would take a back seat for a while in the subcommittee if he gets the nod. Already, the types of bills that advanced out of the Judiciary committee in the summer of 2021 are now being stalled with the help of tech lobbying.

Correa received an endorsement from the Chamber of Commerce in his 2022 campaign. The Chamber has notably opposed progressive action by the FTC and has warned that legislative reforms in the U.S. could undermine the country’s economic security. Since 2018, Correa has received around $17,000 in donations from tech company political action committees, including those of Amazon, Google and Meta.

Correa is unlikely to be a popular choice among progressive groups. Groups like the Demand Progress Education Fund, Economic Security Project Action and Fight for the Future urged the committee in April to select a replacement to Cicilline “with a similarly steadfast commitment to anti-monopoly policies” who voted for all of the bills in the House Judiciary tech antitrust package.

Several senior members of the subcommittee who support tech antitrust reform would have seemed more likely candidates for the top Democratic seat not long ago. But the field is complicated by the fact that many of them already have ranking member positions on other subcommittees they may not wish to give up. That includes the antitrust subcommittee’s former vice chair Joe Neguse, D-Colo., as well as Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

Even so, the senior Democratic aide said a focus on tech antitrust issues is not going away entirely, even if they become less of a focus in the House. The aide pointed to ongoing efforts in the White House and enforcement agencies to tackle digital competition issues.

“Those issues are still there,” the aide said. “They’re not going away.”

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Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book

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Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book

This photo illustration created Jan. 7, 2025, shows an image of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and an image of the Meta logo.

Drew Angerer | Afp | Getty Images

Meta is seeking to stop the promotion of a new memoir by a former staffer that paints the social media company in an unflattering light, including allegations of sexual harassment by the company’s policy chief. 

An emergency arbitrator ruled Thursday that Sarah Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting “Careless People,” her book that was released Tuesday by Flatiron Books, an imprint of publisher Macmillan Books.

The memoir chronicles Wynn-Williams’ tenure at Facebook from 2011 through 2017. During that time, she became a high-level employee who interacted with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, then-COO Sheryl Sandberg and Joel Kaplan, the company’s current policy chief. In the book, Wynn-Williams alleges that Kaplan made a number of inappropriate comments to her, which she then reported to the company as sexual harassment.

“This is a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives,” a Meta spokesperson previously said about both her book and complaint.

Wynn-Williams also details in her book the company’s various attempts to enter the Chinese market, including building tools that would censor content to appease the Chinese Communist Party. Wynn-Williams addressed some of these China-specific claims in a whistleblower complaint that she filed in April with the Securities and Exchange Commission, NBC News reported.

The emergency arbitrator ruled in favor of Meta after watching a podcast appearance of Wynn-Williams in which she discussed her memoir and her allegations that Meta was attempting to “shut this book down.”

“The Emergency Arbitrator finds that, after reviewing the briefs and hearing oral argument, (Meta) has established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contractual non-disparagement claim against Respondent Wynn-Williams, and that immediate and irreparable loss will result in the absence of emergency relief,” the filing said.

Additionally, the arbitrator ruled that so much as Wynn-Williams can control, she is prohibited from further publishing or distributing the book and from further disparaging Meta and its officers or repeating previous disparaging remarks. The arbitrator also ruled that Wynn-Williams is to retract her previous disparaging remarks.

The company has previously dismissed Wynn-Williams’ claims as “out-of-date” and said that she was fired for “poor performance and toxic behavior.”

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone shared the emergency arbitrator’s ruling in a post on Threads, saying that it “affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published.”

“This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years,” Stone said.

Meta alleged that Wynn-Williams violated the non-disparagement terms of her September 2017 severance agreement, resulting in the company filing an emergency motion on Friday. The emergency arbitrator then conducted a telephone hearing involving legal representatives of Meta and Macmillan Books, but not Wynn-Williams who did not appear though she was given notice, the filing said.

Wynn-Williams, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Books did not respond to requests for comment.

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Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as new CEO, stock jumps 12%

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Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as new CEO, stock jumps 12%

Lip-Bu Tan appointed chief executive officer of Intel Corporation

Courtesy: Intel

Intel said on Wednesday that it had appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, as the chipmaker attempts to recover from a tumultuous four-year run under Pat Gelsinger.

Tan was previously CEO of Cadence Design Systems, which makes software used by all the major chip designers, including Intel. He was an Intel board member but departed last year, citing other commitments.

Tan replaces interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and MJ Holthaus, who took over in December when former Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger was ousted. Tan is also rejoining Intel’s board.

The appointment closes a chaotic chapter in Intel’s history, as investors pressured the semiconductor company to cut costs and spin off businesses due to declining sales and an inability to crack the booming artificial intelligence market.

Intel shares rose over 12% in extended trading on Wednesday.

Tan becomes the fourth permanent CEO at Intel in seven years. Following Brian Krzanich’s resignation in 2018, after the revelations of an inappropriate relationship with an employee, Bob Swan took the helm in Jan. 2019. He departed two years later after Intel suffered numerous blows from competitors and chip delays. Swan was succeeded by Gelsinger in 2021.

Gelsinger took over with a bold plan to transform Intel’s business to manufacture chips for other companies in addition to its own, becoming a foundry. But Intel’s overall products revenue continued to decline, and investors fretted over the significant capital expenditures needed for such massive chip production, including constructing a $20 billion dollar factory complex in Ohio.

Last fall, after a disappointing earnings report, Intel appeared to be for sale, and reportedly drew interest from rival companies including Qualcomm. Analysts assessed the possibility of Intel spinning off its foundry division or selling its products division — including server and PC chips — to a rival.

In AI, Intel has gotten trounced by Nvidia, whose graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the chip of choice for developers over the past few years.

In January, Intel issued a weak forecast even as it beat on earnings and revenue. The company pointed to seasonality, economic conditions and competition, and said clients are digesting inventory. The prospect of tariffs was adding to the uncertainty, Zinsner said.

Intel said that Zinsner will return to his previous role of CFO. Holthaus will remain in charge of Intel Products.

Intel was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in November and was replaced by Nvidia, reflecting the dramatic change of fortune in the semiconductor industry. Intel shares lost 60% of their value last year, while Nvidia’s stock price soared 171%. At Wednesday’s close, Intel’s market cap was $89.5 billion, less than one-thirtieth of Nvidia’s valuation.

WATCH: Intel appoints Lip-Bu Tan as CEO

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Shares of iRobot tank 30% after Roomba maker raises doubt about its survival

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Shares of iRobot tank 30% after Roomba maker raises doubt about its survival

Roomba vacuums by iRobot are displayed at Best Buy store on January 19, 2024 in San Rafael, California. 

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Shares of iRobot plunged more than 30% on Wednesday after it said there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to stay in business.

The Roomba maker’s financial outlook has darkened since Amazon abandoned its planned $1.7 billion acquisition of the company in January 2024, citing regulatory scrutiny. Since then, iRobot has struggled to generate cash and pay off debts.

Massachusetts-based iRobot has been restructuring since the Amazon deal plunged into uncertainty. The company has laid off 51% of its workforce since the end of 2023, and iRobot has looked to reignite revenue growth by overhauling its product lineup. The company on Tuesday launched eight new Roombas in the hopes of “better positioning iRobot as the leader in the category that we created,” CEO Gary Cohen said in a statement.

“There can be no assurance that the new product launches will be successful,” iRobot said in its Wednesday earnings statement, citing limited consumer demand, tariff uncertainty and heightened competition.

“Given these uncertainties and the implication they may have on the company’s financials, there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months,” iRobot said in its earnings report.

The company’s fourth-quarter revenue sagged 44% year over year to $172 million, missing estimates of $180.8 million, according to FactSet. The Roomba maker posted a net loss of $77.1 million, or $2.52 per share. Excluding a one-time “manufacturing transition charge,” iRobot had a loss of $2.06 a share, exceeding the $1.73 per share projected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

In July 2023, iRobot took a $200 million loan from the Carlyle Group to fund the company’s operations as a stopgap until the Amazon deal closed. The company amended the loan for a temporary waiver on certain financial obligations, which requires iRobot to pay a fee of $3.6 million.

As part of Wednesday’s report, iRobot said its board has initiated a strategic review of the business and is considering alternatives that could include refinancing its debt and exploring a potential sale. The board hasn’t set a deadline for when its review will conclude, the company said.

Shortly after the Amazon deal fell apart, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy criticized regulators’ approach to its iRobot acquisition. European Union regulators threatened to block the deal, and the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. was reportedly expected to challenge the acquisition in court.

The proposed merger, which was announced in late 2022, would have allowed iRobot to scale and better compete with its rivals, Jassy said. Several of the fastest-growing robotic vacuum businesses are based in China, such as Anker, Ecovacs and Roborock, all of which have eaten into iRobot’s share of the market.

“We abdicate the acquisition, iRobot lays off a third of its staff, the stock price completely tanks, and now, there’s a real question of whether they’re going to be a going concern,” Jassy told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview last April.

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