Welcome to Axisprorata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision

of tech, business, and politics.

Brought to you by Silicon Valley Bank, Ideas Bank here.

I'm Dan Permac.

On today's show, the latest merger to run afoul of U.S. national security

regulators and some stuff to know about Baltimore. But first, cracking down on Alexa. So for tens of

millions of Americans, smart speakers have become an essential part of their home and work

lives, shaving precious seconds off mundane tasks like ordering food or playing a song.

But they also are how tech companies have snuck deeper and deeper into our private lives.

Often picking up conversations we didn't intend them to, either because of user error, tech glitches,

or because sometimes we're having a background conversation when someone in the foreground

intentionally said Alexa or Siri.

And those extra conversations are no small thing,

particularly because companies like Amazon use real humans

to transcribe those conversations and images from echo

and ring devices.

And some reporting has raised serious questions about the depth of

those transcriptions and how they're stored.

So, for example, imagine your kid is playing with an echo device and you and your partner are arguing in the background.

Amazon employees have heard that argument.

They've transcribed it.

And if for some reason you said something about your social security number or your bank account, they've heard that too.

...