Good morning! Here is the tech news you need to know this Friday.
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10 things in tech you need to know today
Uber is facing a criminal investigation, Imagination Technologies is selling two of its core business units, Amazon is expanding in Cambridge.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
1. The US Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber's use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators. That's according to an exclusive story from Reuters, which cites sources familiar with the matter.
2. £1 billion tech "unicorn" Ve Interactive was acquired for just £2 million. The company went into administration last month after failing to raise £20 million in new funding.
3. Imagination Technologies is selling two of its core business units.The sell off comes roughly a month after Apple announced it plans to stop using the company's graphic chip designs.
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4. Google said the fake Google Doc worm that went viral this week affected fewer than 0.1% of Gmail users.That's still around 1 million users.
5. Snapchat is opening itself up to advertisers of all sizes with new buying tools. The move could help considerably grow Snap's fledgling ad business, which is expected to reach $1 billion (£774 million) in revenue this year.
6. Amazon is expanding its presence in Cambridge with a new R&D lab for 400 staff. When the new lab opens, Amazon's existing research and development facility in the city will be used exclusively for Prime Air, which is Amazon's delivery drone initiative.
7. The number of tech companies worth over $1 billion (£774 million) is "stabilising," according to Goldman Sachs. The companies are also known as "unicorns".
8. Facebook has launched a wi-fi service in India called "Express Wi-Fi". It allows users to log on to networks hosted by local partners, for a nominal fee.
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9. Twitter's abandoned Berlin office has been turned into a space for the city's entrepreneurs. Twitter moved out closed last December as part of a broader plan to cut costs at the company and refocus its business.
10. Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, isn't too worried about the prospect of robots stealing everyone's jobs. He said he's a "job elimination denier".
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