Beware of Bevi machines, buds. I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I'm an avid water drinker. But I don't like bubbly drinks (they hurt my mouth) or flavored water (just drink juice).
So there is very little I like about the Bevi machine in Insider's New York City newsroom. It's a high-tech, touchscreen water cooler that can dispense still or bubbly water with your choice of flavor.
Now, I have a legit reason to dislike it. The innocuous-looking water dispenser is tracking us. Some investors and hedge funds are looking at Bevi usage data to track return-to-office trends.
Before I go back to drinking tap water, let's dive into today's tech. And remember to stay hydrated (ideally without something spying on you)!
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Corbis/The Telegraph
1. "PayPal Mafia" member says Google and Meta "do fake work." The companies over-hired thousands of employees to fulfill a "vanity metric," said investor Keith Rabois. He's part of the infamous PayPal cohort (pictured above — he's number nine) that went on to play influential roles at other major tech companies.
- Rabois estimates that Facebook parent company Meta and Google each have thousands of employees who don't do much.
- He even suspects that Google intentionally overhired engineers to prevent them from working at other companies. All the giant had to do was keep these unproductive, "entitled" employees happy, Rabois added.
- My teammate Hasan Chowdhury highlights that many tech elites share a similar viewpoint, including Silicon Valley czar Marc Andreessen.
Dive into the tech elite mindset here.
In other news:
Arif Qazi / Insider
2. TikTok is a scapegoat for how poorly the US protects our data. Politicians of both parties love talking about the relationship between TikTok and the Chinese government. But it's actually a way to distract from America's weak data privacy laws, writes Insider's media maven Dan Whateley. Dive into the "national embarrassment" here.
3. Affordable EV batteries are Tesla's biggest barrier. Elon Musk dreams of producing 20 million Teslas per year. But the company's slow investments in battery technology is hindering its competitiveness in the increasingly heated EV market. More on Tesla's battery blues here.
4. Meta has a pay gap problem. The company once aimed to get its global workforce to half women and underrepresented groups by this year. Globally, the number of women working for Meta has increased just 1% since 2018 — and reports show they are paid less than men. More here.
5. ChatGPT is helping influencers create NDAs, draft emails, and do other tasks. TikTokers, YouTubers, and other creators are using the buzzy chatbot to help them with work. Here's are nine ways they use ChatGPT.
6. Uber/Lyft driver starter pack. Multiple rideshare drivers told Insider the car features and accessories that make their jobs better. One person loves their plastic divider. Another raved about their Cadillac's heated seats. Check out their other favorite things here.
7. University of California endowment has seen a dismal return so far on its investment in Sequoia Capital. The UCLA and Berkeley public university system entrusted over $800 million in legendary venture firm Sequoia's funds. But public documents revealed that half of those investments currently show a loss. More on the investments here.
8. BMW wins among luxury electric SUVs. Insider's car connoisseur Tim Levin has driven most of the swanky electric SUVs on the market. It gave him the sign — it gave him the cue. This is why he picked the BMW.
Odds and ends:
Joe Axline
9. See this dream home built from two airplanes. Joe Axline converted two retired jets to create his dream home. He pays around $200 per month for electricity, water, and land taxes. Fly over to check out his aircraft abode here.
10. Man tries attacking a flight attendant with a broken spoon. The man was aboard a United flight from Los Angeles to Boston. He was arrested after landing on the East Coast. Watch the video of passengers pinning him down here.
What we're watching today:
- The Federal Reserve vice chair is talking at a Peterson Institute for International Economics cryptocurrency event.
- The annual ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood Awards luncheon is today. Honorees include Dominique Thorne of "Black Panther" and Sheryl Lee Ralph of "Abbott Elementary."
- Quarterly earnings for Oracle and other companies. Keep up with earnings here.
Curated by Diamond Naga Siu in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.