You made it to Friday! Time to celebrate with more tech news. Silicon Valley bigwigs are swarming Las Vegas real estate, and Uber Eats will try out driverless delivery next year.
Let's dive in.
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1. Ultrarich techies are scooping up real estate in Las Vegas. Two of Silicon Valley's most-prominent investors snapped up multi-million dollar properties in Sin City this year, reflecting the influx of out-of-staters swooping in and setting Las Vegas' luxury market on fire.
- Facebook investor Marc Andreessen made the most-expensive purchase ever recorded in Las Vegas, paying $36 million for a swath of vacant land.
- Meanwhile, his cofounder Ben Horowitz bought a $14.5 million mansion with views of the Strip just minutes away.
- Las Vegas, with its reasonable cost of living, entertainment venues, and nearby state parks, is one of many mid-sized cities seeing a rush of newcomers. Miami and Austin, too, have exploded in popularity during the pandemic as growing tech hubs.
More on what happens in Vegas.
In other news:
2. Reddit confidentially filed to go public. After becoming the go-to site for day traders during the meme stock frenzy earlier this year, the company announced it had confidentially filed for an IPO. Get the full rundown here.
3. A management firm's former staffers say they catfished fans into paying to sext OnlyFans stars. Former employees at Unruly Agency, which runs some influencers' OnlyFans accounts, say they would ghostwrite responses to private messages that fans paid to send the influencers. Inside the secretive firm where "you're basically a professional scammer."
4. The NYPD is considering a $12.3 million deal with Tesla. As part of the city's push toward an all-electric police fleet, it could buy as many as 250 Model 3 electric cars, according to Bloomberg. What we know so far.
5. All Raise has put 18 female execs through its startup board diversity program. The program, called Board Xcelerate, was launched 10 months ago — and has already placed 18 female leaders on the boards of high-growth tech companies like Rent the Runway and Handshake. Meet the execs with new board positions.
6. Video shows a Facebook VP saying he can't drink coffee without lifting his "wretched" VR headset. In an interview with the Financial Times this week, Meta VP Nick Clegg called the headsets "bulky," and said he can't drink coffee without making his avatar stare awkwardly at the ceiling. Watch the video here.
7. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is hiring a chief of staff. Haugen plans on doing more education and advocacy work next year and has posted a detailed job description for someone to join her. Here are the skills Haugen wants in the perfect candidate.
8. Chipotle just announced a digital-only restaurant. The restaurant, which will open in Ohio later this month, is called the Chipotlane Digital Kitchen — and all orders will be made digitally and picked up by walk-up or a drive-thru lane. Everything you need to know about Chipotle's digital era.
9. Uber Eats is trying out driverless food deliveries in 2022. Uber Eats has partnered with driverless-technology company Motional to launch a fleet of electric, autonomous vehicles to deliver meals around the Santa Monica area of Los Angeles. Get the latest on autonomous food delivery.
10. The Volkswagen ID.4 is an electric car people will actually want to buy. For buyers who are interested in going electric but don't need the high-tech features of a Tesla, the ID.4 offers a good range and plenty of space — starting at $40,000. Check out the ID.4 here.
The latest people moves in tech:
- Fifteen important execs left Amazon Web Services in 2021, but seven more joined. Meet them here.
- Top crypto VC Katie Haun is out at Andreessen Horowitz. These are the 11 power players now behind the firm's $3 billion crypto push.
- Two of Amazon's Pharmacy leaders have been quietly demoted to consultancy roles with the company, Axios reported.
Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email [email protected] or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Michael Cogley in London.