Here’s what we have for you today:
• US semiconductor boom
• Google in trouble
• Tesla and Elon getting sued
Joe Biden’s semiconductor plan
Government incentive: The Biden administration offering $39 billion in funding incentives for companies seeking to build manufacturing plants in the US.
Requirements: Companies applying for more than $150 million in funding will be required to provide childcare for construction and factory workers, restrict stock buybacks, and share part of their profits with the government if they are more profitable than projected. Companies building these factories are expected to use union workers.
In addition: “Applications will also be evaluated for commercial viability, financial strength, technical feasibility and readiness, workforce development, and efforts to spur inclusive economic growth.”
DoJ audits Google
Seeing the unseen: US Department of Justice alleged that Google “routinely destroyed” an entire category of written communications in its antitrust investigation against the company, over the course of several years, the DoJ stated.
Breaking the law? The DoJ states that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure should have required Google to stop its practice of auto-deleting chat histories as soon as it anticipated the coming litigation back in mid-2019. But Google did not, the government claims.
Intentional lie? Google uses, Google Hangouts, an instant messaging product, offers a feature for “off the record” chats, which are automatically deleted by the system after 24 hours. Google had even trained its employees how to use the feature to discuss sensitive topics instead of using email, the filing says.
Tesla and Elon sued by shareholders
The shareholders: Tesla and Elon Musk were sued on February 27, 2023 by shareholders who accused them of overstating the effectiveness and safety of their electric vehicles’ Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies.
Timeline: In a proposed class action filed in San Francisco federal court, shareholders said Tesla defrauded them over four years with false and misleading statements.
Possible damages: The lawsuit led by shareholder Thomas Lamontagne seeks unspecified damages for Tesla shareholders from February 19, 2019 to February 17, 2023.