Silicon Valley Tech News Roundup – April 23rd

Google’s San Jose campus on hold – 4/21

According to the report published by CNBC, Google halted the construction of its 80-acre Downtown West campus in San Jose. The project was supposed to break ground by the end of 2023. However, according to sources, there are no plans to restart the construction. At the beginning of the year, Google announced it would lay off over 12,000 employees (or 6% of its workforce) to cut costs amidst the economic downturn.

Initial plans for Downtown West included 15,000 housing units across Silicon Valley, 15 acres of public parks, and $200 million devoted to community support like helping displaced businesses and job placement training.

In a statement to CNBC, Google’s spokesperson said: “We’re working to ensure our real estate investments match the future needs of our hybrid workforce, our business and our communities… While we’re assessing how to best move forward with Downtown West, we’re still committed to San Jose for the long term and believe in the importance of the development.”

EU votes for the first-ever framework to regulate crypto – 4/20

On Thursday, the European Parliament voted on the world’s first framework to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. The members of the EU Parliament voted 517 in favor and 38 against the regulation.

The Markets in Crypto Act (also known as MiCA) seeks to protect consumers who buy crypto assets and means providers can become liable in case they lose the consumers’ assets. It implements requirements that deal with transparency, authorization, supervision of transactions, and disclosure regarding crypto markets, traders, and token issuers. Sales of new tokens fall under the new regulation. Platforms will have to inform consumers about the risks associated with their operations.

The Markets in Crypto Act also aims to address the environmental concerns associated with the crypto industry. Companies will have to disclose the impact of digital assets on the environment and their energy consumption.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will be able to ban or restrict crypto platforms that do not protect consumers and threaten financial stability or market integrity.

Changpeng Zhao (the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange) tweeted that The Markets in Crypto Act is a “pragmatic solution to the challenges we collectively face.” Likewise, he tweeted Binance was “ready to make adjustments to our business over the next 12-18 months to be in a position of full compliance.”

The Markets in Crypto Act is the world’s first regulation framework for the crypto industry. The United States and the United Kingdom still do not have formal regulations.

Twitter starts removing blue verification checks – 4/20

On Thursday, Twitter started removing blue legacy checks from nonpaying users. Only users who paid for the Twitter Blue subscription service are entitled to the blue check and Twitter verification. It means they also have to verify their phone numbers with Twitter. Twitter reserved legacy blue checks for notable public figures who were at risk of being impersonated. Following the implemented changes, numerous government institutions like branches of the Department of Justice, FBI’s field offices, and various U. S. attorney offices, remained unverified.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Twitter started removing labels that denoted government-funded and state-affiliated accounts. For example, Twitter removed the designation for President Biden’s account, Vice President Kamala Harris, and First Lady Jill Biden. The company also removed labels from China- and Russia-affiliated media outlets.

Earlier this month, Twitter designed certain media outlets like BBC and NPR as “state-affiliated,” which caused an uproar among journalists. The company removed these labels on Friday too.

US fines Seagate $300 million for exporting hard disk drives to Huawei – 4/21

The Department of Commerce fined Seagate Technology $300 million for exporting $1.1 billion worth of hard disk drives to Huawei in China. The authorities claim the company was in violation of export controls introduced in 2020. They claim the Chinese military may use hard drives. The government imposed the rule in 2020, and Seagate Technology exported 7.4 million hard drives for about a year after. Seagate Technology plans to pay the fine in installments – $15 million every three months for the next five years.

Matthew Axelrod (from the Bureau of Industry and Security) stated Seagate Technology continued the export “even after Huawei was placed on the Entity List for conduct inimical to our national security.” He added: “This settlement is a clarion call about the need for companies to comply rigorously with BIS export rules, as our enforcement team works to ensure both our national security and a level playing field.” The Department of Commerce confirmed two other hard drive suppliers stopped their exports in accordance with the regulation.

The U. S. government put Huawei on the trade restriction list in 2019 over national security concerns.