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Showing posts from April, 2022

Can Elon Musk Make Twitter’s Numbers Work?

Financially speaking, the billionaire’s buyout of the social media network breaks all the usual rules. https://nyti.ms/3KAYnTI

How Twitter’s Board Went From Fighting Elon Musk to Accepting Him

It’s highly unusual to move from a “poison pill” to a $44 billion deal in under two weeks. But Twitter’s board ran out of options. https://nyti.ms/3LJV79O

Review: ‘The Immortal King Rao,’ by Vauhini Vara

Vauhini Vara’s “The Immortal King Rao” is about a lot of things, from a father-daughter bond to the end of human civilization. https://nyti.ms/3s1LZpz

Instacart’s Pandemic Boom Is Fading

The grocery delivery start-up changed its leadership, slashed its valuation and shifted its strategy after sales slowed. https://nyti.ms/3krLG2R

Apple’s Growth Slows, but Still Beats Wall Street’s Expectations.

While the company did better in its first three months of the year than many of its tech peers, it warned that Covid problems in China will be an issue. https://nyti.ms/3OIkzP4

Musk’s Ties to China Could Create Headaches for Twitter

Elon Musk has invested heavily in China, where officials are willing to influence or punish companies that cross political red lines. https://nyti.ms/39f1NOW

Amazon Revenue Slows, and Costs Rise

Amazon benefited from the coronavirus pandemic as people flocked to online shopping. Now, shoppers have become more skittish. https://nyti.ms/3EZNPMA

Elon Musk Loses His Bid to End SEC Twitter Settlement

Mr. Musk had challenged an agreement he reached with securities regulators after he claimed that he had the funding to take Tesla private. https://nyti.ms/3knb89K

Twitter Nears a Deal to Sell Itself to Elon Musk

The company’s 11-member board met with Mr. Musk to discuss his offer to buy the social networking service and take it private. An agreement could come as soon as Monday. https://nyti.ms/3F11HXe

Those dedicated to limiting harmful posts worry about Twitter under Musk.

They say that Elon Musk’s promises could bring back some of the worst aspects of the service. But he won’t be without some constraints. https://nyti.ms/3KrMDCN

How Tesla Stock Price Might Affect Markets

Tesla is highly traded, and Elon Musk’s sale of more than $16 billion worth of stock last year did not appear to push share prices lower. https://nyti.ms/38txWSK

Elon Musk Is a Typical Twitter User, Except for One Thing

The platform has always been the perfect place to indulge your whims. But when you’re the richest man in the world, those whims can grow significantly. https://nyti.ms/3xYeAQq

Alphabet Earnings: Google Parent’s Profit Drops 8%

The results were below analysts’ expectations for a net profit of $17.33 billion on revenue of $68.05 billion. https://nyti.ms/3KkTZIw

We Have a Creativity Problem

Outwardly, we praise innovation. Inwardly, we harbor a visceral aversion to it, studies have found. https://nyti.ms/3vmjfbU

Activision Says It Will Cooperate With Insider Trading Investigations

The company received requests for information that appeared to relate to investigations into whether investors who knew Bobby Kotick, the chief executive, traded Activision stock before a deal with Microsoft was made public. https://nyti.ms/3OiWo9y

How Russia Media Uses Fox News to Make Its Case

The conservative network has appeared hundreds of times in Russian media. https://nyti.ms/3OrlTpB

A.I. Is Mastering Language. Should We Trust What It Says?

OpenAI’s GPT-3 and other neural nets can now write original prose with mind-boggling fluency — a development that could have profound implications for the future. https://nyti.ms/3JGr1lP

Jordan Belfort, Still the Wolf, Likes Crypto Now

Jordan Belfort, the inspiration for “The Wolf of Wall Street,” is marketing himself as a cryptocurrency guru. https://nyti.ms/3jHi1SZ

Elon Musk Launches Bid to Buy Twitter

The billionaire executive recently became one of the company’s largest shareholders. Now he says he wants to buy the whole thing and change how it handles speech. https://nyti.ms/3vlmrEp

Did Student-Monitoring Software Accuse You of Cheating on a Test?

Tell us about your experience with automated tools meant to detect suspicious student behavior. https://nyti.ms/3KIevU9

Gopuff Buys Time for Its 30-Minutes-or-Less Delivery Promise

The $15 billion rapid-delivery start-up decided to do business differently from rivals like Instacart. A changing environment is testing its model. https://nyti.ms/3uGwbdl

Amazon Adds Fuel and Inflation Surcharge for Sellers

The new surcharge is in addition to fee increases for sellers in November that went into effect in January. https://nyti.ms/3KFalfL

Will Substack Go Beyond Newsletters? A Company Weighs Its Future.

The publishing platform’s founders want Substack to be an “alternate universe on the internet.” But it faces copycat rivals, an exodus by writers and a need to move beyond newsletters. https://nyti.ms/3rnXVS5

Russian Tech Industry Faces ‘Brain Drain’ as Workers Flee

Since their country invaded Ukraine, Russian tech workers have left by the thousands. They appear intent on rebuilding their lives and businesses in other countries. https://nyti.ms/3riLGGr

Mark Zuckerberg Ends Election Grants

A spokesman for the Facebook founder said the money sent to election offices in 2020 was a “one-time donation.” The grants prompted Republicans to push for bans on private donations for elections. https://nyti.ms/3JCdfRn

Ukraine Says It Thwarted a Sophisticated Russian Cyberattack on Its Power Grid

Experts say the hacking, while unsuccessful, was among the most complex cyberattacks they have seen in the war so far. https://nyti.ms/3JBsKJ6

In a First, Google Goes After Puppy Fraud in Court

The company’s first consumer protection lawsuit, filed Monday, claims a Cameroon man tricked would-be buyers using Gmail and other services. https://nyti.ms/3KAzqbH

Welcome Back to the Office. Isn’t This Fun?

Tech companies really want their employees to be happy — or at least less annoyed — about returning. So they’re providing concerts, food trucks and other perks. https://nyti.ms/37GXefA

Twitter Grapples With an Elon Musk Problem

Mr. Musk, Twitter’s biggest shareholder, is free to buy more stock in the company and could use the platform against itself. Some employees are dismayed. https://nyti.ms/38C81Il

China’s Echoes of Russia’s Alternate Reality Intensify Around the World

China’s officials and state media are increasingly parroting Russian propaganda organs on the war in Ukraine, undercutting U.S. and European diplomatic efforts, even after the killings in Bucha. https://nyti.ms/35Z05js

Elon Musk Will Not Join Twitter’s Board, Company Says

The announcement reverses a decision last week, when Twitter said Mr. Musk would become a board member after amassing a 9.2 percent stake in the company. https://nyti.ms/364OqQo

Crypto Industry Helps Write, and Pass, Its Own Agenda in State Capitols

In the absence of federal regulations, crypto lobbyists and executives are going state by state to get favorable rules enacted. Many lawmakers have been willing partners. https://nyti.ms/3KsLVpO

Amazon, Labor Organizers File Objections to Alabama Union Vote

The company listed a series of complaints against an upstart union’s organizing efforts. Both Amazon and another union noted objections to another vote in Alabama. https://nyti.ms/3Jj7uaV

SpaceX and Axiom Launch Private Astronaut Crew to Space Station

Axiom Space bought seats on a SpaceX rocket to be NASA’s guests in orbit as the agency extends efforts to commercialize spaceflight. https://nyti.ms/35Tdolt

As Gas Prices Went Up, So Did Web Searches for Electric Vehicles

Prices at the pump have apparently given some Americans second thoughts. But two practical problems remain: not enough cars and relatively few charging stations. https://nyti.ms/3DQB86m

NLRB Counsel Calls for Ban on Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings

The meetings are a common response by companies like Amazon and Starbucks to union drives among workers. The full labor board will make the decision. https://nyti.ms/37qL1vA

We Can’t Predict the Grocery Future

Some of our pandemic-induced digital habits are here to stay. But what about buying bananas? https://nyti.ms/3JfMAtj

Amazon Union Success May Point to a New Labor Playbook

The success of an independent drive has organized labor asking whether it should take more of a back seat. https://nyti.ms/3ue7TY2

Block Says Cash App Breach Affected 8 Million Users

The stolen information included the value of some customers’ portfolios and details of their stock trades, but did not involve the company’s personal payments system. https://nyti.ms/3KhH6jf

For Prominent Women on Instagram, DMs Can Be a Cesspool of Misogyny

A report on direct messages sent to five women found that “abuse and harmful content is allowed to thrive” on Instagram. The platform’s parent company, Meta, said it disagreed with the report’s conclusions. https://nyti.ms/3JcsBM5

The Old-Timers Are Chasing Netflix

Old-school media companies are challenging the streaming star, which needs new ways to stay on top. https://nyti.ms/3LOK1Am

Pinterest Bans Climate Misinformation From Posts and Ads

The virtual pinboard service will remove content that denies climate change after also blocking ads about politics, weight loss and anti-vaccine sentiment. https://nyti.ms/3Kg6S7v

How You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet

Apple and Google are pushing privacy changes, but a shift in digital tracking is giving some platforms a bigger advertising advantage. https://nyti.ms/3O2y9wu

Elon Musk Joins Twitter Board

After becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder, Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, is joining the social media company’s board of directors. https://nyti.ms/3JbLcbk

Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia Head, Is Leaving Ahead of Discovery Merger

Mr. Kilar helped HBO Max exceed expectations, but upset some top Hollywood filmmakers in the process. https://nyti.ms/3LHbS57

Can A.I.-Driven Voice Analysis Help Identify Mental Disorders?

Early tests have been promising, but issues involving bias, privacy and mistrust of “black box” algorithms are possible pitfalls. https://nyti.ms/3x6409x

Elon Musk buys a large stake in Twitter.

The purchase makes the Tesla chief executive, who has been critical of Twitter’s content moderation policies, its biggest shareholder. https://nyti.ms/3u67Bm3

Robert Malone Spreads Falsehoods About Vaccines. He Also Says He Invented Some.

Dr. Robert Malone says he helped invent mRNA vaccines and has been wronged for decades. Now he’s spreading unfounded claims about the vaccines and the virus. https://nyti.ms/3iXlCMv

Tesla’s Sales Jumped in the First Quarter, Bucking Industry Trend Again

The electric carmaker maintained its momentum from last year even as larger automakers continue to struggle with parts shortages. https://nyti.ms/3LTmFcT

House Committee Investigating Amazon Labor Practices

A tornado that hit a delivery station in Illinois last year will be a focus of the inquiry. https://nyti.ms/3NJfuFB