Overnight Tech: Senate extends NSA spy program | Apple to allow customers to disable phone slowdowns | Amazon down to 20 HQ2 finalists | Facebook gets first black board member

SENATE VOTES TO EXTEND NSA SURVEILLANCE: The Senate on Thursday passed an extension of a government surveillance program, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk.

Senators voted 65-34 on the bill, which includes a six-year extension with minimal changes to the National Security Agency (NSA) program.

{mosads}The vote comes after a tension-filled hour on the Senate floor earlier this week. Opponents tried, but failed, to mount a filibuster to force additional debate on the legislation, with both sides spotted lobbying key holdouts.

And opponents rallied against the bill ahead of Thursday’s vote, arguing the legislation is being rushed through.

“The American people deserve better than the legislation before us. … The American people deserve better than warrantless wiretapping,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).

But the legislation, which also cleared the House last week, appeared likely to pass.

Supporters only needed 51 votes on Thursday, giving them more breathing room, compared to the 60 votes needed on Tuesday’s procedural hurdle.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urged his colleagues to back extending the program ahead of Thursday’s vote, calling it “one of the most important tools” for national security officials.

Read more here.

 

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AMAZON UNVEILS HQ2 FINALISTS: Amazon has narrowed the list of cities it will consider for its mammoth new second headquarters to 20, after nearly 240 communities submitted bids to host the internet giant’s new facilities.

Among the finalists for the HQ2 project are three Washington-area localities: Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County, Md. All three put in separate bids to host Amazon.

The New York region is the only other area with multiple finalists. Amazon said early Thursday that both New York City and Newark, N.J., are still in the running.

Other finalists include front-runners like Atlanta, Boston, Toronto, and Austin, Texas; growing tech hubs like Los Angeles and Denver; and some surprising contenders in the Midwest and the South, like Nashville, Tenn., Raleigh, N.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also made the finalist list.

Read more here.

 

FACEBOOK NAMES FIRST BLACK BOARD MEMBER: Facebook announced on Thursday that it will bring Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of American Express, onto its board.

Chenault will become the first African-American board member at the social media giant.

His hiring follows a contentious meeting between Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in October, in which Sandberg promised that the company was in the process of appointing a black individual to the board.

Read more here.

 

HOUSE DEMS PROPOSE BILL ON MUNICIPAL BROADBAND: A group of House Democrats introduced a bill on Thursday that would give local communities the right to build their own broadband networks and compete with established providers like Comcast and Verizon.

The group, led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), say that protecting the right to build community broadband networks would help expand internet access to underserved communities and benefit consumers who already have access by promoting competition.

“Broadband Internet is the most vital tool of the 21st Century economy,” Eshoo said in a statement. “Unfortunately, millions of Americans are still acutely impacted by a complete lack of or an inferior broadband connection. The Community Broadband Act is an important step in bridging the digital divide and will help local governments enable connectivity, increase economic growth and create jobs.”

Read more here.

 

APPLE TO ALLOW IPHONE USERS TO DISABLE BATTERY SLOWDOWNS: Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday that iPhone owners will be able to shut down a software feature that lowers the performance of older phones to save battery power.

Cook told ABC News the feature would be introduced in a developer version of an iOS update next month and become available to the public soon after.

Apple has been under fire after it was revealed the company slowed down older iPhones to let their batteries last longer.

Read more here.

 

SENATE COMMERCE APPROVES FULL TERM FOR FCC COMMISSIONER: The Senate Commerce Committee voted to confirm Commissioner Brendan Carr for a full five-year term at the Federal Communications Commission.

The panel advanced the nomination in a 14-13 party-line vote on Thursday. Carr, a Republican, was nominated and confirmed in August to a partial term that was set to expire later this year.

“If reconfirmed, I look forward to continuing [to] advance policies that will create jobs, spur investment, and grow the economy for the benefit of all Americans,” Carr wrote on Twitter.

Read more here.

EX-UBER CEO NETS $1.4B IN DEAL: Travis Kalanick, the former Uber CEO who resigned last year, is walking away with $1.4 billion after the company finalized a new deal, CNBC reported Thursday.

Japanese company SoftBank reached an arrangement with Uber, according to the report, making them Uber’s largest investor and valuing the ride hailing company at $48 billion.

“We’re proud to have SoftBank, Dragoneer and the entire consortium in the Uber family. This is a great outcome for our shareholders, employees and customers,” a spokesperson for Uber said in a statement reported by CNBC.

Bloomberg estimates that Kalanick, a co-founder of the transportation company, is worth $4.74 billion. 

Read more here.

 

YOUTUBE REMOVES VIDEOS OF PEOPLE EATING TIDE PODS: YouTube and Facebook are taking down clips of people eating Tide Pods detergent, an attempt to stop a dangerous new internet challenge among teenagers.

The social media platforms announced they will remove clips of users showing themselves eating the laundry packets due to health and safety concerns, CNN reported Thursday.

“YouTube’s Community Guidelines prohibit content that’s intended to encourage dangerous activities that have an inherent risk of physical harm,” said a spokesperson for Google, YouTube’s parent company. 

The trend of eating the laundry detergent packets, known online as the #TidePodChallenge, has led to numerous calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Read more here.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

TechCrunch: Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) pens op-ed to urge more congressional attention on artificial intelligence

Bloomberg: The fall of Travis Kalanick was a lot weirder and darker than you thought

BuzzFeed: Here’s how scammers are using fake news to screw with bitcoin investors

Bloomberg: A solar firm that targets low-income homes its rivals won’t

The Hill op-ed: Bitcoin’s real story is its untold potential

The Hill op-ed: Congress must reinvent retirement savings for the gig-economy