Facebook isn’t giving up on its efforts to connect the world. On the contrary, “Facebook’s plan to connect neighborhoods and businesses wirelessly, known as Terragraph, will begin field trials in 2019 using 60GHz technology from Qualcomm,” PC World reports. Facebook began talking about Terragraph in 2016, part of a bid to replace fiber broadband with 60GHz millimeter-wave wireless.”

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are entering into a multiyear production deal with Netflix, The New York Times reports. Per the pact, the pair will produce television shows and films for the streaming service. Of note, “The former president has told associates that he does not intend to use the new platform to wage a public campaign against his successor in the Oval Office, or to fight against conservative media outlets like Fox News.”

Microsoft just bought Semantic Machines -- an artificial intelligence startup, which, according to Business Insider, “is made up of a number of AI veterans, and gives Microsoft access to some formidable talent.” For Microsoft, the deal could “bolster its efforts in ‘conversational AI’ and potentially make its Cortana virtual assistant better at understanding natural language enquiries,” BI writes.

Facebook is developing a “branded content matching” search engine to connect marketers with influencers. As TechCrunch reports, the tool will eventually let brands select the biographical characteristics of desired demographics, as well as “see stats about these audiences, and contact [influencers] to hammer out deals.” Back in March, “Facebook first vaguely noted it would build a creator-brand tool,” TC notes.

Epic Games is planning to offer its blockbuster game Fortnite to Android users sometime this summer. “People who own iOS devices have had access to Fortnite since March, and the game has already made more than $50 million on that platform,” Venture Beat notes. “Epic has had so much success on mobile due in large part to offering the same experience on iOS that it does on consoles and PC.”

Don’t call them “glasses,” but Google is reportedly giving augmented reality headsets another go. “The AR headset is supposed to be similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens, a headset that came out in 2016 and is aimed at design, training, and industrial use,” The Verge writes, citing a report in WinFuture. “The Google AR headset that’s in development will reportedly be self-contained and powered by a Qualcomm chip.”

Sources tell The Washington Post that President Trump personally appealed to the Postmaster General to double the Postal Service charges paid by Amazon and other ecommerce companies. While Trump’s wishes have so far gone unfulfilled, The Post calls the idea “a dramatic move that probably would cost these companies billions of dollars.”  

An investigation by BuzzFeed finds that buying “fake” Facebook accounts is pretty easy. “Across Facebook there are countless … dummy accounts with partially written backstories, a small posting history, and a photo gallery of real people taking real selfies,” it writes. “They trade hands in a vast web of fake-account marketplaces, where, for a small sum, any interested marketer, scammer, or troll can amass a legion of seemingly human profiles capable of outwitting Facebook’s detection.”  

Wired considers the evolution of Facebook’s Internet.org initiative, which was always positioned as a benevolent effort to connect the world to the web. “From the start, critics were skeptical of [Facebook CEO Mark] Zuckerberg’s intentions,” it writes. “Skeptics questioned the hubris of an American boy-billionaire who believed the world needed his help and posited that existing businesses and governments are better positioned to spread connectivity.”  

Apple is reportedly considering some interesting locations for a new “campus,” including North Carolina and Northern Virginia. “Apple told economic development officials in Northern Virginia that it is seeking four million square feet of space to accommodate 20,000 jobs, and officials proposed several potential sites,” MacRumors reports.