Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Recode Daily: MacKenzie becomes the more charitable Bezos

Plus: What happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone, and Google has nearly 20,000 more temp workers than full-time employees.

MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos.
MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos.
MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Rani Molla
Rani Molla was a senior correspondent at Vox and has been focusing her reporting on the future of work. She has covered business and technology for more than a decade — often in charts — including at Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.

MacKenzie becomes the more charitable Bezos. Novelist and early Amazon employee MacKenzie Bezos is giving half of her wealth — currently $35 billion — to charity. She’s the latest billionaire to sign the Giving Pledge, a pact signed by some of the world’s most prominent names in tech that involves giving away their money to good causes. Her ex-husband Jeff Bezos has long been criticized for refusing to sign on.
[Theodore Schleifer / Recode]

[Want to get the Recode Daily in your inbox? Subscribe here.]

What happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone. Apple had been riding high on its privacy bona fides thanks to a series of flubs by other major tech companies, but a new Washington Post report shows that the company’s products have their own major privacy shortcomings. Columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler found that 5,400 hidden app trackers, mostly in his iPhone apps, recorded his data within one week. These apps pass data, including personally identifiable information, to third parties.
[Geoffrey A. Fowler / Washington Post]

Apple released a new iPod Touch nearly four years after its last upgrade. The new Touch starts at $199 and has a better processor and more storage than the previous versions. Apple, which has seen its iPhone sales slump recently, is advertising its subscription gaming service as a key use for the seventh-generation device.
[Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge]

Google has nearly 20,000 more temp workers than full-time employees. The revelation that more than half of Google’s workers are contract or temporary runs counter to the idea that its workforce is well-paid and has great perks. These temporary workers often have lower pay, fewer benefits, and less legal recourse than its full-time workers. The company had previously come under fire for treating contractors as second-class employees.
[Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times]

Top Stories from Recode

“Co-living” is the new “having roommates” — with an app. A look at the rise of the “co-living” housing trend and why it’s happening.
[Rani Molla]

This is Cool

The most expensive honey in America.


Recode and Vox have joined forces to uncover and explain how our digital world is changing — and changing us. Subscribe to Recode podcasts to hear Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka lead the tough conversations the technology industry needs today.

See More:

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh