Biden’s tech diplomacy

Hi, everyone. Big Tech’s reach spreads to some unlikely places. But first...Three things you need to know today:• Nvidia’s blowout quarter g [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Drake Bennett]( Hi, everyone. Big Tech’s reach spreads to some unlikely places. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Nvidia’s blowout quarter gave a huge boost to [CEO Jensen Huang’s personal wealth]( • SpaceX is weighing a share sale [valuing the company at $200 billion](. • Alphabet and Meta are offering Hollywood big money [to partner on AI]( High-minded promises Kenyan President [William Ruto](bbg://people/profile/16117250)’s state visit to the US this week offered the Biden administration an opportunity to lay out a grand vision of geo-techno-political alliance. In welcoming his Kenyan counterpart to the White House, President Joe Biden announced that the [two nations]( were “launching a new era of technological cooperation” that would touch on areas including semiconductors, clean energy and artificial intelligence. At a time when African nations are also being aggressively and successfully wooed by China, the administration is touting its relationship with Ruto’s Kenya as a template for how developing and developed countries can work together in tech. Globalization doesn’t always follow government templates, though. As it happens, some of America’s biggest tech companies, in AI and elsewhere, already rely on Kenyan labor. Nearly 100 of those workers wrote an open letter to Biden this week. “We are 97 data labelers, content moderators and artificial intelligence (AI) workers in Nairobi, Kenya,” [the letter opened](. “We work for American companies like Facebook, ScaleAI, OpenAI via their outsourcing companies in Kenya. Those companies and others, the letter charged, “are systemically abusing and exploiting African workers.” That work can be difficult. [Content moderation]( in particular can be emotionally fraught: involving, the letter points out, “watching murder and beheadings, child abuse and rape, pornography and bestiality, often for more than 8 hours a day. Many of us do this work for less than $2 per hour.” A group of Kenyan tech workers are [currently suing]( Meta Platforms Inc. and two of its outsourcing firms, claiming to have been fired for trying to unionize. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the litigation, while pointing to the company's policies of paying above the industry standard in the countries where it operates, requiring outsourcing companies to provide counseling for workers, and its stated respect for the right of its contractors’ workers to unionize. It’s possible that the Biden administration’s plans can create a more equitable arrangement between wealthy tech companies and the contractors they rely on to do their most menial knowledge work. It can be difficult, however, for governments like Ruto’s that compete with lower-wage neighbors to stand up to global employers. For its part, the Biden administration has pledged to work with Congress to send a portion of the $280 billion provided by the US Chips and Science Act to help Kenya’s nascent semiconductor industry. If it succeeds, however, the amount promised is $1 million. In other words, a nice gesture.—[Drake Bennett](mailto:dbennett35@bloomberg.net) The big story Nvidia has been transformed from a small maker of chips for gaming consoles into the third-most-valuable company in the world by putting its processors at the forefront of the revolution in artificial intelligence software. [Here’s a look at Nvidia’s rise in charts.]( One to watch [Watch AT&T Chief Executive Officer John Stankey interviewed on Bloomberg Television about the company’s long-term growth strategy.]( Get fully charged OpenAI’s conflict with Scarlett Johannson highlights [an old bias in tech](. TikTok is making it easier for [creators to earn money]( Intuit lost 1 million free users of TurboxTax [in the past year.]( Canva is stepping up its competition [with Adobe for business users.]( Elon Musk’s AI startup is raising money [at a $24 billion valuation.]( More from Bloomberg [Sign up for the Bloomberg Equality newsletter]( for the latest on how companies and institutions are confronting gender, race and class. Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](