Welcome to If Then, the show about how technology is changing our lives and our future.

I'm Will Oremus.

And I'm April Glazer.

Hey, everybody, welcome to If Then. We're coming to you from Slate and Future Tense, a partnership between Slate, Arizona State University, and New America. We're recording this on the morning of Monday, May 14th. On today's show, we'll talk about an unexpected move by Donald Trump that could save ZTE, the Chinese electronics maker.

ZTE is a major global maker of smartphones that has long been accused of working against U.S. interests.

The company was busted for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

Now it may get a reprieve.

We'll also discuss Project Maven, a Pentagon project to build AI for drones, which Google has been working on. This week, it was reported that

around a dozen employees quit over the company's involvement. We'll also discuss what one Apple

blogger calls one of the biggest design screw-ups in Apple history. Now the company is facing a class action lawsuit.

And we'll update you on a developing story about a major security vulnerability that could put encrypted emails at risk.

And then we'll be joined by one of our favorite antitrust experts, Gene Kimmelman.

He's the president and CEO of public knowledge, a nonprofit that focuses

on tech policy research and advocacy. They've advocated for the protection of network neutrality,

for example, and are a leading voice in D.C. for consumer protection on issues like big media

mergers with broadband providers. He formerly served as the chief counsel for the U.S.

Department of Justice's antitrust division. We'll talk to him about AT&T's antitrust trial with the DOJ as the company

attempts to acquire Time Warner in an $85 billion bid. If approved, that deal could reshape the

future of how people connect to the internet, get their news entertainment, and other mega-mergers

pending. And then there's the recent revelation that AT&T hired Michael Cohen, Trump's personal attorney, to do some consultation work for the company last year to get some guidance on how to work with Trump. And we'll finish with don't close my tabs, where each of us shares one of our favorite stories we read online this week. All right, April,

happy Monday to you. How are you doing this week? Good. And how are you doing? I am ready to talk about all the news that has happened since we last got together. What's going on in your world?

Well, actually, I want to start by thanking the many people who have been writing into us at if then at slate.com. We love hearing from you. Please continue to write.

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