1. Microsoft headquarters will reopen on February 28. An internal email shows the company will reopen its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and offices in the San Francisco Bay Area later this month to recruit more staff. The email explains all the new regulations, including how unvaccinated employees can maintain social distancing with office colleagues:
Microsoft's internal emails show that Microsoft wants employees in Washington state to adopt a new work schedule by March 28.
- Employees must upload a vaccination certificate when they return to their workplace, but in most cases, fully vaccinated employees are not required to wear masks indoors.
- However, hybrid mode of operation will still exist. Microsoft introduced a new flexible work policy in 2020 that allows many employees to work remotely even after the company reopens its office.
2. Texas is suing Meta for facial recognition programs. The state's attorney general said Facebook obtained biometric identification of Texas citizens without consent, in violation of state law. Now, he is pursuing "hundreds of billions of dollars" in civil fines.
3. A group of witch NFTs caused a stir among women. This "Crypto Witch Rally" collected 9,906 digital images of witches that were made into NFTs and have generated more than $20 million in sales.
4. Peloton is about to launch its own rowing machine. According to the Financial Times, the company is adding two new products to its connected fitness product line: the long-awaited rowing machine and a power device.
5. Shopify will be fully committed to developing its Shop app. Shopify says more features are being expanded into its Shop app. Analysts say Shopify's work on Shop could help the company compete more directly with PayPal and Square. That's why Shopify is spending $20 billion on its own app.
6. The wife is released on bail in the Bitcoin couple money laundering case. The couple, who appeared in court for the first time after their arrest on charges of laundering $4.5 billion in bitcoin, the judge ruled that Heather Morgan could wait for trial at home, but her husband had to wait in jail.
7. Elon Musk donated $5.7 billion worth of Tesla stock to charity last year. Just days before the November donation, the United Nations provided Musk with details of his plan to fight world hunger.
8. DoorDash will start punishing McDonald's for slow service and order errors. The delivery service lowered McDonald's' base commission rate, but raised it for locations that let delivery drivers wait.
9. A billionaire bought three SpaceX spaceflights. Through a program called the Polaris Program, billionaire Jared Isaacman hopes to fly a few more flights later this year.
10. Electric vehicle ads have become the new darling of the Super Bowl. In the 2022 Super Bowl ad, major automakers from General Motors to Nissan to BMW all showcased their new EV offerings. Electric cars are clearly the trend of the future, but so far, it has not been enough to fully eliminate electric gasoline cars.