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Amazon, Facebook, Google and Twitter will try to mobilize their users in an online protest aimed at stopping the Trump administration from scrapping net neutrality rules. Wednesday’s all-day action will include the web giants along with dating apps, porn sites and streaming-video services. Here’s a GIF-filled website that explains the wonky history behind net neutrality. [Tony Romm / Recode]
A group of news organizations are coming together to negotiate collectively with the “digital duopoly” of Google and Facebook. Led by the News Media Alliance, the group includes such competitors as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, along with scores of regional papers, and wants an antitrust exemption from Congress. Meanwhile, Google has awarded $805,000 to a new software project that will automate the writing of 30,000 local news stories a month. [Jim Rutenberg / The New York Times]
Silicon Valley payments startup Stripe has partnered with Alipay and WeChat Pay to open up China’s vast consumer market to its merchants. Chinese digital payment provider Alipay has more than 500 million users; Tencent’s WeChat Pay has more than 600 million. [Anna Irrera / Reuters]
Waymo dropped three out of four of its patent-infringement claims in its lawsuit against Uber. But the court case related to theft of autonomous-car trade secrets continues: A judge ruled that Waymo must disclose details of its partnership with Lyft and decided to let Uber depose Alphabet CEO Larry Page for up to four hours. [Johana Bhuiyan / Recode]
Is there room for another Silicon Valley mega-HQ? Facebook is building a new campus in Menlo Park as a “mixed-use village” that will include 1,500 apartments and a grocery store. Located right behind Facebook’s two-year-old 430,000-square-foot Frank Gehry-designed headquarters, the expansion will be partially completed by 2021. [Kurt Wagner / Recode]
Russians and Americans are more similar than they realize, says “Bears in the Streets” author Lisa Dickey, who made three trips all the way across Russia between 1995 and 2015. On the latest episode of Recode Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher, Dickey talks about the changes she saw in politics, the economy and especially technology. [Eric Johnson / Recode]
Top stories from Recode
Amazon is quietly rolling out its own Geek Squad to set up gadgets in your home.
The new service is aimed at educating customers about “the smart home” — and, naturally, about Alexa.
Here’s how to tip your Uber driver in the app.
It’s really easy — and totally optional.
Amazon Prime is on pace to become more popular than cable TV.
Estimates show that nearly as many U.S. households subscribe to Prime as to pay TV.
Tesla sells the most electric cars in the U.S. Will it stay that way?
If Elon Musk sticks to his plan, Tesla has a shot.
A top Democrat is worried Trump interfered in the government’s review of the AT&T-Time Warner deal.
It comes amid reports that Trump is targeting CNN, which is owned by Time Warner.
Amazon threatened to kill its Whole Foods deal if the grocer started a bidding war.
... or if the M&A talks leaked to the press.
This is cool
The best Spider-Man ever, according to an actual spider
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” pulled in an estimated $117 million domestically over the weekend — the third-best movie opening of the year. And finally, after 15 years of Hollywood chasing a new face for Peter Parker, a winner has been chosen. Who will it be — Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield or newcomer Tom Holland? [Vulture]
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
