Techmeme: Sources: Bill Gurley favors leave for Uber CEO, Arianna Huffington thinks Kalanick should decide, while Uber co-founder Garrett Camp opposes leave (Kara Swisher/Recode)

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June 13, 2017, 1:40 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:

Tim Cook says Apple is focusing on autonomous systems, which he sees as “the mother of all AI projects” and can be used for developing self-driving cars — For the first time, CEO elaborates on Apple's car plans — The company's automotive program has experienced turmoil

Eric Newcomer / Bloomberg:

As Travis Kalanick takes leave, the company will strip him of some duties and appoint an independent chair to limit his influence, according to Holder report — Travis Kalanick will hand off some duties to COO, chair — He plans to take a leave without disclosing return date

More: Uber Global, TechCrunch, New York Times, Washington Post, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, GeekWire, The Verge, Engadget, Business Insider, CNBC, BuzzFeed, Reuters, Quartz, The Information, Gizmodo India, and Marketing Week

Tweets: @mikeisaac, @ellenhuet, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @ericnewcomer, @ericnewcomer, @ericnewcomer, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, and @andyjayhawk

Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:

Travis Kalanick says that he is taking leave from Uber for an undetermined time to deal with family tragedy, in email to employees — It will be for an undetermined amount of time. — Uber CEO Travis Kalanick will be taking some time away from the company to grieve his mother, according to a company-wide email he just sent out.

More: VentureBeat and Reuters

Kara Swisher / Recode:

Sources: Bill Gurley favors leave for Uber CEO, Arianna Huffington thinks Kalanick should decide, while Uber co-founder Garrett Camp opposes leave — Only hours before the Holder report is released and an all-hands meeting that paints an ugly picture of the car-hailing company under his leadership, the CEO mulls his own fate.

More: Business Insider and The Verge. Tweets: @ericnewcomer

Covington & Burling:

Report on Uber recommends board oversight committee, reevaluated cultural values, reducing alcohol use at work events, prohibiting boss-employee relationships — On February 19, 2017, Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber Technologies, Inc. ("Uber"), published a blog post detailing allegations …

More: Business Insider and TechCrunch

Tweets: @danprimack, @ericajoy, @ericnewcomer, and @ericnewcomer

Katie Benner / New York Times:

When an Uber employee sells stock back to the company under a repurchase program, Travis Kalanick gets voting rights to all of that employee's shares — SAN FRANCISCO — Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of Uber, already wields plenty of control over the company because it is structured to favor its founders.

More: 512tech, BuzzFeed, Fortune, and Pando

Tweets: @ericnewcomer, @nytimesbusiness, @holman, @danprimack, and @ktbenner

Bloomberg:

Sources: Emil Michael believes a weak board and lax legal team at Uber, plus his friendship with Travis Kalanick, led to his ouster, not scandals

More: New York Times, Silicon Republic, The Next Web, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Mercury News, Recode, New York Times, and Axios

Tweets: @rjonesy, @joefernandez, @sarahcuda, @sarahcuda, @carnage4life, and @ellenhuet

Johana Bhuiyan / Recode:

David Richter, who joined Uber in January 2014, replaces Emil Michael as Uber's SVP for business, having previously served as VP of strategic initiatives

More: Wired, New York Times, and Bloomberg. Tweets: @mdudas

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Sources: Google hires Manu Gulati, who led Apple's chip development for almost eight years, as Lead SoC Architect — Google has hired a veteran chip architect away from Apple and is now looking to build its own chips for future versions of its flagship Pixel phone, Variety has learned from sources familiar with the hire.

More: Business Insider, AppleInsider, The Verge, Digital Trends, MacRumors, 9to5Google, Droid Life, iDownloadBlog.com, CNBC, Seeking Alpha, and MacDailyNews. Tweets: @jank0. Thanks:@jank0

Bloomberg:

Source: Russia's cyberattack on the US electoral system hit voter databases and software systems in a total of 39 states, twice as many as previously reported — Hackers said to take measure of voting systems, databases — A ‘red phone’ warning to the Kremlin from Obama White House

More: Ars Technica, CNET, The Verge, Gizmodo, CNBC, Mashable, Engadget, and The Daily Caller

Tweets: @tedlieu, @fivefifths, @davidfrum, @johnrbielski, @lschmeiser, @vermontgmg, @sarahkendzior, and @braddjaffy

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

Eero upgrades its mesh router with more power and tri-band WiFi and launches Eero Plus, a $9.99 per month subscription service for parental control and security — A smaller Eero that can hide in more places is also coming — Eero is back: a little over a year after kickstarting …

More: Axios, TechCrunch, Engadget, Digital Trends, CNET, TechHive, Gizmodo, Wired, and SlashGear

Bloomberg:

Verizon officially closes the $4.5B Yahoo deal; combined assets form a Verizon unit called Oath led by Tim Armstrong, and Marissa Mayer steps down — Combined assets form Verizon unit called Oath led by Armstrong — Yahoo is renamed Altaba with Thomas McInerney named CEO

More: Marissa's Tumblr, Verizon Fios & Custom TV, TechCrunch, USA Today, Engadget, Business Insider, CNBC, and CNBC

Tweets: @marissamayer, @edbott, @sfiegerman, and @pkafka

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