Researchers find industrial robot exposure among Chinese workers led to a 7.5% decline in employment, 9% drop in hourly wages, and 14% increase in hours worked (Thomas Claburn/The Register)

Mack DeGeurin / Gizmodo:
A House Select Subcommittee investigation finds ID.me made “baseless claims” of rampant COVID-19 unemployment fraud “to increase demand” for its ID verification  —  A seven month-long investigation accuses the biometric firm of providing misleading figures …

Kathryn Tewson / Techdirt:
Hands-on with DoNotPay, a service claiming to be the first robot lawyer: slow, drafted a terrible defamation demand letter, missed legal issues, and more  —  Note: This post is an adaptation of what started initially as a Twitter thread.  —  I’ve been going pretty hard on DoNotPay …

Jason Douglas / Wall Street Journal:
IFR data: Chinese factories installed 243K+ robots in 2021, up 45% YoY and around 50% of the global total, adapting to a changing workforce and rising wages  —  Industrial automation climbs as country tries to extend manufacturing dominance despite labor challenges

The Verge:
At Tesla AI Day, Musk reveals a protoype of Optimus, a humanoid robot that uses Tesla’ AI and advanced driver assist features, expects to cost less than $20K  —  Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a prototype of a humanoid robot that he said utilizes the company’s AI software …

Josh Horwitz / Reuters:
Analysis of Apple’s supply chain data shows 44% to 47% of suppliers were China-based between 2014 and 2019, dropping to 41% in 2020 and 36% in 2021  —  Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) wide exposure to Chinese manufacturing, notable both for its low costs and rising risks, has receded since the COVID-19 pandemic began …

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon increases its average starting pay for front-line US staff to $19+/hour, up from $18/hour; warehouse and delivery workers will earn $16/hour to $26/hour  —  – Amazon is bumping its average starting pay for warehouse and delivery workers to more than $19 an hour, up from $18 an hour, the company said Wednesday.