10 things in tech you need to know today, August 11

1. An internal Facebook audit reportedly shows QAnon groups have millions of members, but some employees who ran the investigation fear the company won’t take any action. The employees also expressed concern that QAnon’s presence on the popular social network might influence the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
2. A California judge ruled that Uber and Lyft have to classify their drivers as employees, not contractors. Uber and Lyft both plan to appeal Monday’s ruling.
3. An outspoken Tesla critic and short-seller is suing Elon Musk, alleging he defamed him by saying the Tesla short ‘almost killed’ Tesla employees. Musk has openly voiced distaste for short-sellers and has rallied against the practice for years, even going so far as to sell Tesla-branded short shorts on the company’s online store.
4. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said gig economy companies should be required to establish ‘benefits funds’ for workers instead of treating them as full-time employees. Gig workers have called on companies like Uber to give gig workers more benefits that full-time employees receive, like health insurance.
5. Facebook is reportedly expanding its banking ambitions with a new division that will run all of the tech giant’s payment projects, including Facebook Pay. According to a Bloomberg report, the new program will be called Facebook Financial, or F2, and will be run by David Marcus, the cocreator of the firm’s Libra cryptocurrency project.
6. LinkedIn and Pinterest backer Bessemer Venture Partners plans to establish a base in Europe for the first time, tempted by big exits such as Adyen, Spotify, and TeamViewer. One of the oldest venture capital companies in the US, Bessemer Venture Partners, plans to establish staff permanently in London as it looks to boost investment into Europe.
7. Musicians are coming after Jeff Bezos over copyright concerns after the Amazon CEO told Congress he’s not sure if Twitch pays royalties. Twitch, which Amazon acquired in 2014 for almost $1 billion, issues takedown notices for copyrighted music instead of licensing music.
8. American Express is in advanced talks to buy SoftBank-backed lender Kabbage. The all-cash deal could value the closely held lender at as much as $850 million, including retention payments, Bloomberg reported.
9. Silicon Valley scooter startup Bird bet big on Paris and lost to rivals, now it could be betting on consolidation. Bird has raised more than $600 million to date, but its growth has been complicated by the emergence of copycat rivals, the coronavirus, and regulators limiting the number of scooter operators in their cities.
10. The unannounced Xbox Series S has been leaked by Microsoft’s own controller boxes, and a holiday 2020 release is rumored. The Xbox Series S, an unannounced version of Microsoft’s new video game console, has been revealed by the packaging for Microsoft’s new Xbox controller.

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