Overnight Tech: Apple's Tim Cook meets Trump at White House | Zuckerberg sticking with Facebook's ad model | Kanye West wants sitdown with Apple, Google execs

View in your browser     TIM COOK MEETS WITH TRUMP: Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the White House today to meet with President Trump amid escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China that threaten the tech industry. Trump tweeted that he was looking forward to the meeting and that he intended to bring up trade issues. "Looking forward to my meeting with Tim Cook of Apple," the president posted. "We will be talking about many things, including how the U.S. has been treated unfairly for many years, by many countries, on trade." Neither the White House nor Apple offered details about the meeting. The meeting comes in the wake of Trump's decision to hit China with $50 billion in tariffs, prompting retaliation from Beijing. Trump also met with Microsoft founder Bill Gates last month.   Tech's stake in the trade fight: The tech industry has criticized the escalation with China in part over worries that it could jeopardize a crucial supply chain. Cook has also been critical of Trump's efforts to crack down on immigration. And the Apple CEO took an implicit shot at his environmental agenda when he brought Lisa Jackson, the former EPA administrator under Obama and now an exec at Apple, to Trump's first state dinner last night.   Welcome to Overnight Tech! Please send your tips, comments and puns to (abreland@thehill.com) and Harper Neidig (hneidig@thehill.com) and follow us on Twitter: @alibreland and @hneidig. We're also on Signal and WhatsApp. Email or DM us for our numbers.     KANYE'S TECH DREAMS: Kanye West tweeted a lot today. It's way more than we can unpack in this newsletter, but amid his afternoon long session of tweeting he mentioned some high profile people in tech. West said that he wants to meet with "Larry [Page] from Google," and Apple CEO Tim Cook. He also said that he has a meeting scheduled with one time Trump adviser and surrogate Peter Thiel. West had previously tweeted at tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates proposing that they be his benefactor a la the Medici family. Are today's tweets more serious? Scheduling a meeting with Thiel might suggest so. Stayed tuned to find out if Page and Cook bite.   FACEBOOK DEFENDS AD MODEL TO INVESTORS: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg told investors today that Facebook will be sticking with its ad-based revenue model for the foreseeable future. "We think that ads is a great business model that's aligned with our vision," Zuckerberg said during an earnings call when asked if the company was looking for different revenue streams. The executives said the business model allows them to more easily connect users to the site. The company also posted strong numbers for Q1, showing that advertisers are sticking with the service despite the blowback from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook reported a 50 percent boost in advertising revenue over the previous year. It also raked in $5 billion in profits, a 63 percent surge from the first quarter of 2017.   MUSIC BILL ADVANCES: The House voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a bill to update music licensing laws, a move widely backed by the music industry and lobbying groups representing streaming platforms such as Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music and Google Play. The legislation aims to update licensing laws that industry groups say are increasingly out of date. Section 115 of the Copyright Act has regulated musical compositions since it was created in 1909 -- before even the first public radio broadcast. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), one of the bill's cosponsors: "While the U.S. Constitution made intellectual property protections an anchor of our economy, other parts of our laws ignore technological realities and undermine free market principles at the expense of music creators and music lovers."   FEDS TARGET HUAWEI: The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating whether Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei violated U.S. sanctions against Iran. The investigation comes one month after the agency reached a $430 million settlement with another Chinese telecom firm, ZTE, for also violating U.S. sanctions with Iran. The big picture: The agency's actions follow a larger pattern with the U.S. increasingly cracking down on Chinese firms over national security concerns. Republicans are worried Chinese technology companies that are cozy with Beijing could be pressured into giving up the data they have on Americans who use their products.   COMMERCE APPROVES DEM FTC PICK: The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved one of President Trump's Democratic nominees to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Rebecca Slaughter, a legal adviser to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), was advanced by voice vote during a hearing. Slaughter joins four other nominees -- three Republicans and one Democrat -- currently awaiting a full Senate vote to be confirmed to the consumer protection agency.   FACEBOOK'S LOBBYING TEAM SHUFFLE: Facebook is making key personnel changes at its Washington, D.C. office amid the uproar over the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal. Facebook's head of policy in Washington, Erin Egan, has opted to step down to focus on her role as the social media giant's chief privacy officer. She previously split her time between the roles. Former Republican Federal Communications Commission Chairman Keven Martin, who is currently a Facebook employee, will replace Egan as the company's interim vice president of U.S. public policy.   ON TAP: The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on social media platforms at 10:00 a.m. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on reforming the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review process at 10:15 a.m. TechNet will host a Congressional briefing on artificial intelligence at 2:00 p.m. The House Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on the FCC's fiscal 2019 budget at 2:00 p.m.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The New York Times: What Amazon's HQ2 will mean for rent prices BSA, the Software Alliance launched its International Cybersecurity Framework today. Read the report here. Al Jazeera: Russia's mistake in blocking Telegram The Guardian: An explainer on incels and their relation to the Toronto van attack         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Technology Newsletters     Forward Technology Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.