Apple is starting to eliminate mask requirements for both retail and corporate US employees, according to Bloomberg. The company reportedly told corporate staff that masks are now optional for vaccinated employees in regions where indoor-mask mandates have been dropped. Retail staff at specific locations were also told that masks will be optional starting today. 

The company is following the lead of the CDC and states that are quickly dropping mask mandates as COVID-19 cases plummet around the country. It plans to relax mask rules across more regions as well, depending on local laws. In addition, Apple is reinstating in-person "Today at Apple" classes at US retail stores starting on March 7th, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple has already dropped mask requirements for Store customers in a number of regions, including Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio. Most New York locations don't require customers to wear masks anymore either, so long as they've been fully vaccinated.

Apple previously dropped mask mandates last June, but that didn't last very long. It reinstated them just a short time later as the Delta variant surged, and kept them on during the spread of the Omicron variant. 

If things go to plan, Apple may also set a deadline for employees returning to the office. It planned to do that in June of 2021, but delayed it once again as cases surged. It then projected a September return, but eventually admitted that employees wouldn't likely return until 2022.

Airbnb is halting operations in Russia and Belarus, CEO Brian Chesky announced in a tweet. That includes around 90,000 active short-term rentals across different platforms in Russia and just over 1,800 in Belarus, according to Reuters. 

Chesky brought the situation up yesterday saying "all things are on the table" due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On Monday this week, Airbnb offered free housing for up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing to European nations including Poland, Germany, Hungary and Romania. 

Airbnb users have been taking things into their own hands, too. Members of the public purchased Airbnb rentals in Ukraine to help get money to residents facing severe economic hardship, as The Guardian reported. "My wife and I have just booked your apartment for one week, but of course we will not be visiting. This is just so you can receive some money," wrote one user to an Airbnb renter in Ukraine. Airbnb has also agreed to waive guest and host fees on all bookings in the nation.

Over a million refugees have fled the country since Russia's invasion started, according to the UN, and it estimates that up to four million people could eventually leave.

President Biden's surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy has formally called on tech companies to provide information on sources and the scale of COVID-19 misinformation, The Washington Post has reported. "This is about protecting the nation’s health," he told The Post in a written statement. "Technology companies now have the opportunity to be open and transparent with the American people about the misinformation on their platforms." 

Murthy's request pertains to social networks, search engines, crowdsourced platforms, e-commerce and instant messaging companies. To start with, he wants data and analysis on typical vaccine misinformation already identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes falsities like "the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous" and "COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips."

The administration seeks to learn how many users have been exposed to such misinformation, and which demographic groups may have been disproportionally affected. On top of that, it's looking for data about the major sources of COVID-19 falsities, including individuals or businesses that sell unapproved COVID-19 products or services. Tech companies have until May 2 to comply, though they won't be penalized if they don't.

Last summer, Murthy called health misinformation an "urgent threat to public health" that tech platforms needed to address, adding that "health misinformation has already caused significant harm." 

The request is part of the White House's COVID National Preparedness Plan announced yesterday, designed to achieve "minimal disruption" by COVID-19. The administration also asked health providers to submit statements on how coronavirus misinformation has hurt patients and communities. "We’re asking anyone with relevant insights — from original research and data sets to personal stories that speak to the role of misinformation in public health — to share them with us."

Samsung is looking into reports that it has been limiting the performance of a large number of apps on some Galaxy smartphones, Android Authority has reported. It has reportedly been using something called the Game Optimizing Service (GOS) to throttle up to 10,000 apps (likely to save battery life), including many that have nothing to do with gaming like Netflix, TikTok and Microsoft Office. 

Making the optics worse is the fact that it's not throttling benchmark apps like 3DMark, GeekBench 5 and PCMark, so you'd see no problem with your device if you ran one of those. Samsung is apparently aware of the issue and is investigating it, according to Android Authority, although it hasn't officially confirmed that yet.

The throttling was spotted by Korean users who posted a list of 10,000 apps that are apparently affected. Since the problem was revealed, Samsung's Korean forums have exploded with complaints from users about the GOS issue. "I paid a lot of money to buy a sports car that can go up to 300 km/h, but for safety reasons, I put a speed limit on it so that it can run only 150 km/h," noted one user sarcastically. 

In one case, a user took the popular 3DMark benchmark app and renamed it to an app called Genshin Impact that's on the throttled list. After renaming, 3DMark ran with a score less than half of what it ran with the correct name. The GOS app was present on some smartphones like the Galaxy S21 Plus and could not be disabled, but not others like the new Galaxy S22 series, according to Android Authority. 

OnePlus recently admitted throttling apps with its latest smartphones in order to save battery life, prompting Geekbench to delist the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro from its Android Benchmark chart. After being called out, it tweaked the settings in order to match each app's performance requirements with the appropriate power required. 

Netflix has been the victim of two big on-set robberies in the space of two days, Variety has reported. On February 24th, $200,000 worth of antique props were reportedly stolen after thieves broke into vehicles used for production of The Crown. And just a day later, 20 thieves with covered faces broke onto the set of Lupin while star Omar Sy was filming and made off with €300,000 ($333,000) worth of equipment. 

The Lupin heist happened in a northwest Paris suburb called Nanterre. The thieves reportedly set off mortar-style fireworks before making off with the equipment. "There was an incident on Feb. 25 while filming the upcoming [part 3] season of Lupin," Netflix confirmed to Variety. "Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries." Nanterre authorities have launched an investigation.

Lupin is Netflix's second-biggest international hit after Squid Games and has helped touch off a production boom in the French capital, along with series like Emily in Paris and Call My Agent. Recently, France decreed that streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ must reinvest at least 25 percent of revenue earned in the country on local productions. 

Sy is once again in the role of Assane Diop, a character inspired by the Arsène Lupin gentleman thief/master of disguise detective developed by French author Maurice Leblanc. Just hours after the attack, Sy appeared at France's Cesar awards to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Intouchables (Untouchables). 

Much as Hyundai did yesterday, Kia has announced an electrification roadmap at its 2022 Investor Day, promising to have 14 fully electric models by 2027 and sales of 1.2 million EVs by 2030. It also revealed that its EV9 SUV, unveiled in concept form last November at the LA Auto Show, will be the first to use autonomous driving tech it calls "Automode." 

Kia's roadmap builds on its "Plan S" development strategy announced early in 2021 that included new branding and a plan to introduce of seven EVs by 2027. Now, the company plans to double that with 14 BEV (battery electric vehicle) models available by 2027 and total EV sales of 1.2 million by 2030. It also projects to sell 4 million vehicles annually by 2030, so EVs would make up just over a quarter of that — while automakers like Mercedes-Benz plan to only sell BEVs by 2030. 

The strategy is still ambitious, as it's starting with 160,000 BEV sales this year and plans to ramp that up by five times to 807,000 units in 2026 and 1.2 million by 2030. To hit those targets, Kia will introduce at least two new electric vehicles per year. A couple of those will be electric pickup trucks, including a "dedicated electric pickup truck and a strategic model for emerging markets," the company said. 

Kia

In the near term, Kia plans to launch its flagship electric vehicle, the EV9 SUV, by 2023. The concept version it teased last year had squared-off Range Rover-ish lines, a massive 27-inch display and a Tesla-like yoke instead of a steering wheel. Kia now says that it will be around 5 meters long, accelerate to 100 km/h (62 MPH) in five seconds, and travel 540 km (340 miles) on a charge — while giving you an extra 100 km of range with just six minutes of charging. 

The EV9 will also offer over the air (OTA) and FoD (feature on demand) services for the first time, allowing owners to easily update their vehicle's software. "In addition, it will be the first model to be equipped with Kia’s advanced AutoMode autonomous driving technology," it said. Automode will be "rapidly expanded" throughout its lineup after that.

What is Automode, you might ask? All we know so far is that it's "a range of autonomous driving technologies" that will include a "Highway Driving Pilot" feature that works by itself without driver intervention on highway sections. It will also be improved as the technology develops via wireless updates. It sounds like at least Level 3 self-driving, something still only available from a few automakers, so we'll have to see how that goes for Kia. 

In its press release, Kia offers more details about how and where it plans to sell EVs, PHEVs, and hybrid models around the world. However, it has already overhauled its plans substantially just over the past year, and is likely to do so again. Given the early success (2,126 units sold in February) and generally glowing reviews of the EV6, Kia has reason to be confident about future EV plans. 

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reportedly approved a petition for another Amazon warehouse union election, the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) has tweeted. If a vote goes ahead, the LDJ5 facility will be the second in Staten Island to hold a union election and the third in the US, according to The Verge. 

The ALU originally petitioned the NLRB to hold union elections for all facilities on Staten Island. However, it withdrew that and decided to focus on one warehouse at a time, subsequently receiving approval to hold an vote at the JFK8 facility starting on March 25th. It later petitioned for an election at LDJ5, which requires the NLRB to confirm that there's sufficient interest.

Amazon has acknowledged the NLRB decision, according to a screenshot of a note texted to employees by Amazon, tweeted by Vice's Lauren Kaori Gurley. "Today, March 2, the National Labor Relations Board notified us that it has found the ALU met the criteria to continue processing the ALU's petition to have an election at LDJ5," the message reads. Amazon and the NLRB have yet to officially respond, but if the report is accurate, the next step would be an NLRB hearing followed by a decision about a vote date.  

One Amazon union election has already been held at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama facility, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union union lost the vote by a count of 1,798 to 738. However, the NLRB determined that Amazon interfered with the election and ruled that a new vote could be held starting on February 4th. Counting is set to begin on March 28th.

General Motors has sold its stake in struggling electric pickup maker Lordstown Motors, TechCrunch has reported. It reportedly unloaded its 5 percent investment (worth $75 million originally) in the fourth quarter of 2021, as originally disclosed by The Detroit Free Press and confirmed by GM.

Lordstown recently reported a loss of $81.2 million for the fourth quarter, and said in an earnings call earlier this week that it planned to sell only 3,000 of its Endurance electric trucks through 2023 — a far cry from the 32,000 it predicted when it went public via a SPAC deal back in 2020. It aims to build 500 of those this year, but it will need to raise an additional $250 million to do so. 

Last year, Lordstown warned that it didn't have enough cash to produce its electric trucks. Later in 2021, the SEC announced that it was investigating the firm, and then-CEO Steve Burns was subsequently pushed out after he was found to have lied about the number of Endurance pre-orders. 

GM got involved with Lordstown Motors after closing its Lordstown, Ohio plan in 2019, and selling it to EV manufacturer Workhorse, founded by Burns. Burns subsequently started Lordstown Motors with the aim building electric pickups at the plant, and obtained $75 million in investment from GM. The idea was to follow the path of Rivian and build electric pickups for businesses, but it's now in competing in a tougher market against giants like Ford, which recently launched the F-150 Lightning pickup. 

Lordstown Motors recently revealed that it didn't have enough cash to last through to 2023, so it subsequently agreed to sell the Lordstown plant to Foxconn for $230 million and rent space in it. However, Lordstown said that the deal is not as far along as they'd anticipated, a situation that's compounding the company's problems.

Rivian has raised the original $67,500 base price of its quad-motor R1T electric pickup with large battery packs to $79,500 (sans destination charges). That's a whopping $12,000 increase that will apply to most reservation holders except for those in the very final stages of purchase. The price of the R1S SUV (below) is also being hiked by $12,000 from $72,500 to $84,500.

"Like most manufacturers, Rivian is being confronted with inflationary pressure, increasing component costs, and unprecedented supply chain shortages and delays for parts (including semiconductor chips)," said Rivian's chief growth officer Jiten Behl.

Rivian

If you were still hoping to pay the lower prices, there is another option. Rivian has introduced dual-motor versions of the R1T and R1S EVs, with both starting at the original $67,500 and $72,500 prices. You also have the option of equipping the dual-motor vehicles with the large battery packs, priced at $73,500 for the R1T and $78,500 for the R1S. 

However, neither of those vehicles will be available until 2024, and both will have smaller "standard" battery packs that deliver less range than the large packs (260 miles instead of 310 miles). So you'll be getting quite a lot less vehicle for the same money. 

The dual-motor variants (one at each axle) will have motors designed, engineered and manufactured by Rivian. They'll deliver 600 HP and 600 pound-feet of torque, according to Rivian, delivering a 4.0-second 0-60 mph time. That's about a second slower than the fastest quad-motor R1T (835 HP and 908 pound-feet of torque), but still pretty darn fast.

In his first State of the Union address, President Biden has asked Congress to implement new laws to increase child safety on Facebook, TikTok and other social media platforms. "It's time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children," he said on Tuesday evening. 

To get started on implementing those changes, the White House will specifically ask for funding to study the question of child safety on social media. Biden also plans to request $5 million in next year's budget to research the mental health impact of social media, while launching a "national Center of Excellence on Social Media and Mental Illness." The aim of that is to develop new guidance on the impact of adolescent social media use.

Much of the motivation for the changes appears to have come from the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who attended the address as a guest of Jill Biden. She recently testified before Congress, accusing Facebook parent Meta of disregarding child safety on the platform. 

Her revelations impacted politicians on both sides of the aisle, who agreed that stronger rules were required. Last month, Democrat Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), that would give parents and children more control over their privacy and safety on social media, while setting new rules for social media platforms.

"As Frances Haugen, who is here with us tonight, has shown, we must hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit ," the President said.