10 things in tech you need to know today

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1. Facebook and Google agreed to help each other. The Wall Street Journal reported that an unredacted version of the lawsuit filed by state attorneys general reveals that the two tech giants agreed to collaborate if an ad deal struck by the pair came in for antitrust scrutiny.
   
   
2. Facebook considered aiding smaller competitors. According to the Washington Post, the firm considered licensing out access to its code, giving smaller competitors scope to build rival social networks, in a bid to fend of antitrust action.
   
   
3. The SEC will allow firms to raise money through direct listings. In this new twist on direct listings, a company can issue new shares while bypassing underwriting fees that are part of the traditional IPO process.
   
   
4. Amazon Smile allows anti-LGBT groups. One organization designated as a charity by Amazon said COVID-19 was the "consequential wrath of God" for behavior including "proclivity toward lesbianism and homosexuality."
   
   
5. Elon Musk wanted Apple to buy Tesla.  Musk said that he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook during the "darkest days" of Tesla's Model 3 program, hoping to sell Tesla for a fraction of the company's current value, but Cook refused a meeting.
   
   
6. A Black ex-Googler said she was told her speech was a 'disability.'  April Christina Curley claimed on Twitter she was repeatedly denied promotions, denied leadership opportunities, shouted at, intentionally excluded from meetings and had her compensation cut at Google.
   
   
7. Exclusive: Google's browser dominance gives it outsize say on the future of the web. Critics say Google is overrepresented on web standards bodies, allowing it to bulldoze new proposals through, they say at the expense of privacy.
   
   
8. Exclusive: How Roku ascended from small maker of streaming boxes to a booming ad business. According to insiders,the firm faces power struggles ahead and a potentially difficult international expansion.
   
   
9. Exclusive: Business lender Tide is in talks to raise up to $80 million. UK-based Tide has been in contact with a number of investors both directly and through FT Partners, the investment bank which is facilitating the funding round.
   
   
10. Buy now pay later giant Klarna was rapped by the UK's ads watchdog. The Advertising Standards Authority said four ads posted by Instagram influencers "irresponsibly" linked deferred payment services with the lifting of low mood during the UK's coronavirus lockdown. 

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