Tech Bytes — Week in Review: The TikTok ban, the end of noncompetes and Sony’s EV

The noncompete clause is dead! American tech workers are poised to benefit from the Federal Trade Commission’s new crackdown on the agreements, which prevent a company’s ex-employees from working for its rivals for a specified time.

Also, Tesla’s profits have — pick your favorite car pun — crashed 55%. As electric vehicle sales sputter, we wonder why more players are speeding into the space.

But first, TikTok’s top executive was defiant after the passage of a massive foreign aid package that included a directive to the company: Sell to a U.S. buyer or get banned. In a TikTok posted Wednesday, CEO Shou Zi Chew said, “We aren’t going anywhere” and “The facts and the Constitution are on our side.”

Parent company ByteDance has nine months to comply, although the U.S. president could extend it to a year.

Marketplace’s Lily Jamali is joined by Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, for his take on this week’s tech news.

More on everything we talked about

“Congress passed a bill that could ban TikTok. Now comes the hard part.” from The New York Times

“TikTok will file court challenge to U.S. divest-or-ban law, CEO says” from Variety

“How the TikTok ban could survive a court challenge” from Platformer

“Noncompetes are dead — and tech workers are free to roam” from Wired

“FTC bans contracts that keep workers from jumping to rival employers” from The Washington Post

“Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google” from CNET

“Good riddance? Critics of noncompetes say tech companies may ultimately benefit from FTC ban” from GeekWire

“DOE’s Granholm drives campaign to make EV batteries a U.S. industry” from “Marketplace Tech”

“EV sales are slowing. Tesla’s are slumping” from The New York Times

“Sony’s Afeela needs to be more than a feeling” from The Verge