Larry Ellison, Satya Nadella, and Trump, the power trio of tech deals, are getting the band together again

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This week: Larry, Satya, and Trump, the power trio of tech deals, are getting the band together again for a hot China gig

Once upon a time, August was the slow news month for tech. VCs and bankers went on holiday, tech moguls repaired to Sicily for Google’s summer camp, and tech companies hunkered down as they readied September’s big product launches.

Not so this year. A nonstop drumbeat of stunning news, involving the world’s most powerful tech companies and spanning the business, political and cultural spheres, have left observers and insiders dazed. If Microsoft buying a viral video app to defuse national security concerns is confusing, wait until Larry Ellison jumps into the fray. And as you wrap your head around that (and get up to speed on the mysterious powers of CFIUS), Apple’s App Store has been attacked by Fortnite. Oh, and did you hear Uber might call it quits in California?

It’s a lot to take in. So here are some updates on a couple of the biggest, evolving stories:

Turnover alert:

Story continues

Amazon’s robotics boss, who defended the company when a top VP resigned over employee firings, has abruptly quit — making him the third ‘Distinguished Engineer’ to leave this year

Alphabet’s Wing named a new head of operations as the drone-delivery company looks to expand its global reach

“The US today is the fourth most popular country for the files app, which is interesting because we never designed it for the US.”

— Josh Woodward, director of Google’s Next Billion Users division, discussing Google Files, a file transfer and management app created for users in India with low-end smartphones.

If Tesla’s video-game inspired Cybertruck is too avant-garde for you, check out the Canoo, an electric minivan that’s more like a mobile living room than an automobile.

With configurable sofa-like seats for seven and 22 windows, the Canoo’s style was inspired by the Bauhaus philosophy of minimalism and functionality that emerged in Germany’s interwar years, according to the company’s design chief. Even with its concrete (yes, you read that right) floor, the Canoo will apparently have a range of 250 miles when it’s released in 2022.

The car will only be available through a monthly subscription, so you won’t be able to own one. But thanks to Canoo’s plans to go public through a $600 million SPAC merger, you’ll soon be able to own stock in the company.

Recommended Readings:

The 18 leaders at Google Health shaping the tech giant’s secretive healthcare business

Palantir Technologies could be the next company to go public in a direct listing. Spotify and Slack give clues to what that could look like.

Salesforce is said to be looking at making acquisitions in the robotic process automation market. Here are 10 RPA firms the cloud giant could buy, according to analysts.

Amazon will require sellers that do their own packing and shipping to use weekends to ensure one-day deliveries — read the note it sent to sellers

Not necessarily in tech:

Inside Eagle Investors, the 20,000-member online community run by 2 Indiana University students that’s helping spearhead the Gen Z day-trading revolution

OK, that’s all for this week. Thanks for reading, and if you like this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues they can sign up here to receive it. 

— Alexei

Read the original article on Business Insider