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US downs suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, drawing a threat from China

The US military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.

A pill for postpartum depression is on the horizon
A new medicine developed by Cambridge-based Sage Therapeutics could win approval from regulators this year for postpartum depression.

Companies boomed selling exercise bikes and desk chairs. Now they’re laying people off.
As the pandemic kicked consumer spending into high gear, some companies came out as clear winners. But for many, that winning streak couldn’t last, and now they’re cutting their losses.

Advisory firm sues Elon Musk’s Twitter, saying it hasn’t been paid
The blockbuster technology deal that every adviser on Wall Street clamored to be a part of has proved not to have been so lucrative for at least one advisory firm that worked on it.

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Framingham is reinventing itself. Again.

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Unicorn Tracker

The Boston Globe’s tech unicorn tracker lists startups headquartered in Massachusetts that have a valuation of at least $500 million. A “unicorn” is a company with a valuation in excess of $1 billion.
TECH POWER PLAYERS 50

Explore the full list of CEOs, founders, and venture capitalists

Introducing the Globe’s Tech Power Players 50 — and how it came together

BOLD TYPES
Globe reporter Janelle Nanos sits down with leaders in the city’s business community to talk career paths, accomplishments, and visions for Boston’s future.
Bold Types | With SparkCharge, Josh Aviv is providing electric vehicle charging on-demand
Aviv is the founder and chief executive of Somerville-based SparkCharge, the world’s first mobile on-demand EV charging network. (Producer & Editor: Anush Elbakyan, Producer & Reporter: Janelle Nanos, Camera & Editing: Chaney Carlson-Bullock Mikayla Litevich)

More business headlines

Jury clears Elon Musk of wrongdoing related to 2018 Tesla tweets

The trial pitted Tesla investors represented in a class-action lawsuit against Musk, who is CEO of both the electric automaker and the Twitter service he bought for for $44 billion a few months ago.

Harvard winding down misinformation expert Joan Donovan’s research over school policy

During her time at Harvard, Donovan has become one of the most high-profile researchers on online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns.

The US added a stunning 517,000 jobs in January, but that number may not be as good as it seems

The job growth almost doubled December’s gains, but some economists said lingering pandemic distortions likely led to a vast overstatement of the labor market's strength.

As new housing law takes effect, most towns fall in line, for now

Just seven out of 175 communities that had to submit preliminary plans for the new MBTA zoning law failed to do so by deadline this week.

Lackluster earnings reports show Big Tech’s golden age is fading

After a decade of largesse, the biggest tech companies are casting off their reputations as places that offer lifetime employment with free food and high salaries.

Apple, Google urged by Democratic senator to remove TikTok from app stores

While a number of Republican lawmakers have urged a TikTok ban, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet is one of the few Democrats senators to propose such a drastic measure against the app, which is particularly popular among young people.

3-D printing firm Desktop Metal cuts workforce by 15 percent

The 3-D printing company — which operates two facilities in Burlington, one in Wilmington, and one in Woburn — did not disclose how many Mass. workers would be impacted, but CEO Ric Fulop called it “more of a global adjustment.”

TALKING POINTS

All Thermo Fisher properties to get electricity from renewable sources by 2026

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