This podcast is brought to you by Alex Partners.

Read the results of the fifth annual Alex Partners

disruption index online today at disruption.

Alex Partners.com

Here's your T&B Tech Minute for Thursday, February 29th.

I'm Alex Oscela for the Wall Street Journal.

President Biden has ordered the Commerce Department to open an investigation into foreign-made software and cars.

He cited Chinese technology as a potential U.S. national security risk.

Right now, few cars sold in the U.S. are made in China and most have

software developed by Western firms, so the immediate threat is limited. However,

Chinese car companies are moving swiftly to expand globally.

Industry analysts say if they gain entry into the US,

the potential risk could be higher.

The investigation could lead to restrictions on the use of certain parts in cars in the US.

A startup called Figure, which is working on AI-powered humanoid robots,

says it has received $675 million in funding.

The startup said Jeff Bezos,

Invidia, and Microsoft are among the investors and valued the company at

2.6 billion dollars. Figure also said it was working with open AI on

developing new AI models for its humanoid robots that can do tasks in the place of humans, like moving a box onto a conveyor belt.

And Canada's antitrust watchdog says it's expanding its probe into Google's online

advertising practices. The Competition Bureau's investigation, which started in

...