Alphabet teams up with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, are office perks still cool, and Twitter CEO’s gets hacked.
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Alphabet has teamed up with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to create an infrastructure company? That’s right, dubbed Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, the new company is focused on investing in “technology-enabled infrastructure” such as advanced mobility, energy, waste, water, and digital infrastructure. The trending news comes after Alphabet’s subsidiary Sidewalk Labs unveiled its master plan for Toronto’s waterfront smart city project. Waterfront Toronto continues to evaluate the proposal for Quayside and the eastern waterfront, which includes a $1.3-billion spending commitment from the company and has been met with plenty of criticism over data collection.
Ping pong, arcade machines, and other office perks have been around for the last decade, mostly in tech companies, hoping to add a little extra sizzle to the workplace and attract the next generation of workers. But people on LinkedIn are pointing to an article in the Financial Times that says the staying power of these often expensive fringe benefits due to various factors, including an economic downturn and a shift in what really matters to employees. But a lot of people are also saying these perks are proven to increase productivity and that they aren’t going anywhere unless they actually lead to poor work output.
And lastly, trending everywhere is the news that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account on his own platform appeared to have been hacked recently after his page began posting a stream of racist messages. An official Twitter corporate account tweeted Friday that they were aware that Jack’s account was compromised and that an investigation was pending. As of this recording, no further information was available.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing.
