Axios

For now, Apple's new M1 chip — fast, power-smart, and literally cool — is just a major hardware upgrade that's winning rave reviews. But down the road, the M1 will pave the way for new Apple devices that could bridge the divide between Mac and iPhone/iPad computing and transform the devices we use every day. he M1's success is a shot across the bow to Apple's competitors, and not just to Intel, whose semiconductors Apple is leaving behind after 15 years.

Closing the digital divide will be a high priority for the Biden administration, as the pandemic has exposed how many Americans still lack reliable in-home internet connections and the devices needed to work and learn remotely. Much of the responsibility for addressing that gap will fall to the Federal Communications Commission, which is certain to make the effort its first priority. The FCC's gears don't move fast enough to flood the country with dollars for broadband on Biden's day one.

All of us — and the media, in particular — need some clear-eyed, humble self-reflection as the dust settles on the 2020 election results. The media remains fairly clueless about the America that exists outside of the big cities, where most political writers and editors live. The media (and many Democrats) are 

With the Federal Trade Commission expected to unveil long-awaited antitrust action against Facebook in the near future, the agency's mixed record on regulating tech has experts viewing the case as a "put up or shut up" moment. Most of the tech cases the FTC has tackled involve consumer protection rather than restraining monopolistic behavior. Past antitrust investigations of tech mergers or companies, like a review of Google that ended in 2013, led critics to paint the FTC as toothless.

President Donald Trump is pushing the Senate to confirm Nathan Simington, his hand-picked nominee for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission, but some don't expect him to get his wish. If Simington is confirmed first, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "may see the bigger picture — keeping the FCC at 2-2 is better for a conservative approach to regulatory policy than allowing the Democrats to hit the ground running with a 2-1 advantage," said former Pai aide Nathan Leamer, now vice president at public affairs firm Targeted Victory.

Joe Biden's transformation into president-elect Saturday kicks off a new era for tech, giving an industry that's found itself increasingly at odds with government the chance for a reset. Biden's ascent could see the restoration of some tech-friendly Obama-era policies but is unlikely to end the bipartisan techlash that grew during Trump's term.