10 things in tech you need to know today

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Thursday. Sign up here to get this email in your inbox every morning.

1. Trump has said he backs a TikTok acquisition by Oracle, whose chairman is a major supporter. Trump described Oracle as "a great company."
2. Apple hit a $2 trillion market cap. The stickiness of Apple's customer base has become more important than ever in recent years.
3. Airbnb, last valued at $18 billion, has confidentially filed for an IPO. The firm declined to say when it expected to go through with the offering, how many shares it planned to sell, or what price it expected to offer them at.
4. Google's venture fund has quietly laid off 8% of its employees as it shakes up one of its earliest innovative services. The exact reasons for the layoffs are unclear, but an inside source said that GV marked its 10th anniversary last year by planning out a strategy for the next decade. 
5. The first app using Apple and Google's COVID-19 contact tracing tech in the US is about to launch. Apple and Google's contact tracing tech has seen slow adoption since it was first rolled out in May, but the companies now say 20 states have expressed interest.
6. Uber sent an ominous message to riders in California ahead of its possible shutdown. If a judge doesn't grant Uber and Lyft's request for a stay in a decision from last week over the employment status of drivers, the apps could shut down Thursday night.
7. Facebook and Instagram are finally policing QAnon conspiracy theory groups and other movements that pose 'significant risks to public safety'. The list includes pages and groups tied to the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, US-based militias, and "offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests.
8. Google deleted 2,500 YouTube accounts with ties to China to combat disinformation on the platform as the 2020 election draws closer. News of the removal comes as relations between China and the US grow increasingly tense.
9. Salesforce will let its employees work from home until August 2021, with six extra weeks of time off for parents. Salesforce is also expanding remote work benefits for its employees, giving each person $250 to purchase office supplies to work from home.
10. Real estate startup Offr has raised $3.6 million in seed funding during the COVID-19 crisis. The 10-month-old company is a digital solution for buying, letting, and renting properties across borders and saw a boom in interest during the coronavirus pandemic

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