TikTok is calling US staffers back to the office 5 days a week, starting next month
THE SO WHAT
A five-day RTO mandate at TikTok—mirroring Instagram and Amazon—signals that large consumer tech is normalizing full in-office for core teams. If you’re competing for the same talent, your flexibility stance is now a strategic differentiator, not a default perk.
READ THE SOURCE
MORE FROM THE WIRE
Tech & InnovationHere’s who stands to gain the most from a Jeff Bezos-Liverpool FC deal
Billionaire capital flowing into legacy sports assets is about brand optionality, not yield — Bezos attaching to Liverpool would be another data point that global clubs are still under-monetized media IP. For operators, expect more competition and higher pricing around sports rights, fan data, and commerce integrations as these franchises get treated like global platforms, not local teams.
Tech & Innovation'It's Stalin's dream' — Quote of the day by software pioneer Richard Stallman on the tracking capabilities of cell phones
Stallman’s line is a reminder that the default smartphone stack is a mass-surveillance system with consumer UX on top. If your product depends on location or behavioral data, assume rising user and regulatory pressure to justify every field you collect — and design opt-outs before they’re mandated.
Tech & InnovationRocket Lab reveals some big plans, but its stock is dropping on mixed earnings
Launch and space infra are still being priced like story stocks even as they behave like long-cycle industrials—expansion in Europe and backlog growth won’t immediately appease public markets. If you’re a customer, this is a reminder to underwrite counterparty risk on balance sheets and cash burn, not just on launch cadence.
Tech & InnovationI looked into buying a house in Singapore as an investment. Here’s why I didn’t — despite the 2% mortgage rate.
Sub-2% mortgages in Singapore and ~1% in Japan show how cheap money alone doesn’t guarantee a good real estate trade—policy, taxes, and local dynamics can erase the rate advantage. If you’re allocating globally, underwrite regulatory and liquidity risk at least as hard as the headline interest rate.